PC overclocking and hardware expert Roman ‘Der8auer’ Hartung has shared his before-and-afterAMD Ryzen 9 9950X3Ddelidding test results. His conclusion: enthusiasts can expectup to 10% higher performancewith direct-die cooling, but the cost will be significantly higher power consumption. Alternatively, Der8auer observed that users could run the delidded CPU at stock settings and enjoy far lower temperatures, around 23 degrees Celsius lower in this case, plus improved efficiency. A comfortable compromise might be found between these sampled extremes.
In the above video we see Der8auer introduce the awesome AMD Ryzen 9950X3D, then establish a baseline performance / thermal profile, before the delidding operation. Subsequently, he used the same liquid cooler, settings, andbenchmarksto see what benefits the delidding process could deliver.
During the delidding process, Der8auer provided some sage advice. He used the still-compatibleDelid-Die-Mate Ryzen 7000device for the 9950X3D. Please take your time ‘wiggling’ the HIS, perhaps up to 100 times, “until it falls off by itself,” plead the overclocker. An example of a rush job he shared (reproduced below) should be warning enough for would-be delidders to be patient.
The overclocking expert published two charts with the before and after delidding performance and power consumption on show. In the Cinebench R23 multi-thread tests chart, which we embedded below, you can see a key takeaway: the delidded Ryzen X3D chip could deliver up to 9% better performance in this productivity benchmark. However, it is questionable whether the 73% increase in power consumption would be worth it. Der8auer also tested Counter Strike 2 4K during his video, and provided a similar chart.
If you buy the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D but don’t feel driven to wring every-last-ounce of performance out of it – Der8auer notes that the delidded CPU can run much cooler at stock settings. He seemed impressed that his sample could run at 65 degrees Celsius under load – which is a temperature reduction of 23 degrees Celsius compared to the CPU as shipped from AMD with IHS ‘octopus’ attached. This modded chip also ran at 290W under load, using about 20W less power than the original chip.
If you are interested in more 9950X3D delidding news, we recently retold the hair-raising tale of an ‘amateur’ delidding one of AMD’s best CPUs for gaming using somefishing line and a clothes iron- plus nerves of steel.
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Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom’s Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.
