PC enthusiast delidded a 9950X3D using fishing line and a clothes iron

A PC overclocking enthusiast says that they successfully delidded their AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D with just a length of fishing line and a clothes iron. VideoCardz spotted Redditor UserBhoss asserting that the operation went smoothly, and that they saved $60 and the waiting time that ordering a Thermal Grizzly Delid Die Mate would have required.

They wrote that “boy was it scary,” so there’s the cost of shredded nerves to account for.

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is a highly desirable gaming and productivity processor, as well as a rather expensive piece of tech, so UserBhoss was rightfully nervous when following a makeshift delidding procedure without specially crafted tools.

Current AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D price = $699.99
Compatible Delid Die Mate Amazon price = $54.90

Put off by the cost and wait involved with acquiring proper delidding hardware, UserBhoss says they “did the clothes iron fishing string method.” Later the redditor specified that “Seaguar 15lb 0.11 diameter” fishing line was chosen, which “didn’t snap once.” We are more familiar with DIYers using dental floss for this purpose.

The Redditor provided some further insights into their personal delidding experience, which was apparently their “first ever delid for a CPU.” The process began by using the fishing line to cut through the adhesive between the ‘octopus’ IHS legs and the chip's substrate.

Then, it was time to wield the clothes iron, to heat up the IHS and melt the solder AMD uses to stick this metal to the chip beneath. Holding the iron on the processor for “2-3 seconds, about 5-7 times” resulted in the IHS easily sliding off. Lastly, liquid metal was used to remove most of the remaining indium.

The overclocking enthusiast did actually have some Thermal Grizzly gear to hand for the next step. They employed a TG Direct Die Frame to correctly join the exposed silicon with a custom loop CPU liquid cooling system.

“Overall she works perfect, able to hit ALMOST 6,000 MHz overclocked, 5,942 MHz to be exact, perfectly stable.” UserBhoss asserts. “Hits about 72-73 in FurMark CPU burner, which is pretty good.”