Just Lapped my Noctua

First thing I'm going to point out is that Noctuas have some sharp blades, so naturally the first thing I did was cut myself and start bleeding. You can see the blood on the fin and its still there, kind of a memory.

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/7769/img2376x.jpg

http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/5638/img2378o.jpg

Of course I didn't take any before pictures but I do have a picture between almost every grit. I started with a big sheet of 400 then on to 600, 800, 1000, 1500 and lastly 2000. Heres some pictures from last night.

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/3985/img2379hj.jpg

http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/2289/img2380vm.jpg

After 400 Grit
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/3152/img2384yg.jpg

The 400 Grit after I was done with it
http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/1452/img2385s.jpg

After 600 Grit
http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/4145/img2386n.jpg

Lots of material coming off, on to next Grit
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/5817/img2387wa.jpg

After 800 Grit
http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/4629/img2399k.jpg

After 1000 Grit
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/230/img2401f.jpg

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/8152/img2403l.jpg

After 1500 Grit, looks a little scratched but thats the lighting
http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/1269/img2418y.jpg

After 2000 Grit, oh so shiny

Rubik's cube anyone?
http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/6396/img2428u.jpg

I see you
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/3070/img2425f.jpg

My assortment of paper
http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/1618/img2458p.jpg

Well that was my lapping experience, worked out really well, looks amazing and helped my temp go down a little. My next challenge is going to be my CPU, thats for tonight or tomorrow.


Your Next
http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/8849/img2370x.jpg

I've got some 12,000 grit paper here, want another nights lapping? :lol:

Good job, very nice finish quality! :)
Should noticeably improve your temps once both CPU and your heatsink are lapped. :up:

12000 Grit, thats awesome where do I get me some? And I can't wait to get my CPU lapped, I really am hoping for more drop. Also once finished it's hard to tell how much paste I should be using, before lapping, in theory at least, there are more imperfections making for more TIM space. After lapping the two surfaces will be near perfect. Also is it needed to washer mod to bring the pressure back up to spec, I must of removed a good half mm of material off the Noctua due to its slight grooved finish. Any suggestions?

Rickard's :up:

i was reading where anything over 800grit basically is just for looks...

I never understand why people lap the heatsink without lapping the cpu. Most of the time there are bigger issues with the ihs than the heatsink base. Noctua engineers the bases to ensure maximum contact with the cpu die and you can check that by looking at the paste imprint. Lapping is usually necessary if the base is irregular on both axis like the Thermalright ones.

From my understanding, he'll lap the cpu ihs next :up:

looks good! do you have any before temps?

+ do you have anything you can show how flat the base is with?

@halfwaythere The base of my Noctua wasn't as flat as it was suppose to be, as I started sanding it I saw high spots almost right away you can almost tell in the first picture where I had the lines on it. Plus it was more of a trial, if I muffed up a $70 heat sink its not a terrible loss, but if I manage to do something wrong on my CPU thats a $300 mistake I didn't really want to risk. Things worked well, so I'm going for my CPU next.

@Origin My load temps were in the mid 80s now I'm peaking at 80 degrees Celsius. My idle is also down slightly but its really hard to tell with the temperature fluctuation in my room, it goes from about 18*C all the way up to 28*C in a couple hours. But I can say my idle is in the low 40s at least.

It wasn't flat because it wasn't supposed to be. Noctua's convex base was designed to ensure the best contact with the IHS right where is needed: in the middle of the IHS (the hottest point). Here you can see D14's very good imprint. Due to it's convex base there's almost no TIM left in the middle of the IHS so a very good heat exchange takes place. That's why the most respectable heatsink manufacturers make the base convex. ;)

I've read that if you sand to too fine a grit then the TIM has no place to go and it results in worse temps. I guess this is some highly debated issue... dunno I don't buy it myself, although I do only lap to 600 (not to say higher grit wouldn't be better, it's certainly prettier).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Adhmuz

12000 Grit, thats awesome where do I get me some?

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Search ebay for Micromesh, great stuff.

CPU lapped, peaking at 75*C and again idle seems a little lower but its still impossible to tell. Doesn't matter its the peak thats important. Sadly I don't have the luxury of owning the camera that took the pictures I posted so I can't show off the finish. Anyway, as of right now from start to finish I'm looking at almost 8 degrees Celsius and I'm still using the stock Noctua paste. Once I get my hands on some IC7 I will try real hard to get a better contact, I kinda just put the usual grain of rice in the middle and figured it should do.

Lastly it feels as though the Heatsink is a little looser than it was before, think I should get some washer to increase the pressure to account for the material that has now been sanded away?

You got a difference of 8C? That's really good! Sucks though that the heatsink is now loose, yeah, a small washer would be good.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Adhmuz

Lastly it feels as though the Heatsink is a little looser than it was before, think I should get some washer to increase the pressure to account for the material that has now been sanded away?

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Absolutely, I had to do this after I lapped my XP-120 way back. Couple washers, or sanding down the mounting bracket on the motherboard will do the trick.

it'd be cool if you picked up a few C with more pressure on teh mounting too

More pressure + less paste = another degree

This has truly been a great lapping experience

600 grit is the sweet spot for lapping. I have done extensive reading on the subject. But theoretically, if your HS and IHS were perfectly flat AND smooth you wouldnt need ANY tim at all. I havent had the balls to try it yet.

I didnt bother to lap my E8400 because the ihs was perfectly flat when giving it the razors edge test. I couldnt see any light coming through at all no matter how I placed it so I didnt bother to lap.

i havent lapped anything yet because im lazy and would rather not screw anything up :)

Very nice work

Good job! :)

Wow dude, sweet lapping job.

nice ! CPU lapping technics is the same as for cooler?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FlanK3r

nice ! CPU lapping technics is the same as for cooler?

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Pretty much yeah :stick:

I pushed my cpu into the square foam that came with it and taped it with painters tape.