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As
you get to the end of the 600 grit you should be seeing
all of the deep and noticeable scratches gone. What ever
you do don't rush this part of the process. Trust me, if
you haven't got the worst of it straight with the 400 and
600 grit you sure as hell aren't going to get it with the
800 grit and cutting compounds! If in dount, overdo the
early stages rather than do too little, it'll pay dividends
later.
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After
the 600 Grit
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By
the time the 400 grit is through you should be seeing nothing
more than light surface swirls. Again, if in doubt keep
going.
When
you need to stop sanding to check to base, stop all motion
completely and lift the sink straight up off the paper.
Lift it while it's moving and you risk putting deeper scratches
back in as you're likely to lift at a slight angle and this
will put pressure on a small area and may mark it.
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After
the 800 Grit
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Next
we turn to the compounds. You start with the coarsest compound
(green) and then use the orange then finally the white which,
as you've probably guessed, is the finest. Again, for clarity
I've used considerably more compount than is necessary.
Under normal conditions you'd use use about a third of this
amount of compound, if that, but you'd also probably not
be polishing as large an area as I've decided to do here.
Remember that working on any part of the heat sink base
that doesn't directly contact the core is work wasted, it'll
bring no benefits and won't be visible once fitted. I'm
doing this purely to demonstrate the finish.
I'm
told this compound is a particularly high quality (and therefor
expensive) formulation, and though I can't verify that having
seen it in action I've no reason to doubt the fact. It certainly
seems to have a very high quality and consistent action
to it.
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Ready
for First polish
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You
need to be using every bit as much elbow grease for this
phase of the operation as you were for the sanding. It's
a shame there wasn't a touch more polishing cloth included
as the small pieces are sometimes a bit fiddly to hold.
Perhaps if it was tubular in nature you could slip a finger
inside and use it that was but as it's flat it really need
to be a touch larger.
I keep saying it but take your time. Overdo the first two
compounds if you have to because the super-fine white compound
won't tackle anything more than the most microscopic of
surface imperfections.
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After
Second Polish
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Don't get alarmed if the polishing cloth turns black, in
fact get alarmed if it doesn't because this is the copper
particles that have been gently scrubbed away from the base.
Don't put the polishing cloth down anywhere either because
anything it may pick up from a table or worktop, no matter
how small, can drag across the surface and leave a scratch
on the newly polished copper that smacks you in the eye
like a gaping axe wound.
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Used
Polishing Cloth
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Once you're done, and you'll know when you're done, take
a little time to admire your handy-work before it gets stuck
in your case to tarnish and oxidize. Don't make the mistake
of polishing the sink before it's ready to be installed,
it'll only dull or get market by something. Polish and fit
on the same day ideally.
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The
final Finish
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I
was feeling a little arty, probably brought on by a rare
glimpse of sun and a flower that was hardy enough to fight
through the weeds in my garden.
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The
final Finish
|
As
I stated earlier, I didn't actually have to polish such
a big area of the base as this sink is used on an exposed
core Athlon, but if a job's worth doing and all that.
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The
final Finish
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The
results I got are almost academic because yours will almost
certainly vary depending on your processor, the quality
of your sink to begin with, you CPU's thermal rating and
so on. Purely for the record however, I say a reduction
of 3 degrees Celsius which was about two degrees more than
I expected considering the rather inefficient way the copper
plate on this sink interfaces with the aluminium portion.
Conclusion
The
3DVelocity 'Dual Conclusions Concept' Explained: After
discussing this concept with users as well as companies
and vendors we work with, 3DVelocity have decided that where
necessary we shall aim to introduce our 'Dual Conclusions
Concept' to sum up our thoughts and impressions on the hardware
we review. As the needs of the more experienced users and
enthusiasts have increased, it has become more difficult
to factor in all the aspects that such a user would find
important, while also being fair to products that may lack
these high end "bonus" capabilities but which
still represent a very good buy for the more traditional
and more prevalent mainstream user. The two categories we've
used are:
The
Mainstream User ~ The mainstream user is likely
to put price, stock performance, value for money, reliability
and/or warranty terms ahead of the need for hardware that
operates beyond its design specifications. The mainstream
user may be a PC novice or may be an experienced user, however
their needs are clearly very different to those of the enthusiast,
in that they want to buy products that operate efficiently
and reliably within their advertised parameters.
The
Enthusiast ~ The enthusiast cares about all the
things that the mainstream user cares about but is more
likely to accept a weakness in one or more of these things
in exchange for some measure of performance or functionality
beyond its design brief. For example, a high priced motherboard
may be tolerated in exchange for unusually high levels of
overclocking ability or alternatively an unusually large
heat sink with a very poor fixing mechanism may be considered
acceptable if it offers significantly superior cooling in
return.
The
Mainstream User ~
I
recommended the last kit and can't really do any different
with this one. Where the PCViper has the edge is that it
takes the finish that extra step further and leaves a geuine
mirror finish that's alost too good to hide inside your
case. Where it falls
down is in the fact that you don't get the small pane of
glass that guarantees a perfectly flat finish.
The
use of compound also tends to get you from "very smooth"
to "mirror finish" in double-quick time compared
to using super-fine grit papers.
As
a regular user you have no real need for lapping your heatsink,
but why let that stop you? It's good exercise, it's hard
to screw up and it's one of those geeky passtimes that's
relatively easy yet makes people think you're some kind
of PC aficionado. A nice rainy day pursuit worth doing just
so you can say you have.
The
Enthusiast ~
Sandpaper
is easy enough to get off the shelf but decent lapping or
cutting compound isn't quite so abundant, at least not here
in dear ole Blightly.
Most
heatsink manufacturers have got with the plot and produce
sinks with very good quality finishes but
even these can be improved on. I suppose the question is
whether it's worth the effort or not. Personally I'd only
lap a sink or water block if it was unusually bad (like
our test candidate) or if I was going lap the CPU core or
heatspreader too.
Still,
if you want a low hassle, fuss-free way to get a really
rather nice finish to your heat sink this is as goos as
any I've seen.
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