megahalems lapping

The last cooler I bought was a TRUE, and lapping both the processor and the heatsink was pretty much a must.

I'm considering buying a megahalems for a new computer (i7 processor), and was wondering what soft of difference lapping it has made. Could someone with a megahalems please comment?

In particular, what sort of temperature drops aree you seeing with
1. sink and CPU both lapped
2. just the sink lapped
3. neither lapped

The threads I've found on the forms don't ever seem to mention the CPU shininess state (i.e. lapped or not)

(Basically, I'm trying to figure out if lapping these is worth my time - I'm trying to go for a 4.0 Ghz quiet build with low-RPM fans and minimal effort on my part - if I can skip the 8-12 hours of lapping the TRUE+processor took, great!) Right now it seems like 2 fans in the 1200-1500 RPM range (hopefully closer to 1200) provide decent temperatures without waking the neighbors.

On another note, any obvious winner when it comes to thermal paste distribution? I've read it does badly with line-method. I usually just spread on a thin layer with a card onto the CPU - is this a no-go here?

Finally, do washers make a difference with this heatsink? I found only one thread on this, and it said results would be posted in a different thread (they weren't )

Thanks!
Zithras

I wouldn't touch the base of the megahalems if I were you. Unlike the base of the TRUE, some care is put into the base of the mega to intentionally shape it. Prolima actually warns against lapping.
IMO it would not be worth your time at all. If you search around on Google, there are some results from people who have tried it with only marginal improvements at best.

MX-2 in a line definitely worked best for me when it came to the megahalem.

While a washer mod would be possible with this mounting mechanism, it definitely would not be quite the same as a TRUE washer mod. This I have not seen any results for.

Yup - that seems to be the general consensus on the forums from what I've read - no laping on the Megahelms. Sorry - my post was a bit unclear - what I was really wondering about was whether I need to lap the processor.

I would normally assume so, but I've read that the megahalems has a slightly curved base to compensate for the Intel unlapped processors.

What I haven't read is whether lapping the processor would provide minimal improvemnt or even hurt it because of this? Forum search turned up nothing any ideas?

None of the megahalems threads I've read distinguished between lapped and unlapped processors - only heatsinks (or didn't even mention of the processor was lapped/unlapped)

Zithras said:

Yup - that seems to be the general consensus on the forums from what I've read - no laping on the Megahelms. Sorry - my post was a bit unclear - what I was really wondering about was whether I need to lap the processor.

I would normally assume so, but I've read that the megahalems has a slightly curved base to compensate for the Intel unlapped processors.

What I haven't read is whether lapping the processor would provide minimal improvemnt or even hurt it because of this? Forum search turned up nothing any ideas?

None of the megahalems threads I've read distinguished between lapped and unlapped processors - only heatsinks (or didn't even mention of the processor was lapped/unlapped)

Click to expand...

From what I've heard, there's no need to lap the processor for a megahalems, especially considering its already stellar performance.. you just run the risk of messing with whatever Prolimatech has done for the best cpu contact... There might be some minor difference mind you, but whether its worth the trouble? Not too sure...