A Question for the Lappers out there

[bighop]

Do you lap your IHS?

I've read arguments for and against. How many processors get RMA'd? Do I even need to worry about the warranty? Does it help?

I'm debating lapping my E6600, I'm almost done lapping my tuniq.

Thoughts?

 

[cb62fcni]

Lapping helps, but not by a huge amount. Expect 1-3C difference, so long as you're using a good thermal transfer compound. The IHS to HS barrier isn't really that big of a bottleneck when it comes to heat transfer, the biggest one remains HS to air. That's why liquid cooling improves temps so much. So, expect a small difference, but if you have to RMA, well, you're SOL.

 

[apt403]

I havent oc'ed my E6300 to much yet (No case = no go) but when i do ill probably lap the IHS, depending on my temps. Although i might return it and get an E4300, so maybe il hold off. Hmmm...decisions...decisions... :?

 

[bighop]

it's been up and running for about a week

 

[cb62fcni]

You can ground the IHS to reduce the risk of static build up. Also, have a vacuum running nearby to suction off the metal dust so it doesn't migrate around to your pin-holes and cause problems.

 

[wun911]

If your lapping is crap ie you rush it or your methods are crap, it may make it worse

 

[tool_462]

It is pretty safe, I have never heard of someone ruining a CPU due to lapping, though if you do happen to destroy it in another way don't even try to RMA it
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/402/1/
http://forum.overclock3d.net/showthread.php?t=416 (old but same principle applies)

You don't even have to waste time and effort taping off the base, just use masking tape over the bottom if you want, you don't really need to.

I lapped my D805 to a mirror finish, much more mirrored than the one in the legit reviews article, and gained about 7C under load initially, and about 10C after AS5 settled in. My IHS looked flat until i started sanding, it could hold a few drops of water in the middle because it was pretty convex.

When you are done just rinse it with distilled water, let it dry and rinse again with 90+% isopropyl and let it dry 24 hours or so just to be safe.

Post a pic when you are done

 

[bighop]

I'm not lapping anything to a mirror finish, I tend to agree more with the camp of "flat" being the reason for lapping more than "smooth." I stopped at 800 grit on the tuniq. I can post pics, but they wouldn't be that interesting.

 

[tool_462]

Agreed, flat is the important thing. I just liked the idea of putting my mirror polished Apogee block onto another mirror surface I use about a 1/4 of a grain of rice of AS5 and it covers the whole surface.

 

[bighop]

well, I burned the CPU in last night, and even the first overclock this AM brought my idle temps up close to 50, so that tuniq is going to get installed pretty quickly, probably onto an unlapped CPU, then we'll see how the temps look and reconsider

 

[qwertycopter]

You can ground the IHS to reduce the risk of static build up. Also, have a vacuum running nearby to suction off the metal dust so it doesn't migrate around to your pin-holes and cause problems.

Is that a good idea? Vacuums build up a huge static charge. I wouldn't want it anywhere near my chip 8O

tool_462, do you have pics of your lapped IHS?

 

[tool_462]

vacuum's are not a good thing to use around computer parts It was discussed in mpilchfamily's PC cleaning guide and we all decided static is bad. :roll:

I had a crappy pic of me taking a pic of myself with my old cell phone but it was lost and replaced in a tragic living room wrestling accident involving a knee to my thigh, crushing my Razr between my leg and the knee in question.