Help needed for heatsink surface prep

mattyfez

mattyfez

mattyfez

Soldato
Joined
12 Apr 2007
Posts
12,390
HI,

Ive got a thermalright u120 (non-x) but the thermal surface is what i can only describe as "ribbed" see pic, this is my first build and i thuoght it had to be mirror smooth?

any opinions on this? it dead level to look at, but has this textured surface.

it came with some thermal right paste, however ive also got some As5 paste as i wanted the best, any reccomendations on which paste to use?

check the ridges!!!!

DSC00120.jpg
 
best bet, get a felt tip pen or highlighter pen cover the bottom of it then run it over a piece of plain paper on a flat surface.

do it for a minute or so then check how much colour is left on the surface it will show how bad the ridges are.

if they are too bad i would suggest that lapping it may be the best bet, should be able to get a smoothish surface on it as long as the grooves arn't too deep
 
Its a milled finish. Should be flat. But could be slightly concave. Scratch it with your fingernail, thats the best way to feel it.
 
Thanks for that, i will give that a go, but must buy some cleaner first.
ive read a bit on here about people lapping thermalrights, I was wondering if this "ribbed" finish is by design or poor production finnishing...

the thermalright get great reviews, and i presume these reviews are based on stock (un-lapped) coolers....so what im really asking is...

is this ribbed finnish a standard feature or have i bought a lemon!

is the thermalright paste designed to fill the gaps as it seems a bit thicker in consistency than the arctic s5?

Thank again
 
phily, i definatly feel the bumps with my fingernail, although they are very fine and uniform. should i get a refund?
 
Last edited:
Thats what I was thinking, however, i would like a few more opinions to back me up ( no offence ) as i have read some conflicting views on the thermalright surface issue.

rather than RMA'ing it i will take it back to CCL for a refund/replacement as the item is "unfit for purpose" under the "sale of goods act"

is annoys me when buying specialist items, no prep work should need to be done, the item should work stright ut of the box.
 
no offence taken :D

sure i've seen a similar thread about the noctua, theres was actually by design and someone wondered if lapping it would be a good idea or not.
 
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