Opteron 185 IHS Removal! + pics :) :)

Hi all! well, getting a bit annoyed at the crappy stepping on my 185 opty and resulting temperatures, i decided to remove the Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS) and fix the peltier waterblock directly to the die's durface.

Right, First of all i cleared my desk and got a decent work surface, then I collected the tools to butcher my cpu into submission

Razer blades removed from shaving razors, to be used to cut around the IHS cap glue, a stanly knife for popping the cap off at the end of the process, solvent for cleaning off the thermal gunk, black foam pad for protecting the CPU's pins, Coollabs Liquid Metal thermal compound and cotton swabs for spreading this on the Silicone Die.



Below pic shows the recently extracted Opteron 185 CPU still coated with liquid pro



Here is a close up of the cleaned CPU showing the stepping as LCBBE



I started by taking the shaving razors and cutting into each othe the processors corners, using gentle rocking motions, carefully feeling for any internal component contact. I then used the razors corner to slice along the sides on the IHS. I also used a cotton swab to add some solvent to help loosed the glue holding the IHS onto the pcb. After going around the CPU as best i could,I used the stanly knife to wedge along the length of the cpu and prise open the cap



Here is the processor without the IHS attached. You can clearly see the thermal gunk on the die, I also noted how heavy the IHS was, and how thick it was, a good 3mm of solid metal. Ouch.



Heres a close up of the CPU die all nice and shiny after a jolly good cleaning using solvent and swabs



And finally, here it is again, but with the liquid metal applied to the die



I had to slightly modify the cpu retention bracked to accomodate for the 3mm gap after IHS removal. But booted to windows at stock frequencies to my relief, it appears to have worked!! Phew!

Now my plan is to test against previous overclock tests and see how much (if any) I have knocked off the peak temperatures.

Yeay for not killing my CPU

I will update as I find out how well this has worked for overclocking

Cheerz, apparently sum peeps have got 20C drop in load temps on single core AMD's, however, be bleedin careful, one of those surface mount components could easily be lopped off, and Id hate to hear that happened

Quoted from overclockersclub.com:

"For my 3500+, I had temperature problems with the IHS on. My load temps soared in excess of 65°C even with moderate vcore values, and a confirmed perfect AS5 application.

3500+ Venice with Thermalright SLK-948u and Vantec Tornado 92mm

Before (idle/load): 44°C / >65°C
After (idle/load): 35°C / 43°C"

Wile E said:

Since you're using pelt, how do you waterproof the exposed components?

Click to expand...

Gonna be running at above ambient temps atm, but getting some dielectric grease to coat the components in soon --> tho saying that, the gap and those components are sealed tight within a confined compartment, no additional moisture can possibly get in, so im probs ok for now

But, also the whole assembly is tightly sealed in neoprene

DRDNA said:

4th picture take a good look cuz the 3F3E3D3s now have your (thumb finger) print

Click to expand...

yeah, well i gotta hold it somehow , suppose for the pic i shoulda cleaned it but i was taking pics as I went so didnt really think of that, and well im not all that paranoid hehe

Sweeet! Ive made some progress slowly working my way up the Mhz..

Ok, previously I was testing for stability.. needed
->1.325 Volts to get 2882Mhz @ 28/25C temp under load
now:
->1.3 Volts to get 2926Mhz @ 19/9C under load!!!

thats quite a drop in temperatures imo hopefully as I keep pumping volts across and raising the frequency ill get better results.

Keep ya all updated

sipha said:

Nice job ! Somthing I've not been brave enough to try as of yet

Click to expand...

lol, im sure youd get a killer result if you did, esp if running at 4.4Ghz, actually, then again ur on phase aint you? so either way it would be chilly

KillZone said:

I've done two 3500+ venice cores. Works great and I saw a large temp drop with the water setup. As long as your slow and careful its not that hard. Also have to be careful not to bend the pins.

Have to make sure that your heatsink is touching the top of the core though with the extra gap where the IHS used to be. I usually check it once with some paste and just pull it off to make sure it has full contact.

I did burn up one processor because of that mistake

Click to expand...

yeah, had to cut some spacer brackets on the pelt block to get proper contact, or im certain id have boiled my cores haha, well i can laugh now coz its all over and done with i bent 1 pin, but it was only slightly and easily fixed.
What sort of temps did u end up with btw?

Kursah said:

Now to see if someone's got the kahonas to try this on a core2 processor! I haven't seen any pics of them with the IHS off...but that could also be interesting...or horrible! Good job man, looks to be worth the work!

Click to expand...

yeah id like to see some naked Core2 duo action id imagine that would get you one hellova good overclock, since intel chips seem to oc better than most dual core AMD's, well i think anyways

technicks said:

The thing i am most sared of is crushing the core when placing the cooler.

Click to expand...

as long as you DONT apply uneven pressure the die can take many many pounds of crush pressure, however, not trying to put u off, but slight uneven pressure and theres a chance the die will snap or crack got my pelt block TIGHT,actually probs tighter than i intended, but i tightened each screw a few turns alternating over about 5-10 minutes, lol my arm was sore after hehe


BTW, check out this site, will give tips for getting the IHS off and modifying amd retention brackets, (which may also apply to Intel) to compensate for loss of cpu height:

http://www.overclockersclub.com/guides/a64-ihs-removal.php

I did hear on older Intel chips they bonded the IHS to the chip, and taking it off could, erm, take off the die, which would be particularly awful...

Wile E said:

Seeing you do this is making me seriously debate doing it to my Brisbane that's due in later today.

Click to expand...

Hay mate what cooler you gonna use on that chip?

Overclock results

Hell yeah!!!!!!

removing the IHS has made a universe of difference, and im still just in the middle of overclocking

Previously, i needed 1.55-1.6V to get around 3Ghz overclock, which resulted under load of temperatures around 60/65 on core0 and 50ish on Core1

Now: at just 1.25V i can get a whopping 2970Mhz oc

and the load temperatures are shown in the core temp pic below



a huge 35ish Degree C drop in temperatures on core0 and 33ish drop on core1 under load for a similar overclock, thats just insane!!!
I therefore have major headroom for further overclocking (i hope) especially with those temperatures. damn, now if i had done this on my previous better stepping 185 opty...