Prolimatech Megahalems CPU Cooler Review

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Hi guys,

Today I bring you an exclusive review of a Prolimatech Megahalems CPU cooler.

The high end CPU cooler market has seen dominance of Thermalright for past few years. Their Ultra 120 Extreme has been the king of the coolers for 2 years now. Many companies created the hype that they have finally come up with TRUE killer, but have failed to deliver.

This particular heatsink comes from relatively unknown manufacturer Prolimatech which is just a year old company, but even before its official launch, it created some noise amongst the overclocking circles with some stunning results.

So personally I was excited to review this cooler.

Now without wasting too much time, lets straight move to the cooler itself.

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[BREAK=Packaging and Contents]
Packaging and Contents
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The cooler ships in a standard cardboard box. Everything is nicely packed inside and there was absolutely no damage on the cooler. All accessories are packed in separate plastic bags as well.

Package Contents

• Megahalems Cooler
• LGA 775 and LGA 1366 motherboard backplate
• Retention plates (3nos)
• Fan clips (1 set for 1 fan)
• Prolimatech thermal compound
• Screws, nuts and bolts
• Manual
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Unfortunately no fan is bundled with this cooler.
[BREAK=The Heatsink]
The Heatsink
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When you take the heatsink out of the box, the first thing you notice is the built quality.
It feels solid in hand; there are no obvious imperfections here.

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The quality of the material used is much higher than what we are used to in past. The fins don't bend easily while you hand the cooler. This is definitely big improvement over likes of TRUE and Sunbeamtech core contact freezer where you can easily bend fins while handling the cooler.

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The cooler itself is a tower design measuring 130 x 74 x 158.7mm. This is a six heatpipe cooler. Heatpipes are made up of copper and are nickel plated. This is not the HDT type cooler. The heatpipes pass through the nickel plated copper base.
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This cooler has a unique design. This is basically a two part heatsink.
The heatpipes on either side pass through 45 fins forming two parts of the heatsink. The fins are placed 5 mm apart from each other and each fin in 0.5mm thick which gives cooler its solid feel. One thing different about this cooler is the way heatpipes make contact with the fins. There are no holes drilled into aluminium plates, but each section is made up of two sets of fins which make contact with the heatpiptes.

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The base finish is excellent. It’s not perfectly flat but it slightly dips down at the edges. This is not the bad thing as the base is much larger than even the Core i7 IHS.

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As you can see, the base impression shows that it made good contact with the IHS of the chip.

The cooler is definitely on heavier side at 790gms without weight of fan. But this is to be expected from modern high performance cooler.

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Prolimatech have gone for a simple design. There is no fancy heatpipe arrangement, no angular fin design. Basically it’s a simple design with linear heatpipe arrangement. The critics would say that this is not the most efficient way of heatpipe arrangement, but what difference it makes in real world will be seen shortly.
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Here you can see the grooves for the fan clips. You can attach two 120mm fans on this cooler. But unfortunately only 1 set of clips is provided and you have to purchase second set separately.
Overall I am impressed with the quality of finish and built quality. There are no sharp edges anywhere on the cooler. So say bye bye to finger cuts while operating inside the case for any reason.

[BREAK=Installation]
Installation

This cooler has one of the best mounting mechanisms I have seen till date. The motherboard backplate sits under the board. Then you have to screw in four bolts which secure plate to the motherboard. After that you have to attach two horizontal mount plates and secure them to the motherboard using included bolts.
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This provides a firm and stable base for retention of the cooler. The vertical mounting plate then passes over the base and is secured to the two plates using two spring bolts.
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This whole mechanism feels very solid and really takes away the usual painful efforts required to mount most tower heatsinks. The two final bolts are very easy to access and do not need any special effort.
The cooler feels nice and solid with no wobble or tilt after the mounting is done.
You can then add up to two fans to this cooler. Even the fan clips have no pointed edges.

[BREAK=Setup and Test methods]

Setup used for testing

• Intel i7 920
• Gigabyte X58 UD5
• 6GB OCZ DDR3 1600 CL7
• Tagan BZ1300 PSU
• XFX HD4890 1GB Graphics Card
• NZXT Tempest Cabinet
• Stock case fans
• Scythe Kaze 87cfm fan
• Noctua NH U12P CPU cooler
• Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme
• Sunbeamtech Core Contact Freezer
Note: I anted to test this cooler against the Xigmatek Thor CPU cooler, but unfortunately due to lack of time and also unavailability of that cooler before I completed this review made that impossible. I will mostly be coming up with the review of Thor at the later date and that time you will get the comparison numbers for the same.

How we tested

First I was only going for open air testing. But considering most people use their setups inside the cabinet, I purchased NZXT Tempest cabinet 3 days back and re ran the tests for all coolers once again.
The room temperature was maintained at around 25-26°C using air-conditioning unit. Each test was performed 3 times and average of the three reading was taken.
To measure maximum load temperature, I used Linx to stress the system and temperatures were taken approximately 10 minutes in the test loop. Idle temperatures were taken 10 mins after the Linx test was completed where system was allowed to cool down without any activity.
For in cabinet testing, I used all stock fans of tempest at maximum speed.

The motherboard fan control was disabled leaving all fans at maximum speeds.
Different fan setups were used on each cooler. Hopefully this will provide end user with lot more data.

Thermal compound used was Arctic Cooling MX2

That’s it, let’s move to actual test results
[BREAK=Open Air Testing]
Open Air Testing

For open air testing obviously whole setup was tested outside the cabinet on a bench table.
Here are the results.

4Ghz Single Fan

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4Ghz Dual Fan

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4.3Ghz Single Fan

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4.3Ghz Dual Fan

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As you can see, it does live upto its hype. On open air setup, beating TRUE by any margin in itself is an accomplishment.

