Lapping 8RDA+ NB - experiences

[Snapper]

8RDA+ and A2 stepping NB.

Specifically what sort of FSB's are people getting with a lapped NB & HS compared to those who have just filled in the bowl shape of the NB with extra thermal paste?

I don't plan on voiding my warranty with this mobo just yet, unless the benefits of lapping the NB are significant. I have a Vantec iceburg standing by.

Cheers

[gemaviper]

Originally posted by Snapper
8RDA+ and A2 stepping NB.

Specifically what sort of FSB's are people getting with a lapped NB & HS compared to those who have just filled in the bowl shape of the NB with extra thermal paste?

I don't plan on voiding my warranty with this mobo just yet, unless the benefits of lapping the NB are significant. I have a Vantec iceburg standing by.

Cheers

I think lapping was very worth it considering my A3 NB was concave as hell. But I was also planning to OC a lot and I wanted to go hardcore. Lapping the NB and a 60mm Al cpu heatsink/60mm fan, i applied AS Epoxy and the contact was very good. It kept my NB a lot cooler than the stock heatsink. I ran 233FSB @ 2.2v for days 24/7 and NB heatsink temps hit 32C idle, 36C or so load. This was with open case. I dont think those little orbs, iceburgs, etc type coolers would keep the NB cool enuff @ high OCs. I'd slap a 60mm cpu heatsink on it. Just make sure you'd keep it on, epoxy is pretty damn sticky. Not really permanent I had to remove the epoxied heatsinks off my dead 8RDA+, I used my heat gun to warm up the heatsinks and pried them off with screwdriver pretty easily. I damaged some traces near the NB but I didnt care. Its now a soldering-practice mobo.

[K_R]

How did you measure the temperature of the NB? With a probe?

[gemaviper]

Originally posted by K_R
How did you measure the temperature of the NB? With a probe?

Yeah, I use a compunurse LCD temp monitor. Believe it or not, my dead 8RDA+s NB core hit over 110C and it still didnt melt down or explode. I would think it might get damaged at those temps, but hey!....... It didnt burst up in flames like that little chip that fried did. I practiced soldering on surface-mounted resistors to perform the vdimm mod on my upcoming NF7-S and I'm confident I can do it

[Blooz1]

I just got my board last Friday. I had planned on buying the 8RDA+, but ended up trying to cut cost a little and got an FIC AU13 (mistake!). I'm RMA'ing the AU13!

I wanted to see if the board was okay before going into "permanent" cooling mods. It's got the A1 NB, which is not as concave as the A3 stepping which was on the FIC board. I figured that lapping the stock HS wouldn't hurt...plus the thermal pad would be much easier to remove...

Well, this turned out to be a 5 hour project! It took over 3 1/2 hours of lapping with 320/400 grit before I had a uniform finish across the base of the sink, never mind "polished"! No wonder people have problems with this sink!

After I finally got it lapped to my satisfaction, I re-installed it using the new AS "Ceramique" compound. This stuff is much stickier than regular AS3...

Ive been running tests and benches continuously since Saturday AM, and temp has never gotten over 28-29C according to Sandra and CPUCool. The HS itself is still cool to the touch.

AS says that the "Ceramique" takes a minimum of 12 hours to "set", but others have said it's more like 24-48 hours before seeing true results.

[gemaviper]

Originally posted by Blooz1
I just got my board last Friday. I had planned on buying the 8RDA+, but ended up trying to cut cost a little and got an FIC AU13 (mistake!). I'm RMA'ing the AU13!

I wanted to see if the board was okay before going into "permanent" cooling mods. It's got the A1 NB, which is not as concave as the A3 stepping which was on the FIC board. I figured that lapping the stock HS wouldn't hurt...plus the thermal pad would be much easier to remove...

Well, this turned out to be a 5 hour project! It took over 3 1/2 hours of lapping with 320/400 grit before I had a uniform finish across the base of the sink, never mind "polished"! No wonder people have problems with this sink!

After I finally got it lapped to my satisfaction, I re-installed it using the new AS "Ceramique" compound. This stuff is much stickier than regular AS3...

Ive been running tests and benches continuously since Saturday AM, and temp has never gotten over 28-29C according to Sandra and CPUCool. The HS itself is still cool to the touch.

AS says that the "Ceramique" takes a minimum of 12 hours to "set", but others have said it's more like 24-48 hours before seeing true results.

I've always thought FIC sucks. Even its name sucks. So Fick FIC :-D Yeah, lapping is long and tedious - but you gotta take your time and yes it takes long to do it right. Took me like 2 hours to lap NB and another 2 to lap heatsink. I use waterproof 320grit and then 600grit to finish it. I always use water while i lap, keeps sandpaper fresh. Then I lap the final stage by rubbing AS3 into the heatsink. How's that new ceramqiue compound? Better than AS3? I would worry about heatsinks being cool to the touch after the PCs been running for like 5min... :nervous: Heatsinks with good contact should get warm. To be sure, I turn off the fan on top of heatsink to see if it gets warm.

[Nicowico]

I have done the VDDmod and reached 217FSB. After that I have lapped the NB and FSB is the same. So no advantage.

[jcool]

The A1 NB is almost flat, so I don't feel the need to lap it, especially because I'm able to hit 227Mhz FSB sync even without Vdd mod