Intel's new Core i9-14900KS with direct die cooling: all-core 6.0GHz overclocking

Intel's new special edition Core i9-14900KS processor is now out in the wild, but in the hands of legendary overclocker "Der8auer," it has been pushed to an all-core 6.0GHz using direct die cooling.

In its stock form, a CPU's die is found underneath a metal heat spreader, aka IHS (integrated heat spreader), with the heat generated by the processor transferred through a thermal interface material (TIM). We'll usually see thermal paste as the TIM, but the new special edition Core i9-14900KS processor uses indium.

Removing the IHS and then cooling the die directly offers greater thermal abilities, but direct die cooling isn't something special, as it's used for GPUs and non-socketed CPUs inside of laptops.

Der8auer used an upcoming waterblock that he developed with Thermal Grizzly, delidding the Intel Core i9-14900KS and scraping off the leftover material from the IHS, installing the CPU into the socket, and then the water block onto it and the motherboard.

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In its stock form, the Core i9-14900KS was hitting a 5.9GHz P-Core overclock, but with the direct die liquid cooler installed, temperatures dropped by over 20C, while power consumption increased by 12W. The additional cooling chops, with the direct die cooling installed, allowed Der8auer to overclock the Core i9-14900KS to 6.0GHz P-core at around 95C, which is just below the thermal throttling kicks in.

If you want to buy some of this hardware for your new Core i9-14900KS processor, the new Thermal Grizzly direct die CPU waterblock will cost $99, while the RGB-enabled version with slightly better cooling performance will cost "around $140," says Der8auer. We don't know when it'll launch, but the overclocker did tease it'll be "about two to three weeks."