Scythe Ninja Rev B Results after Mod and Lapped IHS

[finaldeathh]

Edit:

Well, I finally lapped my CPU. I used 2 sheets of wet 300 and 1 sheet of wet 600. I didn't get to 100% copper but I got to 90%. There was still a little bit left on one side but I figured that it wouldn't hurt.

I didn't notice at first but I was actually sanding parts of my thumb and my index finger. Blood came out and I thought it was the copper mixed with water. Turned out to be my blood.

Also, my CPU was OEM so I didn't get a plate or anything to lap. I just used plastic wrap and taped it so the stuff couldn't go in. Not as efficient but it worked ok.

And I also did the Infinity mod on my Scythe Ninja Rev B. Make sure the springs you buy are big enough that they'll fit into the bolt nicely. And make sure you don't buy ones that are over sized and a pain in the butt to install.

When I was installing the Ninja back on the mobo, I spilled about 1/5 of that alcohol stuff on my RAM, 120mm fan, tools, and Mobo. I waited for 2 hours for everything to dry. Everything still worked.

And finally the temperatures:
Before: 44c Idle
67 Orthos

After: 39c Idle
56 Orthos

Difference: -5c idle and -11c load

System:
E6300 @ 2.8Ghz
1GB G.Skill Memory DDR2 800 4-4-4-10 2.2v
Scythe Ninja Rev B
Antec SL 350w PS with 20-24pin adapter
250GB Maxtor IDE HD
160GB Seagate IDE HD
X300SE VGA
Audigy 2 Sound Card

I had to spend a total of $20 extra and several hours of my time to get the Ninja performing the way it should. Very disappointed but oh well. At least I have more experience now.

[Herr Brun]

Should you use wet or dry sanding paper? (sorry for hijacking the thread)

[finaldeathh]

That's alright. I missed that question. Thanks.

[s1rrah]

So I just lay a 300 paper down, move the cpu on it until I see nothing but copper, then move on to 600, right?

Should I be worried about any particles getting inside the IHS while sanding? What about particles getting on the bottom of the CPU?

I then use 90%+ isopropy alcohol and clean off the IHS? Do I use the alcohol to clean the bottom of the CPU where the pins go? Will it cause any damage?

Is the process same for the HSF?

you mostly got it right.

some details i'd point out:

1. make sure you secure your 300grit (and all following grits) with tape; use a piece of glass so you'll be sure your sanding surface is absolutely smooth. (an old picture frame, mirror, or otherwise is most likely laying around). when you attach the sand paper to the glass, make absolutely sure there is no small debri or dirt particles between the sandpaper and glass cause this will form 'burr's' on the sandpaper surface as you sand your cpu.

2. when doing the CPU, use the cap that shipped with it; if you ordered your CPU seperate and as a standalone piece, you'll have this plastic cap. if not, you'll have to improvise with some way of covering the backside (where the various contact pins and what not are).

after finishing with your lap job, carefully inspect the contact pins with a magnifying glass and use generous amounts of compressed/canned air to blow out the pin side. inspect with a magnifying glass again just to be sure.

3. for the CPU, use dry sanding; it's not a problem. again, just keep a can of compressed air handy and as copper/nickel dust begins to build up on your sand paper, you'll want to blow it off. i'd recommend a paper face mask to avoid inhaling the copper dust, but it's not necessary.

also, as your sanding, you may find that 'burr's', or small dots of raised surface area might appear on the sand paper and you'll want to avoid these as your sanding as they can put deeper gouges in your CPU than you might want. again, as dust collects, just blow it off real good or even take it to a sink and wash the sand paper with water and a little soap ... being careful not to unnecessarily crease or bend the sand paper.

