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Heatsink Lapping

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  • CPUs
  • Heatsinks
Last response: in CPUs
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December 20, 2004 4:40:22 AM

I know I have fairly inactive here lately, not that I assume many of you guys noticed me here anyway, but I was wondering if anyone here had tried "lapping" their heatsink before? I stumbled on a review on a lapping kit at SystemCooling.com and they seemed to like it so I decided to buy the kit from easypckits.com.

I asked Scottchen, since he seems to be the resident overclocker here, if he had used lapping before and he said no because waterblocks don't see very good results with the process (he gave a reason but I forgot what it was.) Anyway, in case you guys haven't read anything on it, it's basically just sanding the heatsink to make the surface more flat thus allowing for a more uniform thermal transfer between the processor and the heatsink. I used the kit on two heatsinks and saw a 5'C drop.

14 bucks for a 5'C drop seems like a good deal to me... only thing is it took me around an hour and a half to go through the whole process. Has anyone else here tried heatsink lapping before? What were your results?

AMD 64 3200+ (939) (Working on overclocking it)
MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum
1 GB OCZ El Platinum clocked at 2.5-4-4-10
EVGA Geforce 6800 GT
2x WD Raptor 74GB Raid 0<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by BeyRevRa on 12/20/04 01:53 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

More about : heatsink lapping

December 20, 2004 4:55:20 AM

A millwork shop I know has a diamond wheel that they use for sharpening chisels etc. It works great, but I dont use the motor, just a manual circular motion.
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December 20, 2004 12:29:37 PM

Scott is hard to come by, I write him emails and catch him on MSN every once in a while for a couple of minutes. I think I badger him with too many questions :) . Anyway, ya the kit was 14 bucks but it came with a peice of glass for you to use as a smooth surface and a tube of arctic silver ceramique so in reality the sand paper didn't cost me much. I'm always OK with having another tube of ceramique sitting around too :) .

AMD 64 3200+ (939) (Working on overclocking it)
MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum
1 GB OCZ El Platinum clocked at 2.5-4-4-10
EVGA Geforce 6800 GT
2x WD Raptor 74GB Raid 0
December 20, 2004 5:23:25 PM

90 minutes is about right. I lowered 5C by lapping stock copper-plate heatsink. I don't lap the Zalmans.

Abit IS7 - 3.0C @ 3.6ghz - Mushkin PC4000 (2 X 512) - Sapphire 9800Pro - TT 420 watt Pure Power
Samsung 120gb ATA-100 - Maxtor 40gb ATA - 100
Sony DRU-510A - Yellowtail Merlot
December 20, 2004 10:33:00 PM

I was actually wondering if anyone lapped Zalman coolers because they have kinda a... unique shape.

AMD 64 3200+ (939) (Working on overclocking it)
MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum
1 GB OCZ El Platinum clocked at 2.5-4-4-10
EVGA Geforce 6800 GT
2x WD Raptor 74GB Raid 0
!