Lapped my E4500 (Picture)

yamahaSHO · Post by **yamahaSHO** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 6:14 am

I don't have any before pics, but I was having a hard time getting decent temps with my E4500 and when I pulled off my heat sink, I could clearly see that about 70% of the IHS was not making contact. The surface was so concave that only the outer portions of the IHS made contact with my Minja.

Just for heck of it, I reinstalled it with more thermal paste (way more than one should need) and although it made contact, it was so thick it didn't even help.

I spent about a half an hour yesterday lapping with 400-600-1000-1500 grit sand paper and I am pretty happy with the results. I taped my sand paper to some glass that was also taped to my counter. A little bit of water on the sand paper and it was actually quite easy. I love that the LGA-775 doesn't have any pins, so I just clipped on the plastic cover it was originally packed in and went to town.

Here are my results:

Running this with the Minja passively in an NSK-2480, my idle temps are 26C and load is 52C w/ Orthos (up to 55C if it's warm in the house).

Since the E4500 was a relatively cheap CPU, I used it as practice so I can later lap my E6750 when I feel like doing the setup and process again.

snoopygum · Post by **snoopygum** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 7:45 am

I think the question on everybody's mind is: What were the temps before lapping?

Redzo · Post by **Redzo** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 8:56 am

snoopygum wrote:I think the question on everybody's mind is: What were the temps before lapping?

tehfire · Post by **tehfire** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 8:58 am

snoopygum wrote:I think the question on everybody's mind is: What were the temps before lapping?

Indeed. I have an E4400 and am wondering what kind of gains i'd get after lapping...

yamahaSHO · Post by **yamahaSHO** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 12:15 pm

snoopygum wrote:I think the question on everybody's mind is: What were the temps before lapping?

52C - 75C.

AuraAllan · Post by **AuraAllan** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 12:23 pm

yamahaSHO wrote:52C - 75C.

Wow. It must have been hella concave

As you said: "70% didnt make contact"

Very nice improvement.

yamahaSHO · Post by **yamahaSHO** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 2:19 pm

Those new temps are with my computer inside fairly enclosed space. I currently have the computer out sitting on the floor and after an hour of Orthos, I maxed out at 47C. With the Tri-Cool fans on high, I couldn't break 40C, but geeze that was WAY too noisy!

MoJo · Post by **MoJo** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 2:53 pm

I lapped my quad core, not as well as the op, and got a 10-15C drop in temps.

Core 2 heatspreaders are rubbish. Lapping is almost mandatory

tehfire · Post by **tehfire** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 10:24 pm

Well then, looks like it's finally time for me to lap my E4400

Are you happy with the sandpaper grits that you got? Could I just pick them up from home depot?

Also, I've never actually read an article about lapping...is it just as easy as "start with the coarse paper, work your way down to the fine paper, then you're finished"? Do I put any water or anything on it?

Haha sorry, kinda newbie questions.

yamahaSHO · Post by **yamahaSHO** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 10:32 pm

Grits are limited at different stores, so I had to go to Home Depot and Auto Zone for my sand paper. The main thing is to get the surface flat, but while I'm at it, I made it look good.

I suggest reading up on lapping before doing this. It's not rocket science, but some of the postings and articles can keep you from destroying your processor.

I did put a little water on the paper, but not much.

Again, google processor lapping before you do this and I'm sure you'll be fine.

AuraAllan · Post by **AuraAllan** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 5:14 am

MoJo wrote:Core 2 heatspreaders are rubbish. Lapping is almost mandatory

My E4500 doesnt need any lapping.

MoJo · Post by **MoJo** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 5:51 am

I got mine from eBay as a refill for a "lapping kit". Came with a variety of grits, although it could have done with more of the lower grits because you really need to take a fair bit off. The paper was only good for one use, cost about Â£5 with postage.

I used the underside of a glass chess board. It was quite easy to do - like the OP I used the plastic protector that came with the CPU.

bob8701 · Post by **bob8701** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 6:52 am

what happen if you try to resell the cpu and get it to warranty service?
so is it better to lapping the heatsink not the cpu?

lm · Post by lm » Wed Feb 27, 2008 7:10 am

Obviously lapping kills your warranty. If your cpu heat spreader is not flat, any amount of lapping to the heatsink base is not going to help.