My attempt at lapping the Thermalright Ultra-120

[TVisitor]

Hi all,

This is my first lapping attempt.

Here are some pictures, in order. There were a few grits left out, I got lazy taking the pictures

Out of the box
After 400 Grit
After 1000 Grit
After 1500 Grit
After Simchrome Metal Polish
After Simchrome metal polish (On angle for comparison)

After reading a few lapping tutorials, a few observations:

1. This heatsink is a pain to hold. I ended up putting a few fingers through the bottom, between the pipes and pressing lightly, while trying to hold stable, on the base of the heatsink.
2. I tried just using water, and then water with a tad of soap in the beginning on the sandpaper. It seemed that I'd get "stuttering" - when I pulled the HS towards me, it was fine, but when I tried to push away from me the block would "stutter". I ended up at some point pulling towards me, then picking up and lightly placing it down away from me, pull towards me, repeat.
3. I later tried using a few drops of oil instead of water. I found this much smoother (though messier). I was able to do a push-pull motion with the HS. Was a pain to clean the sandpaper though, but since it was waterproof sandpaper, I was able to use some soapy water to clean it.
4. I was a bit concerned when I got to 1000 that it wasn't looking shiny. When I got to the 1500, I went to the sink, put the glass panel in the sink, and was running a light run of water onto the sandpaper and HS. I spent probably 15-20 minutes doing the 1500, and towards the end I was trying to virtually make it "glide" and hardly any pressing on the paper. The results seemed decent.
5. I didn't have any 2000 grit, and wasn't sure if I needed to go that far. I got my metal polish, put it on and rubbed gently with my finger, then buffed it off with my orbital buffer. Repeated that once more.
6. Washed it down with alcohol, used a brush to get the polish out from between the pipes and other nooks and crannies. Got out the air compressor and blew the entire thing out, still a bit wet between the fins, but I am leaving it to dry overnight.

I think it came decent. I am not sure if I used 2000 if it would get better, possibly it would (I have indeed seen better pictures) but I think this is a pretty good job. Certainly *miles* better than what came out o the case.

Oh yeah - I didn't see any visible convex/concave when I put a small metal ruler on it, but when I was using the 600, I found that even when pressing (lightly), it was being a real pain to get it done - there was a visible circle of aluminium in the middle for a while. I switched to 400 and worked on it, then back to 600.

What do you guys think?

(Feel free to look at the rest of the pics in that photobucket, maybe someone will like my pinball machine pictures too *laughs*)

 

[cmdrdredd]

did you record temps before and after?

 

[Lord Banshee]

i have never lapped anything before but is it safe to use the "polish"? I am not sure what it made of but polishes in general fill holes with some sort of compound. Is this compound going to affect thermal transfer from heatsink to thermal paste to cpu?

 

[TVisitor]

cmdrdredd: I went right for it and lapped right away. I am a bit lazy that way and probably won't want to disassemble things later to remove the heatsink. Yes, I know that removes a "baseline", but it seems that it generally helps (and was interesting to do, regardless).

Lord Banshee: That's why I washed it down after the fact. One of the tutorials I read talked about using polish (as it tends to be a very fine abrasive, it's useful) but they tend to leave things on the surface for shine/etc, and stressed the importance of washing it down with alcohol when you're done.

FYI, for anyone who'd like to comment: What is the proper way to apply heatsink compound? I've been told put a small plop on the processor and then use a razor blade to very evenly distribute it. Part of me thinks "Gee, you're STILL having grease between the processor and heatsink, so why is lapping really going to affect things?". The going idea is that the compound fills in the tiny nooks and crannies in the metal surfaces so that you don't have air between the HS and the processor. I'd think you *should* put some on the processor, and then use the razor to scrap it off, and the same with the HS - Kind of like filling nail holes in a wall. Is there any merit to this?

 

[Rike]

http://www.arcticsilver.com/instructions.htm

 

[adairusmc]

That is what I spent this evening doing myself, lapping my Ultra120 extreme. I have been using it for a while with no issues, but I wanted to see what a difference it would make, and boy did it make a big difference.

I did not lap it nearly to the shine that you did, in fact it was not shiny at all, though I only used 180grit then moved up to 320, and finished the polishing with the polishing wheel on my dremel. So far I am noticing 7C lower temps across the board - load and idle on my Q6600 at 3Ghz. Not bad at all.

