Using the card to force a bit of TIM into the imperfections is called tinting and is done more often than you may think, especially on coolers that have direct contact heat pipes. Those usually have a little crack between the pipe itself and the base the pipe is embedded in. Tinting fills in that crack (along with any other microscopic pits, etc.), eliminating any metal to air to metal interface.
One can avoid killing the CPU's warranty by lapping only the cooler. That is the surface that is usually the roughest (relatively speaking) and can usually benefit the most from lapping. Coolers are far less expensive than CPUs and voiding the warranty on the cooler will have much less of a financial impact if things should go pear shaped.
While most people will not benefit enough from all that, it could make the difference between a functional PC and a toaster in marginal cooling situations or when one thrashes the living snot out of the CPU.
One can avoid killing the CPU's warranty by lapping only the cooler. That is the surface that is usually the roughest (relatively speaking) and can usually benefit the most from lapping. Coolers are far less expensive than CPUs and voiding the warranty on the cooler will have much less of a financial impact if things should go pear shaped.
While most people will not benefit enough from all that, it could make the difference between a functional PC and a toaster in marginal cooling situations or when one thrashes the living snot out of the CPU.
My Computer
- Computer type
- PC/Desktop
- Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
- Custom Build
- OS
- Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit
- CPU
- Intel i7-3930K
- Motherboard
- ASUS P9X79 WS
- Memory
- Kingston HyperX Genesis 32GB Kit (8x4GB Modules) 1600MHz DDR
- Graphics Card(s)
- MSI R7850 Twin Frozr 2GD5/OC Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR
- Sound Card
- Asus Xonar Essence STX
- Monitor(s) Displays
- 3x Asus VG248QE 24", Vizio 32" TV
- Screen Resolution
- 1920 x 1080, ?
- Hard Drives
- Samsung 128GB 840 Pro SSD (1),
Samsung 4TB 850 EVO SSDs (4)
Samsung 4TB 850 EVO SSDs (16) external backup drives used in 2.5" hot swap bays in the computer.
- PSU
- Corsair HX750w
- Case
- Antec Two Hundred v2 (modified)
- Cooling
- Cooler Master GeminII S524 120mm (fan replaced with a 140mm)
- Keyboard
- Logitech G510s
- Mouse
- Logitech M525 (two in use)
- Internet Speed
- =< 32Mbps down, 8Mbps up
- Antivirus
- AVAST!, MBAM, SAS, Spybot S&D (all but MBAM free) Glary Util
- Browser
- IE11
- Other Info
- LSI 9211-8i HBA card (8 SATA III ports), 2.5" & 3.5" Hot Swap Bays, HooToo HT-CR001 PCI-E to USB 3.0 Internal Hub + 6 Slot Card Reader, and LG Model CH12LS28 BD-ROM Optical Drive. Also, ScanSnap S1500 ADF duplexing scanner, Canon 9000F flat bed scanner, Corsair SP2500 2.1 speakers, Samsung CLP 415nw laser color printer, Cyberpower PP2200SW UPS
