I Blew The Lapp?

Finally got a chance to remove the old HSF on my TB900. Thanks to Wildone's suggestion (little screwdriver blade under the clip pushing out) I popped off the SuperOrb in seconds. Had my new Vantec lapped. I had used up to 1500 grit paper on the mechanical (vibrating) sander that my grandpa left me. Still works great. Cleaned hs off with alcohol until shiny.

Redid the L1 bridges with defroster repair kit. Took quite a while since it kept drying before I could get the gunk to the bridges. Finally got it right after about 10 misses and alcohol wipeouts.

Cleaned the core with alcohol. Put on Artic Silver 2. Spilled some on the ceramic. Tried to clean it up with alcohol. Spread it around some. Well, at least the bridges are ok.

Had 7/12 volt switch for the fan (delta). Works fine.

Insert CPU in socket. Attach HSF. Boot. Works fine. Temperatures with 12 volt setting are now 2C higher than with the superorb (51C under load!!!). SOAB. On 7 volt setting even (understandably) worse.

Did I blow the Lapp? Is the Vantec ****? It got ok reviews. My case fans are good.

Alpha necessary here? Is the artic silver on the ceramic causing a problem? Suggestions appreciated.

Are you sure that you have lapped the vantec so it is completely flat? I wouldn't use a mechanical device for that, I would use my hands and a very flat object...

You can check if it is flat with a piece of glass. Put the glass on the lapped bottom, and if you can vibrate the glass, it isn't all flat. (You know what I mean?) The flatter it is, the better contact with the CPU, and the lower temps you will get.

How much thermal grease did you use? (Only apply a paper thin layer on the cpu).

Don't worry about the grease on the ceramic though, I don't think that will do anything.

That's what I get for being lazy. I just took the sink into the workbench, tightened it up, and used the sander. I guess I'd best do it by hand. Maybe this coming weekend. I can take the temps until then.

Doesn't your sander have a foam pad on the base? I know my orbital does, and that spells curved surface - especially if the object is smaller than the sander. Sheet of glass, sheets of emery paper and a good dose of ellbow grease ???

When you get done put a very, very thin coat of thermal compound on you cpu, sit the HS on it and press down lightly, do not slide it around, then pick it up and see if you have a nice square of compound on it where the cpu was - if you don't then keep polishing.

it's common to use a piece of glass to wrap sandpaper around to use as a flat surface....but I'm sure there's plenty of non-flexable material around the house. =)

When I've lapped my heatsinks, I've had them get a little rounded at the edges on occassion, but the rest of the base remained flat. All you need to have flat is the center part which makes contact with the CPU. The rest can be completely convoluted and it will work fine.

Anyway, the reason your temps are higher is because you are relying on your motherboard temp sensor. The Super Orb blows a lot of air on the motherboard which cools the socket heat sensor there. I'm sure your CPU itself is actually cooler now with the Vantec, but you won't be able to tell from the inaccurate motherboard sensor.