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To lap, or not to lap. That is the question.

buchtis

buchtis

buchtis

Soldato
Joined
23 Oct 2009
Posts
3,997
Location
Derbyshire
Thinking about lapping my Phenom X4 945.

I've done a little research and to be perfectly honest i'm split 50/50 with this.

Pros being lower temperatures and a better contact area with the thermal paste & heat sink.

Cons being raping the processor if not done properly and re-sale value.

I'd love to hear opinions from everyone who's had any involvement it this, and also if the hassle has been worth it.
 
Not something I would do but I can see the advantages. I wouldn't feel happy removing the Nickel coating that's applied at the factory personally :)
 
Never done it never seen the point of doing it for the few degrees you might reduce your temp you void your warranty and run other risks. For those after every single degree of temp they can get i see the point but for the vast majority of us time would be better spent getting a better cooling solution then trying to wring the last few degrees out of an existing one.
 
I did it once. Nearly had a heart attack when I put the CPU back in and the PC wouldn't boot. Had to take the whole rig apart again, dust out the socket and wipe the CPU all over, and then it worked. But it wasn't worth it for 4-5c cooler temps.
 
Done it on a Q6600 and TRUE combo i had, dropped 5-6c from my load temps at 3.6ghz, added a pair of better fans and got the cpu stable at 3.8ghz with temps at 68-68-62-62, prior to lapping and with the first fans, it was hitting 81c on the highest core in p95 at 3.8ghz. It takes a fair bit of time to do and i cant see me doing it again on my current cpu.
 
Ive done it before and i wouldn't bother again, the main reason i done it was uneven temps across cores, which it didn't cure.
 
I am looking to lap my Q6600 at some point, but I am in the same boat as you. At 3.6Ghz, I hit around 83'c on core0 and 1 under IBT. If I could get that under 80'c, something around 75-78'c as a max I would do it, but I cant say for sure...
 
Sayso said:
Ive done it before and i wouldn't bother again, the main reason i done it was uneven temps across cores, which it didn't cure.
Click to expand...

I did it for the same reson, Turned out to be a stuck sensor.. Though knocked a whole 2c of my temps with the vx and two vipers..
 
As and when needed only. Last did it with a C2D that was like a soup bowl. But unless there's a real need, can't be bothered these days.

Most of the old black arts of oc'ing are no longer needed. Bit like cars really. All significant tuning these days is a software affair (naturally including bios in that).

Cheers,
vfm
 
buchtis said:
Thinking about lapping my Phenom X4 945
Click to expand...
I'm not sure I would be in a rush to lap an AMD® chip because

  • AMD® IHS is fairly flat already unlike some of the Intel® chips
  • They have pins making the lapping process trickier than Intel®
  • They don't have Core DTS meaning you don't get the satisfaction of seeing the improvement
 
Of course its worth it - theres a definite improvement. There's a lot of risk involved though, so it comes down to personal preference.

I've personally never done it, but wouldn't want to void the warranty.
 
Wayne pretty much hit the nail on the head. I believe it was the early core 2's that benefited the most as they had quite a concaved heatspreader. And obviously, with the chip having pins, its gonna need to be clamped at the edges (even then you could risk breaking it through too much pressure).

I dont think ill ever lap a cpu, as the gains aren't significant enough (and i dont have the guts) to risk killing a decent cpu.

However, if you are happy with the risk and wanna try knocking off a couple of degrees or so, then go for it (and post the results!)
 
i've lapped my i7 930.mainly because i'm a tinkerer and i never learn my lesson.lol.first time i've done it and it did knock off about 4degrees but would'nt bother again
 
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