XPENTOR GUIDES 01 - By Willyam Anton, Date: 14/01/2006

INTEL PENTIUM 4 C 3.0GHZ IHS REMOVED GUIDES AND BENCHMARKS

Introduction

Ever since the release of intel Pentium4 we have seen intel's way of dissipating heat out of the P4 processors through the Integrated Heat Spreader(IHS).This silver coloured IHS is located on the top of the P4 core and become the thing that make a small P4 heavy.Unlike the old style Athlon XP, intel uses this IHS to protect its sensitive core cell from being easily messed up during installation. It is made up of nickel plated pure copper and claimed to be an effective way of dissipating heat out of the P4. Is this statement actually true? Let's just straight move to the test.

The Test

In the test I picked up an Intel Pentium 4C 3.0GHz. I recorded the idle temperatures between the normal P4(with IHS) and the modded one (with IHS removed).

It is an Intel Pentium 4 C 3.0Ghz Made in Malay version. Costa Rica's version might be different.

Cutting Guides

These are the tools I used to cut off the IHS:

Gillette Razor sharp blade, cutton bud and alcohol.

BEFORE YOU GO THROUGH THIS CUTTING PROCESS BE SURE THAT YOU KNOW BY DOING THIS YOU HAVE JUST TAKEN AWAY YOUR WARRANTY. WE ARE ALSO NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY PROBLEMS CAUSED BY FOLLOWING THIS GUIDE. THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL GUIDE AND IS NOT SUPPORTED BY INTEL.

You read it and let's go to the process..

First of all, you need to make sure that you have a sharp razor to cut through the glue between the core and the IHS. Make sure you cut it by starting from all the four edges one by one slowly and carefully not to cut it too deep inside to avoid scratches that might damage the components.You migh also take a caution not to bend the pins during the process.This end process will end up look like this:

See that razor blade is cutting through between the P4 green PCB and the IHS itself after cutting all of the four edges.

This is the aftermath image of a successful cutting process:

As you can see there is only one chip on top of the green PCB after I opened up the Malay version of Pentium4. You might see a different inside look of your processor because different versions have different design.

Have a look at that white thermal glue. Now you can use your cutton bud soaked with alcohol (make sure it is not very wet) to clean it up until it is as clean as this image you can see the reflection of a can of coke:

The Benchmark

Before following such a risky process you might be wondering is it really worth cutting off your IHS? How much improvement can you made from it? Here is the benchmark of the idle temperatures:

As you can see there, a whopping 6C degrees cooler than a normal Pentium4 with IHS! what can I say about this? if you really are an overclocker, this is the only chance you can get to reduce temperature and gain more possible speed if you have been stuck with every toys u have currently .

Conclusion

The idea of IHS for processor might be reasonable for people who don't really know the value of overclocking. But for us who dreamed to be the best overclocker, it really matters. For myself i can say that IHS is something that should be reconsidered by intel and AMD as it only increases price of a processor.