Which of these two base-plate finishes would you rather have?

[Sneaky]

here's a somewhat old post by cathar (god of CPU water blocks as we know it) from another forum (OCForums.com), and i thought i'd let you guys have some fun with it now:

The left one or the right one?

Enjoy

-Justin

 

[NickS]

I like the one on the left, cuz I like shiny things.

 

[FragTek]

Nice Justin!

 

[enVias]

I voted the left one, but I did it without thinking.

I'd rather have the right one

 

[limqareb]

i chose to trick you just for fun

 

[PV5150]

The one on the right for sure, it has a greater surface area, and should therefore cool more efficiently.

 

[bloodthirst]

yeah i agree with PV5150, are they both copper?

-brendan

 

[enVias]

The one on the right for sure, it has a greater surface area, and should therefore cool more efficiently.

But it's not as well lapped as the other one, so you would think it cools less efficiently.

The right one is better, but try and find another reason other than surface area

 

[PV5150]

After closer examination of the two base plates, I would still have to say that the right one would be better due to it being flatter. Hence providing better contact with the CPU. Btw, that piggy back board in the background is a real fire hazard, tut...tut...tut

 

[enVias]

After closer examination of the two base plates, I would still have to say that the right one would be better due to it being flatter[/B'].

Affirmative

 

[Dav0s]

im gonna go with the right one due to the surface area. also it looks pretty flat, and making it perfectly shiny doesnt always make it better at cooling, just looks nicer.

 

[enVias]

It's a trick question, the one on the left isn't flat (you just can't see it very well in the picture).

 

[balilu]

i would go fo the right one even if both are flat because if i want to i can lap it myself and it gets shiny as the other one aswell

 

[Sneaky]

its about the BASEPLATE FINISH... not which block you think will perform better due to size etc.

but anyways, for thoes who chose the block on the left,

A different perspective perhaps?

Left One

Right One

Really this is a poor-man's flatness test. The hand-lapped plate on the right is actually not really flat either (it's certainly MUCH better than the block on the left though), it's just that this poor-man's flatness test is unable to show its deficiencies very clearly. It all depends on how far one wants to go in the definition of flatness.

The whole point of this exercise was, of course, to point out the difference between reflectiveness and flatness in a relevant way.

Heck, if waterblock review sites included a test even as simple as this, they would be giving people infinitely more useful information than they do now, which is to show some nice shiny reflective bases and comment on how great they are with absolutely no understanding of the vast difference between the concepts of flatness and reflectivity.

Really, it has to stop now. It has gotten out of hand. It's gotten to the point where anything that is shiny and reflective is perceived as great, yet anything that is non-reflective is perceived as crap, with absolutely no justification or intelligence behind the comments other than, "Ooh - shiny! It MUST be good!"

 

[Dav0s]

hehe nice one man - repples

 

[Joe]

the one on the right even tho it looks rougher its much thinner metal and so better for heat transfer to the water

 

[Sneaky]

the one on the right even tho it looks rougher its much thinner metal and so better for heat transfer to the water

hey smarty pants... i'm talking about the FINISH ON THE BASEPLATE, not the baseplate itself, not the material its made out of, not the dimensions, not the design, but the finish on the surface of the block

this thread is just to prove that a mirror finish doesnt always mean that something is flat, and when it comes to heatsinks, waterblocks, etc., having a flat block is MUCH more important than having a shiny block - but if you can create a mirror finished surface that is also as flat as possible, then that is the absolute, no questions asked, best way to maximize your performance gain from lapping

and here's one fucken hell of a mirrored surface (the IHS on my 3.0E P4), finished to 10-micron sandpaper:

and to prove its flatness to you:

btw, i used the premium lapping kit from www.easypckits.com to achieve this finish... plus i had ALOT of prior practice with lapping to ensure that the surface was 95% flat or flatter

 

[FragTek]

w00t yo! I used the same kit on my Winnie and it turned out fab!

I undressed my Diego last night and it performs worse now Poooooh!

 

[Joe]

hey smarty pants... i'm talking about the FINISH ON THE BASEPLATE, not the baseplate itself, not the material its made out of, not the dimensions, not the design, but the finish on the surface of the block

this thread is just to prove that a mirror finish doesnt always mean that something is flat, and when it comes to heatsinks, waterblocks, etc., having a flat block is MUCH more important than having a shiny block - but if you can create a mirror finished surface that is also as flat as possible, then that is the absolute, no questions asked, best way to maximize your performance gain from lapping

and here's one fucken hell of a mirrored surface (the IHS on my 3.0E P4), finished to 10-micron sandpaper:

and to prove its flatness to you:

btw, i used the premium lapping kit from www.easypckits.com to achieve this finish... plus i had ALOT of prior practice with lapping to ensure that the surface was 95% flat or flatter

that is one hell of a finish my *imaginary* hat goes off to u !

.. one thing u actually bought XP ? the only reason i have a lisenced copy is cause it cost me nuffin

 

[NickS]

OOoo i wanna do this to my ihs and xp90