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Is Lapping Worthwhile?

danza

danza

danza

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I want to beast my Q6600, and temps are quite high in Intel Burn Test at up to ~74'C. That's at a VC of about 1.34V.

I have access to some seriously fine (0.3um) lapping film which is used to produce optically perfect finishes on glass and metal. I have lots of other grades too. Will I see much of a benefit doing this, or is it a waste of my time?
 
I had it running at 1.3625V stable at 366 x 9. Core temps were 77,77,70,70 at 100%. Idle was 37,34,30,36. I've since lapped it and reduced core temps by 4-5 degrees per core.

I'm now gunning for 377 x 9, and am currenty struggling a little with stability, but volts are at 1.40V and temps are 35,32,28,35 idle.

I'll post load temps in a bit if it doesn't fail the burn test this time...
 
Needing 1.425V for a stable 377 x 9. Tempted to leave it lower at 1.3625/366 x 9...
 
Lapping is definately worth it - you need to lap your cooler too for the best results.

Also you could safely up your volts to 1.48 - 1.5 with a q6600 just don't go above 5 for safety (some people do go above this with high cooling)

Try 400x9 @ 1.48 volts
 
I've lapped every heatsink and CPU (with heatspreader) i've had for the last 10 years. It's always bought the temperatures down.

No point polishing the surface you'll see little improvement after 1500 grit. I was once given some really fine sanding/polishing material by a guy on another forum. After making the surface like a mirror the temps didn't really drop and it become tarnished really quickly.

MW
 
IMO lap if you have

a) high temps
b) want the experience and satisfaction
c) do the cooler too

You don't need a NASA mirror finish, this is bling factor only. In fact some schools of thought are that the particles in the TIM will fill in gaps better on a slightly 'rougher' finish and acheive better results than the mirror finish surface.

Take your time its good fun :)

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17971753&highlight=lapped+scythe
 
It is only worth lapping if the contact surface is concave. You can tell by seeing how the TIM sits after remooving your cooler. An HSF is harder to lap than a cpu, of course the cpu is usually twice the price or more.

My own personal choice (having lapped a few cpu's with only one showing appreciable temperature drop-was severely concave) is generally not to bother anymore.
It's worth noting that even if a contact surface is slightly concave you may not see any diff at all after laping.
 
friend of mine lapped his processor, he also has Q6600, temperatures came down a few degrees. however I got a bigger drop in temperature from simply using better thermal compound, Liquid Metal Pro is great material but its horrible stuff to work with and can't be used with Aluminium, but it gave me substantially better temperatures than my old Arctic Silver 5.

must say however that lapping doesn't guarantee you will get lower temperatures, there are loads of factors to cooling, the single biggest one I have discovered is ambient temperature, how well ventilated is the case, what is the airflow like and such?
 
Mr-White said:
I've lapped every heatsink and CPU (with heatspreader) i've had for the last 10 years. It's always bought the temperatures down.

No point polishing the surface you'll see little improvement after 1500 grit. I was once given some really fine sanding/polishing material by a guy on another forum. After making the surface like a mirror the temps didn't really drop and it become tarnished really quickly.

MW
Click to expand...

I've found polishing makes the final tweaks to any imperfections after initially doing it with the grit paper. At least the polish I use. Primo or something. Smooths out any extremely fine lines. Messy though. Fingers all black after a while.

3t3P said:
You don't need a NASA mirror finish, this is bling factor only. In fact some schools of thought are that the particles in the TIM will fill in gaps better on a slightly 'rougher' finish and acheive better results than the mirror finish surface.

Take your time its good fun :)

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17971753&highlight=lapped+scythe
Click to expand...

It is hella pretty though. :D
 
Just out of interest how are you lapping?
Do you just gently rub your processor on a piece of fine grit on a flat surface with a bit of lubricant or are you using special equipment?
Also, what CPU coolers are you using before and after the lapping?
I'm guessing lapping gives you a better improvement with lesser coolers?
 
I did mine by hand on a granite chopping board. You'll never get it perfectly flat by hand, but unless you're totally ham-fisted, you should get it better if it is needed. I did my CPU cooler too, although it's a lot harder to polish it perfectly upright.

My AC Freezer 7 Pro/Q6600 temps dropped by 4 or 5 degrees after lapping when stress testing under IBT.
 
Last edited:
I just use fine grit paper from the bike section @ Halfords - 400,800,1200 grit (no lubricant) with the sandpaper taped to a large mirror. Rub up and down 25 times then rotate 45 degrees it easy really same process for cooler and CPU. When doing the CPU cover the pins with foam or use the plastic lid it came in to protect the pins so you can't accidentally bend one. Remember very little force is required let the sandpaper do the work. Polishing is a bad idea and may make your temps worse. I know mine is good when I can lay the cpu on the table and place the cooler on top and I can then lift the cooler and it will also lift the CPU due to the vacuum of two flat surfaces.
 
I did my X2 5000+ and temps dropped by about 8~12*c. Very satisfying! You risk killing the CPU or board though.

I did it on large-bubbled wrap with another layer taped on top around the CPU to avoid any Al getting in contact with the pins.
 
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