Few comments about getting steak to room temp... there's some mixed urban legends in there.
Leaving a steak out for 30 min to an hour will not raise it to room temp, it will take much longer than that for a steak cut of a normal thickness (1 inch or more). However, leaving the steak out dries it out more than going fridge to pan. So it's possible for there to be a noticeable difference in steaks left out to "room temp", but it's because there is less moisture, not because you started cooking it at 72F instead of 40F. This assumes your steak is exposed to air and not still sitting in plastic on the counter.
Less moisture = more even cook and more maillard reaction on the outside. Starting temp is a red herring.
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