Kustom PC Premium Lapping Kit

Testing

Methodology

All of the testing is carried out outside of a computer case.

To test we simply boot the PC up with a freshly installed copy of Windows XP, and measure temperatures using Speedfan. The onboard temperature sensor is disregarded and instead the CPU’s own diode is used.

For idle testing, we simply let the testing rig sit doing absolutely nothing for 30 minutes and take the most representative temperature of the last 10 minutes. The same is used for the load testing, but instead of letting the PC do nothing, Orthos Stress Prime is used to load both cores to 100%.

I’ll be using the same fans as in the stock-base IFX-14; the Zalward 120mm Golf Fan (48 CFM 17dBA) and the Nidec Beta V TA450DC (112 CFM 48 dBA). I’ll compare the results to the ones that we originally gained from the stock-base IFX-14.

Results

The results from using the lapping kit were pretty impressive as you can see from the graph below:

For idle values, the lapped heatsink base managed to keep the CPU a mere 4 degrees above ambient regardless of which fan was used. When Orthos 100%’d the cores, the lapping took a clear 5 degrees off the low RPM fan value, and 4 degrees off the high RPM fan.

Compared to the Thermaltake Max Orb which was running at 100%, the IFX-14 is now slightly cooler and MUCH quieter which is nice to well… hear. It even manages to sneak under the audio radar and is definitely mulnaz.

I was pretty impressed by these figures, even though the base of the heatsink was still a little lumpy. If more time (another hour or so) and more sandpaper (all of the grades provided can only really be used once) I would say that a couple more centigrade’s would be shaved off.

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