Does lapping my CPU destroy it?

[Robert_J]

this guy seems to think so...

http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-destroy-your-CPU-by-lapping-it

this makes me think twice about lapping my i5..... but then again he explains lapping to be some sort of bloody barbaric process that breeds terrorism

 

[Kangg]

If you're careful you should be fine.

 

[mzs_biteme]

So what did you "plug" into Google search to come up with an almost 2yr old attention-whoring article by some douche-bag moron, who call everybody else a moron, on something he's got no clue about...???

I've never lapped, but I'm confident it works when done properly...

Also there are far more reliable sources of data and research done on this matter, than another Dig-wanna-be crapsite like that!!!

Nothing to see here...

 

[C-rizzle]

My problems with lapping are:

1 - voids warranty

2 - makes chips harder to resell
- people assume you overclocked (volted) the hell out of it.
- see # 1
- people are scared, the chip isn't what you claim it is, can't verify (with out sticking it in and firing up CPU-Z) b/c of lack of markings

3 - lack of evidence showing its worth the extra effort
- most people claim a 1C drop in temps if that. Some people see nothing.
- really only benefits chips that had f'd up heatspreaders.

The only chip I'd lap would be an ES. As its basically not warranteed anyway, and you might as well take the identifying markings off of it so who ever sold it doesn't get in trouble, as they're really not supposed to be sold.

 

[Zero82z]

The guy who wrote that article is a fucking idiot and hasn't the faintest idea of what he's talking about. Ignore it.

 

[extide]

Yeah the current LGA procs with heat spreaders are tough. I have actually had one (un-knowingly) in a pocket in a pair of pants that went thru the wash several times (dryer as well).

The processor still works just fine and is in use today.

 

[Eye7]

Why did you have a processor in your pocket? lmao

 

[JCDenton]

Not if you do it properly. However, all it accomplishes is wasting your time and devaluing your chip.

 

[GotNoRice]

LOL that author doesn't even know the difference between the core and the heatspreader. I think he thinks people are actually sanding down the core, lol, no wonder he thinks it's such a bad idea.

Lapping is supposed to be complete when the silvery surface coating of the CPU is all gone and it reveals the coppery colored core material.

 

[AVT]

My problems with lapping are:

1 - voids warranty

2 - makes chips harder to resell
- people assume you overclocked (volted) the hell out of it.
- see # 1
- people are scared, the chip isn't what you claim it is, can't verify (with out sticking it in and firing up CPU-Z) b/c of lack of markings

3 - lack of evidence showing its worth the extra effort
- most people claim a 1C drop in temps if that. Some people see nothing.
- really only benefits chips that had f'd up heatspreaders.

The only chip I'd lap would be an ES. As its basically not warranteed anyway, and you might as well take the identifying markings off of it so who ever sold it doesn't get in trouble, as they're really not supposed to be sold.

1 - ok. I've never had to or seen anyone that had to RMA a CPU.
2 - ok. As long as you have heat, nobody gives a shit.
3 - Because physics cannot be considered evidence.

 

[Nickbaldwin86]

That guy seems to be angry at the world, or at least at people that OC

You may or may not see anything from lapping your CPU but what ever you do don't listen to that guy, he states that it is stupid to OC, you can gain major performance with little to no cost (just depends on if you factor in a after market cooler as cost)

I wouldn't ever lap a CPU ( I just make sure your cooler is has good lapping), but if you want to and you don't go to far, it will not destroy your CPU

 

[Nickbaldwin86]

1 - ok. I've never had to or seen anyone that had to RMA a CPU.
2 - ok. As long as you have heat, nobody gives a shit.
3 - Because physics cannot be considered evidence.

NEVER is such a strong word... I have sent a CPU in for RMA. don't think I have any evidence to prove it. but lately CPUs are designed so much better that sure the chance of RMA is really slim, but he is just stating FACTS

I happen to agree 100% with C-rizzle whole post

 

[laguerre]

Before you lap your cpu, define what you plan on achieving. I don't mean, "a cooler cpu," I mean, a flatter cpu. And how can you ensure that it is flatter? Just rubbing sandpaper on your cpu doesn't make it flat. Rubbing your cpu on a flat piece of sandpaper on your desk does not make it flat (figure it out). You need to make sure you can measure your results in some way. Razor and flashlight on both surfaces is a start. Multiple tests on your application method and results is necessary.

