to solder a processor die

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forknowledge

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let me start by saying i am not experienced with the projects i read on these forums. i build computers. well "build" is a strong word. i plug in parts and refer to it as building.

anyways, there is a process called "delidding". delidding refers to the process of replacing an oem thermal paste between the die and lid of the processor with the goal of reducing operating temps. i want to replace the oem thermal paste with solder rather than just using a different thermal paste but dont know how to go about it. i am considering reflow soldering (not experienced with that either)





Any suggestions/ideas are much appreciated.
 
Solder conducts electricity. Thermal paste does not conduct electricity. Then replacing the thermal paste with solder will short everything together. Thermal paste is made to conduct heat so maybe it is a better conductor of heat than solder.
How will you keep out humidity in the air when you delid the IC?
 
Solder will not adhere to the surface of the silicon and will have lots of air trapped underneath it. Also you can easily damage the chip this way.
I suggest you change the paste, and/or use a different heatspreader. You could try using liquid metal thermal compound directly, but no idea if its conductivity will come bite you in the ass.
 


hi audioguru and thanks for the reply! the die is usually soldered to the heatspreader from the factory. from what ive read solder is a better heat conductor than thermal paste. the thermal paste market is full of half truths and sales pitches so real numbers are hard to come by. without testing it myself i am relying on information i can gather. heat transfer is a whole other can of worms when discussing this on pc forums it is often mentioned that intel cheaped out by not soldering which is why the thermal paste is an issue in the first place.
i see many a video with a delidded cpu and new thermal paste using the motherboard bracket to hold their processor together. (running about 10C cooler)
The way i see it is i want to do this without being wasteful and knowing my processor is just garbage when i upgrade.
as for humidity, that is a good question. i have not seen one mention of a person delidding mention humidity being a factor.
 

hi kubeek, ive heard the same. somebody mentioned to me reflow soldering which i looked into but i am quite hesitant to put my cpu in the oven lol. thanks for the reply
 
forknowledge said:
hi audioguru and thanks for the reply! the die is usually soldered to the heatspreader from the factory.
Click to expand...

This is totally wrong , the die is only connected to the HS via a tiny thermal paste layer witch helps conduct the die's heat to the hs and next to the radiator .

In the other hand there is a metallic thermal paste
 
How bad are your temps that your willing to do this? A $30 upgrade for a better heatsink is worth more than risking a CPU. Even increasing airflow in your computer case will help. My CPU constantly sits at 33C, with room temp at 25C. I even have a slight overclock (800Mhz, if you want to call it slight..).
 
BGAmodz said:
This is totally wrong , the die is only connected to the HS via a tiny thermal paste layer witch helps conduct the die's heat to the hs and next to the radiator .

In the other hand there is a metallic thermal paste
Click to expand...

oh, thank you for correcting me. i am referring to something else.. die to the lid soldered. lid to heatsink thermal paste. i thought the lid was being referred to as a heat spreader in context.
 
My temps arent bad 27c idle 63c prime95. i have an aftermarket heatsink and running stock clocks until i need more juice. about a year. 2 years if im lucky. I am researching this because i am a tinkerer and i like to learn, thanks for your input
 
How about just cleaning up and polishing the top of the die and directly mounting your cpu cooler on the die (with some TIM of course) as done by some overclockers?
 
tronitech said:
How about just cleaning up and polishing the top of the die and directly mounting your cpu cooler on the die (with some TIM of course) as done by some overclockers?
Click to expand...
that is a good idea. the die is flat and smooth but i can certainly lap the heatsink. i'll remember to try this out
 
I ordered a tube of liquid pro ultra. liquid pro products are made of a gallium alloy. if any of you try it out or use it make sure to read the MSDS for gallium
**broken link removed**
 
I would rather ask what kind of coating is on the bare chip die. I really wouldnt risk ruining a 200$ processor just because I want to get 5°C off the die temperature. If the die is not perfectly closed by some kind of coating, then the liquid metal could leech inside and amalgamate the silicon, which you really dont want to happen.
 
I share AG's concerns about electrical shorts if solder or a metallic paste or metal-containing paste is used. There is also the possibility that an electrically-conducting layer so close to the die will increase parasitic capacitance, which could affect signal propogation times and lead to race conditions.
 
forknowledge said:
I ordered a tube of liquid pro ultra. liquid pro products are made of a gallium alloy. if any of you try it out or use it make sure to read the MSDS for gallium
**broken link removed**
Click to expand...


My advice is use the metallic paste on the heat spreader and not the die , and mx 4 between die and HS .
 
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