Lapping Q6600.

Dethred said:
Well, when/if I get my new job in a few weeks, I am going to be doing this. Annaconda and I have almost the exact same setup other than my G0 at 3.6 and his B3 at 3.51. I was hitting 61-62C with 85-90F ambient temps as well, and would love to be in the low 50C's in the middle of summer with the heat index reaching over 100F outside. In the winter time I open my windows in my room to get it into the 50's and 60's, so this thing should be cold.

Annaconda, what memory divider are you using to get 1000mhz memory at 3.5? 8x multi?
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My setting in BIOS.

Async
Manual
then change the memory to 1004 @ 5-5-5-15 2.2v for pictures go to Water cooling section.
 
brucedeluxe169 said:
well I mean.... I enjoyed the process of doing something that either noone else has done, or very few have done (SERIOUSLY, does anyone know if anyone else has tried to completely sand off the top of an IHS??), but I dont like work enough to stay past 5 :)

Anyway, this weekend i'm getting even lower grit sandpaper and on monday when I go back I'll spend another 5 hours trying to get that IHS off.
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Why not just pop the IHS off? Seems like it would be a helluva lot less work than trying to sand the whole thing away.
 
Parja said:
Why not just pop the IHS off? Seems like it would be a helluva lot less work than trying to sand the whole thing away.
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While it is less work, it is more dangerous (I guess) because the IHS is soldered to the core. There has been many that have popped of the IHS but I have seen allot of dead cpu's if done incorrectly.

Also the LGA setup means that if you remove your IHS, you need to remove the retaining bracket from your mobo, and your CPU is held in place by your HS/Fan combo or waterblock alone. Not a huge deal but you add them all up and I would say not worth it.

I removed many K8 IHS's and the usual gain was 80Mhz under a dedicated waterloop. I could do it in about 30sec with a 100% success rate. That made it worth while...
 
turtletrax said:
I removed many K8 IHS's and the usual gain was 80Mhz under a dedicated waterloop. I could do it in about 30sec with a 100% success rate. That made it worth while...
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You mean you actually removed the heat spreader and noticed an improvement?
 
APOLLO said:
You mean you actually removed the heat spreader and noticed an improvement?
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Yes. The term Heatspreader is a misnomer. Technically it's a "force" spreader, as it prevents the cracking of the core. It actually hurts temperatures quite a bit.
 
Do you have some before and after temps? That would make an interesting comparison.
 
Arcygenical said:
Yes. The term Heatspreader is a misnomer. Technically it's a "force" spreader, as it prevents the cracking of the core. It actually hurts temperatures quite a bit.
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I hope you placed some cushioning pads or something similar akin to the old Athlon chips to help spread the pressure. I'm surprised more hardcore OCers haven't attempted this since it seems much easier to get the heat transferred most efficiently from the CPU. Lapping is so laborious. I lapped an old P4 to near mirror finish just last night.
 
APOLLO said:
I hope you placed some cushioning pads or something similar akin to the old Athlon chips to help spread the pressure.
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Did not really need to do that since I was always using watercooling. I would not do it with "Clip" style mounts that are more common with Air cooling. Too much chance of cracking or chipping the core. I would however use bolt on HS/Fan combos.


The problem is that the new IHS applications by manufacturers are done with solder. The old K8's were held on by a silicon adheasive and a 24 hour soak in Solvoplast made it so soft, a double edged straight shaving razor cut in half could flawlessly remove it in less than 30 sec.

Now that they are soldered on you have to not only slice through the adheasive, you have to melt the solder and pop the IHS off. Then on top of that the core will below the retaining clip on the LGA 775 socket so that has to be removed and then the CPU is only in place is the HS/Fan or a Waterblock.

Cost vs. benifit has definately swayed towards "not worth it". I have seen people do it to 8800GTX's and Ultras :eek:.
 
SonOfMore said:
The only liquid I've ever used on my CPU/HS's is 91% alcohol.

