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PinoyGEEK's Heatsink Lapping Guide
(A.K.A. PinoyDSL's Heatsink Lapping Guide)Project Start: March 25, 2007
Project End: April 01 2007
By: O.J. P. Dueñas A.K.A. "ojpd"
===============================First of all I made this guide specifically for enthusiasts and risktakers. For those who are just curious about how it's done I am not in any way encouraging you to this but if you decide to do so bare in mind that you are doing it at your own risk. I will not be blamed for any damage that you may cause to your system if you mess things up.
WHAT IS HEATSING LAPPING?To be short... Heatsink Lapping is a process in which one laps and polishes the aluminum or copper surface of the heatsink until it reaches a "mirror like" finish.
WHY DO SOME PEOPLE LAP THEIR HEATSINKS?Usually the stock Heatsink or in some cases even aftermarket heatsinks are not properly finished in the factory which then gives tiny holes/ unevenness on the bottom surface of the heatsink that comes in contact with cpu.
These "tiny holes"
/ uneveness / scratches / lines become air pockets if the PC is on where in the processor gets hot and instead of the heat travelling directly to the heatsink these tiny holes/uneveness instead trap hot air which then causes less heat dissipitation which then yields a hotter cpu.
If you own an Athlon64 cpu retail heatsink try to feel the bottom surface of the alluminum heatsink so you will know what I'm talking about. Lots and lots of circular lines Right?
now... on to the guide.
WHAT DO YOU NEED?1. A HEATSINK (D O H)
I used this.. An old thermaltake Venus 12 HSF that was lying around in my room. Don't get me wrong the Venus 12 is an awesome HSF already but for the benefit of the PinoyDSL and PinoyGEEK community let's lap it.
First thing I had to do was check the idle and load temperature of the PC using the unlapped heatsink. I couldnt think of any benchmark so I just measured idle temp and load temp while encoding a dvd. More on this later.
So after 2 days of monitoring the temps. It was time to start lapping. I removed the fan and the lock that was attached to the heatsink. A fairly easy task that doesn't need pics or more explaining to do.
If you can't figure out how to remove the fan from a stock AMD or Intel heatsink STOP NOW.
Here's a pic of the naked HSF. Looks smoother than a stock Athlon64 heatsink but it's not smooth enough because when you use a magnifying glass to check the surface out you can still see the tiny pecks on the surface.
2. SANDPAPER -ers
Bare in mind that when you buy your sandpaper from Ace Hardware or Handyman kindly tell the bagger boy/lady not to fold or bend the sandpapers. You need them to be as flat as possible.
400 grit
600 grit
800 grit
1200 grit
2000 grit
Usually it would require a 1500 grit sandpaper but since I am lapping a smoother Venus 12 HSF instead of a stock HSF I skipped the 1500 grit and went directly to 2000 grit.
3. TAPE (any kind will do)
I used these
4. A PORTABLE FLAT SURFACE (A wide flat book will do)
Of course you can use books from other authors! Heller? lol5. A FLAT PIECE OF GLASS (I used a picture frame's glass)
The Flat piece of glass must fit or be proportionate in size with your portable flat surface. In this pic I already the attached the sandpaper to the glass.
6. A Flat working space (I used the bar in my room)
7. PURE Isoprophyl Alcohol (The one that doesnt have moisturizer or cologne)
DO YOU REALLY NEED A PICTURE?
8. Some water
DO YOU REALLY NEED A PICTURE?
9. A little powdered detergent (Optional)
DO YOU REALLY NEED A PICTURE?
WHAT TO DO?Take your 400 grit sandpaper and tape it's back to your flat piece of glass.
FRONT
Here you can see I put some tape on top and on the bottom part. Put some tape on both sides as well and make sure that your sandpaper is tightly mounted on your flat piece of glass.
BACK
You will be repeating this process with your 600, 800, 1200, 1500 and 2000 grit sandpaper after you're done lapping with you 400 grit.
Atlast...
LAPPING1. Bring all the materials you need and go to your working area.
2. Place your mounted sandpaper+glass on top of your portable flat surface (book) and place your portable flat surface (book) on top of your flat working space (bar surface)
3. Place your heatsink bottom surface facing down on the center of your sandpaper+glass and gently start pushing up and down. Let the heatsink carry it's own weight. You may add a little downforce but be careful not to place too much. Bare in mind that in this guide "LITTLE" really means little.
4. Take note of how many pushing UPs and pulling DOWNs you have done. EX. 60 Ups and Downs. In my case I maintained a medium speed-steady pace for 4-5 minutes. After you've reached 60 ups and downs (4-5 minutes) twist the heatsink 90 degrees clockwise and repeat the process.
MAKE SURE THE WHOLE SURFACE OF THE BASE OF THE HEATSINK IS TOUCHING THE SURFACE OF THE SANDPAPER WHILE YOU ARE PUSHING UP AND DOWN.
5. After a full 360 turn of the heatsink try to feel the surface. Check it if you can still see any obvious physical uneveness. If don't see any it's time to switch to the 600 grit. You will be doing the same process and you will only be doing it until you stop seeing the marks left by the 400 grit process.
This is how you do it...
6. After seeing and feeling that you have a clean and even 600 grit surface do the same using the 800 grit surface switch to the 1200 grit surface and this time start doing it in one direction only. Up and down with a little more downforce and a little more speed but no more 90 degree turns. Again do this for about 5 minutes or until you clearly see that you have a clean 1200grit finish.
7. Lapping with the 1500grit surface is still just like lapping with the 1200grit surface. Do this a little bit longer.
MAKE SURE THE WHOLE SURFACE OF THE BASE OF THE HEATSINK IS TOUCHING THE SURFACE OF THE SANDPAPER WHILE YOU ARE PUSHING UP AND DOWN.
8. Do the same process you did in step 6 and 7 with the 2000 grit surface but this time try to miniimize the downward force. Push up and pull down until the grits on your sandpaper is completely gone. You may also add a couple of drops of water on the center of the sandpaper if you want to.
9. This isn't recommended but in my opinion it seems to give the surface a little bit more mirror-ish effect. What I did was I tore a piece of the worn out 2000 grit sandpaper and used my index and middle fingers and started lapping the surface of the heatsink in a uber-fast pace but at the same time not exerting any force.
10. Now you may clean your heatsink with your PURE Isoprophyl Alcohol. BE VERY MODEST.
11. I also cleaned the old goo off the CPU's surface with Isoprophyl Alcohol and used this as a finishing touch to both CPU and HSF.
PICTURE! PICTURE!Mirror Finish (My eyes look very sleepy)
Another Pic
See how the base of the lapped heatsink reflects my guitar's design?
Never use your fingers when monitoring temperatures. I learned the hard way.
A LITTLE TEMPERATURE MONITORING:AMD Athlon64 X2 3800
DFI Mobo
7900GT
Geil 2x1GB
ETC, ETC
Before Lapping
39C - Idle
50C (DVD Encoding)
After Lapping
35C - Idle
46C (DVD Encoding)
After Lapping + AS5 (3 days curing)
33C - Idle
43C - (DVD Encoding)
CONCLUSION:PinoyDSL Rocks! PinoyGeek Rocks! Lapping Rocks!
PS. I'm too sleepy to check for typos so please bare with me. I will polish everything tomorrow.
