Xigmatek 1283 lapping guide (+Rampage Formula just arrived)

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Perp

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Check here for a full review of the Xigmatek 1283 http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2233

Finally getting around to posting the photos and my experience with lapping a Xigmatek 1283 CPU cooler. The lapping process on this cooler was very time consuming due to the heatpipe direct touch technology. The design of the cooler means there are grooves between the copper pipes and the aluminum plate they are sandwiched into. You really have to clean those areas out as when you switch paper grains.

Some other things I noticed is that you will want to limit your strokes when going with the direction of the heat pipes as a clump can fall from between the copper and alluminum and really do a number on one the copper pipes forcing you to drop back to a rougher grain to fix it. When I got to the finer grains I didn't have this problem with much severity, but it seems that going with the direction of the pipes can lead to some nasty grooves getting in there. I don't recommend more than a few light passes when going with the grain before you turn and go back against the grain.

Without further ramblings, the photos of the heatsink after a 2000 grit finish with no pollish applied.

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/7985/mg3762ck0.jpg
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/8360/mg3760sc1.jpg
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/7606/mg3761yw7.jpg


Temps

Q6600@3.6 = 38-40 idle, 46-48 load


I'll come back and edit the temps section with numbers and photos for 3.6ghz and 4.0ghz after I get my new board (Rampage Formula) set up.


A side note about my recent board swap. After getting absolutely sick of getting stuck at below 430fsb on my Foxconn x38a board I decided it was time to swap it out for a board with better overclocking features so I ordered a Rampage Formula and cleaned up the wiring a bit more; it was pretty clean to start with. Anyway I was really pleased with how it looks so I'm posting a few shots of that as well.

Antec P182
PC P&C 750
5 Scythe Ultra Kaze fans

My little vortex.


http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/9320/img3777ra6.jpg
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/5557/img3772np1.jpg
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/6500/img3771hl9.jpg
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/4030/img3770zg8.jpg
 
KyleSTL

KyleSTL

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Do you have before temps to compare it to? I think the vast majority of the enthusiasts on this site would be more interested in the gains of effort (as opposed to the final product). Either way, it looks great. Good job!
 
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Perp

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I can't find the SS from the pre lapped Xigmatek but I know them off the top of my head. I did a CPU lap at the same time and didn't test between since installing the pushpin style connector proved nearly impossible without removing the motherboard completely. Since I have no workbench setup I skipped any extensive step by step testing.

At any rate I only managed an average of (3c idle, 5c load)drop between the cores from the combination of the CPU and HS lapping with a Q6600 @ 3.6GHZ. I think the small gains were due to the already massive airflow in the case. I was hoping for better results tbh, but I think it will be sufficient cooling to hit 4ghz without high temps so in the end it really won't matter to me.


Also, since my old motherboard wasn't cooperating at anything over 420fsb I didn't get any testing done (pre lapping) for the speed I really want which is 450x9 for 4.05ghz. Time constraints prevented me from building the system up with the new board, testing it at 4ghz, lapping the CPU/HS and then putting it back together; it was much easier to just do the work all at once, since I'm lazy lol.


I still thought I'd put up at least a small review of the pitfalls of lapping the Xigmatek cooler which took about 8 hours of labor over the course of 2 days. It wouldn't have taken quite so long without the problems I ran into during the process. I figured people considering lapping this HS should know what they are getting into.

I think the TRUE is much easier to lap and will probably yield more gains depending on how well your supposedly concave CPU matched up to the supposedly convex TRUE to begin with. At any rate, lapping a TRUE or a CPU is much easier than lapping the Xigmatek 1283. The cleanup between each level grit paper is a nightmare with the Xigmatek because of all the grooves between the copper and aluminum.


Edit - I would also like to note that I have 4GPUs releasing a lot of heat into the case since I'm not using rivatuner to up the fan speeds on the two cards to cool them off. Until I do, I've got me 4 very hot (65-70c) chips in there which up the overall case temp.
 
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Actually 5 was kind of misleading. With the old mobo I couldn't squeeze the 5th ultra kaze into the top exaust fan position without it grinding on the the heatsink. There is plenty of room for me to squeeze it in now, but the pictures are still showing 4 ultra kaze fans along with the stock antec fan in the top exaust.
 
KyleSTL

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1k, 2k, or 3k RPM? (Just curious)

I think the gains you got (3-5°C) is a great result, I would have been perfectly content with similar numbers.
 