4. when sanding, you can simply use a figure eight motion and every so often flip the CPU 180 degrees and then continue; other folks have other methods, but i've found the figure eight motion incorporates just about all possible angles.

start at your 300grit and sand until the entire surface of your CPU is copper colored; it could take up to 30 minutes of sanding to even it out initially. i know my own 6400 was *totally* concave and for the first 20 minutes i was only hitting the edges of the CPU's heatspreader; don't hesitate to keep sanding until the whole thing is copper colored; you've got plenty of thickness to work with and it'd take you all day or more to sand all the way through the heatspreader.

after you get a nice flat, totally copper surface, it's okay to jump write up to 600grit until you have a uniformly smooth, 600grit finish (maybe another 15 to 20 minutes of sanding); when you've got a decent 600grit finish, your CPU will be only slightly reflective in a very hazy sort of way. many folks recommend stopping here and in fact some tests have shown a 1 degree or so better performance score with the fairly hazy 600 grit finish.

it's totally up to you, but you can also follow the 600grit with 1000grit and even up to 1500grit and beyond. it's really just for bling, though and really won't affect your temperatures.

one final word, a grit procession of 300 -> 600 - > 1000 is just fine; contrary to popular work logs and faqs ... it's really not necessary to step through each intermediary grit; with a bit of work you can stick to just those three and end up with a fantastically lapped CPU.

most important, take your time! the whole thing, if done right and on a new unlapped CPU should take a good 1 to 1.5 hours. it's a lot of fun, though and the performance increase is generally quite amazing.

have fun!

[finaldeathh]

Thanks a lot. I will start now and post results later.

[finaldeathh]

Bump. Updated post.

[Okda]

I didn't notice at first but I was actually sanding parts of my thumb and my index finger. Blood came out and I thought it was the copper mixed with water. Turned out to be my blood.

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

quoted in my sig

[finaldeathh]

Pic:

[GrimReaper]

56C at only 2.8Ghz thats pretty high temp!

[s1rrah]

56C at only 2.8Ghz thats pretty high temp!

depending on ambient temps, not really (that's nearly a full 50% overclock for his chip).

...

with ambients of around 75F or 24C ... that's about on mark for a lapped ninja. my guess is that idle temps are around 40.

...

BTW ... i sanded the tips of my fingers until they bled too. didn't even feel it till it was too late.

[finaldeathh]

56C at only 2.8Ghz thats pretty high temp!

I am in a small room with my window closed. My computer is under my desk and there is very little room in the back for the air to come out. I only have 2 fans in my system(not including the PSU).

It's pretty decent. When I open my case, the temps drop a few degrees.


Edit: The temp goes down to 47c with orthos with my case open. That's almost a 10c difference. I must have pretty bad air flow. I just ordered 5x 120mm Yate Loons. Should be here by Tues.

[finaldeathh]

With some better airflow, my load temp is 49c.

Used to be 70c+ before doing the Infinity mod and lapping.

20c difference.

[RobNyc]

damn.. a lot mixed temps =\
im thinking about getting that same 1 ninja plus rev.B

[finaldeathh]

Does anyone else have similar results?

[XtremeTiramisu]

Does anyone else have similar results?

Similar results? NO...and I've lapped my IHS three times now.

The temp didn't go up after I did the lapping so that should mean at least I didn't do a screwed up job.
I didn't notice significant temp drop and the temp stayed preety much the same in IDLE/LOAD. Yes I've remounted the heatsink several times....and the ambient temp is about the same as well, 22~23 degrees.

There are some others who didn't notice significan't temp decrease as well. Later we realized that it's becouse our stock IHS was preety flat already or it was convex rather than concave like many others.

However the good thing is even with no temp drop after lapping the IHS, our temp is preety much the same as other who lapped their HS so their work is definetely rewarded and as for me...well I had fun and a good experience and maybe have some psyco boost in performance and cooling...

What I did was 400-600-800-1000-1500-2000.
It's preety flat and after the 3rd lapping the IHS is relatively thinner than b4 which is suppose to be good and should drop the temp even further..but just theoritically.

If you've read FreeCableGuy's IHS lapping guide, he said "your mileage may vary" and it's very true....