Lapping

Riccochet

Riccochet

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Joined
Apr 11, 2007
Messages
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Does anyone do it any more? Every machine in my house has a lapped processor. Seems like people stopped doing it when Nahalem came out.
 
IMO lapping the HSF bases no longer improves the effectiveness of the HSF as the bases nowaday are pretty flat and have mirror finish.
 
Silent Knight said:
IMO lapping the HSF bases no longer improves the effectiveness of the HSF as the bases nowaday are pretty flat and have mirror finish.
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I'll agree to that. But what about the IHS? I know the IHS on my i7 920 wasn't very flat. In fact it was horribly concaved. Same thing for my Q6600, Opteron 165, 3200+, ect.
 
Lapping the CPU seems like a bit of a faux pas nowadays. What is the point of a 1-2C benefit? Hardly anything, really.

Look at all the newer HSFs coming out that hold temps fairly low when under extreme load and overclocked. If anything, lapping should occur on a non-direct contact heatpipe on a HSF or block. Then again, that is seeming a bit overboard nowadays.

It's all up to the user, I suppose.
 
Depends on the block. I lapped my old TRUE for the heck of it. Needed it and it helped. Just do not lap a waterblock under any circumstance. I did that too and had to buy a new baseplate. Doh!
 
davidm71 said:
Depends on the block. I lapped my old TRUE for the heck of it. Needed it and it helped. Just do not lap a waterblock under any circumstance. I did that too and had to buy a new baseplate. Doh!
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I don't have any experience with water blocks or lapping, but why not? Satisfy my curiosity.
 
Lapped my 955 C2. Did not help one damn bit. It was pretty high center and had great contact. Damn thing runs really hot still...

*I needs an upgrade*
 
The last time I lapped was an amd x2 when it became out of warrenty. I probably won't lap again. Too much work for just a little diff. Looks nice though :)
 
Lapped my 2600k and got 5C improvement immediately. I have lapped every cpu and water block I have owned.
 
I've lapped a Q6600 and a Tuniq tower (what a pain!) and only saw a degree or two change. I will admit, though, putting in that time really does make your processor feel more 'personal.' Not sure of that's the right word, but I think you get the idea.
 
Why do you lap a Waterblock. They are made within extreme tolerances. The CPU was probably enough.
 
HydroBudz said:
I'll agree to that. But what about the IHS? I know the IHS on my i7 920 wasn't very flat. In fact it was horribly concaved. Same thing for my Q6600, Opteron 165, 3200+, ect.
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You were right.In fact the IHS for new generation Intel CPU is concaved,therefore some HSF manufacturers like Thermalright and Prolimatech has made the base slightly convex to compensate for that and also maximize the cooling performance.IIRC then Prolimatech even tells their customers NOT to lap the base of the HSF.
 
Silent Knight said:
You were right.In fact the IHS for new generation Intel CPU is concaved,therefore some HSF manufacturers like Thermalright and Prolimatech has made the base slightly convex to compensate for that and also maximize the cooling performance.IIRC then Prolimatech even tells their customers NOT to lap the base of the HSF.
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when I lapped my Q6600 it was way out of flat. Went to lap the base of the Xigmatek S1283 but it was very flat. Just doing the proc noticed about 6c drop in load and idle temps. Was worth the time on that heat monster. Saw about 3-4c drop on the 920.

I don't know. I guess I'm a nerd. I enjoy lapping. Requires less TIM with better heat transfer.
 
Not sure how much improvement you can gain from lapping the new CPU and HSF nowadays.

My Venomous-X base was lapped (bought it from another guy,he didn't mention about the lapping) while my CPU IHS remains intact,getting 39 degrees on idle,65 on fullload,34-35 degrees ambient.I think it's still good.
 
I feel that for the work lapping isn't worth it. Look around at thermal paste. There is some new stuff out that is good. You might be able to gain a few degrees just by changing your thermal paste or how you apply it.
 
Lapping won't be worth it unless your surfaces are uneven. You have to keep in mind that if your cpu is concave and your heat sink is convex or vice versa, there will be a good fit and good heat transfer. I mean, ideally you will have two flat surfaces. However, lapping isn't going to help unless you have a flat surface and a concave or convex surface, or two convex, or two concave. No one bothered to tell me this before I set out to lap my heat sink. I checked its surface, found it to be non-flat, so I lapped it. My temperatures went up because it turns out that my cpu was convex, so it fit well with my concave heat sink. So I ended up having to lap my cpu to get temperatures back to where they were before I lapped my heat sink. Ultimately I gained nothing (unless you count a mirror finish on my cpu and heat sink).
 
If I lap a heatsink I lap the IHS as well. Last one I did was a Q6600 and got a 7C drop in max temps. It was worth it for sure. You won't see much change in a different paste unless you are using some crap paste to begin with. Before tell someone to give lapping a try I make sure the rest of thier cooling is setup correctly. Sometimes you just end up with a dud sink or IHS and its worth lapping. I have only had to do this twice on the dozens of machines I have owned or built.
 
I did it on my i7 940...Only dropped like -2c. Spent about 3 hours for -2C?? Not worth it in my opinion.
 
Da1Nonly said:
I did it on my i7 940...Only dropped like -2c. Spent about 3 hours for -2C?? Not worth it in my opinion.
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Depends on how bad it is.. i got a 7c drop. Not worth it for everyone... worth it for some.
 
cant wait till gulftown hex cores are $40 on ebay...I will lapping all day long
 
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