Scratches on the base of my swiftek,(and other bedtime stories)

[nan0_man]

Ok, now that i'm exhausted from reading countless posts i've decided to just ask my questions and hope someone answers. I just got a swiftech waterblock (used) and there are some scratches on the base, also some signs of a previous leak methinks.Questions are: exactly how should I repair those scratches (as it says NOT to lap the swiftech) and also, should I go ahead and replace the gasket or leave it alone? I have already run a leak test for 24hrs and no signs of H2O. And lastly, I have heard that the direction of flow MUST be the right way around or the block won't cool properly, unfortunately for me I dont have the installation instructions to reference, so what is the right flow direction...? (In @ center or Out @ center?)Thankyou in advance for your help...



Heres a pic to illustrate...

[nan0_man]

and here's the side.....

[nikhsub1]

Those pics are so compressed, I cant see jack!

[nan0_man]

well thats a helpfull reply......

[dream caster]

In at center ;
and why can't you lap it a little?

[nan0_man]

It just says not to lap the base, i think i read it on thier website. Define 'Lapping'...

also apart from the scratches the base is unusually smooth. i feel like i could not create as smooth a surface as is already there.

[Yodums]

Well we can't see anything because it's all pixelated and stuff. Lapping takes off very little of the base, why not just try it? Have you tested it outside the system for leaks before actually doing anything with it?

[nan0_man]

Yes, im sorry for the poor quality of the pics...like i said, i have already run a leak test for 24 hrs and no probs, but there was obviously some leaking before as you can see reasonbly well in the second pic. thanks anyway for your suggestions, i guess i'll just change the gasket and use plenty of thermal compound. :burn:

[Borgy]

where are the scraches on the block remeber its only a small footprint in the centre of the block that needs to smooth ,
and just use a good paste like Arctic Silver 3

[nan0_man]

all the little indents(which look like 'pin pricks') are on the area that comes in contact with the chip...so you say it HAS to be smooth?...absolutely smooth? coz if so, i will have to lap it a little i guess.Can someone please tell me basically how you lap-or give me a link to view. thanx

[dream caster]

this does not work in an all-or-nothing way.
If you have less contact you a worse temp; a little worse i think because no scratch is gonna be so big. The instructions refer to the block as it was when it came out when it was new, now you have a different block: scratched, so you have to decide.


May be the wisest would be to carefully control temps without lapping and then decide.


look at what N8 says in this thread (http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=418577) and in this page (http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~i6735189/cpu/N8swatercooledpelts.html) from his site.