Ice Tower, Argon THRML 60mm and the “Ötzi” on the Bitaxe Gamma, what can they do?

The article “Naked Lama... um, Gamma, I mean Bitaxe Gamma!” reported in detail on different coolers and fans. In this article, we cover the currently better options and variants of cooling under air for the Bitaxe Gamma. Also, no standard fans are included in this test, only fans from Noctua. Among the better cooling options for the Gamma, or Bitaxe in general, are the Ice Tower from 52pi and the Argon THRML 60mm cooler, both classified as tower coolers, which offer a significant advantage over top blow coolers.

The Argon THRML 60mm cooler is currently the optimal choice for the Bitaxe Gamma for cooling the BM1370 hothead. However, this cooler is being used for a different purpose and is actually at home with Raspberry Pi. Due to the significantly larger mass and cooling surface, it even outperforms the Ice Tower by far. We will leave other top blow coolers out this time.

But the Argon THML 60mm has no 100% flat cooling surface and by the arrangement of the ASIC on the Bitaxe, about 40% of the ASICs are not on the important copper heatpies, but on bare aluminum. For this reason, the ASIC can not evenly release its heat to the cooler and this can not optimally absorb the heat either. Incidentally, the problem also exists with the Ice Tower.

The solution is a small copper plate with a thickness of 0.3mm, which is simply placed between the cooler and ASIC (important: cooler -> copper plate connection also needs thermal paste). This measure achieves a 100% flat surface for the ASIC and the copper plate distributes the heat efficiently and 100% to both copper heatpipes of the cooler, instead of just one as before.

This optimization significantly lowers the temperatures and makes the Bitaxe Gamma work even more efficiently. 

But unfortunately, even with this optimization, the Argon THRML 60mm cannot outperform a full copper cooler; the immense advantage of the copper cooler remains.

Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Extreme will be the connecting link between the Ice Tower, Argon THRML 60mm and the “Ötzi”. A thermal compound with an extremely high thermal conductivity of 14.2 W/m*K, it should be the perfect connection between 100% copper and 100% ASIC.

The fans used are the Noctua NF-A4x20 5V PWM and Noctua NF-A6x25 5V PWM is used, which is also a reference model in terms of fans in a small format and optimally cools the Ice Tower but also the Argon THRML 60mm, and are significantly quieter with similar cooling performance.

To keep the voltage stable and ensure a proper supply to the gamma, the MEAN WELL LRS-200-5 5V 40A comes into play as a power supply with sufficient reserve, connected with 16 AWG power cables.

An adapter is required to mount the cooler on the Bitaxe for the Argon THRML 60mm. For those who use the Argon THRML 60 cooler on #Bitaxe and want to install a Noctua fan. The clips are too long and therefore cannot be mounted, so an adapter is also required here.

Both can be obtained here and printed out on a 3D printer:

• Argon THRML 60mm PCB socket adapter
• Argon THRML 60mm Noctua fan adapter

It remains to be said that with the Argon THRML 60mm and a Noctua fan, all the clock speeds offered in AxeOS can be set without the ASIC overheating. Even clock speeds outside the AxeOS specifications at 650 and 675 Mhz can be set without any problems.

The Ice Tower with the small 40x40mm Noctua fan unfortunately can't manage the 675 Mhz and overheats quite fast.

Also in general, the temperatures are significantly lower with the Argon THRML 60mm, which is an advantage in warm regions/rooms or in summer Even higher overclocking can be tested, but always remember the silicone lottery and the basics when making adjustments outside the specifications of the AxeOS.

With a small and very inexpensive optimization using a copper plate and the Argon THRML 60mm, performance can even be slightly increased. Less power consumption, lower temperatures, higher overclocking

But even after this optimization, 100% copper cannot be replaced, only more copper helps... So my “Ötzi” with its 139.5g net weight remains the undisputed number 1 when it comes to air cooling on the Bitaxe.