 

[Master Shake]

Originally posted by: Rike
http://www.arcticsilver.com/instructions.htm

I have read many different methods that people have used to apply as5

personally I spread a thin even layer on the bottom of the hs with my finger in a clean plastic bag

Seems to have worked fine

 

[GFORCE100]

Well done, I plan to do the same but on my IFX-14 this weekend and see where that takes me temps wise.

7C is a nice drop. I bet you would get it down to 10-12C after lapping the CPU IHS too. Even if it doesn't mean you can overclock further, it allows the CPU to run at lower safer temps.

 

[TVisitor]

Nice, adairusmc, 7C... Sweet!

What's really the best way to lap the processor? Just turn it upside down, hold it and rub it against the sandpaper? I don't think you'd want to run it under a constant stream of water like you could with a HS...

 

[MarcVenice]

Could you direct me to those lapping tutorials/guides? I'm somewhat interested in lapping my arctic cooler 64 pro. I really think I should be getting temps well under 40 idle, but that's not always the case. In fact, I think temps only went up since the first day I installed the ac 64 pro.

 

[AlucardX]

Originally posted by: Master Shake

Originally posted by: Rike
http://www.arcticsilver.com/instructions.htm

I have read many different methods that people have used to apply as5

personally I spread a thin even layer on the bottom of the hs with my finger in a clean plastic bag

Seems to have worked fine

for the thick high quality stuff i put a line down the middle of the heatspreader and then press the heatsink down on top.

 

[adairusmc]

Originally posted by: TVisitor
Nice, adairusmc, 7C... Sweet!

Yeah, I was really suprised, since I did not get even close to a mirror finish like I see everyone else doing. Wal-Mart did not have any super fine grit sandpaper, so I just used what I could get.

I have it lapped down to the copper, but it is just a smooth dull finish, nothing shiny. It sure did make a difference though.

 

[TVisitor]

I'm still puzzled about the whole layer of compound between; you no longer have metal on metal at that point, so why even lap? I know there is a reason, I just haven't any idea. If you could put it on, spread it, then scrap of the excess such that the little nooks and crannies are filled on both the IHS and the HS, wouldn't that make more sense? That way you have metal on metal where it can be, and compound to HS (or compound to IHS) where there is a nook or crannie.

 

[zephyrprime]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
Could you direct me to those lapping tutorials/guides? I'm somewhat interested in lapping my arctic cooler 64 pro. I really think I should be getting temps well under 40 idle, but that's not always the case. In fact, I think temps only went up since the first day I installed the ac 64 pro.

Lapping the arctic cooler is hard because it has the fasteners in the way. You need some sort of bar instead of a plate to lap that thing.

 

[Rike]

Originally posted by: TVisitor
I'm still puzzled about the whole layer of compound between; you no longer have metal on metal at that point, so why even lap? I know there is a reason, I just haven't any idea. If you could put it on, spread it, then scrap of the excess such that the little nooks and crannies are filled on both the IHS and the HS, wouldn't that make more sense? That way you have metal on metal where it can be, and compound to HS (or compound to IHS) where there is a nook or crannie.

TIM is basically a bridge for heat to travel from the IHS to your cooler. The point of lapping is to get the flattest surface you can get so that the TIM will bridge the shortest distance as possible. Since no TIM will transfer heat as fast as solid metal (copper, nickel, aluminum), the less TIM you can use and still have maximum surface contact, the cooler you should run.

What you are proposing will work, however you should remember that the IHS on your CPU is probably not flat. In fact, it probably not even close. Recent Intel CPU IHSs have been rather concave. This has led some people to lap their IHS. I've done this myself and it's not hard. You just need to be careful to protect the contacts on the bottom and clean everything carefully when you are done.

 

[nyker96]

post polish this thing looks great!!

 

[buddhatb]

Loving the finished surface on that Ultra-120. Excellent Job!

 

[TVisitor]

Thank you for the complements... I realize it probably proves nothing and it's obsessive, but I want to see if I can get some of the fine scratches out. I have some 2000 grit now, and some of those nail boards that are *ultra* fine (they are finer than 2000 grit); though I may not end up using them since you really can't get an even finish (i.e. not big enough to seat the entire base of the HS). I'll end up stopping after this, though it certainly is kind of fun to do.