- Joined
- Jan 12, 2001
- Location
- Kansas, USA
I got the CPU on Wednesday and by Friday evening it was undergoing delid surgery. It wasn't bad, but with 12 cores, I needed some help with temps.
The socket 2066 X-series Intel processors are larger than the rest, so you need a delid tool specifically for these X299 platform CPUs. I decided to try out the Rockit 99 from Rockit Cooling. I never heard of them before, so I took a chance. Here's the i9 7920X placed into the tool. It's a perfect fit. There is a triangle on the tool, match up the triangle on the corner of the CPU for the proper position.
You put the two halves together and screw them together with the provided thumbscrews. See the little slot on the case, that limits the amount of movement allowed, because the Skylake-X has circuitry close to one side of the IHS. It's a no brainer method of making sure the user doesn't screw up. Peace of mind.
You tighten the provided allen wrench until you hear a "click." Open it up and find it delidded. Actually, the Intel TIM looked well spread out and evenly applied. This was way better than my 7740X. So, any drop in temp will be the main result of liquid metal being a better heat conductor.
I posed this shot after I got the PCB and IHS cleaned up. I used a little plastic scraper (left side) and I heard a credit card will work in a pinch. Honestly, I ended up using my fingernail/thumbnail more than anything. Seemed to work best. The bottle is clear fingernail polish. I put three coats of this down on the PCB in case any liquid metal runs down off the die. The electrical tape is used to mask off the area before applying the LM to make cleanup easier. Just peel the tape off. I like Super 33+, it's high quality stuff. I saw a couple youtube videos where they just use office type Scotch tape and it worked. You decide what you want to do.
I used alcohol wipes that come in individual packets to clean the CPU. If you have a bottle of rubbing alcohol, put a little on a microfiber cloth and clean the surfaces real good. I taped the areas off around the CPU die and the area on the IHS that I will coat. I know it's hard to see in the photo due to the black tape on black tool. But, I'm ready to apply the liquid metal. I'm using Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut.
I forgot that I took two photos of it with liquid metal on it. One got the flash reflected back, but this shot is not too bad. It was still in the camera. When I applied the LM, I got it all over the electrical tape (good thing I used it). I peeled the tape off and it was all clean underneath (remember, I have clear fingernail polish on the PCB in case any excess squeezes out, the LM is a tad thick as you can see).
I relidded using a high temperature silicon-based adhesive. I used this same stuff on the 7740X, it does a good job. The Rockit 99 has a relid tool that snaps into place. The rocket holder bolts on and you tighten a thumbscrew to hold the IHS firmly into place until the adhesive cures.
The delidded/relidded 7920X was put back into my system and latched into the socket. I reapplied the waterblock using MX-4 thermal paste, same as what it was first installed with, so all variables are the same except for the liquid metal under the IHS. I reran my stress tests using a 4.6 overclock and vcore of 1.25v (moderate OC on H2O). Ambient temp was 23 degrees C and idle temp was 29. The max load temp for IntelBurnTest (stress) was 8 degrees lower, Geekbench 3 was 8 less, and XTU (benchmark) was 9 degrees C. cooler than before delidding.
So, I call it delta of 8 degrees. I was hoping for at least 10, but I'm still pleased. Remember, when you see people with 15 or 20 degree improvements, that's probably with CPUs that had poorly applied TIM. This one looked good. That 8 degrees will mean I can OC another notch higher and get away with using a bit more vcore.
EDIT: I was previously unable to get a 5.0 GHz CPU-Z verified. Now I can.
This concludes my delidding post.
EDIT: The CPU in these photos is the new world record holder for Cinebench 2003 at HWBOT.
The socket 2066 X-series Intel processors are larger than the rest, so you need a delid tool specifically for these X299 platform CPUs. I decided to try out the Rockit 99 from Rockit Cooling. I never heard of them before, so I took a chance. Here's the i9 7920X placed into the tool. It's a perfect fit. There is a triangle on the tool, match up the triangle on the corner of the CPU for the proper position.
You put the two halves together and screw them together with the provided thumbscrews. See the little slot on the case, that limits the amount of movement allowed, because the Skylake-X has circuitry close to one side of the IHS. It's a no brainer method of making sure the user doesn't screw up. Peace of mind.
You tighten the provided allen wrench until you hear a "click." Open it up and find it delidded. Actually, the Intel TIM looked well spread out and evenly applied. This was way better than my 7740X. So, any drop in temp will be the main result of liquid metal being a better heat conductor.
I posed this shot after I got the PCB and IHS cleaned up. I used a little plastic scraper (left side) and I heard a credit card will work in a pinch. Honestly, I ended up using my fingernail/thumbnail more than anything. Seemed to work best. The bottle is clear fingernail polish. I put three coats of this down on the PCB in case any liquid metal runs down off the die. The electrical tape is used to mask off the area before applying the LM to make cleanup easier. Just peel the tape off. I like Super 33+, it's high quality stuff. I saw a couple youtube videos where they just use office type Scotch tape and it worked. You decide what you want to do.
I used alcohol wipes that come in individual packets to clean the CPU. If you have a bottle of rubbing alcohol, put a little on a microfiber cloth and clean the surfaces real good. I taped the areas off around the CPU die and the area on the IHS that I will coat. I know it's hard to see in the photo due to the black tape on black tool. But, I'm ready to apply the liquid metal. I'm using Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut.
I forgot that I took two photos of it with liquid metal on it. One got the flash reflected back, but this shot is not too bad. It was still in the camera. When I applied the LM, I got it all over the electrical tape (good thing I used it). I peeled the tape off and it was all clean underneath (remember, I have clear fingernail polish on the PCB in case any excess squeezes out, the LM is a tad thick as you can see).
I relidded using a high temperature silicon-based adhesive. I used this same stuff on the 7740X, it does a good job. The Rockit 99 has a relid tool that snaps into place. The rocket holder bolts on and you tighten a thumbscrew to hold the IHS firmly into place until the adhesive cures.
The delidded/relidded 7920X was put back into my system and latched into the socket. I reapplied the waterblock using MX-4 thermal paste, same as what it was first installed with, so all variables are the same except for the liquid metal under the IHS. I reran my stress tests using a 4.6 overclock and vcore of 1.25v (moderate OC on H2O). Ambient temp was 23 degrees C and idle temp was 29. The max load temp for IntelBurnTest (stress) was 8 degrees lower, Geekbench 3 was 8 less, and XTU (benchmark) was 9 degrees C. cooler than before delidding.
So, I call it delta of 8 degrees. I was hoping for at least 10, but I'm still pleased. Remember, when you see people with 15 or 20 degree improvements, that's probably with CPUs that had poorly applied TIM. This one looked good. That 8 degrees will mean I can OC another notch higher and get away with using a bit more vcore.
EDIT: I was previously unable to get a 5.0 GHz CPU-Z verified. Now I can.
This concludes my delidding post.
EDIT: The CPU in these photos is the new world record holder for Cinebench 2003 at HWBOT.
Last edited:
Naked die water cooling, using a bong (or should I say evaporative cooling?).
