Removing the A64 IHS

[xgman]

I quote A recent post by Cathar, designer of the cascade etc:

"Almost every single cooling device on the planet will perform better if the IHS is removed. The IHS is a hindrance to the removal of heat from the CPU die. It does nothing at all to help keep the CPU cool except in the very limited scenario of poorly designed and performing aluminium based heatsinks. Anyone remember the original stock all-aluminium P4 air-coolers? Anyone?"

[aldamon]

I'm going to give it a try. My 3200+ Clawhammer won't budge past 2.4 GHz, even at 1.8V.

[CodeRed]

Originally posted by StormPC
I would leave the IHS on unless you have a really bad overclocker. If it overclocks well that means the IHS is making great contact and you won't see much increase if any. If it doesn't OC well it may be because the thermal paste was not properly applied or the IHS was not installed properly.

Also, when using an evap you had better be very careful. Personally I have not experienced any performance increase from removing the IHS. Also, the ClawHammers are less delicate than the Newcastles because they are larger. It's not worth the risk IMO. I run my FX-53 naked because I bought it that way, but I would never have removed the IHS myself because it made no difference on the 2 A64s I tried it on previously.

lol, I must have one of those really bad overclockers

5 deg C drop in core temp and an extra 84 MHz from my 3400+/prommy setup

worth it in MO? It depends on how badly you want that extra Mhz

[saaya]

what temps are you getting?

[CodeRed]

CPU core temp running prime95 as follows:

Before IHS removal:

1.55V -11 deg C, -48 on the evap
1.60V -10 deg C, -47 on the evap


After IHS removal:

1.55V -17 deg C, -48 on the evap
1.60V -15 deg C, -47 on the evap

unfortunately I didnt take temp readings at the higher voltages, these are all that I wrote down.

Also, I didnt notice any significant OC gains at the lower voltages. The real benefit only became aparent at 1.8V and higher. At first I thought the mod was a waste of time (only tested up to 1.6V on the first night) , then the following night I did some 1.95V runs and got a SuperPi 1M at 3044 Mhz.

[aldamon]

Well, I took mine off. I have to say guys, it was pretty easy. My first CPU "hack" was taking the cartridge off of my Slot A Athlon and this paled in comparison. It took me all of ten minutes with a razor blade. I even hard mounted my Cascade with no trouble or cracked core.

The jury is still out on its effectiveness, but we'll see how it goes. The temperature sensor on my 8KDA3J is obviously in socket because it goes up when I remove the side cover and its 120mm blowhole fan. With my water cooling in place, that's not sensible. I'll have to rely on improved performance rather than temperatures to judge its effects. I'm currently Priming at a speed that failed after two hours before removing the IHS. Hopefully the AS5 will cure a bit while Priming. I want 2.5 GHz damnit!

PS: Anybody else think the IHS would make a damn good keychain?

[Flak]

Does anyone know if the alpha8150 will work once the IHS is removed? I'm currently getting 2.43 with two sticks of ram and 2.49 with one stick of ram. Hoping removing the IHS will put me over 2.5.

[saaya]

welcome to XtremeSystems flak

well we can def say that removing the ihs doesnt decrease your oc, so even if the gain is small, its there

what mounting mechanism does your hsf use flak?

[Flak]

the alpha8150 screws into the backplate. but the screws are setup such that they can only be screwed down so far. I'm thinking that for it to work I will have to find screws the proper length that will fit.

[saaya]

they are all standardtised, so it sdhouldnt be a problem.

on videocards the holes are perfect for 4mm screws, dont know about cpu holes.

[jess1313]

I had removed My IHS, but I couldnt get good contact with it off.
After this I put it back on with AS5 & gain 150mhz clock with 22c lower on idle.

This sounds like alot but I can clock way higher with less voltage now.

Mine was not making good contact with the IHS, there was a big bubble in the center of the factory clue.


Well worth it. I am on air BTW.

Also it helps to heat the spreader when cutting it off. Just us a cig lighter.

[PanaBob]

So why not just get a 3200+ A64 M that comes without the IHS? Isn't "CG" supposed to OC better? Or do the newcastles OC better? I'll transition to A64 as soon as I learn enough about the new chipsets and the DFI board comes out

[saaya]

there are newcastle c0 and cg chips, and clawhammer c0 and very few clawhammer cg chips afaik.

the clawhammer cg chips are what everybody is looking for afaik.

i think i will make this thread sticky

[OC Detective]

No such thing as CO Newcastles they are disabled Clawhammers. (Newegg and others label them wrongly).

[saaya]

ahhhh thx for correcting me

[Jasonxxx]

[InsaneMan]

Originally posted by xxORBxx
Number 1

I hear the cores crush pretty easy but i dont know.

Yeaaah..
Better Overclock :smileysex

[jonspd]

Well I did it to my a64 3000 about an hour ago and idle temp's look much better have to wait for the AS5 to set to see what kinda max I can get now.

[IvanAndreevich]

jonspd
How much lower temps are you getting already?

[jonspd]

Well full load isn't hitting 50C+ anymore it's more around 46 and idle temp has droped over 5c lower then before as for the overclock I was able to run 236 before @ 1.7 and now I can run about 242 after with same volt's.

After AS5 set's I'am hoping for around 44c full load @ 2.45 with about 1.72 volts I will have to put the mod back on of course tho

[aldamon]

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the delayed update, if anyone cares. The day before I removed my IHS, my gig of 3700EB arrived. Turns out, one of the sticks is bad. So while my initial results after IHS removal were "disasterous" because I never in a thousand years thought my RAM would be bad, they are now sweet with my backup RAM installed. That's what I get for changing two components in a system at the same time

Before IHS removal, I could not go higher than 2.4 GHz on 1.8V. I'm now Prime stable at 2.48 GHz @ 1.8V and climbing. I'm currently bumping it 20 Mhz at a time and Priming for 8 hours+. I know this means nothing for comparisons sake, but on my 8KDA3J with high-end water, I'm getting 40 - 42 degrees under load with an ambient temperature of 35 degrees. The temp sensor is not accurate though. The core temp goes up if I turn off my blowhole fan. The increased performance says it all IMO. I hope to get to 2.5 GHz and beyond, but we'll see.

[aldamon]

Well, turns out 2480 wasn't stable. 2470 is though. I'll take a 70 Mhz gain for 10 minutes of work. Hopefully 2.5 GHz+ will be atainable in the winter months.

[AZN]

is there any problem at all with contact pressure from a SLK948u on the epox NF3 board if i take the IHS off? also how delicate is the core? do i need to worry about it getting crushed without the IHS?

[jonspd]

I'am using the same HSF without a problem about contact. As for the core it's pretty delicate. I would be sure to set the HSF a few time's before you set it for good or @ least thats what I did so I could see the contact it was getting off the patern of the hsf base.

[AZN]

well i just took the IHS off and it doesnt help at all or very little for me. only thing i havn't tried are all the bios available. im still looking for 5-14 bios that i was recommended but having trouble finding.