You made a mistake. *Warning graphic*
You made a mistake. *Warning graphic*
I tried my first toolless delid without any special tools for CPU removal and honestly feel like I didn’t do enough. I used a razor blade first, then some thin metal probes, gradually increasing thickness until it popped. I heard a cracking sound, which made sense given the age of the X5660 CPU—likely thermal paste or old adhesive coming out. I wasn’t sure if I messed up or if it was just bad luck. Please help me understand what went wrong. P.S. This CPU from AliExpress ended up at a specialist who couldn’t fix it, so there’s no loss.
I think the X5660 is a soldered CPU unit. The die attaches directly to the heat spreader. To remove a soldered CPU you must raise its temperature to the melting point of the solder and maintain that condition during removal. It’s unlikely you’d see significant performance gains from delidding it, since solder already provides excellent thermal conductivity. Sorry for the inconvenience, Edited February 17, 2020 by RollinLower – typos
You're questioning why people are attempting to remove CPUs without ensuring it's safe first. It's important to remember these components are limited to specific 32nm Xeons and aren't compatible with boards that require Westmere-EP support, like the W3690.
This was my very first try and I didn’t bother checking because it didn’t work out. It was just for practicing applying pressure. I’m really glad I have this x5660 dud since it helped me improve my work on it. I can’t get stable past 4.1GHz, which is frustrating, but I managed to score a decent cooler on a solid board, so I wanted to get better performance and speed.
Delid doesn't always mean improved clocks. It depends on the specific chip and its thermal constraints, not just general Intel HEDT/server designs. What are your temperatures? I usually stayed under 4.5 GHz on a 32nm Xeon. I ran an X5675 at 4.4GHz on a Gammax 400—about $13 on eBay, similar to a Hyper 212—for a solid performance. Even with two NF-F12 2000s added, it kept things stable, handling 45nm chips with high voltage levels.
The motherboard is an ASUS P6T Deluxe and the cooler reaches up to 87ºC during a 5-minute stress test. I wasn't able to maintain 4.2Ghz stability; at those same settings it works for about 1-2 hours of gaming without issues, but once I engage in intense gameplay like a high-demand mission in Destiny 2 it triggers a BSOD. I attempted to increase the CPU voltage, but then I encountered TT without achieving any stability. Also, I was considering applying Conductonaut to the die.
This post is a decent read. It features a character from my OC group.