8700k - Delid inquiries
8700k - Delid inquiries
I’d suggest the Noctua NH-D15 for good value. It offers solid performance and decent features at an affordable price.
Maybe some research on your end, you'll find the information of lots of people getting massive temp drops. That's why it's so popular with this particular chip. Also, my delidded 8700K has benched at 6ghz. And is in use today on air cooling. Plenty of benching on Liquid between 5.2 and 5.4ghz.
I felt a little anxious at first since I was about to delete this post. Swapping coolers and boosting airflow seems straightforward. I’ll try it, thanks to all of you!
Personal account: my 8700k dropped by a minimum of 10c or more after using deluding + LM. Now I can maintain nearly 1.4v under load with air without throttling. Back then, 1.3v was the limit before overheating became impossible in air and during stress tests. Also, I required slightly lower voltage for the same clocks because of reduced power loss.
It's honest to say that if you're aiming for a delid setup, you'll likely end up doing it regardless. Delidding accomplishes two main things. First, it lowers the cooling needs at the same voltage—useful in situations where mini-itx or other cooling constraints apply. This is similar to what PS5 and certain laptops achieve by using direct die designs with LMOs. Second, pairing it with improved cooling lets you push higher overclocks while needing less voltage to reach them.
It’s unlikely the TIM under the IHS was completely faulty. My thought is you might have recently replaced your graphics card or are measuring CPU temps against when it was installed. Since games and applications have evolved, they’re now more demanding, forcing your CPU to perform harder and thus heat up. If this applies, your approach seems reasonable.
You're really into tech details! So, about your RAM and the Noctua NH-D15 fans—your setup should work fine. The specs match what those fans need, and the memory is compatible with modern systems.