AMD Ryzen Gets Delidded - And It Is a Tricky Thing to Do
We mentioned in our reviews that you should not delid AMD Ryzen processors for the sheer fact that even the heatspreader has sensors and that it is soldered. Next to that AMD did the cooling part rather well so the benefits of a lower temperatures versus the risk of bricking that processor might not be worth it.
Well, that thesis has been confirmed, pro-overclocker der8auer took a Ryzen 7 1700 (well actually multiple of them) and delidded Ryzen 7 to see what was hiding behind the Integrated Heatspreader (IHS). It took der8auer multiple attemempts to get a succesful delidded processor. To be more precise, it actually it took him three processors hence we can already conclude that the process is very risky.
In the end he succeeded though, in the photos below (clock thumbnails) you can see a Ryzen 7 1700 CPU delidded. You will notice a solder layer that ties directly to the IHS. Looking att he processor you can see multiple capacitors, all nicely covered by some sort of silicone protective layer, so AMD certainly went all the way here.
So what weas the end-reult delidding and cooling ? Well, der8auer shows it in a video, but the he achieved a drop of 2 degrees C lower on overall temperatures with a cooler sitting directly on top of the processor die. In short, and what we have been saying. Please do not delid the processor guys, chances are high you'll damage it and the temperature drop certainly doiesn't justify you bricking the processor or loosing warranty.
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Senior Member
Posts: 5639
Joined: 2012-11-10
I'm more and more baffled how AMD can offer a CPU with this performance for this price with proper build quality like this as well. Is AMD simply selling these first gen Ryzen CPU's at a ridiculous low price to regain market without making a lot of profit, or is Intel really that overpriced?
Maybe a combination of both.
No, it's really just Intel being overpriced and nothing else. When you consider their net income lately seems to average around $11 billion per year, clearly, they price things much higher than they need to.
Also consider this: GPUs tend to have more transistors and more FLOPs than the average CPU and are soldered to a daughterboard along with RAM, and they still end up being cheaper than what Intel offers.
You can also take a look at the Arduino Gallileo, which costs more than the average ARM-based development board while being less than half as powerful.
Senior Member
Posts: 13234
Joined: 2004-05-16
No, it's really just Intel being overpriced and nothing else. When you consider their net income lately seems to average around $11 billion per year, clearly, they price things much higher than they need to.
Also consider this: GPUs tend to have more transistors and more FLOPs than the average CPU and are soldered to a daughterboard along with RAM, and they still end up being cheaper than what Intel offers.
You can also take a look at the Arduino Gallileo, which costs more than the average ARM-based development board while being less than half as powerful.
The R&D budget for a CPU is like 10x the cost of a GPU because the entire layout is done by hand where as a GPU is almost entirely synthesized.
Does Intel charge a premium on it's 4+ core designs? Yeah - but the market was clearly willing to pay for it and for the vast majority of people, Intel's mainstream with significantly cheaper parts are more than enough.
I don't see the issue with them charging a premium but I am glad that AMD is competing to a degree where that premium is being effected.
Senior Member
Posts: 2267
Joined: 2013-03-10
Then what is?
I certainly can't see the results of Intel's R&D... So little has changed for so many generations now. They even got stuck at 14nm.
Besides, Intel makes that 10 billion a year profit after expenses, including that R&D, have been deducted already.
Senior Member
Posts: 7524
Joined: 2014-09-27
The R&D budget for a CPU is like 10x the cost of a GPU because the entire layout is done by hand where as a GPU is almost entirely synthesized.
Does Intel charge a premium on it's 4+ core designs? Yeah - but the market was clearly willing to pay for it and for the vast majority of people, Intel's mainstream with significantly cheaper parts are more than enough.
I don't see the issue with them charging a premium but I am glad that AMD is competing to a degree where that premium is being effected.
Don't confuse extortion due to monopoly, with a healthy market. The market is not willing to pay it, there is just no other choice. A lot of people confuse that and it's quite basic economics. The CPU market is completely distorted and is not functioning properly.
Junior Member
Posts: 2
Joined: 2017-03-10
or is Intel really that overpriced?
Because no competition....(until now)