S939 A64 IHS Removal

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DANGER! Doing this voids your warranty and may lead to financial loss and personal injury!

Seen a lot more people removing the IHS these days (especially on X2s) so I thought I would repost this guide as I've seen a couple of people just today saying that they botched it.

So here it goes:-

All you really need is a sharp thin bladed knife and a piece of foam (I'm now using the square that comes with the CPU) to protect the pins. I use a mini-craft knife from Draper tools for the job as it's blade is thin enough just to slice through the sealant with ease. Also wetting the blade with isopropyl alcohol will lubricate it and making cutting easier.

For this example I've already removed the top just so I can demonstrate it one handed.

First step is to ease the knife in at the 4 corners as above. I do it by holding the CPU in one hand with the foam square on the bottom protecting the pins. Below shows how far in you can go:-

To gove you a sense of scale, the sealant is about 3-4mm thick.

Note the small surface mount chips (I've coated this chip in liquid tape to avoid condensation problems in phase change systems).

Once all four corners are done you can then take the knife down each side like so, again note how far in you can go with the knife:-

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Gently ease the blade through the rubber as you don't want to accidently hit any of the small chips at speed as you might damage them.

Once that's done take the knife all the way round just to cut any bits you've missed and then the IHS should just fall off. Don't try to pull it off as it can bend the CPU.

Be aware that removing the IHS also changes the height of the processor in the socket, if you using a clip on air cooler doing this is not advisable.

If your on water or phase then it can be fairly easy to adjust the height of the block/head to suit.

Also the core is below the level of the raised part of the socket, so if your cooler is oversized and previously overhanged this area it may now not allow full contact with the core.

Edit:- Compatible Coolers

Phase
Vapochill (Clamshell type mount) - requires modification (see below)

Water
DD TDX - may require sanding down the of back of the socket for best performance

Air
TT Silent Tower - may require sanding down of the back of the socket for best performance
Akasa EVO 120 - fits perfectly
Akasa EVO 33 - fits
Vapochill Micro - may require sanding down of the back socket for best performance
Thermaltake Big Typhoon - Revised:- This cooler overhangs the socket but fits the Asus A8N SLI Premium without issue BEST AIR COOLER I'VE TESTED
Scythe Ninja - Doesn't overhang, mount may need modification to make good contact

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Oh yeah, you do this at your own risk as it "might" void your warrranty!

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It's very much rubbery, if your blade is getting stuck then it's probably a bit too thick though I always get stuck at the breather hole for some reason (so I just cut in from both corners). Once it's off it's very bendy and it certainly cuts easily.

The main trick I guess is to increase the force but at the same time restrain yourself so if it does suddenly take off again you don't either hit something on the inside and break it off, or even worse cut yourself.

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Be aware that removing the IHS also changes the height of the processor in the socket, if you using a clip on air cooler doing this is not advisable.

If your on water or phase then it can be fairly easy to adjust the height of the block/head to suit.

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What would you recommend to reapply the IHS?

I wouldn't essentially, but I have seen it done by using some of that rubber sealant in a tube that builders use.

Basically just squirt it on round the outside of the CPU, bung the IHS on (with TIM on the core) and then put a big weight on top until it sets. Obviously it's a bit of a bodge job but it should work.

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One question: when re-seating your cpu block after putting the chip back in, how tight should you screw it on? I'm presuming it's now quite easy to accidentally crack the core if you use too much force?

I've been screwing down my Vapo head as hard as it goes without any issues so you should be ok doing the same. As far as I'm aware it's only if you're clipping on a HS that it becomes a real issue with chipping the core.

There's certainly a slight risk of damage though.

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Normal compounds are safe to use, just add a small drop to the top of the core. I use a credit card to spread it out over the top, but just plonking the block on top probably works just as well.

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The benefits, particularly with X2s is that removing the IHS allows you to cool the core directly. Temperature drops of about 10C are common and this can have a significant effect on overclocking.

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Who put this as a sticky ?

Pointless IMHO
Little notice about

NO WARANTY if you remove the IHS.

Oh yeah, you do this at your own risk as it "might" void your warrranty!

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To be honest, if your on an overclocking forum and you don't know that making irreversible modifications to your hardware doesn't void the warranty then you must be fairly naive.

The reason I posted this is that people are doing this and killing their chips, but if you do it right the risk is negligible.

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has anyone managed to increase their overclocks significantly by doing this?

I increased my stable overclock on my X2 by 100MHz and reduced temps by about 10C. Single core chips the benefits are less but it all helps.

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Eyecatching warning now added

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Well there's nothing cooling them what so ever anyway so it shouldn't make much difference as air is a great insulator.

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SHould work for air cooling as well, but be aware that you need to use a HS that doesn't clip on like the stock HS but use pillars and then is fitted vertically from above with springs/nuts to apply the correct force.

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Has anyone had any problems mounting a Mach II GT on an IHSless CPU? Is the contact ok? Is there anything that needs to be done differently to a normal mounting?

It's funny you should say that:-

On the Vapochills, I had to make the head stick out an extra few millimetres to take up the slack generated by not having the IHS in the way (it's about 3-4mm thick).

What I did was basically put some thick washers in behind the head.

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It's mainly there to protect the CPU core.

I never crushed a core myself but it was reasonably common on XPs, especially using clip on HS which can apply high lateral forces when it's being put on.

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Also note that if you remove the IHS, part of the socket itself now stands higher than the core itself, so if you have an oversized cooler base it may clash with the socket!

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would this be able to work with a zalman 9500?

Assuming that it doesn't use the retention clips but instead a pillar method what you need to check is if the base of the HS juts out over the top of the back of the socket (where it says Socket 939). If it does you may likely have problems with getting good contact on the CPU.

The other issue is whether the mounting mechanism can deal with the extra 3-4mm. Most should be able to without problem but you might need to use a washer or two on the pillars.

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I've got a Thermaltake Silent Tower here that appears to just fit (haven't load tested to see what load temps are like though), I'm also getting a Akasa AK-920 EVO 120 which from the photo would appear to have an even smaller base so should fit. I'll keep you posted.

If anyone can post what cooler they're using and if it fits I'll compile a list of compatible coolers so peope can be sure.

No issues with putting AS5 on the core as it's not conductive, but I would recommend using a credit card to spread it out so there is no excess to squeeze out and end up on the small chips round the core.

Alternatively AS Ceramique is neither conductive or capacitive (AS5 can act like a dielectric).

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had to use a hammer and a stanley blade, thats no joke!

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