In one of my rigs, I had used Xingmatek 1283 Red Scorpion as it was highly recommended. I used Zalman thermal grease which was said to be almost equal to Artic Silver 5, the temps was 45 deg C idle and 70 degrees after a few minutes of stressing . By the way I was using AMD X2 6400+ OC to 3.34 Ghz. I realize although the direct heatpipe contact is a novel idea , i noticed the intervening aluminium fins may not be the same level as copper surfaces and may be propping the heatpipe from the cpu heatspreader. Furthermore the heatpipe surface was not really smooth...I cannot even see a faint reflection.

So I lapped with grit 600 then 800 then 1000 then 1200 then 1600 and finally 2000. Each lapping about 20 to 40 strokes. Although not really a mirror finish I can at least seen my faint reflection on the copper surface. More importantly, the contact surface of both copper and intervening aluminium septae are smooth and leveled.

I decided to try Artic Cooling MX-2 spread on the cpu.

This time, idle temps 32 deg C and 51 deg C running Orthos for nearly an hour. i was able to push the speed to 3.6 GHz by increasing the CPU voltage.

Now one may argue the MX-2 thermal grease could be responsible for the temperature drop but I had used the same compound for another heatsink and it showed inferior temperature cooling compared to Zalman thermal grease.

So I have to assume the lapping must have contributed significantly to the temperature drop.

Just thought I would share....anyone else have same experience?

Good question, I was concerned initially at the initial temps (before lapping) and remounted the heatsink thinking it may not be properly seated but had got similar results. I did not use any special kits but only what I got from the box. I have tried lapping before in my older rigs and did not find much difference.....there is only 2 or at most 3 degree Celcius drop. So when I was building my current rigs the heat sinks were not lapped and just used the factory finished heat sink surface but I think the significant drop here is because of the direct heat pipe technology in the the Xingmatek Red Scorpion. Lapping probably increases the efficiency of the heat transfer.....but I was worried during the lapping process I might rupture the heat pipe but fortunately it was quite resilient.

If I had any more dough and time I might get another Xingmatek to replace my Coolermaster Gemini II for my Intel rig but the thought of removing the mobo and unscrewing the bolts that hold this monster of a heatsink ........ .

Hope it helps.

This post has been edited by Da'men: Aug 28 2008, 06:19 PM

You are right, the Xingmatek was for my AMD system Athlon X2 6400+ Black edition with a 125W TDP. Have not tried it on Intel as yet. You are probably right the mounting for Intel CPU socket may not be as secure as the clip mechanism for the AMD and I probably will need some 3rd party bolting kit.