How do I properly handle a new CPU?

H

HakBilal

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
Messages
309
Hey guys,

I recently ordered and received an E6600 and a DS3 mobo. I was told to lapp my heatsink by some guys on here while I wait for my PSU to come in. I dont know how to do this and I was wondering if it would be okay to install an aftermarket cooler and thermal paste later on after lapping it. I dont know much about the art of this but I have been reading these forums much more lately. I know what to use (parts wise) but I just dont know how to lapp. Can anyone help? Thanks.
 
Don't lap the CPU unless you really need to.

It's just not worth it for the majority of applications...

If you really want to lap it, keep it in the small black "Cradle" that comes with the CPU. Treat it like you would treat a hard-drive. Carefully, don't drop it, and beware of static.
 
Arcygenical said:
If you really want to lap it, keep it in the small black "Cradle" that comes with the CPU. Treat it like you would treat a hard-drive. Carefully, don't drop it, and beware of static.
Click to expand...
Bolded for emphasis. And yeah, lapping is only something you do when necessary.
 
I dropped my conroe :p. I sat there, staring at it... for a good minute before picking it up.
 
if anything, lap the heatsink that your putting on the cpu. if your going to use the stock heatsink n fan that comes with the processor and ur not doing overclocking theres no need to lap. I lapped my zalman 9500 to a nice mirror finish
 
If you google heatsink lapping you will get a ton of quides. You will want to lapp any heatsink you put on.

here is quickie, its super easy to do. dont get the fan wet.

get a pane of glass, you can swipe one from a picture frame if you have too, Lowes etc will sell you an 8 x 8 inch window pane for less than a buck. a 6 x 6 inch piece is plenty big enough.

wet and dry sandpaper, 3M brand is worth the cost.
you will start with a medium grit and move up to a finer grit, anything over 1200 is probally overkill but does not hurt. Flat is MORE important than shiney.
400, 600, 800, 1200 a sheet of each is enough and if not in stock you can skip a grade, it will just take a bit longer. you can start off with 200 if you want, can finish up with 1600 if you can find it.

a large cookie sheet or pan with a flat bottom and shallow/short sides a little larger than the pane of glass to keep water from going everywhere. I have used a 12" cast iron frying pan in a pinch :) make sure the glass will sit flat and not crack if you put a little pressure on it.

put glass in bottom of container, put just enough tap water to start to cover the glass, pull glass back out, tear off enough sandpaper to cover the glass surface, grit up, and wrap an inch around the sides and fold under the bottom so when you lay the glass with sandpaper back in the pan the folded under paper part holds the sandpaper to the glass.

Water should now be just about even or maybe some on the sandpaper, good, splash some water on the sandpaper and gently press the bottom of your heatsink to the sandpaper and steadying the glass and paper with your other hand, "swirl" the heatsink against the sandpaper in a short circular motion for a bout a minute. You should "feel" the sandpaper cutting. Stop, pull the HS out, look at the bottom where you sanded, see how (more than likely) some places were sanded (scratch marks) and some were not ? That will tell you how out of flat you are. (the glass is pretty flat and if the HS was flat the entire bottom would have uniform sanding marks) . Ok, splash a little fresh water on the paper and give it another go, keep going, occasionally splashing some fresh water on the paper, until the entire bottom of the heatsink has uniform marks from the sand paper, then stop. Even markings are the key, once its the same all over the bottom there is no need to do more with that paper. Change paper to next finer grit and do the same thing. Rinse and repeat till you get done with the 1200, after you get a uniform "wear/sanding" surface on the bottom of the heatsink from the 1200 you are almost done. Now for the final touch, stop using the swirling motion, just go back and forth (side to side) in one direction in longer strokes until you again acheive a uniform "scratch" surface. You are done. About 1/2 hour start to finish if you have all the stuff handy, but dont hurry anything, dont press too hard, and just watch what you are doing. Wipe clean with a coffee filter (no lint) and rubbing alcohol before mounting or applying paste.

Clean glass and put back in picture before wife/mom finds out. ;)
 
ok first of all you dont actually have to lap your chip if you are one of the lucky ones that is ( like me:D ) it might be a good idea to test first is the cpu ihs convey. you can do this with a simple test just seat the chip into your socket> put some thermal paste> install heatsink/ waterblock, tight it down > after that just take your heatsink off and take a look what kind of contact was between the chip and heatsink... simple really.
 
