360° View - ASUS Star Ice Heatsink Information on Frostytech's test methodology is available here.
	The Heatsink Fan: The 80mm fan is set into the body of the Asus StarIce heatsink, a few millimeters in front of the copper fins. The fan draws power from a standard 3-pin motherboard connector that supports RPM monitoring. Another two-pin connector hooks into the thermistor to enable temperature controlled fan speed mode. The large blue plastic shell is 117mm in diameter.
	Heatsink Frame: The 40 stacked copper fins are spaced 1.5mm apart, and individually measure about 0.1mm thick. Three 6mm diameter heat pipes intersect the copper fins at six positions to distribute the heat energy from the base plate evenly over a larger surface area. The copper base plate varies in thickness between 6mm and 3mm thick, and is rather roughly finished.
	Heatsink Top: The top of the Star Ice is enclosed with a clear plastic shield emblazoned with the ASUS logo. The area below has no ventilation paths, and this results in hot stagnant air pooling at the top of the heatsink. Two small blue LED's illuminate the logo, but frankly this kind of design choice in a heatsink is just perplexing... It ultimately diminishes the thermal performance of the Star Ice heatsink.
	Heatsink Side A: The Asus Star Ice is visually appealing from the outside, but apparently the engineers gave little to no thought about how all the plastic would impact the heatsinks' performance. From the side we can see part of the copper fins which are responsible for dispersing heat into the surrounding air. Note that the upper portion of the heatsink is completely enclosed. The Star Ice stands 143mm tall, front to back it is 114mm deep.
	Heatsink Side B: At the rear of the Star Ice, Asus have added some screw holes where users can install a separate 80mm exhaust fan (not included). Looking down the barrel of the heatsink, the six sections of copper heatpipe are easily visible intersecting the copper fins.
	Heatsink Base: The copper base of the Asus Star Ice heatsink is poorly finished, its sanded treatment translates into a surface roughness of about 64 microinches. The copper is flat in one axis, and very slightly convex in the other (perpendicular to the heatpipes). This is not overly surprising given that the material goes from 6-3mm thick at the center.