GF3 Lapping ?

[vfarrand]

I just recieved a Visiontek Geforce 3 and was wondering if I should take off the RAM sinks and Lap them.

Any suggestions ??

[Pinky]

There's limits to what lapping does for regular heatsinks and cpus, for RAM sinks it really won't make a difference (some argue the ramsinks don't do anytyhing in the first place).

[Tacoman667]

It never hurts to try though. I took off my HSF on it and lapped it just for the hell of it before I got my Blorb.

[Mac42]

I tried lapping the ram-sinks... they are so uneven I gave up. Besides, you're not going to gain anything by lapping the metal as opposed to just using good thermal paste seeing as you're transfering heat away from plastic, though you might still need to sand off that stock thermal-adhesive... that stuff sucks.

Before I took my ram-sinks off the back of the board would get hotter than the ram-sinks, but after applying artic silver and gluing the ram-sins back down with a LOT of clamping pressure the sinks get about twice as hot as the board (which is much cooler btw). This allowed me to get 565Mhz at default voltage without any artifacts (Det4 21.80).

[vfarrand]

How difficult was it to remove the ramsinks ??

[Mac42]

It was faily simple actually. I just took a flathead screwdriver, put it under one of the corners, and gently turned it... they popped right off. Don't use too much force though... if they resist just put the card in a zip-lock baggy and stick it in the freezer for an hour. Also, make sure you're not scratching any traces on the pcb when you do it. Be carefull and good luck.

[Pinky]

Originally posted by Mac42
It was faily simple actually. I just took a flathead screwdriver, put it under one of the corners, and gently turned it... they popped right off. Don't use too much force though... if they resist just put the card in a zip-lock baggy and stick it in the freezer for an hour. Also, make sure you're not scratching any traces on the pcb when you do it. Be carefull and good luck.

Be careful and good luck, or just wait for an upgrade and enjoy your working card ;).

[Mac42]

Hehe, I never said it was completely safe or even smart to do, but he asked for the info and I'd rather him be informed than try to go with incomplete knowledge.


I do believe doing this mod correctly increases overclockability though. Just be careful not to get any conductive paste on your wires... that's some tuff stuff to clean out of your ram. :(

[Pinky]

Originally posted by Mac42
Just be careful not to get any conductive paste on your wires... that's some tuff stuff to clean out of your ram. :(

Rubbing alcohol on a cotton cloth works, just be sure to blow it dry :).