A couple of people have been asking for a lapping guide and as I have just lapped my E6600 I thought I'd put a guide together on what I did.
Get the right sandpaper
Firstly I had to source some "wet & dry" sandpaper at the following grit grades...
400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200 (1 sheet of each) - You can go higher but I didn't
I managed to get the 400 & 600 sheets from B&Q but had to go to a car accessories shop to get the other grades as the higher grit grades are typically used for body work on cars.
The next step was to get a flat surface to mount the sandpaper on... I pulled apart an old photo frame and used the glass front.
I then placed the glass on my kitchen bench and the 400 grit on top of that. The paper was flat when i got it so i didn't have any issues with it not lying flat against the glass.
I ran the cold tap over the 400 to start with and then shook it about to get any excess water off the surface then placed in on the glass... (I only used water with the 400 & 600, and did it dry with the higher grades)
Now it was time to get the cpu!
I cleaned all the pase off the chip with good old tissue paper and a little cap of Smirnoff Import strength Vodka (50%) - It was all I had to hand!
I didn't cover my chip while I did the lapping, if I had kept the plastic holder that the chip came in I would have used that to protect the back but I threw it out.. ho hum it still worked!
Say goodbye to the IHS labeling
Now as for lapping techniques I've read different things everywhere I looked.. But i did the following....
Placed the IHS on the 400 holding the cpu by the side and started moving it up & down the paper in a straight line making sure i put only a little pressure on the cpu. I repeated the motion for about 10 seconds then turned the chip 90 degress (clockwise or anti clockwise its up to you) and did the same motion for the same amount of time again. Untill the cpu had completed a revolution.
At the start i looked at the surface of the cpu after every revolution (out of interest to see where the copper was showing) The first place I noticed wear was the corners...
The corners were the first to show any wear
After every 3 - 4 revolutions I moved the cpu onto a fresh part of the sand paper. I used the 400 grade untill I got about this far...
Starting to see copper at the center of the cpu
In total I must have completed about 25-30 revolutions at each sheet before I then moved onto the higher grades. I also cleaned the cpu up after every change of sheet as you get a build up of fine grit on the pcb.
By the time I finished the 800 grit the cpu looked like this.
Almost there!
Eventually after completeing the 1200 grit I decided it was time to clean the cpu one last time and wack it in!
Cross your fingers!
I probably wasn't as professional as some people would be when doing this, but it worked and I knocked about 6-8 degrees off my idle temp.
Warranty
If it wasn't obvious... doing this to your cpu will void its warranty
Get the right sandpaper
Firstly I had to source some "wet & dry" sandpaper at the following grit grades...
400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200 (1 sheet of each) - You can go higher but I didn't
I managed to get the 400 & 600 sheets from B&Q but had to go to a car accessories shop to get the other grades as the higher grit grades are typically used for body work on cars.
The next step was to get a flat surface to mount the sandpaper on... I pulled apart an old photo frame and used the glass front.
I then placed the glass on my kitchen bench and the 400 grit on top of that. The paper was flat when i got it so i didn't have any issues with it not lying flat against the glass.
I ran the cold tap over the 400 to start with and then shook it about to get any excess water off the surface then placed in on the glass... (I only used water with the 400 & 600, and did it dry with the higher grades)
Now it was time to get the cpu!
I cleaned all the pase off the chip with good old tissue paper and a little cap of Smirnoff Import strength Vodka (50%) - It was all I had to hand!
I didn't cover my chip while I did the lapping, if I had kept the plastic holder that the chip came in I would have used that to protect the back but I threw it out.. ho hum it still worked!
Say goodbye to the IHS labeling
Now as for lapping techniques I've read different things everywhere I looked.. But i did the following....
Placed the IHS on the 400 holding the cpu by the side and started moving it up & down the paper in a straight line making sure i put only a little pressure on the cpu. I repeated the motion for about 10 seconds then turned the chip 90 degress (clockwise or anti clockwise its up to you) and did the same motion for the same amount of time again. Untill the cpu had completed a revolution.
At the start i looked at the surface of the cpu after every revolution (out of interest to see where the copper was showing) The first place I noticed wear was the corners...
The corners were the first to show any wear
After every 3 - 4 revolutions I moved the cpu onto a fresh part of the sand paper. I used the 400 grade untill I got about this far...
Starting to see copper at the center of the cpu
In total I must have completed about 25-30 revolutions at each sheet before I then moved onto the higher grades. I also cleaned the cpu up after every change of sheet as you get a build up of fine grit on the pcb.
By the time I finished the 800 grit the cpu looked like this.
Almost there!
Eventually after completeing the 1200 grit I decided it was time to clean the cpu one last time and wack it in!
Cross your fingers!
I probably wasn't as professional as some people would be when doing this, but it worked and I knocked about 6-8 degrees off my idle temp.
Warranty
If it wasn't obvious... doing this to your cpu will void its warranty
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