KyleSTL

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Sorry for the double-post but you should read this article:

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=170&Itemid=1&limit=1&limitstart=4

It has tips for every type of cooler (HDT, round, square) and what the best way of applying TIM is. I know it's a pain in the butt to remove something so huge, so it's probably not worth it to remove it just to clean and reapply, but if you ever have it out again, it's probably worth following their advice for maximum performance.
 
jaibot18

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question, do you remember your temps before and after the kazes? that would be interesting too. Looks great though. amazing
 
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I used the scotch tape and credit card method because I was worried about the single drop spread method not working. Rightly so it seems. I like the solution he found though so thanks for the link (which I must say gives the impression HDT is here to stay).


Oh and Jailbait the temps I have recorded pre Kaze were from a different CPU cooler so they wouldn't really tell you much.

The 3k RPM Kaze fans did however give me a drop of 8c on my motherboard temps which should you an idea of how much air they move; I wouldn't recommend these fans for general use though as they are very loud. It doesn't bother me because it's my gaming rig which means I usually have my headset on when it's running.
 
KyleSTL

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5 @ 3000RPM! Holy cow. Is that thing teathered to the ground so you don't get liftoff. That thing must sound like a Prescott-based server room.
 
KyleSTL

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Agreed, but I have no idea.
 
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They aren't "that" thin I can assure you.

I lapped it twice because of an issue I had with some clumping cutting deap into one of the pipes. I thought the damage might come out so I went ahead all the way to 2000 grip paper only to realize the damage was deaper than I initially presumed.

It took going back down to a 400 grit for about 2 hours of sanding to get the damage out. So lapping it twice (the second time was very intensive at rough grit) didn't take me through the pipes nor did they feel extremely thin and pliable.
 
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I used this guide when i found it a couple weeks ago... I was using intel stock cooler with my E2160 and could not get it to boot above 2.8Ghz, and at that speed temps were around the low 60s...

I bought the xigmatek 1283 and used the guide... I'm at 3.2Ghz now running stable after P95 small FFT, and blend tests for 10+ hrs each... temps hovering in the low 50s... All voltage settings normal on my EX38DS4 motherboard except vcore bumped up 2 notches... pretty F***in sweet!

I do have a question though... how accurate is speedfan/Hmonitor? Im using that software on my friends PC that I built which is identical to mine in every way except he has a Q9450... I can't get past (well I can OC more, but the temps scare me) 3.2Ghz, and even at that speed both of the temp softwares suggest his temps are in the high 60s.... that can't be right??? I mean on stock voltages across the board??? even at idle BIOS shows 31C, whereas the software after booting vista shows 55C????

No way right?

Also, does anyone know what each of the temps represent? there's "temp1,2,3, and core0,1,2,3)... I'm assuming the latter 4 are for the quad cores... but what about the previous 3???

Thanks!

btw, this HSF is sweet as hell.
 
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I lapped my xigmatek 1283 awhile back and just today i removed the heatsink to lap my cpu. When i checked the heatsink there was a huge dent in one of the pipes on bottom where the corner of the cpu seated against it. I have the push pins so maybe the force it took to snap them in did it. Just thought everyone should know to be carefull installing it after lapping cause the pipes are thin.
 
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I noticed this on mine as well, but it only resulted in a small scratch without making the area concave. I don't think frequent removal is a good idea in light of this.
 
4Ryan6

4Ryan6

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XiggyLapp.jpg



You spent a lot more time lapping yours than I did.

If you're interested heres an old school tip for you, took me about one solid hour.

I dry lapped with 600G automotive body paper, vacuuming the dust residue from the grit of the paper when it started to build up.

Vacuuming the grit away causes the paper to cut fresh again, once the deepest scratch is almost gone, stop vacuuming the paper and let the residue begin to build on the paper.

Continue lapping from that point and the 600G residue will begin to polish the base, its a metal on metal effect, and will actually polish to a shine with 600G paper.




Lapping the Xiggy requires way less thermal compound and I got a 5c decrease in temps across the board, its definitely worth lapping it!



If I had any complaints about the Xiggy it would be the companies lack of concern for some M/B socket orientations, because in my opinion mounting any heatsink in a vertical position totally screws up normal case airflow path.

However I made my own brackets so I could mount the Xiggy in a front to rear airflow path in my case, so a good plus for the Xiggy are the mounting screw holes manufactured in the heatsink base, perfect place to mount hand made brackets.


Note to all interested; Anyone considering undertaking lapping the Xiggy or any heatpipe direct contact heatsink, only lapp as deep as the deepest scratch thats already existing, the manufacturer new exactly how deep they could cut into the pipes to get a flat surface, so do not go beyond their deepest scratch, so you do not weaken the pipes.


 
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