I would worry about the additives in soaps and what not that may not evaporate completely.
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I build engine DIY engine control management systems, and after soldering there is often flux/rosin on the board. I scrub the board down with isopropyl alcohol and then scrub it down with Dawn dish soap. I will let the board air dry. If I have to do a larger number of boards I run them through the dish washer on warm (not hot) with ordinary detergent. Dish soap contains no oils in fact it's got a lot of astringent properties (for removing food/grease). This is also why you shouldn't really wash your hands with dish soap all the time - dry skin!

Either way, as long as you're evacuating any moisture that might get into the cover of the CPU, dish soap is a great lubricant (in water) and is a very good cleaning agent for electronics.
 
UrineMachine said:
If I have to do a larger number of boards I run them through the dish washer on warm (not hot) with ordinary detergent. Dish soap contains no oils in fact it's got a lot of astringent properties (for removing food/grease). This is also why you shouldn't really wash your hands with dish soap all the time - dry skin!
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I had a MAX -3 board that was flakey on me.....the back of it had some brown residue on it...I had bought it used so maybe it came from a smokers house....
since it was acting up I decided to run it thru the dishwasher..I read that it was OK for electronics as long as they were allowed to dry before being put back in use....Plus, I figured no harm done if it gets screwed up worse....I ran it thru, let it dry for a few hours....Man, that baby looked brand new when it came out......anyway then I put it in the clothes dryer on one of those racks that you can put shoes on.....ran it in the dryer for an hour....
reinstalled it and it ran great for another year...was still running strong when I sold it on eBay....:)
 
Hey guys!
I'm dying to play with my computer without spending much money. As of now, I'm running F@H on my Pentium D 820, at stock, with a Zalman 9500. I get around 59C-64C load temps, depending on the WU and how hot we have it inside (just getting over the heatwave in Georgia). I am considering lapping the heatsink (not very good as far as smoothness goes, it has some ridges), as well as the heatspreader on my 820. Would you guys recommend it? I am worried about making things worse, or messing something up.

I'd be using 320, 600, and 1500 grit sandpaper, one direction sanding, and how do you use wet/dry sandpaper the best? Maybe I'll be able to crank my processor above the 3.5Ghz that I was limited at before.
 
mtb2005 said:
Hey guys!
I'm dying to play with my computer without spending much money. As of now, I'm running F@H on my Pentium D 820, at stock, with a Zalman 9500. I get around 59C-64C load temps, depending on the WU and how hot we have it inside (just getting over the heatwave in Georgia). I am considering lapping the heatsink (not very good as far as smoothness goes, it has some ridges), as well as the heatspreader on my 820. Would you guys recommend it? I am worried about making things worse, or messing something up.

I'd be using 320, 600, and 1500 grit sandpaper, one direction sanding, and how do you use wet/dry sandpaper the best? Maybe I'll be able to crank my processor above the 3.5Ghz that I was limited at before.
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I'd suggest using a 1000 grit between the 600 and 1500 (obviously :p)...it seems like a big jump without it. It'd be less work as well, having to jump like that would make a lot of work with the 1500. As far as wet sanding, just place a few drops of water on the sandpaper. :)
 
I found an assortment package with 220, 400, 800, 1000, and 2000. Should be fun ;). See everyone in a few hours ;)
 
4 are included of each. Even though they are tiny, that should be more than enough. Anyone up for spin the bottle bah I mean cpu :p
 
Hmm. I should be pretty happy. A few hours later, doing 220, then 400, 800, 1000, and 1500, my load temps are down from 59-62C to around 51.5C right now. However, that is with the stock Zalman 9500 paste, since I couldn't find my AS5 that I thought I knew where it was! :( That would probably put the temps down even more! One of these days I'll find it.

