Link me to a tutorial on how to lap a heatsink; specifically the volcano9. The copper bottom of that heatsinker has grooves which, I believe, are too deep.

The Volcano9's finish is terrible...I thought it was only mine that might have gotten lapped by someone incredibly unprofessional. Even Arctic Silver 3 doesn't lower my temps that much...

Anyway, I think I'll get an Alpha PAL8045 for Christmas, heatsink only, and use the fan (& grill) from the V9.

I just went to Pep Boys tonight and got a 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 2000 grit sandpapers for around $10. I think I spent about an hour lap dancing. I should write a review on how I did it.:rolleyes:

Anyways, I'm happy with my work. The copper reflects my fingers vividly. Once I put back my computer I'll post the result on the temp in a couple of days. I was getting 39 C before.

Yah, the copper bottom has deep grooves.

Did you pick up a sanding block as well? If you are just using the sandpaper and your fingers, you'll end up with an uneven surface.

I'd recommend rigging up a jig of some kind to keep the surface of the HS and the sanding block level. This will keep you from having an angle in the surface and will make sure it is flat when finished. I'd also get some finer papers, like up to 6000 and some polishing compound for final finishing.

I made sure I was right next to running water for quick access.

The 320 grit was more than coarse enough to remove the grooves on the copper. I soaked the sandpaper in water and then layed it on the sink counter. I made sure there's a puddle of water on the sandpaper and I placed the heatsink on top and scrubbed away back and forth in a one second rhythm with little pressure. A faster rhythm resulted in the heatsink jumping and gouging the sandpaper. I made sure to turn the angle of attack of the heatsink after 10 strokes or so. That's a total of 8 angles if you know what I'm talking about. I continued with the 320 until the grooves were gone.

Fortunately, the sandpaper is in dark color so I can see the orange copper sticking on the paper. I made sure to rinse away these copper residues or else they'll become a problem with the finer grit papers.

When I got to the 600 grit the heatsink was gliding smoothly on the paper as long as I don't apply too much pressure and there was a layer of water in between. It's like water skiing. I knew I was applying enough pressure as I can see the direction of the marks on the heatsinker.

The fun really started with the 800 grit. I was surprised that it was polished already. I thought I was making a mistake whenever I switched to a higher grit; the luster would disappear until I scrub a little bit more longer. I finished off with the 2000 grit until the mirror finish came back. At this point I let the weight of the heatsinker apply the pressure and just glided it back and forth with very little resistance.

The circular motion didn't work for me.

Are you getting any better temps?

I haven't returned my pc to my room yet. I'm doing some networking with the computers in the living room. Give me a few more days. The temps I'm getting may not be accurate since it's much warmer in my room. If you're really excited then I'm getting 35° C idle and 37° C loaded in the living room. It's much cooler here. I'm also using a different fan on the volcano9 as the orange fan is too noisy for me. I am using a 2500 rpm fan on it.

Keep in mind that my XP1700+ is a thoroughbred. It only uses 1.5V of power compared to 1.7V with the old version. I'm about 12° C cooler with this cpu compared to my previous cpu(XP1600+ 1.7V).

My XP 2100+ (Palo) is 1.7V as well, and it's easily pushing 50C load. And the case temp is 25.4C. With the orange included fan on "Full Honk"

Erwin, the reason it is warmer in your room is because all that heat is being moved out of the case. As long as the warm air is able to get out of the room(meaning you have good ventilation in the room) then the air flowing into the case should be cool. As long as the room is well ventilated then the warm air you feel in the room shouldn't become a problem because heat rises, so the cooler air near the floor will be taken in through the intake fan(s) of the case. Unless you have the case sitting on a desktop or something, which I wouldn't recommend for air cooling.