Rockit 88 Kickstarter aims to delid your Intel CPU with a simple tool

[captaincranky]

Why do people assume that Intel has a bad design? Do you really think intel wants you to super OC their CPUs? They make them good enough to work at their rated temps and speeds.

And yet they sell them with unlocked multipliers, now don't they? Do you think people buy those just so they can say, "oh sure, I could overclock this if I wanted to".

 

[Puiu]

And yet they sell them with unlocked multipliers, now don't they? Do you think people buy those just so they can say, "oh sure, I could overclock this if I wanted to".

You pay extra for the unlocked multipliers and you are still limited by the temperatures. The guys who make them are not stupid to let OC using just stock air cooling achieve the same performance as something almost 2 times more expensive.
You are misunderstanding something here. We are not talking about if Intel allows OC to be done or not, but just how much you will gain from doing it and how they can turn that into profit. No company will willingly destroy their own product line just to please the 1 guy in a million who likes to OC.

 

[captaincranky]

You pay extra for the unlocked multipliers and you are still limited by the temperatures. The guys who make them are not stupid to let OC using just stock air cooling achieve the same performance as something almost 2 times more expensive.
You are misunderstanding something here. We are not talking about if Intel allows OC to be done or not, but just how much you will gain from doing it and how they can turn that into profit. No company will willingly destroy their own product line just to please the 1 guy in a million who likes to OC.

First off, I sincerely doubt that , "one in a million", attaches to enthusiasts who frequent places such as Techspot.

Second, there is something to be said for the credibility of the, "Intel does things as cheaply as possible", camp.

If you follow the progression of their stock coolers, once upon a time, they had copper cores, pressed into the aluminum radiator assemblies!

OK, granted those Prescott P-4's threw off a lot of heat. But, I have an eMachines T-5026, w/ a P-4 519 3.06Mhz. Now, I certainly don't overclock this junker. That being said, even Gateway didn't trust the stock coolers of the day, and the computer is fitted with an after market bolt-me-down cooler. No push pins!

Every time Intel has made and improvement in TDP, they've chopped more and more aluminum out of those stock coolers.

But you would think after all of the heating complaints they received from Prescott P-4's and the junk 9xx series dual core CPUs which came after them, that they would have condescended to leave a little extra metal in the stock coolers. But no, now they're down to probably only a half inch thick, and still get thrown away right off the bat, in lieu of after market coolers, whether the builder is going to overclock or not.

Since we're on the same topic of heat, Intel further tampered with the cooling by no longer soldering the lids on. Which AFAIK, did provably work better than TIM between the die and the lid.

It comes down to wondering whether the engineers at Intel are getting obnoxiously cocky about the low TDP of today's processors, and consequently cut as many corners as they possibly can.

 

[Duckeenie]

I'm super certain that if this could reduce 20°C the guys from Intel -or AMD- would've put the BEST coolant out there

Then how do you explain articles such as the one in the following link?
http://www.eteknix.com/ivy-bridge-thermal-grease-is-the-culprit-for-heat-problems-after-all/

That article admits to being inconclusive though.

I do however think Intel would be more inclined to make the chips just cool enough. No sense in throw away profits for the benefit of OCD.

 

[Puiu]

First off, I sincerely doubt that , "one in a million", attaches to enthusiasts who frequent places such as Techspot.

Second, there is something to be said for the credibility of the, "Intel does things as cheaply as possible", camp.

If you follow the progression of their stock coolers, once upon a time, they had copper cores, pressed into the aluminum radiator assemblies!

OK, granted those Prescott P-4's threw off a lot of heat. But, I have an eMachines T-5026, w/ a P-4 519 3.06Mhz. Now, I certainly don't overclock this junker. That being said, even Gateway didn't trust the stock coolers of the day, and the computer is fitted with an after market bolt-me-down cooler. No push pins!

Every time Intel has made and improvement in TDP, they've chopped more and more aluminum out of those stock coolers.

But you would think after all of the heating complaints they received from Prescott P-4's and the junk 9xx series dual core CPUs which came after them, that they would have condescended to leave a little extra metal in the stock coolers. But no, now they're down to probably only a half inch thick, and still get thrown away right off the bat, in lieu of after market coolers, whether the builder is going to overclock or not.

Since we're on the same topic of heat, Intel further tampered with the cooling by no longer soldering the lids on. Which AFAIK, did provably work better than TIM between the die and the lid.

It comes down to wondering whether the engineers at Intel are getting obnoxiously cocky about the low TDP of today's processors, and consequently cut as many corners as they possibly can.

It's all about reaching the rated temps and speeds at the lowest cost possible, but doing so in such a way that doesn't make them look like they are cheap bastards
Any small change can lead to millions saved by the company. (like using a cheaper paste)
They also need to make sure that by OCing, a cheaper CPU doesn't become better than a more expensive one. Controlling just how much thermal headroom a CPU has is one way of doing it. This also helps the aftermarket sell things (better coolers, paste, etc). I'm fairly certain that they have hidden contracts or "rules" to ensure that they don't destroy that market.

