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360° View - 3Rsystem Iceage 120 Boss
II Heatsink
Information on Frostytech's test
methodology is available
here. | |
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The 120mm fan spins at 2200-1000RPM and draws power
from a standard 3-pin motherboard fan header. The fan is held on by four
rubber vibration absorbing posts which barely fit - the fan holes are
104mm apart but the upper part of the Iceage 120 Boss II heatsink is only
109mm high. What can end up happening is the rubber keys fall out
from the fins. Its five 8mm diameter copper heatpipes, aluminum fins and base are all dark
nickel plated. The aluminum fins measure 0.3mm thick and are spaced 1.8mm
apart. The surface texturing on each fin consists of a very small dimple
popping out on both sides of the metal. |
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The 3Rsystem Iceage 120 Boss II heatsink stands
152mm tall, the bottom-most fin being 38mm above the CPU socket for clearance. The
five heatpipes are positioned side to side where they make direct contact with
the processor, and expand outward to form an X-pattern where they intersect the
aluminum fins above. The base incorporates a 9mm thick aluminum section to provide support
for clamping, with small extruded fins above for a little extra
cooling surface area. |
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Looking at the 3Rsystem Iceage 120
Boss II heatsink from the top it resembles the Batman symbol a
little. More significantly, the pattern of heatpipes passing through the aluminum fins
helps to ensure equitable heat conduction across a broader area that is
largely in the path of the fastest moving air from the 120mm fan. The base of
the heatsink is very large, measuring 54 x 40mm in size. It's
so big that an LGA775 Intel processor only makes contact with the center three
heatpipes. CPUs with larger IHS dimensions see more benefit from the
Iceage 120 Boss II's design, as evidenced by the AMD synthetic thermal test
platform results. |
Base Finish and Flatness
Flipping a heatsink over to inspect the business
end is often a simple indicator of overall cooler quality. More practically
speaking, a heatsink is in many ways only as effective as the contact it makes
with the processor - the flatter and smoother the better. Base finish is one of
the criteria that Frostytech measure in the course of evaluating heatsinks, and
it involves two distinct aspects. Surface Finish is the first; this is
calculated with the aid of Surface Roughness Comparator that has a cross section
of common machine surface finishes and their numerical surface roughness
equivalents in microinches. The second is Surface Flatness. This is tested with
an engineers straight edge or proven flat surface, in two axis.

The
3Rsystem Iceage 120 Boss II heatsink has a surface
roughness of approximately 32 microinches, which is considered good. The base is
machined perfectly flat in both axis, but has a slight grooved finish from the
tooling. The copper and aluminum parts are flush. Sound level measurements are coming right up
next.