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A question for new Storm purchasers...
- Thread starter Xylo
- Start date
Cathar said:
not always true...
my storm W/B was pretty flat but it had some sort of residue that kind of resembled some sort of stain that didnt look too great.
so I just lapped it for about 20 minutes w/ some 1000 grit wet/dry sandpiper and prettied her all up.
(oh, and by the way, its perfectly flat even after my 20 minute lapping job. I know this because I use a 3/8 inch thick piece of plate glass just to make sure.)
ozziegn, so you used optical flats before and after to verify the difference?
A sheet of flat glass means nothing. We're talking small number of microns here.
A "stain" can be due to any number of things. Most likely it occurred in transit after coming into contact with something while being packed.
A sheet of flat glass means nothing. We're talking small number of microns here.
A "stain" can be due to any number of things. Most likely it occurred in transit after coming into contact with something while being packed.
Cathar said:
no, I didnt.
I just laid the block on the plate glass to see if its flat and it looked flat to me.
I dont give a crap about getting technical with microns this and specialty tools that.
after all, were only taking about a CPU waterblock here. not something thats going to mean the difference between life and death or anything like that.
well then. maybe you should address that with your company so that these stains arent an issue anymore.
Not my company mate. I don't work for Swiftech.
If you're telling me you don't give a crap about the quality assurance of the flatness and how it's measured, then how can you be certain you didn't make it less flat, and contradict my statement without actual proof?
I'm just reflecting my own personal experience with shipping copper blocks and tarnishing. Can pack them looking shiny as a jewel, and people at the other end can pull them out with a stain or two on them. It just happens. Natural copper oxidation. Can try six ways from sunday to control it, but it still happens occasionally.
I'll apologise to you on behalf of Swiftech that you received a block with a copper tarnish blemish on it. It is certainly out of the ordinary. Some white vinegar with a cotton cloth would normally be the first attempt to remove such. Second attempt would be Brasso followed up by rubbing down with isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) to remove brasso residue. Third attempt after that fails (highly unlikely) would then be to lap it.
If you're telling me you don't give a crap about the quality assurance of the flatness and how it's measured, then how can you be certain you didn't make it less flat, and contradict my statement without actual proof?
I'm just reflecting my own personal experience with shipping copper blocks and tarnishing. Can pack them looking shiny as a jewel, and people at the other end can pull them out with a stain or two on them. It just happens. Natural copper oxidation. Can try six ways from sunday to control it, but it still happens occasionally.
I'll apologise to you on behalf of Swiftech that you received a block with a copper tarnish blemish on it. It is certainly out of the ordinary. Some white vinegar with a cotton cloth would normally be the first attempt to remove such. Second attempt would be Brasso followed up by rubbing down with isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) to remove brasso residue. Third attempt after that fails (highly unlikely) would then be to lap it.
Cathar said:
well then. thanks anyway for apologizing on someone elses' behalf. I thought that you worked for Swiftech.
I guess to be quite honest, I cant be 100% sure that my waterblock is 100% truly flat.
but seeing since my X2 4400+'s load temps never go beyond 40C, I'd say the block must be definately doing something right weither its 100% flat or not.
ozzeign, yes, the jury is still out on just how much of an effect does the odd micron or ten have on block performance temperature-wise. It's not quite as large as many think, but it does seem to have an effect on overclocking on bare-die CPU's most notably.
Cathar said:
I lament all this ihs crap. Personally I liked bare-die cpu's better. Yeah I know 90nm and future die shrinks make it harder to mount blocks properly, but you can't beat direct block to die cooling. Best thing I did to my A64 was rip off the ihs...
plywood99 said:
I agree that direct die cooling is the best way to go.
but, there is definately no way in hell that I'd be willing to take off the IHS on my $600 CPU just to gain 100 or even 200MHz in speeds.
hell no....
I can just see it now. I'd take the IHS off my X2 and then I'd feel a slight *crack* as I'd be putting on the Storm waterblock.
again, hell no. that wouldnt even be an option with this boy.
ozziegn said:
I can't slap my head any more than I already have!!
A tarnish is a tarnish... it's just a stain... it's not going to make you 'lose' 10 degs. Coppers oxidises... it's a fact of life, mother nature as it intended.. live with it.
If it was scratched, then yes... make a big hullabaloo about it..
I have to quote you again..
if you say that now, why make all the big deal and fuss previously!! And then go and have to lap it because it has a small stain! A soon as it's touched by a finger it'll stain, it won't affect the thermal properties of copper... only God can do that!
and
what if your eye is wonky and negated the effect of a wonky lap job?
or what if the glass is not flat... glass isn't made to a perfectly flat surface and fyi glass 'flows'... granted it does take almost forever, but it means that glass is not always the best indicator of flat.
Clean the bottom of the block with Vinegar, or use Ketchup. Either one works. But it leaves the surface really clean, so if you touch it with your fingers, it will go dark in color, trust me. I cleaned the side of my TDX block, and I touched it with my fingers when installing it, and its now dark brown, lol. No worries though, its not effecting my cooling at all.
Cathar said:
Tried rubbing alcohol, and that didn't do anything.
Then, tried metal cleaner, and that seemed to almost make it a bit worse?
Then, tried ketchup. Now, between that and whatever remnants of the metal cleaner might still have been there, there definitely seems to be an extremely thin "something" on it...it definitely has a worse "look" to it than it first did. The original stain and also the "smudge" is gone, but if it now looks a little bit dull. Pushing over it with a soft cloth and a bit of force, you can see a change in the sheen....
Now, I'm afraid I've just screwed it up unecessarily...lol...going to see if some rubbing alcohol will clean off any of this ???...residue?....sigh...