Suggestions on Lapping a Cpu Waterblock

R

rennyf77

2[H]4U
Joined
Feb 12, 2007
Messages
2,865
hello community. i was picking through my box of random water cooling bits and found a couple of old xspc delta v3 blocks. these are the ones with the 1" raised square section that's supposed to be right over the cpu die. i though it might be a neat idea to lap the one block flat to see how well it might cool an overclocked x6 1055t, though i don't intend to lap the cpu. i've never lapped anything before so...questions:

1) i understand the basic principle behind lapping and have available 400-2000 grit sandpaper and 3-1 oil. at what grit should i apply the oil to the paper?

2) can i go quick and dirty with it and use my dremel to grind down the raised portion then smooth with high grit paper?

3) should i lap only the raised portion or the entire bottom of the block?

thanx in advance.
 
If it has a raised center section I would not lap it unless its completely fubar'ed (giant gashes or deep scratches)
 
i googled 'lapped delta 3' and found a couple of blokes who have done it. one fellow noted a 10'c improvement. the other guy on the overclock.net forum still uses one in his sb build but he hasn't been on the forum for a while.
 
1- i find it easier to use water instead of oil. do it in the sink under a small trickle of water.
2- yes *if* you know what you are doing. you can easily take off more material than you intended to with a dremel, which could ruin the block.
3- entire bottom
 
well i decided to go ahead and do it anyway. i did end up using my dremel as trying to sand down the center section would have taken forever. rather than going into an x6 build, this block will be going into my current i7 920 machine to replace its existing stock xspc delta 3. i'll send this third delta 3 block to pasture as a paper weight. the i7 920@4ghz measured 80+ 'c load with its delta 3, so we'll see if there's any improvement. for now enjoy these awfully blurry pics.

http://i385.photobucket.com/albums/oo298/rennyf77/P1010232.jpg
http://i385.photobucket.com/albums/oo298/rennyf77/P1010237.jpg
http://i385.photobucket.com/albums/oo298/rennyf77/P1010241.jpg
 
the lapped xspc delta 3 block certainly seemed to cool better than the factory delta 3 with the raised center section. i recall seeing as much as 86'c max load before with my i7 920 c0 @4ghz with the vreg sitting right at 90'c. i can't however, find a screenshot of my results verifying that 86'c max so the improvement i'm measuring should be taken anecdotally at best. when i'm able to free some time up, i'll redo this experiment with a more scientific before-and-after examination of another delta 3 block, though this time with an x6 1055t@4ghz as i originally intended.


Untitled2_zpsf40dae59.png
 
Those are nice results, but as you said, I really don't think you dropped over 15C+, unless the other block was horribly uneven, or you used to much TIM, and didn't properly seat the block (too much/too little torque)..

AS far as the X6 goes, they are great cpu's to water cool, and will work great with any older block..Step back into the days of Socket-A cpu blocks for a minute with me..Koolance released their first Exos fully external WC setup..It had a small aluminum radiator :)eek:), crappy 3/8" tubing, and used 3 loud ass 80mm fans..

Well I bought a gently used Exos from CL locally for $35, and it came with two Socket-A cpu blocks..The bases were raised copper like yours, with a clear top..Well I lapped one black to a nice golden shine like your last picture by hand over a period of about an hour..

I used a rotozip bit to enlarge a hole on either site of the Socket A bracket so it clipped right onto the small plastic tabs on either side of the AM3 socket..Thankfully AMD never had any tooling changes since the Socket A/939 days as far as those loveable tabs that most people would break off when trying to mount a huge heat sink :D

When it was completely finished, I was able to bump my OC up from 4.1Ghz on air to 4.3Ghz with the cpu (max load was 58-62C depending on the core) running Folding@Home for 7 months without one issues before I sold it off and went back to intel..
 
love hearing about the socket a. an old socket a athlon build was my first foray into water cooling. in 03 i thought my t-bred overclocked to 2.5ghz was flying.

here are pics of the 1055t in its biostar 990fx board and 8gb of 1600mhz ripjaws.

bio99fx.jpg


and the second delta 3 block

delta3.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top