Delidded Ryzen 9 9950X3D runs 23 degrees cooler than stock

Ryzen 9 9950X3D delidding can yield 23 degrees lower thermals, or 9% more performance

der8auer, the world-renowned overclocker, has delidded AMD’s recently released Ryzen 9 9950X3D CPU. By doing this, the overclocker has managed to lower the CPU’s load thermals by 23 degrees Celsius at stock.

Using this newfound thermal headroom, der8auer was able to increase the clock speeds and power limit of AMD’s top-of-the-line AM5 CPU. This resulted in a 9% increase in performance in Cinebench R23. However, this change also resulted in a 73% increase in power draw. For most, these performance gains will not be worth the added power cost.

What is delidding?

Delidding is a process where PC enthusiasts remove the Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS’) of modern CPUs. This allows overclockers to directly attach cooling solutions to the silicon dies of processors. This can enable lower operating temperatures by directly cooling the silicon of modern processors.

While delidding has its benefits, so do the IHS solutions used by modern CPUs. For starters, using an IHS protects the silicon of modern CPUs. Incorrectly mounting a CPU cooler onto a delidded CPU could cause your CPU’s silicon to crack, breaking it. Without an IHS, CPUs are much more fragile. IHS solutions also create a common interface for CPU cooling solutions, as different CPUs could use various silicon configurations. This means that CPU coolers only need to support a specific CPU socket, and not particular CPUs.

Delidding is popular amongst overclockers and hardcore PC enthusiasts, as it allows users to get more out of their processors. Overclockers can use lowered thermals to achieve greater overclocking results. Others will use these lowered thermals to allow their CPU cooling solutions to operate more quietly under load.

(Source – Der8auer – YouTube)

Is getting a delidded Ryzen 9 9950X3D worthwhile?

Even without overclocking, AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X3D runs faster after the CPU is delidded. der8auer noted that his CPU ran 50- 75 MHz faster under Cinebench R23’s multi-threaded test. While these gains are small, they highlight how CPUs can run faster and more efficiently when delidded. Why does this happen? When CPU thermals are reduced, CPU boosting algorithms can be more aggressive. CPU boosting algorithms are affected by CPU thermals and power draw. Lowering CPU thermals can allow frequency boosting to be more aggressive, even without a higher power limit. This makes delidded Ryzen 9 9950X3D CPUs more performance/efficient. That said, the performance boost is small.

Through Thermal Grizzly, delidded Ryzen 9 9950X3D CPUs are now available. derbauer has backed these pre-delidded CPUs with a two-year warranty, which comes from Thermal Grizzly and not AMD. Remember, delidding your CPU voids your warranty.

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