Anyone actually install the HR-03GTX yet?

[BababooeyHTJ]

Actually the base of the HR-03GTX is fairly flat, with just some very fine machining grooves visible through the nickel plating. But I always lap these heatsinks anyway, it exposes the copper underneath

Now my former TRUE cpu heatsink, that was convex! Took me a while to flatten that sucker. I got damn good temps. with it though. How was your TRUE Black's base? It should be able to handle a Q9650 with ease That is a tempting upgrade!

As for the fans, I have a couple Noctua NF-P12 120mm fans just waiting to cool something, so I will probably use those instead of blowing even more money on this crazy project. I know they look weird being flesh-colored with brown blades, but they are good fans and very quiet for the airflow they provide.

You have to take a before and after pic of the base on that HR-03. Im sure that you'll drop a few degrees by lapping her.

It took forever to lap that thing to a nice and flat base. I had arthritis by the time that I was done, but it was worth it. It should work well with a Q9650, I ran a decent voltage ~1.4 cpu-z and it kept my e8400 very cool. I ordered the q9650 yesterday. I couldnt resist, now I just have to wait. I can't wait to see how she clocks. My e8400 was a C0 and didn't clock too well (solid chip though) so it should be a nice upgrade. I just have to decide if I want to lap it or not, Im sure that I will at some point, just because.

Now I have to wait on the HR-03. I was thinking that if you could install it with the stock backplate it would look much better. Ive allways liked the look of the GTX 260/280 backplates. I have a decent side fan that should work well to keep the chips on the back nice and cool. As long as you have the heatsink facing down the Nocturas shouldn't be too visable. If it keeps things quiet it's worth it, too bad Im way past that point my rig sounds like a windtunnel.