Austrian cooling specialist Noctua has teamed up with overclocking professional
Roman 'der8auer' Hartung to create the new NM-DD1 direct die kit. It is claimed that delidding your
Socket AM5 CPU and using this product can result in CPU temperatures that are as much as 10-15°C cooler.
The new kit from Noctua is designed to facilitate the fitting of a wide range of Noctua CPU coolers on delidded AMD AM5 processors.
Delidding a chip isn't for the faint-hearted, but a precisely manufactured cooler mounting kit like this should minimize the potential for direct-die cooling damage while reaping the cooling benefits to the max.
Delidding is a process where the integrated heat spreader (IHS) of a CPU is carefully removed to expose the silicon beneath. Removing the metal cap, which may be stuck down with glue and solder, protecting the sliver of finely fabricated silicon isn't without risk. Moreover, cooling the exposed die is also risky, as the bulky cooler block can crack the brittle silicon with incorrect or uneven pressure applied.
Noctua's CEO, Roland Mossig,
warns users about removing a processor's IHS, but also highlights the significant potential benefits of delidding with subsequent direct die cooling. The cooling company boss says that he has seen temperature improvement of "almost 20°C," when a delidded chip uses the new kit plus Noctua's recently announced
offset mounting bars (NM-AMB12, NM-AMB13, NM-AMB14, NM-AMB15). To be clear, the NM-DD1 will typically bring temperatures down by 10-15°C (all else being equal) with the offset mounting bars helping another 2°C or so.
The Noctua NM-DD1 kit works by providing precisely manufactured spacers underneath the heatsink’s fastening bracket(s) in order to make up for the height of the removed heat spreader as well as custom, longer screws that make it possible to reinstall the fastening brackets with the spacers in place.
Noctua has priced the new NM-DD1 kit very accessibly, at just €4.90. Owners of
3D printers can enjoy an even better deal, as 3D STL files have been shared at Printables.com. 3D printer users will still need to source
four M3x12 screws or a
single M4x10 screw, depending on the Noctua CPU cooler model they wish to use.
