In context: In recent years, delidding has gradually become a lost art due to improvements in modern IHS design, the use of better thermal interface materials, and idiot-proof tools for the deliding process. However, it’s always a pleasant surprise when a processor like the Ryzen 7 5800X3D marking the end of an era is overrun by an enthusiast who believes the rewards are well worth the risks.
Earlier this month, an anonymous overclocker shared a tech preview of the upcoming Ryzen 7000 CPU lineup, revealing the bare dies in all their glory along with the first new integrated heat spreader (IHS) design change in years.
Normally, this procedure is only performed by enthusiasts who want to lower operating temperatures without the use of exotic cooling hardware. For obvious reasons, the Ryzen 7000 series processor was just a tease meant to show how AMD is getting around some of the problems of moving to an LGA socket for the new CPUs. At the same time, it looks like it will be a more daunting task than on any previous CPU due to the way capacitors are arranged on the interposer.
Another overclocker will pass by this week @Madness7771 revealed on Twitter that he had sold the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, the last processor of the AM4 era. There are no surprises in terms of what’s under the IHS – a core complex – which and SoC – which are present, and one can also see a non-conductive protective clutter where a second core complex – which would have been if AMD had decided to to make a Ryzen 9 5900X3D.
What is interesting about this section is that replacing the liquid factory metal with some of Thermal Grizzly’s Conductonaut led the CPU to run 10 degrees Celsius cooler and maintain higher clocks during gaming workloads. Madness says this was a worthwhile improvement, as the 5800X3D was more likely to reach temperatures of up to 90 degrees during long gaming sessions in titles like Forza Horizon 5.
That said, deliding a modern processor yields more modest results than before, while requiring a lot of patience and finesse. Madness used classic tools like razor blades and a hot air gun to do the job, and it goes without saying that this procedure carries a high risk of damaging the delicate core complex die with the stacked 3D V-Cache.
Overall, the results are impressive, and there’s little anyone can do to further improve the Ryzen 7 5800X3D’s performance. Overclocking is not officially supported due to design limitations, but there are characters that manufacturers like MSI may soon add limited overclocking support to select high-end AM4 motherboards.
