Hey 
My temps at the start weren't really bad, but kinda borderline where I wanted to if possible make them a bit lower, so I bought some sandpaper and decided to lap the CPU in hopes of knocking down the temperatures maybe 5c just to make me feel more comfortable with the system temps. The idle temps pre lapping were:
CPU
Core1: 35 - 42c
Core2: 35 - 42c
Depends a lot on the room temperature, and seems to get higher at nighttime. Now those temps are not actually that bad, but that is when the computer is completely idle and running with Speedstep to 1.6 Ghz instead of 2.13 Ghz, without Speedstep enabled, the idle temps are 5c higher so 40 - 47c idle. So that is what made me want to lap it, maybe knock some degrees off it. Anyway, onto the lapping
Started with 400 grit Wet n' Dry sandpaper, went in a circular motion to start with on the sand paper, and did 15 circles before turning the chip 90 degrees either anti-clockwise and then doing another 15, then rotating 90 degrees clockwise so it's back to where it originally was and doing another 15. Immediately when I started doing this, the centre was at copper already, but the sides were barely touched. I marked on the CPU with a black marker doing a X so I could see where was going down faster than the rest. So the CPU must have been bobbled. I used 400 grit until I got down to mostly copper, with some nickel bits still around the edges, then I moved onto the next grit which was 600.
At 600 grit I started to do it in a up / down motion instead of circular, as it left a better finish on the chip. I did 10 movement from top to bottom, 1 movement being up and down completely, so it went up 10 times and 10 times. Then spun the CPU 90 degrees anti-clockwise and did another 10 with a fresher piece of the sandpaper. I did it 5 times per position, so in the default position of where it stared, I did that 10 times, then spun it, then 10 times on that, then spun back to starting position and another 10 and so forth until each position had been sanded 5 times x10 movements. I did this for the rest of the sandpaper I had which was 600,1000,1500,2000,2500 and it finished off with a very nice mirror shine and near enough perfectly flat.
So I chucked it back in the machine, put a line of Ceramique compound down the center as instructed on the official website to do, then cleaned up my Scythe Ninja and checked the flatness of that which is very flat to begin with. Both were immaculate and I fitted the HSF back on, fixed very securly, then proceeded to put the rest of the case back together. All went back together fine, booted into Windows, checked temps and got:
CPU
Idle Core1: 33c
Idle Core2: 31c
Load Core 1: 52c
Load Core 2: 53c
That was great I thought, but noted that the computer was booting from very cold and the temps would rise. So left it completely idle for an hour and eventually they ended up at:
CPU
Core1: 37c
Core2: 37c
Load Core 1: 53c
Load Core 2: 52c
So really it didn't do anything, which I'm very suprised at after sanding the chip and noticing the quite large outwards bevel in the center of the chip. It was even noticeable before I started sanding when you held the chip to eye-line and could see a bubble in the middle. I guess I can just put it down to that I just have an "average" temperature chip, but a little disappointed that it didn't decrease idle or load temps.
A difference however was noticable with an overclock. This chip will do 3.2 Ghz very happily with no voltage increased other that 0.1v on the RAM since it's only 667Mhz 1.8v RAM, and to get inline with the 3.2Ghz CPU it needs to run at 800Mhz. I put the 3.2Ghz overclock on, and the temps were:
CPU
Core1: 40c
Core2: 41c
Load Core 1: 59c
Load Core 2: 57c
Which I was happy with, having a 50% overclock on and only getting a 3c - 6c increase in temperatures. Guess lapping might not be great for everyone, as I've seen today when doing mine and not getting a decrease like I expected, but it was fun to do, albeit a little panicy
My temps at the start weren't really bad, but kinda borderline where I wanted to if possible make them a bit lower, so I bought some sandpaper and decided to lap the CPU in hopes of knocking down the temperatures maybe 5c just to make me feel more comfortable with the system temps. The idle temps pre lapping were:
CPU
Core1: 35 - 42c
Core2: 35 - 42c
Depends a lot on the room temperature, and seems to get higher at nighttime. Now those temps are not actually that bad, but that is when the computer is completely idle and running with Speedstep to 1.6 Ghz instead of 2.13 Ghz, without Speedstep enabled, the idle temps are 5c higher so 40 - 47c idle. So that is what made me want to lap it, maybe knock some degrees off it. Anyway, onto the lapping
Started with 400 grit Wet n' Dry sandpaper, went in a circular motion to start with on the sand paper, and did 15 circles before turning the chip 90 degrees either anti-clockwise and then doing another 15, then rotating 90 degrees clockwise so it's back to where it originally was and doing another 15. Immediately when I started doing this, the centre was at copper already, but the sides were barely touched. I marked on the CPU with a black marker doing a X so I could see where was going down faster than the rest. So the CPU must have been bobbled. I used 400 grit until I got down to mostly copper, with some nickel bits still around the edges, then I moved onto the next grit which was 600.
At 600 grit I started to do it in a up / down motion instead of circular, as it left a better finish on the chip. I did 10 movement from top to bottom, 1 movement being up and down completely, so it went up 10 times and 10 times. Then spun the CPU 90 degrees anti-clockwise and did another 10 with a fresher piece of the sandpaper. I did it 5 times per position, so in the default position of where it stared, I did that 10 times, then spun it, then 10 times on that, then spun back to starting position and another 10 and so forth until each position had been sanded 5 times x10 movements. I did this for the rest of the sandpaper I had which was 600,1000,1500,2000,2500 and it finished off with a very nice mirror shine and near enough perfectly flat.
So I chucked it back in the machine, put a line of Ceramique compound down the center as instructed on the official website to do, then cleaned up my Scythe Ninja and checked the flatness of that which is very flat to begin with. Both were immaculate and I fitted the HSF back on, fixed very securly, then proceeded to put the rest of the case back together. All went back together fine, booted into Windows, checked temps and got:
CPU
Idle Core1: 33c
Idle Core2: 31c
Load Core 1: 52c
Load Core 2: 53c
That was great I thought, but noted that the computer was booting from very cold and the temps would rise. So left it completely idle for an hour and eventually they ended up at:
CPU
Core1: 37c
Core2: 37c
Load Core 1: 53c
Load Core 2: 52c
So really it didn't do anything, which I'm very suprised at after sanding the chip and noticing the quite large outwards bevel in the center of the chip. It was even noticeable before I started sanding when you held the chip to eye-line and could see a bubble in the middle. I guess I can just put it down to that I just have an "average" temperature chip, but a little disappointed that it didn't decrease idle or load temps.
A difference however was noticable with an overclock. This chip will do 3.2 Ghz very happily with no voltage increased other that 0.1v on the RAM since it's only 667Mhz 1.8v RAM, and to get inline with the 3.2Ghz CPU it needs to run at 800Mhz. I put the 3.2Ghz overclock on, and the temps were:
CPU
Core1: 40c
Core2: 41c
Load Core 1: 59c
Load Core 2: 57c
Which I was happy with, having a 50% overclock on and only getting a 3c - 6c increase in temperatures. Guess lapping might not be great for everyone, as I've seen today when doing mine and not getting a decrease like I expected, but it was fun to do, albeit a little panicy
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