Noctua on Tuesday introduced its NM-DD1, a special kit that allows installation of the company's coolers on delidded AMD processors in AM5 packaging. This kit can be purchased direct from the manufacturer, or you can 3D print the needed spacers and source your own fasteners. The kit was co-developed with Roman 'Der8auer' Hartung, a professional overclocker and an exotic cooling expert.
One of the ways to enhance cooling for overclocked AMD's Ryzen 7000-series processors is to remove their integrated heat spreader (delidding them) and attach the cooler directly to the dies. According to Noctua, this ensures more efficient heat transfer from the heat-generating CCD chiplets to the cooler and reduces CPU temperatures by 10C – 15C. Such a boost in thermal headroom can be leveraged to significantly reduce fan speeds and related noise levels, increase CPU turbo boost frequencies, or increase the overclocking potential.
Standard coolers are not designed for use with delidded CPUs, which complicates the endeavor. But Noctua's direct die kit for AMD's delidded processors greatly simplifies the task. Of course, the greatest concerns associated with removing the IHS are the risks of damaging the processor during the delidding process and voiding the warranty. Those risks remain, but at least using Noctua's coolers with delidded CPUs is simpler.
The NM-DD1 kit contains spacers placed beneath the heatsink's securing brackets to counterbalance the height of the removed IHS and extended custom screws for reattachment of the brackets with the spacers installed. The other hardware required for delidding must be purchased separately. To further improve cooling performance, the NM-DD1 can be coupled with Noctua's recently introduced offset AM5 mounting bars, potentially leading to an additional 2C drop in temperature.
"Delidding and direct die cooling will void your CPU's warranty and bear a certain risk of damaging it, so this certainly isn't for everyone," said Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO). "However, the performance gains to be had are simply spectacular, typically ranging from 10 to 15°C but in some cases, we have even seen improvements of almost 20°C in combination with our offset mounting bars, so we are confident that this is an attractive option for enthusiast users. Thanks to Roman for teaming up with us in order to enable customers to implement this exciting tuning measure with our CPU coolers!"
The NM-DD1 kit can be obtained exclusively from Noctua's website for €4.90. Alternatively, customers can 3D-print the kit's spacers at home using STL files from Printables.com. For assembly, either four M3x12 screws (for NM-DDS1) or one M4x10 screw (for NM-DDS2) will be needed.
