CPU and heatsink Lapping

[mawbzee]

I lapped my kids cpu and heatsink. ( I thourght i would practice on theirs before i tried mine ). They have a pentium 4 630 which was running at 45c on idle. After i lapped it, it was running at 30c. Temps are according to the nVidia monitor. Both computers are using TT big typhoon coolers. Both comps have 680i motherboards.

Great result so i done mine. I have a dual core E6300 which was running at 44c on idle. I spent a lot more time and care when lapping mine ( well you would wouldnt you ) but i have only got a 4c drop.

Any ideas why my results are **** compared to the kids computer?

[Nox]

it could be the other chip had a badly concave/convex surface - did you check with a razer blade before lapping?

Nox

[teknokid]

thats interesting. i mighttry lapping myn.

[Taxation]

lapping has been around for ages.
ive spoken about it before tekno.
i did it, only took a couple of degrees off. but thats enough for me :D

[teknokid]

sorry, i meant his temp drop, i know lapping :P lol. is it really worth possibly breaking your cpu though?

[Taxation]

you dont do your cpu u muppet, you do your heatsink
you can do your cpu if you want, but most people just do it to their heat sink

[teknokid]

lol, well a lot of people have fone C2D cos there not very flat apparently.

[Coops]

The expected result of lapping a heatsink is 3 to 5 degrees. Anything more than this is a bonus but you cannot expect to shed loads off everyone you do.

There are so many variables to take in to account when doing this process. First you have different CPU's, secondly your finish on one heatsink might be better than the other.
The heatsink metal might be slightly different. Remember these parts are made to within certain design spec ranges. So each one made might be slightly better or slightly worse but still within the products specfication.

However i would say your first one was an amazing drop but i would have to question the fact that there might be more to that result than just the lapping. Maybe quality of thermal paste or maybe the heatsink was not well fitted in the first place hence a questionable base result.
Your second attempt although only 4 degress does fall within the expect 3 to 5.

[teknokid]

wait for the thermal paste to settle in, may get a few more degrees off.

[mawbzee]

I was very surprissed with my results. I allways thourght that Pentium 4's ran a lot hotter than the core 2 cpu's.

Your right about the Core 2 being concave, when i lapped that one, it seemed to take it all of the edges of the chip and not much from the main surface.

I never thourght about using a razor blade, that is an ace idea. I learn some thing new everytime i look at this forum.

The E6300 is overclocked but not by much, its up to 2450mhz with 1.48 volts so i think that i will live with the 40c and leave it alone whilst everything is running smooth and stable.

Thanks people.

[teknokid]

geez, tho's volts are high!

[mawbzee]

Do you think so.

Ive turned them down to 1.4625

Every thing is in the green on the nvidia monitor.

[Taxation]

try lower volts still. try 1.4
will lower your temps by a few degrees

[teknokid]

have it on the lkowest with the cpu still stable, or you'll do un-nescersarry damage.

[mawbzee]

Down to 1.4000 volts and no undesirable effects.

My temp is down to 37c on idle and 44c on graphics intense games.

I think i will try for 1.350 volts tomorrow and see how it goes.

Thanks for all your help/advice

[teknokid]

woah? what made you use those volts in the first place?
once lowered, run orthos (download off web) for at least an hour. this will check it's stable. then, step my step slowly lower the volts.

[mawbzee]

I got my volt settings from the nvidia overclocking pdf file.

In there it said that the first thing to do was to up your volts and then overclock your cpu.

So, thats what i done.

[teknokid]

lol, those voltages will poo your cpu up in no time. raise the fsb then the volts.

[mawbzee]

Ok i have my volts down to 1.300 at the moment.

I have run Orthos for an hour and a half so far on these volts, and it all seems A1.

CPU temp is 48c whilst Orthos is running. The 1st time i ran Orthos ( I think i tested 1.400 volts ) the temp was 55c so it has come down by a hugh margin.

Once again i thank you for your help and advice.

[teknokid]

no probs, try lowerin the volts more and more. then try a higher clock?

[Taxation]

lower the volts and keep the same clock

[Nox]

wrun orthos (download off web) for at least an hour. this will check it's stable.

I've never understood why on earth people would want to use any stability prog like that - ok it will show its stable in orthos, but do you plan to run orthos and nothing else for the next year? Just play whatever games you like, if they crash, drop the fsb until they don't, if they don't crash drop the voltage. You could spend hours making it stable in orthos, then find bf1942 (or whatever game) crashes anyway - wasted time. And find the sweet spot - there will be one where 0.01v gets you an extra 20fsb, then a further 0.01 gets you an extra 3... 3fsb isn't worth it, 20... maybe.

Nox

[Nox]

and yes, most people will lap their heatsink only, lapping the cpu will void its warranty, and be blatently obvious you did it...

If you have a seriously concave/convex heatsink, you can rma for that reason, but it would have to be seriously bad - intels white papers on the chip show maximum tolerence, though I was only aware of a small amount in their first few batches being over the maximum tolerence.

Nox

[teknokid]

yeah but if its stable in orthos it should be stable in everything else? it just ensures if your using your cpu 100% that its stable :)

[Nox]

What makes you think running one program means a completely different one is stable? do they share the same code? do you run round shooting people in orthos too? does it rely on information coming over the network/from your mouse keyboard to make its calculations?

Nox

[teknokid]

no, but its more about stressing. lol, i dont know, but 3dmark 05 is a good stability test, 06 not so much.

[mawbzee]

Ok heres the latest.

Im down to 1.150 volts and 30c on idle. All my games are playing fine and i ran orthos for 6+ hours over night with no problems.

I am going to look into 3d mark 05 and see what that is all about, but, to be honest, i dont think i will be changing any thing else.

I am very happy with how things are working.

I understand what your saying about lapping cpu chips but i really wasnt worried about warrenties and stuff. If i wrecked it i would have just gone out and got a E6600 and tried again.

Its been interesting and i have picked up alot.

:D

[Taxation]

dont lower the volts any more, and put 3dmark on loop to stress the entire system.
not just the cpu

[Nox]

only benefit really is you can loop them and run them overnight when you are sleeping, and you won't need the radiator on!

Nox

[djgandy]

Do you think so.

Ive turned them down to 1.4625

Every thing is in the green on the nvidia monitor.

You shoudl be able to hit 2.5ghz on stock voltages with ease. Most people don't start putting the voltage up till they hit 2.8ghz

[Nox]

i managed to hit atleast 3.3 ish on stock voltage - they come at 2.4...

[teknokid]

btw 06 cpu stress isnt as good as 05.
my e6600 needs 1.5v to goto 3.4ghz. is this too much?

[Nox]

Someones definition of too much is different to the next persons... Will also depend on a few other factors, ripple on PSU/electricity supply, cooling system, room ambient temp etc

Think mines running around 1.4-1.45, boosting it to 1.5 only gave me an extra 30-50mhz... ie not really worth it.

Nox

[teknokid]

yep, well with my vdroop its actually around 1.45 so its pretty good. i may try further but not yet.