AMD's latest-generation Ryzen processors are not exactly catching on fire or anything of the sort, but interestingly, the arrangement of dies underneath the integrated heatspreader (IHS) leads to uneven cooling on standard coolers. To compensate, professional overclocker Roman "Der8auer" Hartung has designed a clever cooling bracket that helps level things out.
Before I go any further, let me answer your burning question: Yes, professional overclocking is actually a thing, and Der8auer has been involved in the scene for quite a long time now. If you're not familiar with him (and even if you are), I highly recommend checking out an interview Wes conducted with Der8auer a couple of years ago.
Back to the clever cooler. As Der8auer explains in his latest YouTube video, Ryzen 3000 series CPUs have a special arrangement of dies underneath the IHS. There is a large 14nm I/O die positioned slightly above the center, and smaller 7nm core chiplet dies just below the center portion of the CPU.
"The core chiplets on the bottom can easily with OC exceed 100-200W power consumption. Therefore, just geometrically speaking, it's clear that there will be a hotspot somewhere in the center of those two dies," Der8auer explains.
One of the functions of the IHS is to draw heat from the CPU dies (or chiplets), which then gets transferred to a CPU cooler. Der8auer's custom designed bracket takes into account the actual chiplet arrangement, and thus where the hotspots are when stressing the CPU.
He designed two of them—one for custom and closed-loop liquid coolers, and the other for all-in-one liquid coolers. I haven't tested either one, and even if they work as he claims, they are by no means critical for running a Ryzen 3000 series CPU. However, they are interesting designs that certainly look like they could do a better job at attacking hotspots than a stock mounting bracket.
Unfortunately, Der8auer did not provide any temp data, though he plans to at a future date.
"Why no test? Does it make sense if I review my own product? I thought it doesn't but after your feedback I will provide a follow-up video," Der8auer said.
In the meantime, anyone who wants to take a leap of faith can find the custom brackets at Caseking for €29.90.
