Check if the heat spreaders are soldered or use a thermal pad.
Check if the heat spreaders are soldered or use a thermal pad.
Some models had a soldered connection, like Sandy Bridge (1155). It seems 1156 might have been soldered too.
Soldered components avoid the poor TIM heat problems, so you won’t have to worry about removing them later.
That's accurate. Your observation is well made. However, the 115x in the final three generations does rely on tim.
Sandy bridge and earlier models, along with 2011 xeons, have been welded together.
From the perspective of Xeons, they aren't suitable for desktop boards. The review mentioned this, though I'm unsure about the reasoning behind it.