How to Delid Your Processor, and Why

YOU’LL NEED THIS

PROCESSOR

DELIDDING TOOL

($43, for Delid Die Mate, or $102, for Delid Die Mate-X)

LIQUID METAL OR THERMAL PASTE

(Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut, or Noctua’s NT-H1). + extras

AH DELIDDING, THAT OLD, TERRIFYING PROCEDURE, usually only recommended for the elite. For the uninitiated, delidding is the act of separating the integrated heat spreader (IHS) from the top of the processor, and then replacing the stock thermal paste that the manufacturer has used with something a little more premium—usually liquid metal or a better thermal paste.

Once upon a time it used to be quite the daunting procedure, involving all sorts of razor blades and torture devices, with a myriad of techniques used to carefully splice your processor away from its IHS, hopefully without damaging the silicon underneath (or yourself for that matter).

For many, it was rarely ever worth it. As temps on the high-end parts remained resolutely below that 70C mark, even with the weakest of aftermarket coolers,