Also, no matter how flat your cpu AND heatsink are, if you got a whole bunch of arctic silver between, it was useless. You are trying to take two marginally flat surfaces being bridged by your thermal paste, and making them into two very flat surfaces with very little paste. Oh, and thermal paste isn't glue. And actually, the thermal paste is the weakest point, if you could fuse your heatsink to your cpu, you would better off, but since you can't the next best is thermal paste. Apply only as much as you need to bridge the gap for heat transfer.

One other, the grit of your sandpaper isn't nearly as important as the flatness of your cpu and heatsink. If you use too fine a grit of sandpaper, you'll only polish it, you won't flatten it.

Oh, the question, does lapping a cpu destroy it? Improperly lapping can very well destroy it, or worsen the heat transfer, or just waste your time.

 

[Syndicated_Death]

I know the article you guys speak of, and I have vowed never to click one of his links again. I have no intention of giving that moron anymore page hits to further bolstering his ego.

 

[Coaxial]

I lapped my Q6600 with zero problems. It didn't do much with my temps until I lapped my tuniq tower as well (talk about a job!) Once both were lapped I was able to up my voltage another couple notches and keep the same temps I had previously. Nothing huge, but like all do-it-yourself mods/projects, you get a nice feeling of satisfaction when it's completed.

I would agree with the above that it could lower your resale value, but if you sell it on a forum like [H] you'll typically be selling to knowledgeable people that understand why it's lapped.

 

[TOOL1075]

we berated that moron AT LENGTH a while ago on this very forum.

He deleted most of our comments.

That was a long time ago.

Don't click the link. Don't give him any hits. He's a douche.

 

[Deleted member 89137]

lol what the fuck? All it is is smoothing out the heat spreader so it's as close to flat as possible, how that can destroy a cpu is far beyond me. The heat spreader can be taken off and replaced FFS...

 

[Deleted member 184142]

1 - voids warranty

If you are lapping (or not) you are more than likely already OCing the CPU, which already voids the warranty, and if you fry the chip and try to RMA it, you are just trying to pull one over on the mfg.

2 - makes chips harder to resell
- people assume you overclocked (volted) the hell out of it.
- see # 1
- people are scared, the chip isn't what you claim it is, can't verify (with out sticking it in and firing up CPU-Z) b/c of lack of markings

So your saying that if you do lap it you can't lie/pull one over on the buyer by saying it's never been OCed. And not being lapped does not mean it has not been overvolted etc. Having a photo also means nothing, it could be any chip, you can also photo it before you lap so you have something to show for selling later, but all in all you could still send them any chip in the world or nothing at all. That's what Heat is for.

3 - lack of evidence showing its worth the extra effort
- most people claim a 1C drop in temps if that. Some people see nothing.
- really only benefits chips that had f'd up heatspreaders.

Most people I know get far far more than 1C drop when using a highend cooler, I got around 8-10C with my lap job (which is not even that great). It also does not "f" up your HS, it still works just fine, and if done right, even better.

The only chip I'd lap would be an ES. As its basically not warranteed anyway, and you might as well take the identifying markings off of it so who ever sold it doesn't get in trouble, as they're really not supposed to be sold.

So again, trying to pawn off something that should NOT be sold to some unknowing buyer.

 

[setter]

I sold a lapped q6600 a while back on another forum, in the description, i very clearly stated that it had been lapped, the chip was also a pretty good overclocker, (3.8ghz on air) managed to sell it inside 5 mins of putting it up for sale. Regarding temp drops, combined with a lapped TRUE i knocked 8c of my load temps at 3.8ghz.

 

[Fafeifa]

From my experience, lapping only accomplishes few things now a days.