BillParrish said:
If you google heatsink lapping you will get a ton of quides. You will want to lapp any heatsink you put on.

here is quickie, its super easy to do. dont get the fan wet.

get a pane of glass, you can swipe one from a picture frame if you have too, Lowes etc will sell you an 8 x 8 inch window pane for less than a buck. a 6 x 6 inch piece is plenty big enough.

wet and dry sandpaper, 3M brand is worth the cost.
you will start with a medium grit and move up to a finer grit, anything over 1200 is probally overkill but does not hurt. Flat is MORE important than shiney.
400, 600, 800, 1200 a sheet of each is enough and if not in stock you can skip a grade, it will just take a bit longer. you can start off with 200 if you want, can finish up with 1600 if you can find it.

a large cookie sheet or pan with a flat bottom and shallow/short sides a little larger than the pane of glass to keep water from going everywhere. I have used a 12" cast iron frying pan in a pinch :) make sure the glass will sit flat and not crack if you put a little pressure on it.

put glass in bottom of container, put just enough tap water to start to cover the glass, pull glass back out, tear off enough sandpaper to cover the glass surface, grit up, and wrap an inch around the sides and fold under the bottom so when you lay the glass with sandpaper back in the pan the folded under paper part holds the sandpaper to the glass.

Water should now be just about even or maybe some on the sandpaper, good, splash some water on the sandpaper and gently press the bottom of your heatsink to the sandpaper and steadying the glass and paper with your other hand, "swirl" the heatsink against the sandpaper in a short circular motion for a bout a minute. You should "feel" the sandpaper cutting. Stop, pull the HS out, look at the bottom where you sanded, see how (more than likely) some places were sanded (scratch marks) and some were not ? That will tell you how out of flat you are. (the glass is pretty flat and if the HS was flat the entire bottom would have uniform sanding marks) . Ok, splash a little fresh water on the paper and give it another go, keep going, occasionally splashing some fresh water on the paper, until the entire bottom of the heatsink has uniform marks from the sand paper, then stop. Even markings are the key, once its the same all over the bottom there is no need to do more with that paper. Change paper to next finer grit and do the same thing. Rinse and repeat till you get done with the 1200, after you get a uniform "wear/sanding" surface on the bottom of the heatsink from the 1200 you are almost done. Now for the final touch, stop using the swirling motion, just go back and forth (side to side) in one direction in longer strokes until you again acheive a uniform "scratch" surface. You are done. About 1/2 hour start to finish if you have all the stuff handy, but dont hurry anything, dont press too hard, and just watch what you are doing. Wipe clean with a coffee filter (no lint) and rubbing alcohol before mounting or applying paste.

Clean glass and put back in picture before wife/mom finds out. ;)
Click to expand...


Thanks man,

What I meant was to lapp the heatsink, not the CPU. I will be installing aftermarket parts in about a month, so I plan on lapping the heatsink. For now however I will lap the stock heatsink and go from there. I dont have any thermal paste atm, so if I were to just put the lapped heatsink on the processor w/o paste, would it hurt it at all?
 
HakBilal said:
Thanks man,

What I meant was to lapp the heatsink, not the CPU. I will be installing aftermarket parts in about a month, so I plan on lapping the heatsink. For now however I will lap the stock heatsink and go from there. I dont have any thermal paste atm, so if I were to just put the lapped heatsink on the processor w/o paste, would it hurt it at all?
Click to expand...

A) Bill was telling you how to lap the heatsink, not the processor.
B) NEVER install a heatsink without thermal paste or pad (commonly referred to as TIM, or thermal interface material). You will almost certainly fry your CPU. If you're using the stock heatsink, it should already have a pad attached to it. Don't bother lapping it if you're going to put an aftermarket on later. It's not worth the time or effort.
 
EvilTwinSkippy said:
A) Bill was telling you how to lap the heatsink, not the processor.
B) NEVER install a heatsink without thermal paste or pad (commonly referred to as TIM, or thermal interface material). You will almost certainly fry your CPU. If you're using the stock heatsink, it should already have a pad attached to it. Don't bother lapping it if you're going to put an aftermarket on later. It's not worth the time or effort.
Click to expand...

Glad I avoided that catastrophe! Thanks for clearing up my noobiness. I will go ahead and wait till I get my aftermarket cooler and some AS5 to lap the cooler. Also I guess I will need some remover to get the stock cooler off. I saw some kits, should be fun. I am looking forward to it.
 
Solarfall said:
ok first of all you dont actually have to lap your chip if you are one of the lucky ones that is ( like me:D ) it might be a good idea to test first is the cpu ihs convey. you can do this with a simple test just seat the chip into your socket> put some thermal paste> install heatsink/ waterblock, tight it down > after that just take your heatsink off and take a look what kind of contact was between the chip and heatsink... simple really.
Click to expand...

no. if you want to check to see if its 'flat enough' for you, take something you know is flat like a strait razor and put it across the surface, if light shines between the razor and the surface, then its not flat. when you remove the heatsink almost always one side will release before the other, and the suction made by the paste, will mess up the 'design'.
 
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