Originally an Email...
-----Original Message-----
From: JM Leckemby
Sent: 15 September 2002 15:58
To:
[email protected]
Subject: "How to Lap a Heat sink"
Maximus Nickus,
I read "subject" with great interest. Although I am not an over-clocker - my 2 GHz is just fine - your article was intriguing. Being an "old-school" computer technician with much experience on Main Frame systems I have never heard of lapping heat sinks. I have no information or statistic to back my following comments. Just my opinion - and yes, opinions are like "a**holes", everybody has one... here's mine.
First: "After you have finished, you may wish to clean the heat sink's surface with some Isopropyl Alcohol." You mention in your article that there Isopropyl should be used because you don't want anything depleting the object of the effort. In that case use Denatured Alcohol. Isopropyl leaves a film behind. Computer techs for as long as I can remember have used Denatured Alcohol, and Isopropyl only in a pinch and the other is not available. Denatured Alcohol is just as common, and can be purchased in your local Home Improvement center.
Second: It seems to me that Artic Silver is a better solution for heat transfer than older products such as Silicone Heat Sink compounds. Also, the lapping technique. This removes all the little ridges on the heat sink. These little ridges provide more surface area don't they? It's similar West Virginia, a very mountainous state. If all its mountains were flattened out it would be larger than Texas, but if we just bull-dozed the mountains away, it would be only as large as its state-to-state boundaries. Goes for the CPU too. I would leave the little ridges behind for the surface area they provide. Have you tested the Artic Silver compound without lapping?
Just my thoughts.
Jeff Leckemby
-----2nd Message-----
Thank you for your thoughts, they are most appreciated, and I must apologize for my late reply, I was on Holiday.
Firstly regarding Isopropyl Alcohol to the best of my knowledge and everyone else I know it evaporates very quickly, leaving no traces or films behind. Hence why most of us here use it, if I'm wrong some information would be highly useful to improve the efficiency of the cleaning process.
The ridges provide more surface area but less of the surface is touching the CPU, yes you are correct but when the ridges are gone the whole Heatsink can contact the CPU, not just the peak of the ridge.
Yes Arctic Silver (all versions + Arctic Alumina) have been tested before lapping, they perform well but it is more beneficial to have a flatter Heatsink simply because AS is yet another 'obstacle' for Heat to transfer through. AS3 is the latest revision and works very well with a Lapped Heatsink; it fills any Micro-Voids left but then scarpers out of the way, thusly making it more efficient.
Thankyou for your comments
Regards,
Nick 'Maximus Nickus'
-----3rd Message-----
I spent 20 years in the military as a computer maintenance technician. We were not permitted to use Isopropyl because it left a film behind. Denatured alcohol was the only electronic cleaner we commonly used.
Considering your comments in regards to lapping. Simply make more since to me to keep the surface area of the heat sink and chip as big as possible and use a good heat sink compound. I would like to see a properly conducted test before I went through the hassle and dropping of a few Celsius.
Regards.
Jeff Leckemby
-----3rd Message-----
It's a tried and tested method, it works.
I will certainly look into denatured alcohol, do I have your permission to use your emails as quotes and include your name within overclockers.com?
Thankyou for your information,
Nick 'Maximus Nickus'
-----4th Message-----
That's fine.
