IHS removal with XP-90

[[XC] 4X4N]

Before doing this, I didn't see many XP-90 users with the ihs off, so I thought I'd share my results. This was actually very easy to do. Took of ihs with old style thin razor. About 15 min. to do this. I put a few scratches on the corner when prying it off, but no harm done.


Next, I used a dremel to cut down the spacers on the bottom of the XP-90 base. 10 min. to do this.



Then re-installing. It's easier to install the heatsink with the ram removed. Attach the clips on the side with the ram first. When connecting the other side of the clips, pull up on the heatsink so there isn't a lot of pressure on the core. I had one small problem with this. There are 2 caps right next to base, and now with the heatsink closer to the board, the clip hits them when trying to install. I carefully bent them back just a little to get it by. Here is a pic of it.


After all is done, temps are down, but not as much as I was hoping. Idle was at 36-38C, now 33-35C. Load temp is better. 53-55C before, just ran over 9 hours of prime, and never reached 50C. So, I think it was well worth my 1/2 hour of time.

[IvanAndreevich]

Friend has also done it. How much did you gain in terms of o/c?

Just be CAREFUL now. Do not lift the motherboard out of the case by the heatsink - you will crush the core.

[[XC] 4X4N]

Good point, I'll remember that. As far as overclock, haven't tried to go higher yet. I've been stable for while at 11x250, but last night I got a blue screen. Flashed to the bigtoe bios today, and just ran prime all day. This board sometimes has a mind of it's own. My max benchable was at 11x265. Later tonight I'll try for higher.

[DrJay]

I tried this. Is it just me. or is the IHS way harder to remove than with Newcastle / Clawhammer cpus?

[nOx34]

For me ,removing the IHS was followed by a great short period of better OCability and then it all went downhill from there for no apparent reason

[[XC] DragonOrta]

I just took the IHS off of both my venice 3200 and my fx-53. The venice core is so much smaller than the fx. it looks to be almost half as big.

[largon]

I just took the IHS off of both my venice 3200 and my fx-53. The venice core is so much smaller than the fx. it looks to be almost half as big.

Winchester's/Venice's core is only 43.523316062176165803108808290155 percent of the area of Sledgehammer core. So Venice is less than half of FX-53.

How good contact the HS has on FX-5xs? My CBBID Winchester's HS's grey goo seemed to be a thermal insulator.

[DrJay]

On a couple Newcastles and a clawhammer the IHSs came off very easily for me.
Never tried a Winchester. It seemed to be very hard to slice through the rubber stuff on two Venices now.....are most people using acetone to soften it up?
I had to use so much force with the razor blade that I bent many pins and was constantly worried I was going to slip and slice my finger open.

[[XC] 4X4N]

I didn't use anything, the razor went right through pretty easy. I held the cpu with some of the foam pads that they come with. The pins sink right into the foam and hold it. I also wrapped duct tape around the blade so I could only go so far in, and this made it easier to hold onto while cutting.

Edit: So far no help with overclock. Haven't tried for a max shot yet, just trying to find the highest prime stable setting. 11x250 failed prime after 5 1/2 hours.

[Lidocaine]

Thanx for the info, I've been debating on doing this and I do have an XP-90. I was going to do it just last week with my 3500+ Claw, but I got a new 4000+ SanDiego and it runs WAY cooler than all my claws and newcastles ever did.

34C at 2.8Ghz at 1.66VCore.......not too shabby, but I'll keep following this thread to see how much further you gain on an overclock and what volts it takes to get there. .

Once again, thanx for the info and pics, much appreciated.

[[XC] 4X4N]

Update:
Well it looks like I've might have 11x255@1.67v stable. Ran prime for about 45min, but stopped it because temp was getting up to 54-55C. I have just a low speed fan on it. I'm going to get a higher speed fan and see if I can't keep the temps down. Then I'll run it longer and see if it really is stable. I was able to get a super-pi 1m pass at 11x268, but crashed in 3dmark, so I don't think I am goimg to see much gain on my max benchable.

[Jasonxxx]

Here is a pic of how I remounted the XPC-90 after removing the IHS, this is with a 4000+ Claw.... I gained about ~75mhz stablility in my overclock. As far as with claw's this is about average.

[DrJay]

Here is a pic of how I remounted the XPC-90 after removing the IHS, this is with a 4000+ Claw.... I gained about ~75mhz stablility in my overclock. As far as with claw's this is about average.

Very cool!

[[XC] 4X4N]

I like that idea also :thumbsup: I think I might have to look into doing this myself.

[ZoKi]

thanx for the little guide 4X4N. Now i know what base thingy i have to cut down now

[ImportantAwareness89]

Does this strategy work on an XP-120 also?

[Giana]

Anyone knows what those little ICs under the IHS are used for?

[BeSaiD]

one question: if you want to put on the IHS again, what do you need?

It has to be fixed again with "glue" (or epoxi or so) or only AS5?

[ImportantAwareness89]

I always wondered. How do you apply AS5 now? Spread it manually? Treat it like an Athlon XP/Barton?

[[XC] 4X4N]

BeSaid: From what I have read, and this is what I'll do if i put mine back on, is to use as5 on the core and some silicon sealant on the corner of the ihs. Then put the heatsink on.

dmo580: Yes, I just put a small bead on the core, like with the xp's. I test mounted it first, and the contact was perfect.

[rdgrimes]

I thought I would check in and report my success. San Diego 3700 - CAGBE 0526 and XP-90C.

The razor blade prooved to be the best tool. The goop under the IHS was pretty dry and caked, it looked like some kind of aluminum goop. It did appear to have good contact.

Anyway, I saw an immediate drop in idle temp of 4'C and Prime95 temp drop of a whopping 8-9'C. In short, my Prime95 temp is now close to my prior idle temp, and this is with fresh AS-5 compared to cured AS-5. I'm a happy guy. Prime95 only raises my temp about 6-7'C.

[Repoman]

Meh, just did it today.. I used one of those things that you use to scrape paint off, tryed regular razor blade and xacto knife and both were too thick.

I didn't really gain anything.. I think it's because I bought a worse HS because I didn't realize I could have used my XP-90. I bought SLK-948U and temps end up being like 2-3C better than with the IHS on/XP-90. Maybe I'll get a big typhoon if I can find it for cheap..

[PORTUGAL]

please,someone knows if sandiego 4000+ core without ihs is more fragile compared to the old athlonxp?

[Repoman]

Don't know about that as I've never owned an AXP. But these cores on A64 seem pretty tough (I have X2 3800). I tightened my SLK-948U heatsink down all the way and no problems

[jsriolo]

From what I can see the mounting is very similar to the xp-120, but had anyone tried it? As soon as I get my Opteron I might sacrifice my venice to try it if no one else does....