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:: PC Perspective . Case and Cooling . Asus Star Ice CPU Cooler Review . Summary
The PC Perspective Podcast is your weekly stop for the latest PC tech news and reviews! Give it a listen!
SummaryAsus is well known in the PC industry for supplying PC enthusiasts with high-end motherboards, video cards and accessories. Today we bring you a review of their new Star Ice CPU cooler. The Star Ice was designed primarily for gamers and case modder’s who are looking for both style and performance. The new Asus cooler incorporates heat pipes and all copper construction in a package that looks like a small jet engine for your PC. The Star Ice’s universal mount supports Intel P4 (LGA775, socket 478), AMD K7 (socket 462) and K8 (socket 754/939/940) platforms.
Airflow from the integrated fan is ducted over the internal heatsink fins and the Star Ice can even be fitted with a second fan “afterburner” if desired. The Star Ice is available in three colors, each accented with a translucent cowling and internal UV LED’s. Main Features:
The Stare Ice includes one fan built in to the front of the cooler.
The Star Ice CPU cooler comes with what Asus calls a 3-in-1 smart fan, which allows the end user to select full speed, adjust the CPU cooler fan speed manually, or have the fan speed controlled automatically based on a remote temperature sensor. Either the 3.5” bay speed control pot or rear PCI bracket pot can be used to manually adjust the fan speed. To control the fan speed based on CPU temperature, the included temperature sensor can be mounted under the cooler base beside the CPU. For full speed, all out performance, a small jumper is attached to the fan lead. Three copper heat pipes are used to conduct the waste heat generated by the CPU up into a relatively large array of copper fins where the heat is transferred into the jet stream. The stepped, copper base has a rather course machine finish and as we will see in a minute is unfortunately far from flat.
Installation I used the included K8 hardware for mounting the Star Ice CPU cooler to my Asus motherboard using the existing steel Athlon64 backing plate. After a couple test mounts I found I was getting very little contact between the CPU base and A64 IHS. Even after applying an extra amount of thermal paste, I was still only getting contact around the edges of the IHS with none in the center – not good. Did I mention the Star Ice is a very large (not to mention heavy) cooler! Looking at the installation from another angle you can see we have an interference issue with the DIMM slots.
Testing The Asus Star Ice CPU cooler was tested on an open frame K8 test rig . The ambient room air temperature was maintained at 23°C ±0.5°C. The CPU was loaded by running Folding@Home 24/7. Several dozen temperature reading were recorded and averaged over 2~3 days for each test. The following data is presented for comparative purposes only. Your actual results may be different depending on the variables unique to your system (CPU, overclock, ambient temperature, case air flow, temperature monitoring, etc).
*Note: The Asus Star Ice CPU cooler base was not flat (badly concave) as received and had to be hand lapped before I would mount it for testing, which will most likely produce results better than normal. CPU – Temperature reported by Asus PC Probe utility (internal diode) Tc – Temperature obtained with calibrated thermocouple attached to IHS Delta T – Fully loaded Tc temperature rise above ambient dBA – Sound pressure level recorded 3’ away (background ~30 dBA)
Conclusions At the end of the day I have mixed feelings about the Asus Star Ice CPU cooler. If you are looking for a large cooler that looks like a small jet engine fitted onto your motherboard then the Star Ice is what you seek. To obtain good cooling performance it may also have to sound like a small jet engine. Thanks to its unique styling and built-in UV LED’s the Star Ice will add distinctive flair to most any gaming rig and is sure to draw some attention your way. Unfortunately, because of its large size, the Star Ice may not fit all motherboards. Weight is another concern, especially if you plan to take the Star Ice on the road. To read the complete Asus Star Ice CPU cooler review with more detailed information and comparisons with other popular K8 coolers, please click on the link below. |
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