EggXpert

Anyone have any experience modding the FP7?  I have an old one, and it could work in a new build I am woring on.  I would like to replace the existing fan with a PWM blue led fan.  The existing fan is easily detachable from the heatsink, but it is integral to the rubber mount, which is not square, as case fans are.  The fan is also a non-standard 82mm.  As I mentioned, this FP7 was cheap, and I view this as a learning experience, so I don't mind if I trash it in the process.  Thanks in advance for any advice!

If you really want to improve cooling for very little cost then you might want to consider lapping your CPU and heat sink surfaces where they mate together.  I dropped CPU core temperatures by 6-7 degrees Celsius by doing this on an E6700 CPU and a cheap Masscool $10 heat sink and fan.  IMO, this is the best bang-for-the-buck CPU cooling modification you can do.  It only takes about $10 worth of sandpaper.  Through the process I found the CPU cover is far from flat and this prevents the best metal to metal contact between it and the heat sink.  I have my E6700 over clocked to 3.51 ghz and under full load core temps get up to 52-53 degrees Celsius.  Before lapping they would be 58-59 degrees.

I'll look around for some instructions on how to do this.  Thanks!

There is a lot of information on this out there.  I recommend using 400, 1000 and 2000 grit sandpaper.  There are also some good videos on You Tube of people performing this procedure.

I've seen references to processors being "professionally" lapped - what skill level is required to not screw this up?  Sort of hard to practice this inexpensively... :).  Can you use a dremel for this?

GV3:

I've seen references to processors being "professionally" lapped - what skill level is required to not screw this up?  Sort of hard to practice this inexpensively... :).  Can you use a dremel for this?

 

You cannot use a dremel, and its not that hard. 

 

you tape sandpaper to a sheet of glass (or plexiglass, something VERY flat), and you "lap" the heatsink or CPU back and forth across the strip of sandpaper. That's where the term 'lapping" comes from. 

You go with a lower grit till all the coating is off and all you see is the copper base, then gradually move to higher grits. 

 Do NOT polish the surface with any polishing chemicals. Use only the sandpaper, and nothing else. The whole idea is to have a 100% flat surface that's as smooth as possible, since the CPU itself isn't perfectly flat from the factory. 

 

Here's my thread on this from a while back:

http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/398369.aspx

 

Funny, it seems nobody is answering his original question, namely, that of putting a LED case fan on the heatsink.

The thing is, the AC7 is very non standard and dead fans can't really be replaced unless you get a new heatsink. I would try using cable ties to tie the fan around one of the fins. Thread it between the fins and then cut off the ends.

You can toss the original fan; it probably won't have much use.

cv

amabhy:

Funny, it seems nobody is answering his original question, namely, that of putting a LED case fan on the heatsink.

The thing is, the AC7 is very non standard and dead fans can't really be replaced unless you get a new heatsink. I would try using cable ties to tie the fan around one of the fins. Thread it between the fins and then cut off the ends.

You can toss the original fan; it probably won't have much use.

 

x2 on the cable ties or zip ties. Thats' the only real way I can think of getting that heatsink to work.