Asus Triton 77 Review

Testing:  

To properly test the Asus Triton 77, I will need to record temperatures during both idle time (little to no CPU usage), as well as during full load (100% CPU usage). I will let the computer sit and cool down for 30 minutes before gathering the idle temperatures. To get my load temperatures, I will use Prime 95 version 25.5 running the small FFt test for 30 minutes. To gather my temperatures, I will use Core Temp version .99. The temperatures of the four cores will be averaged and this number will be the temperature recorded. I will be testing the processor at both stock speeds with stock voltage settings, as well as overclocked speeds of 3.6GHz with the voltage increased to 1.356 volts. All the temperatures are measured in degrees Celsius.

Testing Setup:

• Processor: Intel Intel Core 2 Quad 9450 333 x 8 1.175 v
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad 9450 (Overclocked) 450 x 8 1.356 volts
• Motherboard: Gigabyte X48-DQ6
• Memory: Mushkin Redline XP2 8000 2 x 2 GB 5-5-5-12
• Video Card(s): Asus EN8800GT TOP
• Power Supply: Mushkin 800watt Modular Power supply
• Hard Drive: 1 x Seagate 1TB SATA
• Opticals: LG DVDRW
• O/S: Windows Vista Ultimate Edition
• Ambient Temperature: 24 Celsius

Comparison Heatsinks:

• Heatsink: Scthye Ninja
• Heatsink: Intel Stock

The Asus Triton did show improvement over the Intel stock heatsink under all of the load conditions. With the temperatures at the stock voltage settings, there was no clear benefit under idle conditions. Under load the the Triton and the Ninja performed equally, while leaving the Intel stock solution to wallow in the dust. Under the overclocked conditions, the Triton just could not keep up with the Ninja, though it did outperform the Stock solution. Running the Triton at much above stock settings put the temperature just a bit too high for my liking.