i made cuts in the bottom of my P4 heatsink...bad???

[shurleydude]

I was scraping the thermal pad off of the heatsink with a razor and made a bunch of scrapes and scratches on it...will this affect it in any way? most of them aren't where the CPU comes in contact with the heatsink though...anyways, that pad looks like a POS, an aluminum thinggy that looks very cheap...but i then applied some AS3 to it...should I stop using the HSF immmediately or will i be alright? thanks

[LordOPain]

you shouldve used enamel thinner then cleaned it with alcohol afterward..

i wouldnt suggest using it until you "lap" it smooth again.. at least where the cpu will make contact..

"lapping" is simply polishing it until its smooth, very smooth itll almost appear mirror-like..

[GB_Cobber]

I agree. may as well do it properly while the HS is off.

All you need is sturdy flat wooden board and a few sheets of quality sand paper. Start off with about 500-600 grit, them some 900-1200 and finnish of with 1600+ if you want it to shine.
For the best possible contact you want a mirror finnish. If you like, after the 1600 grit you can polish it up with some autosol(Alloy polish for mag wheels etc) Auto stores should have some.

Use water with the sand paper for an even better finnish and easier sanding. as long as its wasterproof sand paper.(wet and dry) most is.

[shurleydude]

oh...well... i meant i already installed it

but it looks like i'm getting decent temps...a hell of a lot better than when i used the stock cooler before!!!! I guess I have good contact if i got around 42 degrees idle while at 3.0 ghz...about the same as my MCX4000 at 3.1 idle...of course this was on different mobos though...i'm now on the P4PE