Noted overclocker Roman 'der8auer' Hartung has launched a new revision of his Delid Die Mate which drops the cost considerably over his original design.

Hartung's original Delid Die Mate was launched back in November 2015 in an attempt to make the removal of the integrated heatspreader (IHS) on Skylake processors easier and safer. The tool served two purposes: to make it quick and simple to remove the IHS for direct die contact cooling, and to make it easy to reattach again using higher quality thermal interface material (TIM) than used in its original manufacture.

'We all know that delidding is necessary to get good scores with Skylake CPUs. I binned a lot of CPUs recently and tried to delid one of my best ones with a razor blade. However I cut a little bit too deep and damaged the CPU. CPU only runs with 8 PCIe lanes now which is a pity,' said Hartung at the launch of the original tool. 'So I decided to create a little tool for safe CPU delidding - I call it Delid Die Mate. The tool is pretty simple and is based on the vice method. However, CPU and heatspreader are secured inside the tool and can't move. So no risk to damage any part of the CPU. The whole delidding process takes about 1 minute with the tool.'

The Delid Die Mate had only one major drawback: its cost. The original tool hit the market at £62.99, a hefty price to pay if you only needed to delid a single chip. Increased competition, including a crowdfunded alternative called the Rockit 88 priced at around £24 excluding shipping, has led Hartung back to the drawing board, and the result is a dramatically cost-reduced design.

The Delid Die Mate 2, as the new model is known, has all the features of its predecessor: a vice system for the easy removal of the IHS and a clamp for reattaching the IHS once the TIM has been replaced. Its price, though, is far below that of its predecessor: The device has appeared for pre-order on CaseKing.de priced at €29.90 (around £25.88). Full compatibility with Intel Kaby Lake, Skylake, Broadwell, Devil's Canyon, Haswell, and Ivy Bridge processors is promised.

The Delid Die Mate 2 is due to launch on February 22nd.
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