AMD Senior Technical Manager Robert Hallock confirmed this week that 3rd generation Ryzen processors will have soldered IHS (integrated heat spreaders). This isn’t exactly a surprise because last-gen Ryzen chips (and the more recent 3000-series APUs) enjoyed this privilege, but any doubts can be put to rest.
Soldering as an interface material is preferred as it offers better heat transfer between the processor die and the IHS, as opposed to using a fluid TIM such as pastes. “Matisse” will be one of the rare few examples of a multi-chip module with a soldered IHS. The package has two kinds of dies, one or two 7 nm “Zen 2” 8-core CPU chiplets, and one 14 nm I/O Controller die.
Soldered like a boss.
— Robert Hallock🌹 (@Thracks) May 28, 2019
Based on Hallock’s language, it’s possible that all dies on Ryzen 3000 CPUs will be soldered. Some chips in the past (e.g., Intel’s Clarkdale series) utilized both solutions.
Interestingly, Intel used two different sub-IHS interface materials for “Clarkdale.” While the CPU die was soldered, a fluid TIM was used for the I/O controller die. It would hence be very interesting to see if AMD solders both kinds of dies under the “Matisse” IHS, or just the CPU chiplets. Going by Hallock’s strong affirmative “Like a boss,” we lean toward the possibility of all dies being soldered.