#1 Waste of money, those sand papers aren't cheap
#2 Voids your warranty
#3 Waste of time

I don't see how you get 8C or 10C drop when i have done this i usually get the same temps and sometimes even worse. People have to understand that a convex surface is better because it puts more pressure into the core and once you tighten up the screws the pressure force will take care of the rest.

If you don't believe me, take a look pretty much all high end water blocks have a convex surface. By polishing or grinding away the IHS material of your precious you are destroying the optimal measurements that the cooler was designed for.

Sure keep lapping your cpus i will never do that nonsense thing again.

 

[Crosshairs]

I know the article you guys speak of, and I have vowed never to click one of his links again. I have no intention of giving that moron anymore page hits to further bolstering his ego.

This ...that link shows up every once in a while.......I swear its only there for page hits....

 

[Zero82z]

People have to understand that a convex surface is better because it puts more pressure into the core and once you tighten up the screws the pressure force will take care of the rest.

Wrong. A convex surface is only better when the other contact surface is concave and is contoured to fit the convex surface exactly. The most important thing is uniformity of contact, which is easiest to achieve when both surfaces are perfectly flat.

 

[Fafeifa]

Wrong. A convex surface is only better when the other contact surface is concave and is contoured to fit the convex surface exactly. The most important thing is uniformity of contact, which is easiest to achieve when both surfaces are perfectly flat.

That in theory is true but in a practical sense you need more preasure in the center of the ihs because that is where the cpu core is. I do not expect 8C of improvement if i decided to do a lap job to my HK 3.0 and my IHS that is for sure.

 

[Zero82z]

That in theory is true but in a practical sense you need more preasure in the center of the ihs because that is where the cpu core is. I do not expect 8C of improvement if i decided to do a lap job to my HK 3.0 and my IHS that is for sure.

If the heatsink does not match with the heatspreader, it won't apply any extra pressure to the center of the IHS. You will have more clamping pressure in the center of the package when both surfaces are flat compared to when they are concave/convex.

 

[setter]

Wrong. A convex surface is only better when the other contact surface is concave and is contoured to fit the convex surface exactly. The most important thing is uniformity of contact, which is easiest to achieve when both surfaces are perfectly flat.

I can agree with this, i lapped both the cpu ihs and the base of my TRUE, both totally flat to 2000 grit, you cant get more uniform than when the two surfaces are flat.

 

[Fafeifa]

If the heatsink does not match with the heatspreader, it won't apply any extra pressure to the center of the IHS. You will have more clamping pressure in the center of the package when both surfaces are flat compared to when they are concave/convex.

i was refering to convex vs convex which is the norm for ihs and heatsinks/waterblocks, unless you are sol and get a pos heatsink/waterblock you shouldn't have the need to lap your CPU.

 

[Zero82z]

i was refering to convex vs convex which is the norm for ihs and heatsinks/waterblocks, unless you are sol and get a pos heatsink/waterblock you shouldn't have the need to lap your CPU.

Heatspreaders are typically concave, not convex, and either way, you are still plain wrong. Having two perfectly flat surfaces that mate with each other across the entire area is better than having two convex surfaces that mate with each other only in the center. And if more clamping pressure is required, there are other ways to do that, such as by using shims.

 

[Deleted member 184142]

Heatspreaders are typically concave, not convex, and either way, you are still plain wrong. Having two perfectly flat surfaces that mate with each other across the entire area is better than having two convex surfaces that mate with each other only in the center. And if more clamping pressure is required, there are other ways to do that, such as by using shims.

Indeed, the point is to have as little of TIM as possible, and to maximize the surface to surface contact of the IHS to the base of the HS. By having a IHS and HS with concave or convex surfaces is just a problem waiting to happen, as the two are not as a matched set, the mfg of the HS has no way of doing that, and in all truth would cost far to much money to ever work. So, because of this variation of the IHS and HS base, people lap, so that the two surfaces are now "matched" and have the largest contact area as possible.

 

[Riccochet]

I've lapped every processor I've owned for the past 5 years. Whether they needed it or not. It's what I do. I've seen major changes in temp and no changes in temp. Either way, at least I know I'm getting the optimal contact between CPU and HSF before I start overclocking.