 

[DAOWAce]

there is a belief

More like there is facts.

Intel's CPUs after Sandy Bridge had the TIM material changed... or rather, had TIM added instead of being soldered to the IHS.

After that, temps shot up and overclockability has been severely limited. Haswell being the worst. And this affects everyone, not just enthusiasts; all because Intel wanted to save some money.. when they have market dominance.

I would love to delid my CPU and replace the garbage paste (my radiator doesn't even get hot while the CPU die is burning), but can't trust myself to do the task. If I could buy a cheap and simple tool for that purpose, then I'd feel a lot safer doing it.

Still, considering I've had 2 CPU failures so far on the X99 platform (the first CPU failure in the 25 years I've used computers), I can't risk losing warranty right now.

 

[captaincranky]

It's all about reaching the rated temps and speeds at the lowest cost possible, but doing so in such a way that doesn't make them look like they are cheap bastards

Unfortunately, with the size and potential noise with their stock coolers, it's getting very close to the point where putting them in the box with the CPU, just takes up space, wastes metal, and reminds people they have to buy a decent heat sink someplace else.

Any small change can lead to millions saved by the company. (like using a cheaper paste)

Well, here the AMD fanbois will tell you, "AMD gives you more bang for the buck". (Assuming, "the electric bill doesn't matter"). Still, even the Skylake i3 models aren't cheap. (The highest clocked one will set you back $165.00).

They also need to make sure that by OCing, a cheaper CPU doesn't become better than a more expensive one. Controlling just how much thermal headroom a CPU has is one way of doing it.

Although current urban legend claims that "binning" should take care of that. Which is (IMHO anyway), a far more ethical way of accomplishing that goal.

This also helps the aftermarket sell things (better coolers, paste, etc). I'm fairly certain that they have hidden contracts or "rules" to ensure that they don't destroy that market.

Well, like it is said, render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and Intel all things CPU. It is hard to imagine Intel suddenly deciding to go into the case, water cooling, PSU, and HDD market just to start a war with Corsair, Seagate, Cooler Master, Antec, and others to violate a "gentleman's agreement", which may or may not exist. That actually sounds more like Amazon.com's cutthroat business model.

 

[Kibaruk]

Guys... you are not getting something, after all the heavy heavy heavy processor designing, testing, manufacturing, yata yata, I super sure they won't skip on paste day, there are hundreds of engineers working for the sole purpose of getting more performance, lowering temps and so on to get the most punch for the buck out there.

If they could make more money out of it, this being through marketting or bashing it's competition, they would do it hands down, it's their freaking business.

Of course this kickstarter will sell you something that may work for a couple degrees, maybe even if you have a better cooler or whatnot you will notice it more, in the end this is meant for enthusiasts but please, pretty please, don't sell me the idea by telling me that intel or amd are loosing money just because and you can do better with this garage tool.... thank you.

Rest assured, Intel will continue to find ways to eek money out of it's customers in every manner possible.

I rest my case.

 

[Adhmuz]

So this is suggesting my CPU that already runs a couple degrees above ambient will be able to run 5-10 degrees bellow room temperature? What a deal!...

Honestly I found lapping resulted in a better way to reduce temperatures, I've turned concave CPUs into beautifully mirror polished works of art, and lowered temperatures at the same time. You still void your warranty, but at least it's not as risky as pulling off the heat spreader.

If you want to do this yourself you just need a vice, no need to spend money on this thing at any rate.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

"Rockit 88", really? I wonder where the heck they came up with that name?

Maybe it was this 1950 Oldsmobile "Rocket 88".

Wasn't there also a Walker Rocket that was produced in the 40's/50's in limited numbers but it went like a bat out of hell?

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

This is not new, I've seen people using this tool in modding videos for a good while now.

 

[HugsNotDrugs]

I don't buy this, at all, nor the 20° improvement. This is a serious issue for everyone, for proc manufacturers and consumers alike, wouldn't live this much for randomness. Definitely not buying into the hype of like someone already suggested, having your computer at top notch behaviour.

I'm super certain that if this could reduce 20°C the guys from Intel -or AMD- would've put the BEST coolant out there for a mere cents a proc and sell it overclocked for the extra punch and K*shing shing*, no way in hell they are loosing money.

I've measured before and after. It's absolutely the truth. You'll recall people complaining that Ivy Bridge ran hot, when in fact there was too much distance between the die and heatspreader due to gobs of adhesive around the edges of the heatspreader. I've seen it.

WHY did Intel do this? Because it was good enough for their chips at stock clocks and dies placed on PCBs that weren't totally flat could still be salvaged and used. You'd be surprised how often the PCBs aren't flat on such a precision part. Also, unless you're overclocking, it doesn't really matter. Was probably too costly to develop a separate assembly process only for K-series CPUs.

