- Oct 21, 2001
- 2,058
- 1
- 81
Noticed a ton of posters in this forum are using the SK6 so I felt the urge to add my recent experience with the SK6 to this thread.
Have been using the Volcano Cu6 for about a month with temps at about 36'ish idle and sometimes 50C loaded. Wanted the super-duper SK6 so placed my order and got it this week. The surface looked pretty good at first glance, but when I applied the AS-II to the cpu and added the HS I noticed that it didn't even contact the AS-II. Checked the surface with a straight edge and found it was concave. Not by much to the naked eye, but it doesn't take much. Out I go to get sand paper and start lapping. Lapped it on a flat surface and buffed it out. I installed it again and it made contact this time, but not 100% so I worked on it again. After an evening of lapping I gave it a test. Fired it up and by the time Windows booted, the cpu was at 100F and still climbing about 1 degree every 5 seconds or so. Yes, I tried installing it both ways.
Used 320-400-800 and 1000 grit paper I got at Pep Boys Auto. Probably should have started out below 320 though... Pulled the fishing sinker off and lapped my 1 month old Cu6 to get rid of those d^&$% swirl marks and reapplied the AS-II. It came out nice and flat and polished up well. Sitting here now with the cpu level at 35C \ 98F and a room temp of 73F.
No flames please, but for those who like the SK6 I say congratulations on a well cooled system. The design is great. However, there is no way in hell I'm going to mess with it again until I go fishing. I should have sent it back. But for now I can live with my stock-clock XP1700 on the web at 35C. Ran Operation Flashpoint with all knobs at 11 for about an hour and it never went above 46C. I reached my goal of having it stay below 50C, and I've come to the conclusion that even lapping a "cheap" heat sink can provide decent results with an XP1700 under load.
R
Have been using the Volcano Cu6 for about a month with temps at about 36'ish idle and sometimes 50C loaded. Wanted the super-duper SK6 so placed my order and got it this week. The surface looked pretty good at first glance, but when I applied the AS-II to the cpu and added the HS I noticed that it didn't even contact the AS-II. Checked the surface with a straight edge and found it was concave. Not by much to the naked eye, but it doesn't take much. Out I go to get sand paper and start lapping. Lapped it on a flat surface and buffed it out. I installed it again and it made contact this time, but not 100% so I worked on it again. After an evening of lapping I gave it a test. Fired it up and by the time Windows booted, the cpu was at 100F and still climbing about 1 degree every 5 seconds or so. Yes, I tried installing it both ways.
Used 320-400-800 and 1000 grit paper I got at Pep Boys Auto. Probably should have started out below 320 though... Pulled the fishing sinker off and lapped my 1 month old Cu6 to get rid of those d^&$% swirl marks and reapplied the AS-II. It came out nice and flat and polished up well. Sitting here now with the cpu level at 35C \ 98F and a room temp of 73F.
No flames please, but for those who like the SK6 I say congratulations on a well cooled system. The design is great. However, there is no way in hell I'm going to mess with it again until I go fishing. I should have sent it back. But for now I can live with my stock-clock XP1700 on the web at 35C. Ran Operation Flashpoint with all knobs at 11 for about an hour and it never went above 46C. I reached my goal of having it stay below 50C, and I've come to the conclusion that even lapping a "cheap" heat sink can provide decent results with an XP1700 under load.
R