Delidding

Delidding a 4770k can be done in different ways but two ways are the most popular ways of doing it.

1) Hammer IHS off, with a hammer.

2) Razorblade and cutting the IHS off.

At the 3770 people used razorblades, but on the 4xxx series we got components sitting inside with the chip. The whole voltage regulator thing can be touched. I didnt know when I delidded so I used the old razorblade method, and nothing happened.

Before unpacking the CPU
plug it in
Add TIM (CLU)
Add TIM to the IHS
Add waterblock or CPU cooler

It take me about 5-10 minutes to delid, then I have to use another 5 minutes to clean off epoxy and old TIM. I use my nail to scratch old epoxy away.

I always use Coolaboratory Liquid Ultra - CLU as TIM. On the 4xxx series its dangerous, because there are naked components sitting next to the chip and short-cutting those with CLU is fatal. CLU might not be the best TIM, but its ok, its cheap and it can be rinsed away if I would like to redo it later on.

Delidding helps getting temperature down, when it was suppose to go sky-high. If done with CLU or any other metallic paste temperature should drop about 20-30c on load. That improvement is only visible when overvolting and overclocking though.