First time delidder with multitude of questions

[Idontcare]

Does anybody just run the chip naked to the waterblock? It reads like everyone reapplies the IHS.

It can be a real PITA to modify the socket (remove the bracket, remove the plastic pin from the socket) as well as the mounting bolts themselves just to get a direct-die mount.

I went to the trouble and found the thermal benefits were not all that exciting, so I just put the IHS back on my delidded processors (3 3770K's) and called it good.

 

[DrMrLordX]

It used to be that the only reason to delid was for direct-die cooling. Now there are other reasons to do so.

Back then, you had to deal with the solder, and that was tricky business. Just having to worry about the mounting bracket is a luxury compared to that mess!

 

[PPB]

It can be a real PITA to modify the socket (remove the bracket, remove the plastic pin from the socket) as well as the mounting bolts themselves just to get a direct-die mount.

I went to the trouble and found the thermal benefits were not all that exciting, so I just put the IHS back on my delidded processors (3 3770K's) and called it good.

Im considering this option. I see your experience was painful both because it was a complete journey from square zero, and the hardships in measuring everything and making the proper bolt standoffs.

Considering this I decided into buying one of these nylon M3 kits LINK and using one of the biggest spacers and cut off the according ammount of space to make them a tight fit with my heatsink (planning to use a good ol' 775 bifurcated fin stock heatsink as a placeholder till I get something really good or worth it).

I think this should be the best call since I already need some kind of spacers as the ones coming with the 77 stock HSF are made for the 775 socket and not the 1150 (though the spacing in the bracket allows you to use it on LGA1150, just replacing the holders with screws and spacers).

This is the Heatsink without the holders:

 

[JM Popaleetus]

It can be a real PITA to modify the socket (remove the bracket, remove the plastic pin from the socket) as well as the mounting bolts themselves just to get a direct-die mount.

I went to the trouble and found the thermal benefits were not all that exciting, so I just put the IHS back on my delidded processors (3 3770K's) and called it good.

I didn't even think about the bracket system and that modification for the HSF to make contact with the core (without the IHS) would be needed. For some reason, I was thinking it'd be just like mounting an Athlon XP.

Shame, I was pondering using my Bridgeport to mill something like this (could even mill the surrounding IHS to be completely level with the core):

 

[WithAlligators]

OP here. Delidding was super easy. Not sure what the big deal is, unless it's a static discharge worry or something like what happened to IDontCare.
Just take your time, don't force anything, and you should be fine. I don't see how it's something that needs practice so long as you are careful and do some research (where the transistors are under the IHS, etc).
I lapped it too for kicks. Like most IHSes it was high on the outside and lower in the middle. I started with 800 and got it down to 2000 grit (which frankly still seemed pretty rough, and I would have done 5000 if I had it on hand with me). Lapping didn't really seem worth it, but since I changed so much going from stock everything to my final setup with a 240mm rad, it's hard to say how much it contributed.

So, right now, it's at stock speeds, in an Ncase M1 with a small res, Apogee Drive II and an alphacool ST30. The reason I want cool is mostly for quiet. The cooler it's running, the less the fans and pump need to work, not to get the most out of an OC.

In the future, after the new AMD cards come out, I'm going to decide on a GPU, add it into the mix along with 2 more fans and another rad, possibly a modded ST30 or a Black Ice Pro II.

I am going to start playing with OC settings though, just cause.

Now, running Aida 64 with the turbo on the CPU at like 4.4GHz, the cores hover in the low 60s with the occasional spike. I was hoping for better, but that's an ok temp.

As far as reattaching the IHS, I clamped it down in the mount, and then applied a dab of silicon in the corners to hold it in place. Doesn't really do the job, so I may put some more on there. I don't want it between the IHS and the PCB. Any suggestions?

 

[DrMrLordX]

First off, it's smart to lap the ihs since it's so easy to do so once you have it off. I stop at 400 grit since I use CLU, and it alters the texture of copper surfaces anyway. Lapping in that case serves to remove the nickel coating and nothing more. Starting at 800 is a bit crazy; I go 200/220, then 400, then 800 if I want to use something other than CLU (which I don't, anymore).

My trick for keeping the IHS in place was to leave the leftover epoxy on the PCB. It's shaped perfectly to fit the IHS as it was before it was removed, and the retention mechanism partially rebonds the IHS to the PCB after a few heating cycles. It kept the IHS in place during mounting of the HSF beautifully. If you have already removed the leftover epoxy from the PCB, or if it all came off with the IHS when you removed it, then that is not an option for you.

 

[Idontcare]

I didn't even think about the bracket system and that modification for the HSF to make contact with the core (without the IHS) would be needed. For some reason, I was thinking it'd be just like mounting an Athlon XP.

Shame, I was pondering using my Bridgeport to mill something like this (could even mill the surrounding IHS to be completely level with the core):

Yeah the problem is the silicon die itself sits below the surface of the retention bracket. So your HSF never makes contact with the die. You have to remove the bracket and use your HSF mounting pressure as essentially its own retention mechanism.

And that is a pain because too much compression (no cracking the die concerns anymore, the LGA socket is like one big cushy spring mattress for your cpu) and you cause issues with pin contacts, same with too little compression.

You have to get it right and that takes some fiddling.

In the end, it really didn't seem worth it at all. (running bare-die)