Why do CPUs have IHS

[tigersty1e]

Seems like the chip would be better cooled it they were left bare like some GPUs.

 

[Idontcare]

It's there to physically protect the semiconductor chip. When AMD shipped their chips as exposed die many learned how easy it was to chip the silicon chip and kill your $300 CPU while installing your $15 HSF.

Adding a $1 IHS between your $300 CPU and $15 HSF is cheap insurance and only mildly (very mildly) reduces the thermal transfer properties of the entire assembly.

 

[Cogman]

Originally posted by: Idontcare
It's there to physically protect the semiconductor chip. When AMD shipped their chips as exposed die many learned how easy it was to chip the silicon chip and kill your $300 CPU while installing your $15 HSF.

Adding a $1 IHS between your $300 CPU and $15 HSF is cheap insurance and only mildly (very mildly) reduces the thermal transfer properties of the entire assembly.

Yep. Though I never cracked a CPU before.

 

[Drsignguy]

I read this earlier and pretty much knew the answer but and I am glad You, ( idontcare) that has much more exp than I, have answered this. I have had some friends in the early days of their AMD experiences that did damage their cpu's.:thumbsup:

 

[soccerballtux]

Originally posted by: Idontcare
It's there to physically protect the semiconductor chip. When AMD shipped their chips as exposed die many learned how easy it was to chip the silicon chip and kill your $300 CPU while installing your $15 HSF.

Adding a $1 IHS between your $300 CPU and $15 HSF is cheap insurance and only mildly (very mildly) reduces the thermal transfer properties of the entire assembly.

Idontknow, I wonder about this. My TR-Ultra120 is never more than warm to the touch, even though the die is 74C. Lapped with 2k grit (CPU and the heatsink), got the AS5 on too.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: soccerballtux

Originally posted by: Idontcare
It's there to physically protect the semiconductor chip. When AMD shipped their chips as exposed die many learned how easy it was to chip the silicon chip and kill your $300 CPU while installing your $15 HSF.

Adding a $1 IHS between your $300 CPU and $15 HSF is cheap insurance and only mildly (very mildly) reduces the thermal transfer properties of the entire assembly.

Idontknow, I wonder about this. My TR-Ultra120 is never more than warm to the touch, even though the die is 74C. Lapped with 2k grit (CPU and the heatsink), got the AS5 on too.

thats cuz your true can take a ton of heat b4 it heats up.

Also the way heat pipes work, one side is hot turns into gas and goes to the other side via capilary. The gas then goes to the sink portion where its cooled down and travels back to the base to get turned into gas.


Basically saying if your heat pipes are hot/warm to the touch, you've overshot your sink and its not safe.

 

[Binky]

I assembled many Athlon and PIII systems back in the old days. I sucessfully damaged at least 3 cores that I remember. One of them stopped functioning immediately. One ran a bit unstable but still ran after "the incident." And one of them never showed any signs of damage.

So I'm a big fan of the IHS!

 

[middlehead]

I never damaged a core but I was always worried about it. I was happy when AMD finally started using IHS.

 

[Owls]

Consider the IHS as a condom... sure it feels better once you take it off but down the line you never know what can happen due to carelessness.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: Owls
Consider the IHS as a condom... sure it feels better once you take it off but down the line you never know what can happen due to carelessness.

a better example would be a bicycle helmet.

You never know when your head is gonna crack open.

 

[CTho9305]

I think it probably is there mostly for cooling. Sure, it doesn't help the enthusiast - but if you look at it from the perspective of high-volume OEM machines with a cheap aluminum heatsinks, it starts to make sense.

 

[TheJian]

Originally posted by: aigomorla

Originally posted by: Owls
Consider the IHS as a condom... sure it feels better once you take it off but down the line you never know what can happen due to carelessness.

a better example would be a bicycle helmet.

You never know when your head is gonna crack open.

But the bicycle helmet is nowhere near as funny...

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: TheJian

Originally posted by: aigomorla

Originally posted by: Owls
Consider the IHS as a condom... sure it feels better once you take it off but down the line you never know what can happen due to carelessness.

a better example would be a bicycle helmet.

You never know when your head is gonna crack open.

But the bicycle helmet is nowhere near as funny...

yeah but the condom example can lead to either a bad case of STD = BSOD

OR it can lead to you upgrading from a dualcore to a quadcore = IE birth of new cores.


So.. nah, the bicycle i think holds more relavence. [grin]

 

[Rubycon]

With the sidethrust produced by today's tall coolers there's a need for an IHS more than ever. Just a bump could kill the CPU. Adding quad core units with two discrete dies and you open a potential can of worms to keep things running.

 

[Acanthus]

they can refine silicon to smooth down to the atomic level wafers, however, apparently making standoffs so you cant chip the core is hard :roll:

Especially with the thermal load increasing ever higher on high end CPUs, i question using Al heatspreaders all the more.

