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Ascent AC300-4P Heatsink Review
Ascent AC300-4P Heatsink Review
  0%   
Abstract: Ascent makes the kind of heatsinks you'll see sitting on a shelf at your local computer store. This little guy, the AC300-4P caught our eye a while ago on a recent parts hunting trip.

 Manufacturer  Category  Published  Author 
Ascent   Cooling / Heatsinks   Feb 05, 2001   Max Page  

Home > Reviews > Page: Synthetic Test Results:
FrostyTech Synthetic Temperature Test Platform (50W heat load)
Mfg. Name Model No. Ambient Temp. (C) Large block (C) Small block (c) Thermal compound Thermal pad No. Fans Fan Noise Clip
1 Thermaltake Superorb 25.6 49.2 60.1 AOS 52029KY none 1 (2) low easy
4 KingCooler Thermal buster 25.7 57.5 68.8 AOS 52029KY yellow 1 none stiff
5 Ascent AC300-4P 28.1 59.5 70+ AOS 52029KY none 1 low easy

The Ascent didn't manage to perform very well overall. While it only came in a few degrees poorer than the Thermalbuster, it just died on the small copper die template test. The superorb, which is much heavier, and for the sake of fairness, much better designed easily kicked its' butt! The Thermal buster appears to have performed about as poorly, except for the fact that the ascent managed to rack in a temperature of 70+. That means it went up, way up past what our thermistors could read. Contrastingly, the ThermalBuster at least held steady ground at 68 degrees.

Rise Above Ambient Temperature (C)
Mfg. Model with large block with small block
1 Thermaltake SuperOrb 23.6 34.5
4 KingCooler Thermal buster 31.8 43.1
5 Ascent AC300-4P 31.4 41.9+

The results look a little bit different when we look at the Acent's performance in terms of rise of ambient temperature. While the SuperOrb smashed each of the other heatsinks out of the competition, the smaller and much less expensive Ascent actually performed a bit better then the very capable Thermalbuster could with the large copper die template, and then once again totally died when strapped onto the smaller copper die template.

Conclusion:

For overclocked Celeron's this heatsink would perform adequately, but considering the price it goes for what do you really expect? At about $12 a pop these heatsinks are by far the least expensive coolers we've tested. The folded-fin design looks promising, but seems to have reached the limitations of what it can handle. Without a doubt these coolers were designed for K6-2 and PGA Celeron chips. Using this heatsink with an overclocked chip won't really put you ahead of the game but it should at least stop your chip from melting down into a pile of dust.

If you have an option, move onto another more traditionally designed extruded cooler. Chances are it will offer you better cooling on both FC-PGA and PGA processor platforms. The Ascent is absolutely not designed for the smaller silicon cores of Durons, CopperMines, or T-birds. For K6-2 or PGA Celeron's it will offer cooling performance on the most basic level, and really shouldn't be used with any kind of overclocked rig.

 Previous Page ° Heat Sink Review Index  

Table of Contents:

 1:  Ascent AC300-4P Heatsink Review
 2:  Taking a closer look
 3:  FrostyTech Synthetic Temperature Test Platform:
 4: — Synthetic Test Results:

List all Ascent heat sinks that Frostytech tested?

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