Rated: 97.14% (7 votes)
Loading ...Lapping Q6600
veato
Having seen 3DMark06 crash during the CPU test 1 I decided to take drastic measures with the temperature. To be honest it only hit 63 degrees (@ 3.6GHz) which is well within range of a G0 SLACR but I couldn’t see any other reason why it crashed. I normally run the Q6600 at 3.2GHz but would like to push it more - 3.6GHz 24/7 ideally on air. After recently upgrading due to wanting to play the PC-eater that is Age Of Conan watercooling wasn’t affordable so lapping was the only option. I bought the premium kit from Kustompcs and this is what arrived in the post a couple of days later.
Kit
It appeared to be a nice kit and the grades of paper go all the way down to 10 micron for that ‘mirror finish’. With that I took the CPU out of the case, held the glass and paper in place with Duck tape, applied a bit of water to the paper and away I went. I moved the CPU in a forwards and backwards motion for thirty repetitions then rotated through 90 degrees for another thirty. I did this for around five minutes. You could then see the residue left behind on the paper as it did its job.
Residue left behind
Before long the heatspreader on the CPU was starting to reveal a copper coloured surface.
Scratching the surface
After 5-10 minutes each with 400, 600, 800 and 1000 grit papers the CPU was almost all copper with a dull-ish surface
Looking better
I then moved onto the micron grade papers and this produced a mirror-like finish. With more work I believe the finish could have been even smoother but this was good enough for me. The reflection you can see on the CPU is a blue knife handle.
Shiny
That’s it. Finished. I left the CPU alone for an hour to make sure it was dry and held my breath during the all important boot up. Thankfully (and with an almighty sigh) the PC loaded XP and all looked well. Spending £140 on another Q6600 was not something I would have taken lightly so being brave could have ultimately also have been very very stupid. Not this time though!
Results
So for the all important part….. temperature. Well, I’ve previously lapped an Opteron 146 with fantastic results so was hoping for something similar. So far that hasn’t happened. The thermal compound advises 12-24 hours to let it bed in before you see the true result so I shall see but for now I’m not all that impressed yet. The temperature in XP after an hour of running is 49-50 degrees @ 3.2GHZ which not significantly cooler than before (reported by SpeedFan 4.34) with the individiual cores are reported as 42-45 degrees. I couldn’t lap the HSF which might have made more of a difference though.
Conclusion
Admittedly at just over a tenner with postage I think its good value even only managing to shave off the couple of degrees I’ve managed. I was hoping the result would be good enough to let me push the Q6600 to 3.6GHz with my current Akasa Zen case and Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro but this isn’t looking likely. I will have another look after the weekend when the thermal compound has bedded in but it looks like I will ultimately have to get myself a Thermaltake 120 VX /Tuniq Tower or wait for the Arctic Cooling Freezer Extreme. Watch this space!
*****UPDATE*****
After tearing my hair out wondering why the lapping had changed pretty much nothing I realised my BIOS was totally out of date. I’ve updated this and now I’m seeing the temps I would have expected. At 3GHz (for now) the CPUTIN is reported as 28 degrees and individual cores between 39 and 43 degrees idle. I’ll have a session on Conan tonight and check again to see how much they went upto under load. much happier for now though. Will go for the big 3.6GHz later in the week when I get chance to tinker with the voltages but am still looking forward to the Freezer Extreme. Next cooling project…… GFX card!
Air cooling sucks really. I have considered lapping but don’t see the need at the moment. I have an 1800mhz overclock on an E6300 core duo (1.86ghz default) running at 3.6ghz (93% overclock). I have tried using air cooling a few times but it bores me silly so I stick with water now. Have also used water and peltier to chill cpu to -7c in the past.
I think your problem is not temps, but actually low cpu voltage. A crash at 60C is very unlikely.
@feathers633, not only is your post ungrammatically correct ’sucks really’, but also totally useless as a comment, as you don’t help/contribute to this blog post in a useful way.
You seem to have a lucky overclock, but if you look on the XS conroe overclock database, you will notice that the highest e6300 overclock is 3787mhz, with a Tuniq Tower.
How you consider the reason that air cooling ’sucks really’ is that it ‘bores me so silly’ is quite beyond me. You have also failed to realise that watercooling has a rubbish £:C ratio, and for similar costs to a watercooling setup you can have a builder setup phasechange for you, which is far better as a cooler than a watercooling loop.
