Polishing CPU cooler base for better efficiency?

[Peroxyde]

Hi,

In Newegg user comments section, some users suggest to polish the base of the cooler which is in contact with the CPU. The idea is to make it very smooth to have a "flatter" and increased contact surface with the CPU. The overall benefits would be to improve the efficiency of the heat dissipation.

I find that the operation is not simple. It's quite a job to polish a metallic surface manually and keep it perfectly flat. How effective is this polishing technique is in reality?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[cbn]

Hi,

In Newegg user comments section, some users suggest to polish the base of the cooler which is in contact with the CPU. The idea is to make it very smooth to have a "flatter" and increased contact surface with the CPU. The overall benefits would be to improve the efficiency of the heat dissipation.

I find that the operation is not simple. It's quite a job to polish a metallic surface manually and keep it perfectly flat. How effective is this polishing technique is in reality?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Have you already bought the cooler?

If not, I would consider waiting for more reviews on Thermalright Venomous X. According to a test linked in my sig it blows away even the TRUE Copper due to its flat polished base and high torque mounting system.

In the future (with smaller and smaller cores touching the internal heatsink) we **might** see such mounting systems being more critically important.

 

[Peroxyde]

I have already bought the cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2
http://www.testseek.com/labs/reviews...cooler/?p=2694

I am a modest computer user (Q9550 no overclock). I hope I can do OK with the "Freezer 7 Pro" for a while. I am just puzzled by the mirror finish preparation of the cooler base, wondering if it really add a significant benefit.

 

[veri745]

I have already bought the cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2
http://www.testseek.com/labs/reviews...cooler/?p=2694

I am a modest computer user (Q9550 no overclock). I hope I can do OK with the "Freezer 7 Pro" for a while. I am just puzzled by the mirror finish preparation of the cooler base, wondering if it really add a significant benefit.

The mirror finish is not that important, but flatness certainly can be if the base of the heatsink is very convex/concave. You can test the base of the HS and the CPU with a razorblade.

 

[ScorcherDarkly]

You can test the base of the HS and the CPU with a razorblade.

Can you elaborate on this? You just lay the razor blade across it and look for where it doesn't lie flat against the surface or what?

 

[Peroxyde]

Can you elaborate on this? You just lay the razor blade across it and look for where it doesn't lie flat against the surface or what?

I am no hardware geek, but testing flatness is quite a simple. I would pour tooth paste on the base and wipe it with a razor blade or something perfectly straight. If the base is wiped perfectly clean on the entire length of the blade (the metallic base is visible with no trace of tooth paste) then you can assume that the base was flat.

 

[Meghan54]

The mirror finish is not that important, but flatness certainly can be if the base of the heatsink is very convex/concave. You can test the base of the HS and the CPU with a razorblade.

Understand, though, that some heatsinks are deliberately made with a slightly convex base. This design allows one to put more pressure on the cpu when mounted. This design is quite common with watercooling cpu blocks and is making its way to air cooling, too.

 

[johnnydrinkawater]

Hi,

In Newegg user comments section, some users suggest to polish the base of the cooler which is in contact with the CPU. The idea is to make it very smooth to have a "flatter" and increased contact surface with the CPU. The overall benefits would be to improve the efficiency of the heat dissipation.

I find that the operation is not simple. It's quite a job to polish a metallic surface manually and keep it perfectly flat. How effective is this polishing technique is in reality?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

I too noticed many of the heatpipe coolers have gaps in the contacts, kind of negates the massive size of the HS.

The cheapest heat pipe type design I've seen with a totally flat base is the Scythe Mugen 2. Kind of fugly installed, imo, but function comes first. The dilemma with the Thermalright heatsinks is that a) they are heavy for the method of install and b) you could buy an isolated liquid cooler for your CPU by the time you add a quality 120mm fan to the bill.

 

[ScorcherDarkly]

I would pour tooth paste on the base and wipe it with a razor blade or something perfectly straight. If the base is wiped perfectly clean on the entire length of the blade (the metallic base is visible with no trace of tooth paste) then you can assume that the base was flat.

You want me to squirt toothpaste on my processor? I'm sure your method would find out how flat the processor is, but there's no flippin way I'm putting tooth paste on a $200 CPU, lol.

 

[Decembermouse]

There have been many debates on how much polishing your HSF actually does for heat transfer. Often times when polishing it, it'll get more polished around the edges, leading to a very slight curve, which can cause the very middle of the HSF to contact the CPU more firmly than at the edges of the CPU.

I'm pretty sure it's not important. I don't remember where I read it but some guy did a bunch of comparisons before and after, and found nothing noticeable in terms of temperature lowering from polishing the HSF.

What's more important is making sure the CPU completely contacts the HSF, and that there is JUST ENOUGH thermal paste to make sure there is 100% contact. Thermal paste isn't as heat conductive as the metal of the CPU or HSF so the less of it you have the cooler your system should run.