Back from the new years eve on south of portugal (which i strongly recommend of course) and back at the forums i noticed my good old pal grnfinger also electric and a few others are going into lapping. So iīll post my exp last month at it with pics, although thereīs a zillion walkthroughs on internet (update-fusion block removal and lapping).
So i ordered the lapping kit from friendly Davidīs easy pckits (little note David: i would be willing to pay some extra for larger sheets of sanding paper, maybe you could create a larger dimension optional kit?).
I got a free extra sheet of nano-size grit which in fact i didnt use, and some cable tighteners of various sizes.
Next up is to buy a a piece of glass at least 5mm thick and 25x25cm (or higher) to have a propper working surface (or just order the easy pc kits with glass, although i feel itīs too small in size for my taste).
Also helpful at hand is a cleaning air spray which you can find on almost any pc shop, a piece of sponge, and one or two extra new or washed clean cloths (cotton only, or micro-fiber). In fact, best place to do this is in the kitchen..
Cleaned the glass with a soft cloth and glass cleaner which your mom or wife will surelly have at home.
Then used tape (paint job tape is easier to remove, but whichever is good enough) to tape in the sanding paper, i started with 600 grit.
This is how the setup will look like:
cpu with thermal tape cleaned (i use arctic 1-2 kit) bye bye intel lettering! of course it
will void your warranty:
You will notice the cpu is also in the photo, and you should take EXTRA CARE to have the protective plastic cover onto it, to avoid bending the delicate pins. Donīt worry later if some water gets inside, as you will not be connecting it anytime soon (of course i donīt expect you to get the cpu under a lot of water, right?).
Now get the sponge slightly water wet, and drop a few water droplets onto the sanding paper, which of course should be on the kitchen table. Spread them slightly and gently with your own fingers.
Get yourself in a seated confortable position and start lapping the cpu, front to back or back to front, whichever you feel more confortable at, holding it firmly with your mid finger and thumb so that both fingers hold simultaneously the plastic cover and the side of the cpu itself. Be gentle but firm, with just a slight pressure down (i used the ponting finger for it, as it becomes natural)! if the cover snaps out just insert it in the cpu again. After something like 10-20 laps on one direction you will notice a deposit appearing in the paper. Thatīs good, meaning the process has started. use the sponge to gently clean the paper and leave it again slightly wet. Now rotate the cpu 90 degrees and sand some more 15-20 passes. Also rotate the sanding paper 180 degress so to take advantage of the whole paper surface. After each 4x90 degree turn and lapping gently clean the IHS with the spare cotton cloth.
After you do at least 2 times the whole 4x90 degree turn lapping you will notice the IHS copper being removed:
when you feel most of the copper has been removed (maybe 4 or 6 times the whole 4x90 degree turn lapping) put the cpu aside, remove the tape and the paper, wash it out with clean running water and put it aside to dry out on the dish-hanging kitchen dryer (sorry my bad english!).
Dry the glass and insert the 800 paper, again using the tape to get it properly seated, and repeat the whole proccess. When the 800 grit is done all the copper should be out, leaving a flat copper color surface.
Now repeat the process with the 1000, 1200, 1500 and 200 grit to remove all the scratches.
As you go up it will take longer, so have some spare time and order your pizza lolol and do not rush. If you feel you went up and did not remove the copper previously, just repeaty the process going down on the grit. In the end use the air spray to carefully expel any water residues, and leave it to dry for 1 or 2 hours (now you can eat your pizza meanwhile!) or... get it in the microwave for 2 or 3 mins.
I didnīt use the 2500 grit, but you can do it, i personally saw no advantage in it. A total mirror surface is no real advantage, it is better to have a flat unpolished surface, will give you better heat surface / transfer and in the end thats what thermal paste is intended for.
this is what it should look like, give or take:
Of course you can (and in fact should) do the whole process for the cpu cooler. I did that for my ultra 120 extreme to good results. If so, before switching paper grits repeat the steps for the cooler. You will notice it is harder to keep it flat because of its weight and cumbersome profile, look in youtube link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO5gk6mZuso
for a video on that, its nicely done, and on the side you will laugh looking at this guyīs nail sizes lolol
final result:
For the thermal compound i personaly used MX-2. It specs are non-curing compound, but whatever people say i notice lower temps after it is seated down and fully working for a few days.
In the end i got avg 3-5 šC lower temps, not a lot, but most important i notice the cpu does not get to such high temps on full load it got before the whole lapping operation.
Update:
NB/SB removal, cleaning and lapping
Ok, so i got the Special Edition Maximus formula.. no water cooling here, so taking advantage that your setup is unmounted you should reseat the NB/SB/mosfet block.
To avoid the risk of cracking the NB, i used hair drier on hot, blowing into the NB and SB from the sides. After a 4 or 5 mins it should be hot enough.
I used a regular large size screwdriver covered with a piece of newspaper to avoid scratches in the motherboard, and after removal of all the bolts (not going into that right now) i inserted the screwdriver on the side of the NB so it touches both the NB and the MB, turn it gently around and it popped out from each side. SB is easier to pop out. The mosfet is not really glued in, so they are not hard to come out.
fusion block out:
Asus fusion block thermal compound is a deadly trap!! watch out because it is really hard to come out, if your MB has been reunning for some time. Use the arctic kit 1-2, used amonia, used tetrachloride carbon, eter.. so i am left to simply scratch it patiently with a portable knife, also did it gently on the NB surface itself.
look how the NB looked before scrapping:
the SB:
both after scrapping:
surelly i can put the dremel to good use! after some manual knive scrapping i used the dremel with the metal brush to remove any leftovers
And then did some NB and SB mild lapping just with grit 1000 and 1200 using the process described before. Donīt lap them a lot, because they might loose surface contact.
Also had to use the dremel brush on the NB and SB surface themselves, but no harm done.
Again, used the airspray to expel any residues from the area.
For compound i used the zalman, because of the included brush:
Thats it..! feel free to post any questions or issues.
greets
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1240mhz@2.02v 
Originally Posted by Omastar
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