A64 IHS removal, very beneficial (pictures inside)

[Chuck232]

So after reading on Xtremesystems about the IHS removal for the A64s, I decided to go ahead with that plan. Since I have a XP-90 on there, which uses the clipping mount process, I decided to get a heatsink that uses the K8 mounting holes, which would be easier for mounting on a lidless A64. After reading around a bit, I came to the (somewhat hesistant) conclusion that the Thermaltake Big Typhoon was my best choice. Many people were saying it beats out the XP-90 handily, with a quieter fan, so I thought, why not.

Well, I went ahead and started on the project yesterday and I can say it's been a success.

First off a picture of the heatsink.



You can't really tell how big it really is, until you see it in context. Here's the Big Typhoon with the TR XP-90.



As you can see, it absolutely dwarfs the XP-90. And here's victim that I operated on. A year old NewCastle 3000+. It never clocked all that well, hitting a pretty solid wall at around 2.4GHz. And that took 1.7V to reach so I've been running 250x9 for the most part at 1.55V. There's some scratches on the IHS from mounting the XP-90 on it. Damn that was tough. I can only imagine what would happen to it trying to mount a XP-90 without a IHS..

[Chuck232]

I started sawing away with a blade which was slightly too large for the space I had. Unfortunately, I didn't have anything smaller so slowly I went. I was friggin scared I was scratching the packaging, but on I went. Finally, I cut through the corners and slid the blade underneath the IHS. At one point, I pushed it a little too hard and the thing slipped right into the chip. I couldn't see how far I had gone, but I thought I hit something, so I was like, crap... Fortunately, nothing was damaged.



As you can see, there's a bunch of thermal paste/material there. It was all hard and brittle so I can't see the thermal properties of it being all that good. And here it is again, but all cleaned up.



And although the chip didn't get damaged in any way, I managed to cut myself a few times with the blade. Ows..



And finally, after a lot of nervousness, I got the massive heatsink mounted on the now nekkid chip.



So what are temps like? From the XP-90 which had a 2700RPM 92mm fan to this TT Big Typhoon with a 1300RPM 120mm fan, I've gone down in temps from 29C/41C idle/load to 25C/34C. This is at stock. I did a little test at 2.5GHz (which I could never reach before) and I'm at 40C load whereas at 2.4GHz before I was already at 51C load. To say the least, a very benefical mod. And TT has actually surprised me somewhat. Seems like the heatsink's pretty decent and very quiet too.

[AstroCreep]

Wow, very nice.
I've been trying to work with my current system (see sig) and my Clawhammer had mysteriously jumped in temp over the past couple of months (from about 33 idle to about 38 idle).
I'd consider doing this if I wasn't selling this system to my sister's BF (remainder of AMD warranty and all).

[James]

Interesting.

Doesn't it screw up the clearances of the HSF unit, since it's made to sit on top of the IHS?

Nice pictorial. I'm glad it worked out the way you had hoped.

[Chuck232]

Well, that's the reason behind getting one of the heatsinks that screw into the backplate. That way you can decide how much pressure to put on the chip.

[proxops-pete]

I might attempt it MUCH later when I am about to upgrade CPU again (to 939)... but for now, I say live with the hotter temp and be happy that all is stable!

[Kappa2001]

really nice work!
impressive how that worked fo better temps and stability

[hwmicre]

I'd like to have seen apples to apples, meaning the XP-90, say, before and after.....

[Chuck232]

Yeah, I would've done that had it not been for the warnings that it isn't the best idea to use the clippy method heatsinks on a bare core. Over at Xtremesystems, there's a whole thread dedicated to this that shows people with the same heatsink before and after. There is usually around a 5-8C difference under load. And 50-100MHz better overclock isn't uncommon either.

[I4one]

really really nice job - and a few nicks and scratches means you were careful with the "components"
I have the exact same CPU (s754) - yet only a crappy ECS microATX mobo just yet....so what are the chances of hanging that puppy off a mATX ?
Does the K8-mounting holes mean - the 2 screws that actually hold the retention mechanism to the mobo ?
Think it's worth a try on a mATX ?
I was originally thinking of a SSF - but with all the "tightness/cramming" and the custom generally low wattage PSUs - I now want atleast a mini-tower - perhaps Mid, for more room to work (big hands -- yet after seeing that puppy, I'd be afraid of the weight snapping/bending/cracking the Mobo, if the mobo is in the vertical position with HS jutting that far out horizontally.
Maybe a Large customized SFF is what I need ?? - so I can lay the board flat

*edit;
just took a peek at the mounting sit on the mATX - and I see the 2 philips screws holding this plastic retention mechanism down (mounted mid-way - only 1 on either/each side) - and yet when I flippedthe mobo over - I can see the 4 un-yet-punched holes (1 in each corner) where this TT HS would screw down, and are hidden by the corner of the plastic retention bracket

...so did you have to drill your holes ?
hmmm - maybe have to pop (unscrew) this crappy plastic off and have a closer look see

[Chuck232]

Yeah, the Antec Aria doesn't look bad. To be honest, the large heatsinks and whatnot probably needed if you're running a mATX board. They usually don't have any overclocking features so cooling it probably isn't the most necessary thing.

And yeah, they're just the two holes that the backplate/retention thing goes through. All the K8 boards have them.

[I4one]

really ?
see my edit - and I'l add some pics here
http://www.thermaltake.com/coolers/4...largedView.htm
http://www.viperlair.com/reviews/coo...14/index.shtml
http://www.viperlair.com/images/revi...0014/inst3.jpg
http://www.viperlair.com/images/revi...0014/inst4.jpg
http://www.viperlair.com/images/revi...0014/inst5.jpg
http://www.viperlair.com/images/revi...0014/inst4.jpg

I'm thinking that the backplate has to be mounted using 4 nuts/bolts - 1 through each corner as the links show I posted (kinda)

Oh - yea - and the other thing about SSF - most come with the mobo - I did look at the Antec Aria I beleive, and the review wasn't looking too promising (for one - they had to actually remove the PSU just to get the HDD, or optical drive in)...plus the airflow wasn't the greatest, even though supossedly quiet - there were many things I saw that would just bother me to no end I like swapping things in/out
plus - I'm actually thinking that TT won't even fit in a SFF case

[McRontaya]

Very descriptive walkthrough, and I am now asking myself what an IHS is because I am playing a game and too lazy to search the meaning =P

If anyone can answer, much obliged, haha.

[The Next Vaughn]

I also have a question and this is going to sound really noobish but what exactly is going on. The only thing i have caught is tha tyou took off the casing of a processor er something. For what reason idk but it would be nice if someone told me what is being accomplished because it looks like it was a lot of hard work.

[PriMaTe]

The internal heat spreader is that metal covering that was over the core of the processor, chuck cut this off. Cutting it off allows the core to be exposed, so that the heatsink can make direct contact with the core for better heat transfer which leads to lower temps.

The point of removing the IHS is to achieve better temps.

chuck, great write up and pictures, thanks for posting and glad everything worked out well.

does this mean that you can use mobile processors as long as you use a heatsink that screws into a backplate? wasn't the issue with them that they didn't come with an IHS so the heatsinks wouldn't fit properly?