When I started things back up, my Zalman fan sounded like it was running bad, but now, I believe it is slightly better. Who knows, I'm not sure if in the past 5 minutes I've gotten used to it or what ;)

EDIT: Eh, I guess the spring that holds the cooler on is weak, or something like that, cause when I put the case upright, it rose a few C, up to 55C. Still an improvement, though. It was fun. Now, just for the AS5
 
mtb2005 said:
Hmm. I should be pretty happy. A few hours later, doing 220, then 400, 800, 1000, and 1500, my load temps are down from 59-62C to around 51.5C right now. However, that is with the stock Zalman 9500 paste, since I couldn't find my AS5 that I thought I knew where it was! :( That would probably put the temps down even more! One of these days I'll find it.

When I started things back up, my Zalman fan sounded like it was running bad, but now, I believe it is slightly better. Who knows, I'm not sure if in the past 5 minutes I've gotten used to it or what ;)
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One of these days, I'm gonna crack by looking at such great results and just do this myself :D

Congrats!
 
I lapped both my cpu and my heatsink... no difference in temps... damn efficient AS5...
 
I urge people to check their CPU and Heatsinks with the razor trick before doing this mod. If your CPU is "concave" go ahead and lap it. If your Heatsink is "concave", again go for it. If your Heatsink is convex, good, they are better that way.

This will end the whole "I did the lap and it was useless, now my warranty is gone" syndrome. If you didnt need to do it in the first place, it is your fault it didnt work. So much time and effort wasted on so many mods that dont need to be done for any other reason than "I did it".
 
I've lapped once. Never did it again. It's a whole lot of wasted time, when you already have extremely good cooling. My currently unlapped, overclocked E6600 sits at 22C in a decently AC'd room. Right now at 32C with no AC.

I haven't gone with a Q6600 yet. I'm finding that getting a new vidcard would be more beneficial for me. Course by the end of the year I'll be on a Q6600.
 
markintosh13 said:
If the IHS is already flat... there will be no change.
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Again... lapping is a fix for a bad heat situation caused by a non-flat ihs creating bad cpu to heatsink contact.

If there's no bad cpu to heatsink contact, then lapping... will not fix it. Duh.
 
I think even if your cpu is not concave and have good contact lapping will at least gives you better temperature underload, because you are removing some surface from the heat spreader.

That is my opinion, and not to mention peace of mind that your cpu is definately flat now.
 
I did the light test post lapping, and it seemed okay. There was some inconsistency, but not terrible. It was still slightly concave. A few pointers:

1. Get two packs of the assorted sand paper. It is worth the extra money. I could have saved a half hour, I believe, if I had switched to new sheets. Especially during the later ones, where the copper makes the sandpaper clog so fast.

2. Even once all the nickel coating is gone, do a good 10-15 minutes more of low grit, carefully, and slowly. That will make sure that you have a good flat surface to do the subsequent grits on. I still had some of the edges that were slightly higher, and that made it a little less flat later on.

3. Watch out for your fingers. I found out after I was done that my middle finger's tip was sanded pretty good, and almost bleeding. It is not terrible, but bothersome.

Questions:
1. I'm not sure if it is better to do it dry or wet. Discussion? Better wet later on? Who knows...

2. How in the world did you get a mirror finish? Even with 1500 grit, it continued to leave scratch marks. I opted to not get the 2000 grit, but you got it shiny with the 1500 grit. Mine was pretty reflective, especially when looking from the side (ie, not a 90 degree angle between your eye, and the object reflected). I guess it is better flat than shiny, but still.
 
Why not just pop the heatspreader and make direct connect with the core?
 
SEALTeamSix said:
wow, good call!
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I find that a precut and smaller pieces aren't that affective when sanding your CPU. A large piece laying it on a very flat surface is that best way to sand your CPU. Putting a small piece of sandpaper on a flat piece of block(3"x3") and sanding it is very tiresome and you might end up becoming lazy and sanding not in a straight line because your hand holding the block will sometime rock. Another thing is that you will have to replace the sandpaper to often with the small cut pieces.

I find that sanding my Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme with a large sheet on a flat glass was the easiest and more effective way to sand the bottom of your heatsink.
 
Handheld electric sander with a piece of glass on the bottom, then sandpaper. Put the sander into a press and go to town. Actually worked out pretty well.
 
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