 

[Darth Shiv]

Why do people assume that Intel has a bad design? Do you really think intel wants you to super OC their CPUs? They make them good enough to work at their rated temps and speeds.

I had a look at the thermal paste reviews. At stock clocks under load there was an 8 degree C difference. That is pretty substantial! Just from thermal paste? It's a relatively cheap area to get real and significant improvements.

The 20 degree improvement looked like from load overclocked speeds?

 

[Evernessince]

Why do people assume that Intel has a bad design? Do you really think intel wants you to super OC their CPUs? They make them good enough to work at their rated temps and speeds.

The difference between bad design and intended obsolescence is quite large. The last I remember, PC builders don't buy computer parts to be "good enough".

 

[Kibaruk]

The difference between bad design and intended obsolescence is quite large. The last I remember, PC builders don't buy computer parts to be "good enough".

Considering the enthusiast market is quite a small one, computers being replaced by laptops and tablets, and now phones that act as computers for mainstream usage, I would say it's freaking pretty good enough.

 

[captaincranky]

The difference between bad design and intended obsolescence is quite large. The last I remember, PC builders don't buy computer parts to be "good enough".

Relax man, @Puiu worships big corporations like graven images. I think he's got resumes in at M$ and now Intel as well.

 

[captaincranky]

Considering the enthusiast market is quite a small one, computers being replaced by laptops and tablets, and now phones that act as computers for mainstream usage, I would say it's freaking pretty good enough.

With that being said, perhaps Intel should consider soldering the lids on the "K" series CPUs and then charging extra for it. Tack the extra money on top of the already inflated price of these CPUs. Sure, "enthusiasts" will b***** while they're writing the checks, but so what? What are they gonna do, buy somebody else's i7's?

 

[Kibaruk]

I never said that but this is really looking for the 6th cat paw, there will be some difference obviously, but there will be some difference just by doing some simple maintenance.

Unless you are planning on getting 5ghz out of a Pentium 4 by air cooling... I don't see the whole fuzz.

 

[captaincranky]

....[ ]....Unless you are planning on getting 5ghz out of a Pentium 4 by air cooling... I don't see the whole fuzz.

Well of course not silly. We're planning on using liquid nitrogen to get 8 Ghz out of one....(y)

I never said that but this is really looking for the 6th cat paw,.

Relax, I found one for you:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polydactyl_cat

 

[CortyDK]

Why do people assume that Intel has a bad design? Do you really think intel wants you to super OC their CPUs? They make them good enough to work at their rated temps and speeds.

Agreed, my thoughts exactly. Never ever had a cooling issue running Intel Chips at stock speed with just air cooling, as I mentioned earlier. And with my first vertical heatpipe cooler, see my previous post, I am never going to need any modifications.

 

[Puiu]

Relax man, @Puiu worships big corporations like graven images. I think he's got resumes in at M$ and now Intel as well.

every time you comment here you turn it into a stupid argument contest and insult people. even if the majority of the time you are wrong. don't you get tired of fighting others for no reason?
I've been accusing Intel of using the cheapest materials they could get and having deals behind closed doors with the companies who make hardware for the aftermarket. how is that me supporting big companies?

 

[Kibaruk]

Well of course not silly. We're planning on using liquid nitrogen to get 8 Ghz out of one....(y)
Relax, I found one for you:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polydactyl_cat

This is a 6 "dactyl" per paw cat, not a 6 paw cat =P

And again... the only reason why I don't buy this, is because this means that they could increase the clocks and decrease the temps at the same time and make a better sale and they are not doing this, they are loosing money on purpose... nah I don't think so.

 

[robb213]

This only became big with Ivy Bridge, and continued with Haswell (not the refresh). Considering how long this has been done now, I'm surprised some are calling this BS since simple searches yield a plethora of data (which took a lot of effort to put together); additionally, there's reasoning behind it all and why it helps (which other comments cover). If you're saying doing this doesn't help at all, it's like admitting that the more TIM you have and the thicker you make it, the better you are off, which everyone should know is in fact the opposite due to the increased distance in heat transfer and retention.

However, with Devil's Canyon I'd say this isn't as needed as it was with Haswell 1.0 and Ivy Bridge. Can't remember Skylake temperatures off the top of my head.

 

[cliffordcooley]

I never said that but this is really looking for the 6th cat paw

So you are saying we need to find Pandora and we will have our answers. I'll go along with that.

 

[Trillionsin]

I'm way late to this party.

Considering the price of a high-end Intel CPU, it's well worth forking out $35 to remove any risks associated with cutting into your expensive hardware.

How bout investing that $35 into some type of water cooler, because if you delid your CPU, you cant really hope to ever resell it. I know that this may not cross everyone's minds but it crosses mine, and it may not be much worth doing for most people, but I always either give away or resell my computers or computer parts. Silly to spend money on a one use item like this... one per every 2 or 3 years, I'd say. Not really worth it. Just find a cheap razor blade and watch a few youtube videos of kids breaking theirs so you know what NOT to do.