waterblock flatness...

**the monk** · 04-16-2008, 12:28 AM

hello everyone, i am new here and this is my first post and water cooling project. i started a danger den torture rack. i have read about lapping cpu's and heatsinks before. i have been a machinist for 30 years and fully understand about flat plane's, or surfaces. i have a surface plate in my workshop, and checked my blocks i plan on using for my project. one is a danger den, and the other is a EK. nither one was flat. the DD had a male crown, and the EK had a valley in it. in the DD photo you can see the dull "witness mark" i left, on the outside edged or were the dullness is. as i think about i would bet none of the blocks are flat coming from the manufactures. peace, randy.

**~~turtletrax~~** · 04-16-2008, 12:51 AM

Most CPU blocks now are "bowed" from the factory as it produces lower temps on IHS'ed procs.

**Liquid.** · 04-16-2008, 02:58 AM

If you lapped your CPU and the waterblock you might get better temps.

Use some marking blue so you can show us the high spots?

**~~Xilikon~~** · 04-16-2008, 03:49 AM

That's correct, they are purposely bowed to have the best mating contact with the IHS and this have shown to improve the temps. The only time you need a perfectly flat surface is only if you have lapped the CPU IHS flat.

**alo** · 04-16-2008, 04:49 AM

Hm.... As I understand, EK Supreme had a concave surface! And this is very bad...

**Liquid.** · 04-16-2008, 04:56 AM

Originally Posted by alo

Hm.... As I understand, EK Supreme had a concave surface! And this is very bad...

My temps with the ek supreme and e8400 @ 4ghz... this cant be bad.Im gunna lap my cpu and the EK tommorrow and we'll see how much temps drop.

**alo** · 04-16-2008, 05:10 AM

Originally Posted by Liquid.

My temps with the ek supreme and e8400 @ 4ghz... this cant be bad.Im gunna lap my cpu and the EK tommorrow and we'll see how much temps drop.

Even if the OP's waterblock is flawy, this doesn't mean that all EK waterblocks are. This just means that EK may have a holes in their quality control and buyers must be attentive...

We definitely need more info from the monk...

**71 (Bryan)** · 04-16-2008, 09:45 AM

he sad "the EK has a valley in it" so its is concave which is really bad

Originally Posted by mcoffey

go ahead,

you'll be ruining a prefectly good block if you lap the EK.

-1

if it is concave i would lap it and im sure since since he is a machinist he would have the tools to do it right

**systemviper** · 04-16-2008, 09:56 AM

Originally Posted by 71 (Bryan)

he sad "the EK has a valley in it" so its is concave which is really bad

-1

if it is concave i would lap it and im sure since since he is a machinist he would have the tools to do it right

Yea wouldn't that mean that only the sides were making contact (in general broad terms), but I wonder how much of that is by design or by missed by inspector #6

PS That second Pic have some sweet Fatboyz on it!

**WoZZeR999** · 04-16-2008, 10:42 AM

He was also referring to a different person who was going to lap it, not the OP.

**the monk** · 04-16-2008, 12:21 PM

fellas, the ek block is for the 780i northbridge chipset. i did not think to take a photo of it before i made it flat, nor did i check to see how much. the finish looked fine.....but i could tell it was milled, as i could see the fine tool marks. after i seen this, i figured i had better check it. and sure enough, the middle had a hole in it. as i know from my work, the cut will start and finish cold causing the middle to rise, ther it will get cut more, and when it cools it will go undersize. this amount was very minimal, and im not saying ek, or dd make bad products. this valley probally was no more than .001 of an inch. and for the fellas that were talking about the crown in the cpu block, yes i did flatten the cpu, and that had a crown also. so if i was to use the hardware as it was, it would have been like putting two sphere's together.

**the monk** · 04-16-2008, 12:32 PM

everything is flat now......i will resume my build, and report back with some photos of my new build. anyone have questions, please ask. i just hope im not being to anal about the flatness issues. btw this is a good forum, and a great tool. peace, randy.

**Canadmos** · 04-16-2008, 04:45 PM

Nice pictures. I want more, please.

**alo** · 04-16-2008, 10:07 PM

Originally Posted by the monk

everything is flat now......i will resume my build, and report back with some photos of my new build. anyone have questions, please ask. i just hope im not being to anal about the flatness issues. btw this is a good forum, and a great tool. peace, randy.

Please provide us the results, I mean temperatures, after you finish building your loop! Good luck!

**the monk** · 04-19-2008, 01:26 PM

fellas, im here to tell ya EK 780I northbridge blocks sucks big time.......since i was here last, my new 680i mobo fried......i suppose i was paying more attention to flatness than to sound modding practices. the stupid block rests on two of the mounting nuts, the mobo cooks in about 15 seconds without northbridge cooling. after i got a new mobo, i took a freakin dremmal to the fook, and made the nessary clearance. btw the chips are so small i think the block was flat enough, if the bastage was on the chips.....i will post other photos when i get all squared away.....man what a set back. peace, randy.

**the monk** · 04-19-2008, 01:33 PM

what i got as of now.......got to get tidy, and mount my drives, ad the lights and stuff.....when im done i will post overclocks and temps....peace, randy.

**the monk** · 04-19-2008, 01:37 PM

cpu and northbridge coolers.....

**pikkashoe** · 04-21-2008, 08:54 PM

Monk, I just fried my 780 tonight because of the nuts too. Do you think if I just leave the nuts off for the two screws which are closest to the copper, would that be fine???

**71 (Bryan)** · 04-22-2008, 10:49 AM

what are you using to cool the mosfets?

**pikkashoe** · 04-22-2008, 11:20 AM

Viper john mosfet sinks.

http://www.petrastechshop.com/vi78mohekit.html

**71 (Bryan)** · 04-22-2008, 11:31 AM

are you sure, it doesnt look like those

**the monk** · 04-22-2008, 01:32 PM

Originally Posted by pikkashoe

Monk, I just fried my 780 tonight because of the nuts too. Do you think if I just leave the nuts off for the two screws which are closest to the copper, would that be fine???

personally, i feel like the right thing to do is relieve the block a lil. the interferance were the hang up was minimal.....just a few seconds with the dremel.....and this time i checked it to make sure it was squishing the paste....then mount. without all four mounting bolts, ya might get a wierd side pressure, and crack them little chips. randy.

**the monk** · 04-22-2008, 01:45 PM

Originally Posted by 71 (Bryan)

what are you using to cool the mosfets?

brian, i liked the stock cooler so much, i took the ole dremel and wacked it off the rest of the sink....then flattend it out. in the process, i took off the plating to get right down to the alluminum. then i used some real thin thermal tape. its made by 3M and is about .015 in thick. also i am going to mount a small fan to it. i have to mount the other 120mm case fans, get the top and front covers, install lights, and i will start working over the clocking. i ran the Q6600 @ 3.6 24-7 before with a koolance rig. btw, my therory as of far.....no block i seen so far is flat. real close, but not flat.......peace, randy.