CPU plating

[Sometwatstolemyname]

Hi does anyone know if it is ok to plate the top of a CPU (xeon x5690 I believe it is soldered) without deliding it?

[Firewrath9]

why?

[jonrosalia]

I don't think that's possible without killing it you would have to take the IHS to do it 

[Sometwatstolemyname]

4 minutes ago, jonrosalia said:

I don't think that's possible without killing it you would have to take the IHS to do it 

Yeah that's what I was thinking...thanks for the reply.

[Sometwatstolemyname]

9 minutes ago, Firewrath9 said:

why?

Cos I want to see if plating the top of a cpu with silver gets rid of heat quicker

[emosun]

a better cooler will get rid of the heat quicker than plating it 

[Fasauceome]

You can't add more material and make the interface better, you have to take material away. Say you have your standard copper heat sink, you take more copper (or in your case silver) and slap it on top, your thermal layers were

CPU die> TIM > IHS > thermal paste > heat sink

And so on until it gets to ambient. But with your new layer, it's

CPU die> TIM > IHS > new thermal plate > thermal paste > heat sink

So if you aren't replacing anything, all you're doing is increasing how much stuff the heat has to transfer through to get cooled by the ambient surroundings. This may increase the thermal mass by a small amount but if the surface area of the IHS remains unchanged by this silver plate then there would be an overall decrease in heat dissipation, although not a very big increase because you're likely adding a tiny amount of silver.

[Bananasplit_00]

24 minutes ago, Sometwatstolemyname said:

Cos I want to see if plating the top of a cpu with silver gets rid of heat quicker

adding more metal wont help. this will literally only make it worse

[Skiiwee29]

If your CPU has uneven core temps, you would be best off Lapping your IHS to flatten it out and make it properly flat which is the best thing to do.. not add more material.