Somebody's already pulled apart one of AMD's next-gen Zen 4 processors

pcgamer.com:

AMD is yet to take the lid off its Zen 4 processors—the red team's next-gen Ryzen 7000-series desktop CPUs aren't expected until later in the year. Yet it's rare these things stay under wraps for long leading up to launch, and just like that here's what appears to be a Zen 4 processor without any lid whatsoever. 

An unnamed overclocker has somehow managed to get their hands on one of AMD's upcoming desktop processors ahead of launch and carried out the potentially risky procedure of delidding the chip. That's a process that involves removing the heat spreader (IHS) from the top of a processor's silicon; usually done for the purposes of replacing the heat spreader with a copper number or replacing the thermal interface material for better cooling. 

Delidding is an especially risky procedure now that both AMD and Intel tend to solder their silicon to the underside of the IHS for improved heat transfer. You can see evidence of that solder in the image below, scooped by TechPowerUp(opens in new tab) of the IHS after it's been removed. 

The exact source of the image has not been noted in an attempt to keep the overclocker from ending up in AMD's bad books.

This is a newly-designed IHS that will be introduced with Zen 4 processors and the AM5 platform, meaning this is our first look at its construction beyond renders provided by AMD.  The tell-tale sign this is a Zen 4 IHS, or something that looks exactly like it, are the many feet around the edges. That's not something we've seen much of before, and AMD has already provided images that show this design(opens in new tab).

You can also see that the Zen 4 IHS appears to be made out of a thick piece of metal, which could be a handy trait for keeping future generations of chips