Intel uses thermal paste instead of soldered ihs with i5-9400F hexacore

Intel turns out not to use a soldered integrated heatspreader when stepping its Core i5-9400F, but to revert to thermal paste. The stepping also appears to have a thinner pcb and the ihs of the previous generation Core chips.

Intel has two steppings for its Core i5-9400F hexacore, according to Tom’s Hardware, which relies on a list of motherboard firmware listed on MSI’s site and information from momomo_us. The P0 stepping would be an octacore with two cores disabled. This processor would use solder thermal interface material, or stim, to spread the heat, just like the other ninth-generation Core chips.

However, the P0 stepping has not yet been observed on the market, but the U0 stepping has been. This version does not contain soldered ihs, but the variant that Intel used for the eighth generation Core processors. Intel uses thermal paste and a thinner PCB for this. This method is cheaper and less popular with overclockers, because a soldered heat spreader provides lower temperatures and therefore a higher overclocking potential.

Tom’s Hardware notes that the U0 stepping has a smaller hexacore die compared to the octacore die of the P0. Intel is said to have pointed out more often the disadvantages of solder thermal interface material, such as tiny cracks that can occur due to the expansion and contraction as a result of the heat differences. These disadvantages would especially play a role in smaller dies, such as those of the U0 stepping, which may explain the return to thermal paste.

Intel introduced its ninth-generation F-series processors at CES without much publicity. These are variants of the existing 9xxx line of Core desktop processors, where the GPU is disabled. The processors have the same price as their GPU counterparts.