 

[taltamir]

Back in the day I bought an "arctic silver 5" tube in compUSA that was a cheap chinese knockoff (the arctic silver website had instructions on identifying said knockoffs). Well the knockoff is VERY electrically conductive, unlike AS5 which isn't. A little bit of it got off the die and smeared unto the circuit board and fried that CPU.
Needless to say, I was unhappy. The IHS is one of the best things ever added to the CPU. If you REALLY need that extra oomph, lap it.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: taltamir
The IHS is one of the best things ever added to the CPU. If you REALLY need that extra oomph, lap it.

only applies to the air users tho, which is a majority.

On vapor phase, water with accelerators, and TEC, the IHS can hurt you quite a bit.

 

[Tempered81]

Originally posted by: Idontcare
It's there to physically protect the semiconductor chip. When AMD shipped their chips as exposed die many learned how easy it was to chip the silicon chip and kill your $300 CPU while installing your $15 HSF.

Adding a $1 IHS between your $300 CPU and $15 HSF is cheap insurance and only mildly (very mildly) reduces the thermal transfer properties of the entire assembly.

yup what he said, pretty much.

and also, they can assure a factory machined contact between copper & die.

 

[TheJian]

Originally posted by: aigomorla

Originally posted by: TheJian

Originally posted by: aigomorla

Originally posted by: Owls
Consider the IHS as a condom... sure it feels better once you take it off but down the line you never know what can happen due to carelessness.

a better example would be a bicycle helmet.

You never know when your head is gonna crack open.

But the bicycle helmet is nowhere near as funny...

yeah but the condom example can lead to either a bad case of STD = BSOD

OR it can lead to you upgrading from a dualcore to a quadcore = IE birth of new cores.


So.. nah, the bicycle i think holds more relavence. [grin]

I thought those two examples were what the condom was put on to PREVENT in the first place. Silly me.

And a helmet doesn't guarantee safety either. I've seen plenty of cracked ones on dead people (motorcycle or bike) The only way I see that's 100% is abstinence (IE, don't buy a PC and forget bikes/motorcycles...LOL). IHS is supposed to protect your cpu, condom protects your well you know, and a helmet protects your noggin. All pretty much come with the same caveats. No guarantee, just better than going naked in all three cases...

Relevance? Up in the air at the moment. Wasn't commenting regarding relevance anyway.

Funny? Condom hands down.

Switch to firefox it will fix your relavance Oh god, let's not get the grammar police started...LOL

 

[Lorne]

But why havent they use Cu for the IHS, Yes it is more expensive but it conducts heat 2x better and doesnt warp from temp changes as Au does.
Well maybe for extreme/black versions.

Anyone try pulling one of the IHS off?, I remember doing this all the time back in the K6 days.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Originally posted by: Cogman

Originally posted by: Idontcare
It's there to physically protect the semiconductor chip. When AMD shipped their chips as exposed die many learned how easy it was to chip the silicon chip and kill your $300 CPU while installing your $15 HSF.

Adding a $1 IHS between your $300 CPU and $15 HSF is cheap insurance and only mildly (very mildly) reduces the thermal transfer properties of the entire assembly.

Yep. Though I never cracked a CPU before.

I chipped a corner on my 1800+, but it still worked I think the IHS is a great idea.

 

[rge]

Originally posted by: Lorne
But why havent they use Cu for the IHS, Yes it is more expensive but it conducts heat 2x better and doesnt warp from temp changes as Au does.
Well maybe for extreme/black versions.

Au means gold. Al means aluminum. But whatever you meant, the IHS of all modern intel cpus is made of nickel plated copper. According to intel published research, it is not just there for protection, but also to more evenly spread the heat over a larger surface area prior to customer application of tim2 which is more prone to error. While minority enthusiasts who carefully employ quality cooling components may exceed the potential of the IHS to evenly spread the heat, mass production will not.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: rge

Originally posted by: Lorne
But why havent they use Cu for the IHS, Yes it is more expensive but it conducts heat 2x better and doesnt warp from temp changes as Au does.
Well maybe for extreme/black versions.

Au means gold. Al means aluminum. But whatever you meant, the IHS of all modern intel cpus is made of nickel plated copper. According to intel published research, it is not just there for protection, but also to more evenly spread the heat over a larger surface area prior to customer application of tim2 which is more prone to error. While minority enthusiasts who carefully employ quality cooling components may exceed the potential of the IHS to evenly spread the heat, mass production will not.

the nickle is actually so your ihs doesnt oxidize and look very ugly.

Think of an old copper pipe. Also adding buffers and clear coats to keep that shine would hinder the cooling properties.

If you lap'd a cpu ihs b4, after the first couple passes, you notice the ihs turning pinkish = copper.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

IHS are not aluminium.

They are nickel platted copper.

 

[Lorne]

Typo, My bad, Al is correct.
I didnt know that they were using Cu already it looked just like the unbuffed Al ones from the past.