Skylake-X, and Liquid Metal

When it comes to delidding a Skylake-X processor it’s a bit more complicated. For one you’re going to need to use the Delid Die Mate-X. This is designed to ensure you don’t knock off the RFID chip that sits on the outside the IHS of the processor. However, follow the instructions included in the box, and you’ll soon realise that the procedure’s almost identical. To apply the liquid metal, attach the hypodermic needle end to the syringe, then carefully push out a small drop of it onto the silicon itself. You don’t want too much, as a small amount covers a surprisingly large area, and as this is conductive any spillages onto the PCB are bad news.

If you push too much out onto the silicon, use the syringe to pull the excess back up into it. Start out with as little as you can – you can always add more later. Once you’ve got what you think is enough, use the included cotton bud sticks to carefully spread it across the silicon. Then it’s simply a case of reattaching the IHS in a similar manner to what we did earlier, let it cure, and you’ll be good to go.