I'm scared to lap my cpu

This a post from Guru3D, but you guys are just as good so I thought I'd toss it here. I also just read a post from here saying if you're knew to system building you may not want to lap the cpu because you may not improve but rather hurt temps. This is my first board, second chip. Any advice is good advice because I will be triple checking it. Anyway-

Just today I got an AMD Phenom II X4 945 95W cpu and I am afraid to lap it before I test it. Even the tech support at XFX said that my board should be compatible, but if I lap it and it does not work I am screwed. Should you always test before you lap? The test is not bad for the chip, I mean to pound some electricity through the chip then take it out and lap the surface that you just super heated? If some one knows of a link on how to test a new cpu before lapping to make sure that any RMAs happen before you loose the warranty I would love to read it. I see oh so many links on how to lap, please no real need for that education except warnings about the test and how long to wait cleaning off initial thermal paste and the likes. What I need is the test. How can I tell that I have a fully functioning cpu before I relieve myself of a return? Obviously if it boots vista I going in the right direction. After that is it prime, OCCT, 3DMark, CPUZ, Sandra, Speedfan, Fur tests, what load, what program, how long, should I shutdown and restart, cool then heat, OC or underclock for stability? I know there are some who have made many systems for enthusiast and I would love some advice.

why u wanna lap your cpu? it will take off maybe 5 degrees in the best case, in the worst it might add some temps or even permanently damage it. it just doesn't worth lapping a cpu for 5 degrees C (maybe 5 !) while u lose your guarantee and cant replace it if your screw it up. just get a better cooler.

Lapping a cpu is about the least efficient overclocking technique. You may gain a few degrees cooler at the most but that doesn't automatically translate into a performance difference, especially since it doesn't sound like you are very experienced at overclocking. Odds are you will run into other barriers first (quality of motherboard, PSU, and memory).

Hand lapping didn't get really big until the arrival of the first ThermalRight 120 Ultra Extremes. Some of the early ones (like mine ) had visible bulges on the base. Now it seems like everyone wants to lap a CPU or HSF whether they really need to or not.

If the reason you want to lap isn't visible, you have a good probability of making your cooling worse.