GFXChilla Lapped is this good enough?

[Methious]

I just got a GFXChilla for the XFX8800 GT Alpha Dog, came with a couple of extra larger fans to increase cooling.

I didn't like the look of the heat sink base so I lapped it (been a while sinceI did that), is this good enough?

The inset to the right of the quarters reflection is what it looked like out of the box.

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff255/methious/Q.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff255/methious/S.jpg

[tyle6]

Don't know much about the process myself, but Its certianly is alot more shiny. Can't see it being any worse then it was before. lol

[Miker]

What gain lapping compound did you use? It looks a little rough still.

Also, post a picture of a reflection with a piece of paper with lines across it so we can see how flat it is; you will see warping.

[Kougar]

Some might suggest one more lapping with an ultra-fine grit to acheive that mirror-like shine, but I don't think it would yield any benefits beyond a degree or two?

It looks pretty good already. :)

[Methious]

I ran a razer blade on it and it's flat now, that was my biggest concern, I ran it across some carbon paper real lightly when it first came in and the center was slightly concave.

Soon as I get time I'll run base line stock tests, mount it up with the original fans, then switch out to the upgraded fans and see how it does.

It's got a tough act to follow I have the 8800gt from XFX that has the upgraded fan and better cooling.

Thought I'd better lap it to avoid having to reinstalling the original cooling.

[joz]

A nice reflection on that.

You might wana grab slighlty stronger springs for the mounting mechanisme (if it uses springs.) just my 2 cents for iths.

[srpeters18]

Speaking of lapping, I've been thinking about lapping my wb and proccy. How much of a benefit can I realistically expect?

[joz]

depends, if its realy bad, you can get 10c or more, if its already good contact, 1-2c if.

[srpeters18]

depends, if its realy bad, you can get 10c or more, if its already good contact, 1-2c if.

I think it's pretty bad. I get about 5-6 degrees difference between the hottest and coolest core at full load. Its been like that since the beginning no matter which cooler I'm using. I've got the sandpaper and a nice flat piece of glass to do the work, just not sure if I'm willing to void my warranty. Maybe after I pick up the next proccy for the test rig, I'll lap the Q6600, that way if I break it, I have a new processor ready to go.

[Methious]

I checked all over the place on the core temp differences on the Q6600 and every one seems to have the same thing going on. I razer blade checked mine before I installed, flat as can be, still get 6-7C difference on the cores loaded and slightly more at idle.

If you have a doubt run a single edge razer blade along the top of the sink and look for gaps. If you do it with the CPU in front of a decent light you'll see and warping.

[swmeek]

Looks pretty darn good to me ! I trust you used a good thermal grease with it?

[srpeters18]

Yeah, I did run a blade on the CPU, its pretty warped. It's higher on one side than the other.

[Sadasius]

Yeah, I did run a blade on the CPU, its pretty warped. It's higher on one side than the other.

It will void the Q6600 warranty by lapping it but then again the CPU is pretty cheap and a good overclocker. I will be lapping mine soon as well because the heat spreader on the quads suck and are not even. You could lap the heatsink all you want but it wont make a lick of difference (maybe 1 or 2 degrees) if the heat spreader on the CPU is warped. Good job on the lapping Methious!

[Ranzear]

Looks good, but I'm a firm believer in the satin finish over the perfect mirror, depending on the compound used. Can't remember where but I've seen benches of white pastes, Ceramique and Alumina, doing better on lapped smooth (6000grit) finishes and AS5 doing better on matte (1200grit) finishes, each compared against itself on each surface I mean.

Getting it flat is far, far, more important than getting it shiny. Slightly convex is always better than concave.

[raidersforever01]

I stop at about 800-1000 grit i never noticed a difference beyond that but i do like the look of a mirror finish to bad you can't see it anyway once the HS is mounted. my 2180 i lapped until it was flat, no reason to keep going left some nickel, is it nickel, around the edges. Then lapped my ultra 120, good thing to because the cpu and HS both had a slight bulge in the center.