Conroe X6800 Lapping - Complete's Guide

[Complete]

So the story starts here.

This will be my first major guide. I hope people get some helpful stuff out of it.

This guide will describe the steps I took to lap my Conroe x6800. It took me about 1 hour to do, and I took my time.

Stuff needed..

1.) Nice size piece of glass
2.) paper towels
3.) Rubbing Alcohol
4.) Sanding paper
5.) Alittle work from your elbows
6.) Perm. marker

Results I saw:

A drop in 5 degress idle temp, and 10 in load temp!!! (Dual Orthos)

x6800 @ 420x10 /w 1.575 volts

Before Lap:

55 - 58 Idle
65 - 68 Load

After Lap:

48 - 50 Idle
55-58 Load

WTF!!!!


SO LETS BEGIN!

The sandpaper used on this lapping went as follows:

I went to my local AUTOZONE!! Picked up packages of 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500 grit sandpaper. The packages come with 5 sheets, and are priced at 2.50 USD.



Picture of my poor sick concave CPU



Next. I took a marker and drew marks on the cpu. I got this idea from another thread. Its wasn't mine. I take no credit. All this does it for you to see.. well.. HOW BAD it really was.


Now. What you will need to do next. IS locate the little black cover that came with the CPU. Place it on the back if you havent done so. Its a nice Protective sheet to save your ass if you drop it and bust a cap... no pun intended.

I also took a silver sharpy marker and labled my corners... so when I start lapping, and i go get a beer, or space out... I know which way I was sanding..



Now.. start sanding by wiping the glass down good with paper towel, put the 400 sand paper on the glass, and turn the CPU over, and start sanding in a vertical, down / up fashion..

Many people Lap by using circles.. I dont like the idea...

Now as you are going, keep rotating the CPU in your hand.. So just keep turning the CPU so you dont grind one side down more than another. But keep going up and down.

After a few minutes.. you will get this!



Keep moving up in grit sand paper, I got to this point on 600.. posted below..



Just keep going, and Moving up in the grit, you will start getting to this point.



CONGRATS! you have gotten all the stupid Nickel off the processor! Now listen up!! At this point.. you will ONLY rotate the processor in 180 degree fashions..

We need to stop using a cris-cross method. It will turn the finish yucky if you dont.. So start sanding with anything above 800 in a vertical , up and down fashion, but do not cross sand..

Use all the way until 1500 grit..

When you get to 1500 grit, I started to press VERY VERY lightly on the cpu. I wanted to make sure the 1500 grit did its job in getting all the microscopic tunnels and scratches..

After this point I stopped. AutoZone does carry 2000 grit, but they were out :S.. But jinu117 is shipping my SS phase today. So I will throw 2000 grit when I recieve that.

Here is the final shot!!! SOO pretty!! Anyways, if you want a better finish, grab some 2000 grit.




AS ALWAYS!! if there is anything I should add, change, or modify in this guide. Please post. If you need help, and or such, feel free to P.M. me.

And no I will not give you my cell phone number!

[thunderstruck!]

Good results. Idle temps a bit high, but it's the delta we care about...

[virtualrain]

Great Guide!!! Thanks Complete!

Can you provide a bit of guidance to noobs as to when this makes sense from a system engineering perspective... i.e. is this something Intel should have done to all procs or is it something you only really need if you are trying to eek out that extra 100MHz of overclock at the thermal boundry with a Vcore of 1.7V!? I'm assuming that everyone would benefit from lower temps, but unless you are pushing really high temps on your overclock to begin with, I'm assuming this is unnecessary unless your procs lifespan at higher Vcore is also a key priority.

[BlaqMale]

very nice job kind sir, i'll follow it to the t when needs be

[v0dka]

It improved your temperatures by how much?

[bullit]

It improved your temperatures by how much?

it´s in the first post....

[Complete]

Yea. The Delta Temps really help my Stability for my CPU when you push anything more than 1.55 volts.

My idle is still high, But i am not to worried about it. I have SS phase coming and it shouldn't be a problem anymore.

Also, I heard P5W64 boards make the CPU run alittle hot. :S

@ Rain - THis is XS.com. Anything I can do to grab 100 mhz. Ill do it! But mostly when you get high volts, By lapping CPU or, even removing the IHS, all your doing is helping to stabilize the overclock. -Cheers!

[Patriote]

Great Guide! Ill may need it someday

Oh and Here i think is a little mistake:

A drop in 5 degress idle temp, and 20 in load temp!!! (Dual Orthos)

20 ?

Before Lap:

55 - 58 Idle
65 - 68 Load

After Lap:

48 - 50 Idle
55-58 Load

Here i see 10 ! LOL!

[darcon]

Will doing this void your warranty?

[Complete]

Great Guide! Ill may need it someday

Oh and Here i think is a little mistake:



20 ?



Here i see 10 ! LOL!

Opps. Ill Change that. When I was testing the temps, I saw a 20 degree difference in Asus Booster and Everest Temp monitors.

After looking at Intel Thermo, and Core Temp, It showed only 10 degress.

@ Darcon - Yes.. you will void 100% of your warrenty. Intel will not return this in anyway. Unless you told them you scrubbed to hard with Rubbing Alcohol. ROFL!

