Lapping the GeminII?

[Yellowhello]

I saw a picture of a lapped CPU and heatsink, and now I want ot get into the lapping scene. I have bought the sandpaper and the pane of glass (to practice of random pieces of metal) but now I want to lap something for real.

Anyone that has lapped their heatsink have any tips as far as techniques?

Now because the GeminII is so big, how would I go about lapping it? Is the factort finish on it good enough (to the point that I don't have to lap it or lapping it was actually make it worse)?

How about lapping the CPU itself? Do you think I should buy a cheap Celeron to practice before lapping my E4300?

Any help is appreciated!!

[halutzparilla]

help me out here! i have know idea what is LAPPING...

[Yellowhello]

Originally Posted by halutzparilla

help me out here! i have know idea what is LAPPING...

Lapping a Heatsink


So, basically, you sand the base of a heatsink or CPU down os that it's perfectly flat, for an optimal heat transfer.

[halutzparilla]

darn that was in my mind... i totally forgot its called lapping...

[Tyreal]

I've lapped several heatsinks before. It's a pretty simple process but extremely time consuming. I wouldn't recommend going higher than 800 grit because you start getting diminishing returns unless you just want a nice reflective surface.

Make sure you apply equal pressure so that you do not round the edges. Also, wash the sandpaper and heatsink often to get rid of the metal shavings.

[NoctisReitop]

Question for me is: Is it worth it? I always figured that the thermal compound did the job of creating two ideally bonded surfaces.

[Tyreal]

It depends on how bad the surfaces (concave, convex) of your cpu/heatsink is.

[Yellowhello]

Originally Posted by Tyreal

It depends on how bad the surfaces (concave, convex) of your cpu/heatsink is.

Do you how bad the stock surface of the GeminII is?

[Quakindude]

I have a 6" metal ruler for checking heatsinks for even leveling. I also had a micrometer for checking the corners to see if they mic'ed out to the same thickness all the way around. Generally speaking, I found that the better known brands, like Zalman and TT, were pretty damn level as they were.

IMHO, unless you can seriously detect a significant concave/convex surface on either item, it isn't worth the effort to do so manually unless you're overclocking so aggressively that a 1 degree difference would actually matter. You also immediately void all warranties on CPU's the moment you take sandpaper to them. Probably the same for the heastsinks as well.

[NoctisReitop]

Originally Posted by Tyreal

It depends on how bad the surfaces (concave, convex) of your cpu/heatsink is.

I can understand lapping an old contact plate that has been used and reused to the point of actually having wear and tear, but what about a brand new heatsink?