Quote Originally Posted by Kobalt View Post
probably pretty easy to crush because the bare die is not made to withstand pressure because it has the IHS. I think i read something where the Athlon XPs had some type of ceramic layer on top of the die to prevent chipping since it was exposed. Now that theres an IHS, thats not longer used and chipping is easier.

If you can't afford another CPU, dont remove the IHS.
I'm not sure how intel dies compare to AMD dies as far as durability, but on my naked opty I had my heatsink bolted down so darn tight I couldn't turn the screws anymore. Not even so much as a chipped corner on the die. When the screws are tightened down that far there is a ton of pressure on that die.

Think of the screws like this.

1 . . 2

3 . . 4

Tighten screw 1 some, then 4, then 2, then 3, and repeat until tight. That puts even pressure on the die which will prevent crushing the corners. Usually chipping the die is caused by uneven pressure while mounting.