4 ms·

Replacing solder with thermal paste? Thermal paste has always been the preferred conductor between CPUs and heatsinks. Since 486DX2 days. Unless I'm mistaken, w

Replacing solder with thermal paste? Thermal paste has always been the preferred conductor between CPUs and heatsinks. Since 486DX2 days. Unless I'm mistaken, what do you mean?

zargon 5y ago
They're referring to the interface between the CPU die and the integrated heat spreader (IHS).
eightysixfour 5y ago
There is a metal heatspreader on top of the actual CPU which interfaces with the heatsink/fan the user installs. During the time, Intel made a change from soldering the heatspreader to the CPU to using thermal paste between the heatspreader and CPU, which decreased performance and led to users “delidding” their CPUs to increase thermal transfer and, as a result, cooling performance.
sp332 5y ago
Inside the CPU package, between the actual chips and the integrated heat spreader. If I didn't explain it well: https://www.dvhardware.net/article70404.html https://www.dvhardware.net/article70404.html
- gotaquestion 5y ago
  Ohhh.. Got it. Thanks! Wow, that IS a problem.
- raverbashing 5y ago
  Yes and as the article says: > Intel has also long preached the perils of solder TIM, which can lead to shorter lifespans due to microcracks in the solder TIM that form during heat-induced expansion and contraction. It's not just about "cheaper solution". Yes, solder will be best for an overclock but that's not the primary objective here.
fabfabfab 5y ago
I worked alongside this team. Without going into too much details, PTIM vs STIM are primarily cost driven. Engineers are not stupid, which is what Linus, et. al. claim. In fact, they know and listen to what Linus has to say about shitty PTIM. I would love to tell you everything that goes into selection of TIM but for obvious reasons, I cannot. You'd be surprised the amount of engineering that is behind something as simple as thermal interface material. As they say, good engineering is about optimal tradeoff between every aspect of your product. That includes cost (directly, we are responsible for it) and customer happiness (indirectly, since in a giant company, that gets handed off to the Marketing/PR team). These can get out of sync. Here is some public information about PTIM: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20150279762A1/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US20150279762A1/en

Replacing solder with thermal paste? Thermal paste has always been the preferred conductor between CPUs and heatsinks. Since 486DX2 days. Unless I'm mistaken, what do you mean?

zargon 5y ago

They're referring to the interface between the CPU die and the integrated heat spreader (IHS).

eightysixfour 5y ago

There is a metal heatspreader on top of the actual CPU which interfaces with the heatsink/fan the user installs. During the time, Intel made a change from soldering the heatspreader to the CPU to using thermal paste between the heatspreader and CPU, which decreased performance and led to users “delidding” their CPUs to increase thermal transfer and, as a result, cooling performance.

sp332 5y ago

Inside the CPU package, between the actual chips and the integrated heat spreader. If I didn't explain it well: https://www.dvhardware.net/article70404.html https://www.dvhardware.net/article70404.html

gotaquestion 5y ago
Ohhh.. Got it. Thanks! Wow, that IS a problem.
raverbashing 5y ago
Yes and as the article says: > Intel has also long preached the perils of solder TIM, which can lead to shorter lifespans due to microcracks in the solder TIM that form during heat-induced expansion and contraction. It's not just about "cheaper solution". Yes, solder will be best for an overclock but that's not the primary objective here.

fabfabfab 5y ago

I worked alongside this team. Without going into too much details, PTIM vs STIM are primarily cost driven. Engineers are not stupid, which is what Linus, et. al. claim. In fact, they know and listen to what Linus has to say about shitty PTIM. I would love to tell you everything that goes into selection of TIM but for obvious reasons, I cannot. You'd be surprised the amount of engineering that is behind something as simple as thermal interface material. As they say, good engineering is about optimal tradeoff between every aspect of your product. That includes cost (directly, we are responsible for it) and customer happiness (indirectly, since in a giant company, that gets handed off to the Marketing/PR team). These can get out of sync. Here is some public information about PTIM: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20150279762A1/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US20150279762A1/en