[Marci]

Will doing this void your warranty?

Yes - most definitely.

[Rasco]

Is this method appliable for all cpu's? I have a SD 3700+, would it be a good thing to lap my cpu? And would there be a nice gain in cooling effiency?

[v0dka]

It improved your temperatures by how much?

Sorry, it was still early.

[Complete]

Is this method appliable for all cpu's? I have a SD 3700+, would it be a good thing to lap my cpu? And would there be a nice gain in cooling effiency?

Well it all depends.

Reason why people LAP CPU's is due to the fact that the IHS is concave. Which allows very poor contact with the waterblock.

If you are getting high temps there are alot of variables to check before lapping your CPU.

1.) Cooling system - Can you system take the heat being produced?? If so, move on to step 2

2.) Good contact / Mount - I would try and remout your waterblock / Copper heatsink several times. Sometimes air bubbles and such get in the AC5, and gives bad heat transfer.

3.) Ambiant room temp / Radiator Position - If its 80 degrees in your house. You mostly will not see any benefit, and if your radiator is getting hot air.. Move it

If you have done this checks, then yes I would lap your CPU. Its more than likely that your CPU has a concave IHS.

You will void your warrenty, BUT, you will see nice temp drops.

What CPU's can you lap? Any that have a copper / nickel IHS. Example, All AMD's and Intel's basically. I think they have been putting IHS on all CPU's for a long time now. Personally I like mine naked.

[Rasco]

Yeah we like it naked, right? I understand that you should look over other variables before lapping your cpu. But suppose that everything is as good as it should be, i'd still like to squeze out the last 3-4K that you could gain in temps. If say my IHS is entirely flat, would I still win a couple of K in temps by lapping of the nickel?

[nikhsub1]

If say my IHS is entirely flat, would I still win a couple of K in temps by lapping of the nickel?

No.

[Complete]

Yeah we like it naked, right? I understand that you should look over other variables before lapping your cpu. But suppose that everything is as good as it should be, i'd still like to squeze out the last 3-4K that you could gain in temps. If say my IHS is entirely flat, would I still win a couple of K in temps by lapping of the nickel?

Negitive. You would see no benefit.

Here are 2 ways to look to see if your CPU is Concave..

1.) Easyer of the two.. take a razor blade.. and a flashlight.. Skim it over the cpu. IF you see daylight more on certian areas.. then you need to lap it.

2.) More RISKY!! Take some Food coloring.. Very little.. and some rubbing alcohol. Get a big piece of glass..


Put a good amount of rubbing alcohol and food coloring on the piece of glass into a puddle. NOT TO MUCH!! DO not get liquid behind the IHS.. Be very very careful!

Now.. set the IHS flat down on top of the puddle and push down kinda kinda hard..
Slide the glass off the table / workbench and look to see if you can see any food coloring in the middle of the CPU. If there is, you have now formed a bubble or cave.. Which means.. The outside of the CPU touched the glass first,, and thus you have a concave CPU.

-Cheers

[Rasco]

When I think about it i have never had real temp. issues with my 3700+. Idle around 35C and load around 41-41 and that's with aircooling. I am really excited on seeing how my WC parts all assembled would perform.

I'll check if my CPU is Concave.
Thanks for the help guys, and in the words of Complete: -Cheers

[erwinz]

nice guide.. this will surely help in the high temp..

[Console]

When I think about it i have never had real temp. issues with my 3700+. Idle around 35C and load around 41-41 and that's with aircooling. I am really excited on seeing how my WC parts all assembled would perform.

I'll check if my CPU is Concave.
Thanks for the help guys, and in the words of Complete: -Cheers

You would be better off taking the ihs off the sd3700+ my naked 3200 winy lo9ads @ 32deg now @ 2.7 1.58v and my naked 4400+ troped 10deg load temps

[Complete]

You would be better off taking the ihs off the sd3700+ my naked 3200 winy lo9ads @ 32deg now @ 2.7 1.58v and my naked 4400+ troped 10deg load temps

I would also recommend anyone that has a older Processor to run it NAKED!!

ONly reason lapping came around is because AMD and INTEL deciede to started to start soldering the IHS to the Chip.

Naked offers the BEST preformance!! If you feel afraid to do this.. Freecableguy offers this service for 25 dollars!

[afireinside]

Yes the non soldered chips aren't really convex/concave but the soldered ones are. I got a nice gain from lapping my soldered 3800 x2. Since you have an older one that's not soldered you should just pop the IHS off, very good gains.

[Rasco]

That sounds like a nice idea. But what risks are there? If it's bare naked is it still a good idea to put AS5 on it?
I'll check for a guide on popping the IHS off. Or is it just to "pop" it off?

/Oscar

[Complete]

That sounds like a nice idea. But what risks are there? If it's bare naked is it still a good idea to put AS5 on it?
I'll check for a guide on popping the IHS off. Or is it just to "pop" it off?

/Oscar

There are several threads abou removing a IHS.

Risks:

Voids warranty
damage the cpu while taking it off
Push waterblock on to hard, and chip the core

-Also.. yes.. you still put VERY VERY litttle Artic Silver 5 on it.

[ukdave]

Great guide Complete! Stupid concave IHS's. That copper looks goood