Pro Overclockers Delids Intel’s $3000 28-Core Xeon W-3175X Processor
Pro Overclocker Delids Intel’s $3000 28-Core Xeon W-3175X Processor
Over time he has delidded the seemingly undelidable, extending his talents into the world of soldered processors, including AMD’s multi-die Threadripper series, all to uncover whether or not better thermals are possible on the latest processors from both AMD and Intel.Â
Today, der8auer has delidded his most expensive processor to date, Intel’s new Xeon W-3175X processor, an unlocked LGA 3647 (Socket P) processor which sports six memory channels, 28 cores, 56 threads, a base clock speed of 3.1GHz and a boost clock speed of 3.8GHz. This processor is mindbendingly powerful. Â
Intel has priced this monstrous CPU at $3,000, releasing it with overclocking-grade LGA 3647 motherboards, all of which are expected to cost upwards of $1,000. Â
Before delidding the processor, der8auer noted that Intel’s lack of an integrated loading mechanism on socket LGA 3647 makes the CPU mounting process difficult, often resulting in CPU mounts which lack support for all available memory channels. As a result of this, der8auer’s thermal tests were conducted using a quad-channel memory configuration, rather than the full 6-channel config that the processor can offer.Â
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(Video from Der8auer)
To delid his Intel Xeon W-3175X processor, der8auer used a custom version of his delid die mate to remove the processor’s IHS (Integrated Heat Spreader), a process which required an incredible amount of force and several attempts, thanks to the large surface area where Intel’s IHS is glued to the CPU’s substrate. In future der8auer might want to invest in some longer Allen/Hex keys. Â
After delidding the Xeon-3175X and replace its stock thermal paste with liquid metal TIM (Thermal Interface Material), finding that the processor’s coldest core was thirteen degrees cooler, the hottest core was five degrees cooler and the average core temperature was almost nine degrees cooler. This test was conducted using Cinebench R15 with the processor at 4.3GHz at 1.15V. Â
(Graph from der8auer)
In his testing, der8auer found that Intel’s Xeon W-3175X processor could offer better thermal performance after delidding, but uncovered thermal benefits which were much lower than many of Intel’s other processor. This could due to several factors, such as the large surface/contact area offered by Intel’s staggeringly large monolithic CPU die to the finer manufacturing tolerances that Intel’s Xeon processors are manufactured with.Â
You can join the discussion on der8auer delidding Intel’s most expensive consumer processor on the OC3D Forums. Â