Why Intel is soldering CPUs again

Intel has just revealed its upcoming 9th-gen Coffee Lake-R processors. The i9-9900K is the “best gaming CPU ever,” according to the company. It turbos up to 5GHz (on at least one core) with a total of 8 cores and 16 threads. But what has many PC hardware enthusiasts more excited than any of that is solder.

The 9th-gen i9, i7, and i5 chips are all ditching thermal paste for soldered metal. Intel has used paste since the Ivy Bridge generation from 2012. Hardware lovers and overclockers criticized this for years. Paste does not dissipate heat as effectively as solder between the CPU die and its heat spreader. So people have turned to bigger and bulkier cooler solutions. Some enthusiasts even perform a process called “delidding,” where they replace the paste with their own liquid-metal compound.