Good guide - quick question, did you do testing with the chip under load or at idle? You’ll see much better results from better cooling when you’re making the chip work hard.
@feathers633 - Way to go and knock someone down just because you are happy with the way you do things. You Suck, REALLY!
@bug8504300 - I agree with you for the most part. Just one thing to consider though is that a lot of people are afraid to put their own money up front to experiment and phasechange is still an ‘underground’ technology for home users. While watercooling is much more mainstream these days.
Personally, even though this was written as ‘How I did it’, this article is still a very good introduction to the idea of lapping. Nice one mate.
Thanks for the comment guys. I’ve added an update since the BIOS was updated and temps came down a lot. That means I dont need to worry about watercooling for now and stick with my lame air cooler! 
I’m still going to consider the Freezer Extreme when it comes out and see what I can really push the chip to. Once again appreciate the comments.
I am too scared to lap. Frightened. But maybe i will follow your lead.
Nice job.
Though sanding with a circular motion rather than back and forth might make the process a bit easier.
I’m too scared to try lapping a CPU as well, handling one for that long could fry it with static too easily. Perhaps I’ll try it one day when I’ve got an old computer I dont need
When I did the Opti I used a circular motion but have read in the meantime that a backwards and forwards motions will produce a better reflective finish. Thought I’d give it a try with the Q6600.
Nice presentation, but shouldn’t you have lapped the heatsink as well? I might be missing something here, but I thought the idea was to improve the contact between the heatsink pad and the CPU. It’s the heatsink which usually has a crap finish - the CPU is as smooth as a baby’s bum in comparism. If you do lap the heatsink use Artic Silver - tiny bit on each surface and polish it out to a mirror finish (bit of plastic film over your finger) and burn it in for 24 hours. If that doesn’t give an improvement you’ll know the problem is elsewhere. By the way, Core Temp is much more accurate than Speedfan, you’re CPU may be running hotter than you think. If you stress test with OCCT with Core Temp alongside you watch the temperatures rise as CPU utilisation approaches 100% (Just Google them, they’re free and easy to find).
@Cybersciver
I use CPUID’s HWMON and also Core Temp too. They all read the same though. Not that its a problem anymore as since bedding in (yes I already use Artic Silver - am i a beginner? lol) and updating the BIOS which was so far out of date it was written on a wall by cavemen everything is lovely and cool - litterally.
As for the HSF I couldnt lap this as I couldnt get the assembley appart to get to the actual copper base! I certainly lapped the HSF on the Opti I just couldnt in this instance. I have to say though the lid in the CPU’s might be smooth but they’re certainly not level. Pop a razorblade on one and hold it up to the light and see what I mean. Lapping sorts that out a treat.
I lapped my cpu a little while ago. i didnt buy a kit, just got some 1200grit (i think) wet and dry sandpaper. It did the job, giving me a nice flat cpu, I finished off with abrasive polishing paste, wich gave me a perfect, flat mirror finish.
I found that unless i was using running water (i figured that wasnt a good idea with a cpu) it was better to use the paper dry, and blow off the residue, otherwise it formed a gooey mess that clogged the sandpaper and was impossible to clean off.
I also lapped my artic freezer 64, much improving its base.
i saw temp drops of about 5* once it was all fitted together. Before you ask i didnt use artic silver, but the zalman ceramic based compound. (i just cant get myself to pay £5 for 10g of something :P)
Nice little guide tho, thanks
Hi there,
I lapped my q6600 and thermal right ultra extreme 120. I saw temp drops of 8-9 c and first, then my dad a 40 years experienced engineer had a go, this time with brasso and silver abrasive cleaner, ok its not shiny but I get a perfect lap with cpu to heatsink by lapping both on each other, I saw a further 7-8 degree fall again so 15c in all. Now I idle at stock at 20c, on 2 cores and 25 on the other two, cant get them all the same, something internal, to do with that, as they are perfectly flat now, so worth it. The artic freezer I conclude is not quiet up to the job.
overcloked at 3.6 at 1.4v I get 100% load temps of 69c and at 45 idle.
cheers
brummie
nice guide m8 ive lapped my 146 opty with good results and my old modded 6600gt also good results
and your right about the backwards forwards motion compared to round and round method just got a get C2D now and lapp its ass off LOL
[…] As well as allowing our readers to sign up for blogs to document their mods (and everything from hardware tips to anime obsessions), all the members of the CPC team had their own blogs. This had its advantages […]