Lapping Intel's OEM HSF

[SanDiegoPC]

My Quad runs reasonably cool but I see that Prime 95 will crank it up to mid-60's or so. Gaming puts the temp at 55*C according to CoreTemp .96

At idle, it is 38-40 which is very comfortable. I'm using the OEM heat sink with the Intel Goop - no Arctic Silver or anything other than factory.

It's overclocked as you see in my sig, to 3.2 and runs great. Out of the 5 80mm case fans, four of them blow into the front, over the hard drives & board. The 5th one blows IN also, right directly on top of the Intel HSF.

Originally I had the side fan facing the other direction to exhaust the incoming air from the front fans. But it ran about 5* hotter that way and I'm satisfied with it the way it is.

Next time I'm in the case though, I'm tempted to lap the CPU & Intel heat sink. Would that be a waste of time? Right now, CoreTemp is still reporting only 39* and the PC has been in use for an hour or so (but just web browsing)

 

[Markfw]

I wouldn;t. The only thing I would do if you want it to run cooler, is get an aftermarket, otherwise leave it alone.

 

[SanDiegoPC]

Also to note: There's only about 5* max difference between the temps of the individual cores. Even when the max temp is in the 60's, after running Prime, there's still only 5 to 6 degrees max difference between highest and lowest readings.

thanks for any suggestions.

 

[SanDiegoPC]

Originally posted by: Markfw900
I wouldn;t. The only thing I would do if you want it to run cooler, is get an aftermarket, otherwise leave it alone.

That's probably what's going to happen ... but on the other hand, I see guys who have lapped Tuniq Towers that report temps higher than mine.

Perhaps they are running a different chip. this one, the G0 (SLACR?) is supposedly the one that runs cooler than the other version of this Quad.

 

[nonameo]

Originally posted by: Markfw900
I wouldn;t. The only thing I would do if you want it to run cooler, is get an aftermarket, otherwise leave it alone.

Except that the stock one is free, and he already has it.

It won't hurt to lap it, I'd try it. In fact, I am in pretty much the same situation as you and may try lapping the stock heatsink, if only for kicks. Be sure to follow a good lapping faq for the best results. Also, you might want to consider lapping the heat spreader as well.

 

[SanDiegoPC]

Originally posted by: nonameo

Originally posted by: Markfw900
I wouldn;t. The only thing I would do if you want it to run cooler, is get an aftermarket, otherwise leave it alone.

Except that the stock one is free, and he already has it.

It won't hurt to lap it, I'd try it. In fact, I am in pretty much the same situation as you and may try lapping the stock heatsink, if only for kicks. Be sure to follow a good lapping faq for the best results. Also, you might want to consider lapping the heat spreader as well.

Oh, yea if/when I lap the CPU, I'll definitely lap the HSF as well. I'd never do one without the other. It just scares me getting the sandpaper & goop inside the chip! I know to use the the cover over the chip's face when lapping.

This CPU/Fan has already been apart once. I dismounted it to put on this motherboard, as my original IP35-Pro was RMA'd. I was thinking I should have removed the Intel goop from the CPU/FAN at that time...but I was in a rush to get it together because I lost a whole day with the other bad board.

So I put the HSF back on the chip in the exact same configuration that it came off it, an hour before. I also pulled out an old tube of compound I used to use for overclocking before the days of Arctic Silver.

It's a big, 2 ounce tube dated 12-1-98. It's called ThermalCote Thermal Joint Compound. I was going to use it instead of the Intel stuff when I re-mounted the chip in this new board. But I saw the date on this tube and decided that the Intel stuff was worth the gamble.

That's been three weeks ago now and you have seen my temps. I think I'll toss this ThermalCote tube away unless I need it for nostalgia purposes ;-)

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: nonameo
Except that the stock one is free, and he already has it.

Yes, but high grit sandpaper costs money and gets used up. Would probably get similar and cheaper results by using a super thin coat of some better heat transfer compound, plus replace the stock plastic push pins on his heatsink with some nuts/bolts (insulate bottom of board with electrical tape or something) to clamp the heatsink on better.