Never once did I have a problem selling a lapped CPU. Or for that matter charging more. Of the ones that were stellar OC'ers they sold even faster. In no way does it devalue the processor when sold to the right market of people.

My current Q6600 had such a warped IHS. Idle temps were fine but load temps were all over the place. After lapping load temps evened out and dropped by 10c.

Warranties mean very little to the [H]ard OC'ers.

 

[DeFex]

i did it a couple of time, there was no destruction of the cpu, but it wasn't worth the small improvement in temperature.
however im thinking i should do it to my current i7 because its a bit of a dog.

this guy is just a moron he should not be allowed near tools.

 

[Udo]

I agree with the article and I even like the writing style. I lapped a Thunderbird once but no gain from all the work so never again.

 

[Dethred]

I lapped my Q6600 a couple years ago and my temperatures were affected greatly!

I was using two (2) MCR320 radiators, switched to two (2) MCR220 radiators (to fit it all in my case) and lapped the CPU while the loop was leak testing. I ended up getting about 3*C cooler temps despite losing radiator surface area.

Would I do it again? No. Why? Because water blocks these days are unbelievably better than what I was using at the time. I am getting better temps with my 4ghz i7 (with HT) than I did with my Q6600 at 3.6ghz, all due to my new water block.

If I was air cooling, you bet I would do it again (on a CPU under $200). We have some metallographic polishing equipment in our lab that could get the CPU and heatsink down to .05 microns (Need 2,300X+ magnification to see scratches). I will try it eventually, but with that kind of polish, using thermal paste would actually increase temperatures. The only reason I haven't done it yet is because I fear the 250rpm polishing wheel grabbing my cpu from my fingers and slinging it into the media drain.

 

[cyclone3d]

My experience with lapping...

I lapped some old K6-2 processors, then decided to cool the core directly for better cooling. The lapping helped, but the direct cooling did even better.

I also lapped and then De-lided my Opteron 170. Lapping helped a few degrees, but de-lidding it dropped temps by about 15c under load vs the lapping job... About 20c under load is what I ganied from stock load temps when overclocking it.

Then, when I got my Q6600 I lapped it as well. It brought the load temps down about 2-3c and made the load temps between cores a lot closer than they were before.

And now I have also lapped my new i7-920. Didn't really drop the temps but it did make the load temps between the cores a lot closer than they were before.

 

[Little_4nic8er]

I understand why people do it, but I personally wouldn't.

If you have the money, time, and patience, why should anyone care what you do with your hardware?

He really does come across as a douche.

 

[maleficarus]

Are you for real?

Anyone that trys to grind down there CPU is an idiot and should be taken out back and shot...

Seriously what idiot came up with this great idea? I totaly agree with that article 100%

 

[Zero82z]

Are you for real?

Anyone that trys to grind down there CPU is an idiot and should be taken out back and shot...

Seriously what idiot came up with this great idea? I totaly agree with that article 100%

Then you really are uninformed and have no idea what you're talking about. Improving thermal transfer by creating more uniform contact surfaces is a very simple concept.

 

[Riccochet]

Are you for real?

Anyone that trys to grind down there CPU is an idiot and should be taken out back and shot...

Seriously what idiot came up with this great idea? I totaly agree with that article 100%

Lapping is a machining process that makes a surface as flat as possible. In doing so to the CPU's IHS and the heatsink base you are ensuring maximum contact with the least amount of TIM, therefore getting better heat transfer. TIM becomes an insulator when it has to fill in the valleys of a warped IHS.

Wow, thermodynamics at it's best. Seriously, what idiot came up with this idea?

 

[Zero82z]

Lapping is a machining process that makes a surface as flat as possible.

In this case it's typically done by hand, so it's not a machining process.

 

[PolygonGTC]

Besides, you're not "grinding" down the metal transfer plate. You're simply sanding it with very fine sand paper, by hand and then you merely polish it. It's not a complex process and should not pose threat to a processor. That is unless you're an idiot.

 

[Riccochet]

In this case it's typically done by hand, so it's not a machining process.

Machining can be done by hand or with powered equipment. Hand lapping is still a machining process.