Thermaright Ultra Extreme

slimsymeat · 18 Sep 2008 at 19:02

Thermaright Ultra Extreme, I got my hsf yesterday and I'm not totally sold on it. Problem is this, against my old Artic Freezer Pro 7 it;s no different. Idles the 35c and tops out at a whopping 75c. I've tried re-seating and re applying paste. I've got artic silver. The fan is 1600rpm and running full speed. Had it off overnight and on all day, so given it time to settle. One thing I did notice the base isn't entirely flat. but it's massive to totally covers the heat spreader. Any help or advice welcome.

Ben M · 18 Sep 2008 at 19:06

A TRUE that isn't flat? Massive shock there.

You're going to have to lapp it. May as well do your cpu at the same time.

thesnowdog1971 · 18 Sep 2008 at 19:52

I'm pretty disappointed with the TRUE myself after reading these forums. Haven't even tried one but sod it, if I'm going to pay 60 bloody quid for a CPU cooler I'm going to expect it to work out the box without messing about with the thing. :eek:

I've decided to get myself a Noctua instead because they're supposed to be dead flat and won't need lapping.

rjk · 18 Sep 2008 at 19:55

you can always send it to me

slimsymeat · 18 Sep 2008 at 21:36

yeah I'm disappointed if that's the case. This lapping lark isn't for me either. Why don't things ever bloody work first time. If it's not drivers it's windows and if that's not the problem then there's always a hot fix of service pack to find, then the isp's take the **** with contention and now on top of that I've got to go to lap land. LoL!!

Sarduk · 18 Sep 2008 at 21:40

slimsymeat said:
yeah I'm disappointed if that's the case. This lapping lark isn't for me either. Why don't things ever bloody work first time. If it's not drivers it's windows and if that's not the problem then there's always a hot fix of service pack to find, then the isp's take the **** with contention and now on top of that I've got to go to lap land. LoL!!

If you don't want to go to extreme effort, extreme overclocking isn't for you - which is what users of the Ultra 120 want to do (and will lap their cooler AND CPI).

slimsymeat · 19 Sep 2008 at 07:59

JimpsEd
Ok all the reviews I've read from various sources not one mentioned lapping., their temps are measured without lapping, I'm not getting nowhere near those temps, I get the same as before with my Artic Pro 7, that's why I posted. Also I had if off again this morning. It's a good 2-3mm out, if that goes then what about the contact with the heat spreader, the retaining screws are already at max and the it feels loose, moves really easily and having event less of a gap could make things worse.

PaulyD · 19 Sep 2008 at 08:42

Lap it and put a washer between the clamp and the metal base of the TRUE - works a treat and will keep it tight to your chip.

But definately lap it! You will only find people with good results from doing that on this forum

Pneumonic · 19 Sep 2008 at 09:17

the bases range from acceptable to very bad.. have had a number of these heatsinks for various builds and always lapped the heatsink and the CPU.. In most cases have seen a good 10c improvment on temps and a good evening of temps across the cores (which if your pushing an OC is very important to get the max out of it)..

I would think it would do a better job than what your getting however... what fan do you have on it? and have you tried re-seating and re-applying paste?

Tetsu · 19 Sep 2008 at 09:40

thesnowdog1971 said:
I've decided to get myself a Noctua instead because they're supposed to be dead flat and won't need lapping.

Good choice, overall build quality is way nicer as well.

rjk · 19 Sep 2008 at 10:37

like i say - send it to me

thesnowdog1971 · 19 Sep 2008 at 11:27

JimpsEd said:
If you don't want to go to extreme effort, extreme overclocking isn't for you - which is what users of the Ultra 120 want to do (and will lap their cooler AND CPI).

But why go to extreme effort when the Noctua is almost as good without any effort at all needed..? If you're paying £60 for a HSF it should work straight out of the box without messing about with the thing. It seems to me that with the TRUE you're not getting what you pay over the odds for :eek:

viennese · 19 Sep 2008 at 11:42

what do you use for lapping, any old sandpaper?

Pneumonic · 19 Sep 2008 at 11:43

thesnowdog1971 said:
But why go to extreme effort when the Noctua is almost as good without any effort at all needed..? If you're paying £60 for a HSF it should work straight out of the box without messing about with the thing. It seems to me that with the TRUE you're not getting what you pay over the odds for

if you are going for high-end air overclocking the Noctua models and the TRUE are not even in the same league when it comes to coping with high heat output... Just go and take a look at the Quadcore database.. nothing will cope with a highly o/c'd quadcore like a TRUE and that is why if you want the best you have to pay for it and then lap it

Sarduk · 19 Sep 2008 at 11:44

viennese said:
what do you use for lapping, any old sandpaper?

Holy crap no, you need 6 - 10 grades of sand paper and/or polish to lap properly. Search for 'lapping kit'

Sarduk · 19 Sep 2008 at 11:44

thesnowdog1971 said:
But why go to extreme effort when the Noctua is almost as good without any effort at all needed..? If you're paying £60 for a HSF it should work straight out of the box without messing about with the thing. It seems to me that with the TRUE you're not getting what you pay over the odds for

What is your evidence for it being "almost as good"

Also, the Ultra 120 is not £60.00. I got mine for £40, from an online retailer.

Pneumonic · 19 Sep 2008 at 11:45

viennese said:
what do you use for lapping, any old sandpaper?

google "premium lapping kit" comes with paper and instructions what I normally use..

alternativly you can get some 400 - 1200 grit wet & dry sand paper from Halfords or somewhere similar and then am sure there are plenty of youtube vids showing how to lap

Kelt · 19 Sep 2008 at 11:46

viennese said:
what do you use for lapping, any old sandpaper?

Yeh, just use that old paint-encrusted heavy grit stuff you used to sand down the door with, on your nice shiny heatsink and CPU!

slimsymeat · 19 Sep 2008 at 16:10

rjkoneill said:
like i say - send it to me

thx for the offer.

viennese · 19 Sep 2008 at 16:34

KelticDaz said:
Yeh, just use that old paint-encrusted heavy grit stuff you used to sand down the door with, on your nice shiny heatsink and CPU!

lol...that made me laugh. Read somewhere TR made the base convex intentionally to match the 'concavity' of the CPU. My choice is either TRUE, Tuniq or Noctua but really want to go with TRUE. Well a bit of sanding is not the hardest thing in the world to do is it...