AC freezer Pro 7 owners, did you lap your HS?

[burningcpu]

The mating surface on my AC freezer pro7 is filled with more craters than the moon. I was wondering if this could be in any way advantageous or if I should lap it down some. I am not using the original tim but replaced it with AS5. And if it is better to have it lapped, does anyone know why they leave such a rough surface when manufactured? Thanks

 

[WonderingSoul]

I use the AC Freezer 64 Pro (the same thing but different retention). You should not have removed the stock TIM. However lapping it won't make much of a difference.

 

[Spawn-Inc]

ya i lapped mine and didn't really notice a difference in temps (went from no lap with AS5 to lapped with AS5)
also note that when i first got mine it had machine lines, like yours so i just lightly lapped it go get rid of those. later on i decided wtf, i will fully lap it.


Before Lap

After Lap

 

[kyussinchains]

I didnt lap mine, I left the MX-2 TIM on it too, I'm getting 42 degrees celsius under 100% load, at 3GHz, 1.325V so I'm not inclined to lap and re-paste it, even though I arranged all my sandpaper and AS5 in anticipation of just that!

Lapping it some surely wont hurt, but it may not improve matters greatly either, so it depends on how unhappy you are with your temps really....

 

[copernicus]

The mating surface on my AC freezer pro7 is filled with more craters than the moon. I was wondering if this could be in any way advantageous or if I should lap it down some. I am not using the original tim but replaced it with AS5. And if it is better to have it lapped, does anyone know why they leave such a rough surface when manufactured? Thanks

i personally never found it to be all that big of a help unless the sink is not level. such as having a bulge/depression that dosen't allow for even contact with the ihs or core.

i've used 2 of these recently and agree the surface wasn't pretty but is was flat. and i can tell you applying the as5 in the normal manner used these days on the ihs, such as applying a rice sized dab in the middle and just applying the sink will yield less than stellar result's, as the as5 won't spread evenly because of the grooves, and also wont provide even contact because it doesn't fill in the grooves all the way, it will leave small air spaces between the sink and as5 inside most of the grooves. (experienced this)

simple fix for that is to prime/tint the sink prior to applying in the normal manner (something i had not done since the 2500+ barton) simply apply some as5 to the sink surface and use 1 of a few things to spread it over the area that will contact the ihs, a thick plastic bag works well, don't fold or wrinkle it just use 1 finger and try to keep the bag flat . such as a freezer bag. or a clean rubber glove.
after you spread it, making sure to rub it in all directions to assure no air spaces. then use a clean spot of the baggie to wipe all the excess as5. the best way is to use even pressure and drag your finger from one edge to the other using a clean spot for each drag. this helps to eliminate removing the as5 from the groove. now install as usual and the as5 will spread farther and will have the best contact.

the temp diff will amaze you.

btw the other major flaw with the sink is the fan dosen't have enough pressure to force air through the thin fins effectively. simply add an 80mm or 92 mm fan to the other side pulling air out. that will provide another big drop in temps.

good luck

 

[burningcpu]

Great tips guys, thanks!

Wondering soul- Yeah from the little I read the stock TIM is much better. I had to replace it because when I first built this thing (first build ever) I used AS5 on TOP of the TIM already there, lol.

kyussinchains- If I was getting those temps I would leave it alone too. Unfortunately not knowing better I bought a d975xbx2 motherboard and it does not allow the cpu multi to be lowered! So for my ram to be1-1 @ 800 Mhz, my e6600 has to be at 3.6 Ghz and it can only do that at 1.5V. Until I get my cooling proper I'm running it at 3.45 Ghz @ 1.45 V.

Copernicus- I'm going to try your method on applying the AS5. I did the pea sized thing last time and I had the same concerns as you. lol I broke lose the fan from the stock cooler and rigged it to the other side of the HS and it did drop the temps a few degrees.

Thanks again for all the help guys. This was my first thread

 

[burningcpu]

Oh and thanks for the pics spawn - I am not going to lap it because as you said it is flat just rough and it doesn't seem to give appreciable temp drops.

 

[gottcha]

my FP7 was not flat and i lapped it. i had a 10+degree difference between my cores after lapping it only drop a few degrees! it did help but then i realized that the chip itself was badly concaved.... so i lapped it to!!!! now i have only a couple of degrees difference like 2-3 and it did drop temps around 7 degrees. so i would say if you have a big temp difference between cores it might be worth it but then it could also be your chip. check it with a razor blade and see if you can see any light under the blade(hold it up to a light bulb)
hope that helps

 

[burningcpu]

Good idea with the razor blade. My cores run at just about the same temp, at least under load, but if they weren't i'd try that.

 

[burningcpu]

Update on this, I used copernicus's method of applying the AS5 and after a few days of curing my load temps are ~4 C lower (from 52ish-48ish). Oh, and it looks like I exaggerated the depth of the grooves, they were more like ~.05 mm deep.