Please note that Core contact freezer can’t be used in dual fan setup.

[BREAK=Closed Cabinet Testing]
Closed Cabinet Testing
For closed cabinet testing. The room temperature was maintained at same 25-26C. All the fans in the cabinet were working at full speed.
4Ghz Single Fan

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4Ghz Dual Fan

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4.3Ghz Single Fan

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4.3Ghz Dual Fan

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Again, even at 4.3Ghz Megahalems remains the best performing cooler.

[BREAK=Conclusion and Analysis]
Conclusion and Analysis

The cooler throws up some impressive results. Specially seeing TRUE beaten consistently is not something I expected. At 4Ghz, the results are very close between the Noctua, TRUE and Megahalems. But still Megahalems comes on top. And as CPU speed is cranked up, it performs even better.
The only drawback of the cooler is the noise levels. It’s definitely louder with same fan compared to rest of the coolers. But it’s a very small price to pay for its performance.

This cooler is not exactly cheap. Costing of Rs.3700 and having to invest extra into a good fan and additional clips takes the cost of ownership in excess of Rs.4000. In that regard, the Noctua is very good value for money. But then again, it’s not available in India.
It has been years since something really came out that outperformed TRUE. And this coming from a company which is just 1 year old is a big surprise. The people behind the company are experience, and they got the things right in their first commercial attempt at CPU cooling and that is really good to see.
At the end of the day, this proved to be best Air cooler money can buy at the moment. Internationally it is priced well, and if the same happens here, it will outsell TRUE.
If you are in market for a new CPU cooler, there is no point in getting TRUE anymore. Owners of TRUE can rest easy as it still holds its ground. But if you are migrating to LGA1366 platform, this is the heatsink to get.

Pros

• Great built quality
• No sharp edges
• Easy and good mounting
• Dual fan ready
• Amazing performance
Cons

• Cost
• Only 1 set of fan clips bundled
• No fan included.

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Product Source: Prolimatech Meghalem CPU Cooler - Lynx Chandigarh Largest Electronic & Computer Superstore
Manufacturer Page: Prolimatech

Please Digg this Review Here : Prolimatech Megahalems CPU Cooler Review
 
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Great work! really in depth review of a new product and have loved every part of it.
Perhaps i will use the In-Case & Open test environments in future for my Bench as well.

Repped.
 
Fixed and Fixed :P

Something interesting just landed here as well...

Be prepared for in depth cooling solutions guide in a week's time ;)
 
in all those graphs there's just a 1 degree difference. so hardly any worth buying this since its performing only as well as 2 year old coolers.

good to see such a nice detailed review. :)
 
6pack said:
in all those graphs there's just a 1 degree difference. so hardly any worth buying this since its performing only as well as 2 year old coolers.

good to see such a nice detailed review. :)

well like i said, its only for new buyers and those who are migrating to i7.
Difference is upto 4 degrees under certain conditions and thats substantial.

If someone has TRUE but want to upgrade to core i7, he have to spend Rs.600 + shipping costs to buy the new mounting mechanism. He can sell his true and recover good amount of money and go in for the better cooler.

Same goes for the person who is in market for new cooler. TRUE is no longer obvious choice.

The problem is indian pricing. Outside this is priced lower than TRUE. If you find it in stock, there is no reason to go for TRUE anymore with both Noctua and Megahalems knocking on its door. Both have superior built quality to TRUE, both do not have any sharp edges anywhere ( i have lost count of finger cuts bcoz of true :P ) and both perform better or as well as TRUE.
 
If possible add OCZ Vendetta 2, in next Air coolers roundup. :) Dunno how/why HardwareCanucks call it King, always show better than TRUe (in all 15-20 reviews on their site). They said in Megahalems review - "The shear mass of Megahalems and the shear thermal load it can handle has taken the crown away from the OCZ Vendetta 2. The king is dead, long live the king.". :ashamed: Megahalem has 1c less temp w/ Q6600 @ 1.45v, 4c w/ i7 @ 1.45v compared to OCZ V2.

Also seperate page for performance w/ Q6600 and any C2D plz. ;)
 
Core 2 is dead :P

I know lots of people are still on it but I have moved on to i7 so no more C2d / C2Q for testing. But the cooler that does well on i7 will definitely do well on C2Q.

About the other cooler beating TRUE.

You would be amazed to see how TRUE starts to scale when you really crank up the clock and voltage.

At moderate clocks of 3.4-3.6Ghz, the megahalems beat the TRUE by even greater margin (% wise ) than you see here in this review.

As the clocks go higer and touch 4Ghz+ TRUE really starts to claw back and the margin of loss is reduced to this level. Otherwise results would have been more dramatic. ;)
 
Nice review. Can you please share how did you applied the thermal paste? Is it a rice drop in the middle of the CPU? Please clarify

Anand
 
At low heat loads, even something average like a freezer7pro may be as good as a TRUE.

On an E8400 E0 doing 3-3.6G, a TRUE offers very little benefit over entry level heatpipe coolers.

Crank the voltages and the clocks and then see TRUE pull away with a decent margin.

No wonder many n00bs end up selling their coolers soon after buying as they don't find much difference at stock speeds on C2Ds and especially while idling or moderate cpu loads. :)

What is unfortunate is that some may even go onto speak negatively of the good cooler as they couldn't observe any significant difference. :no:
 
nandu26 said:
Nice review. Can you please share how did you applied the thermal paste? Is it a rice drop in the middle of the CPU? Please clarify

Anand

No, I still prefer good old thin coat on the IHS for the Core i7.
Its a big chip and rice drop might not spread enough if you use insufficient quantity.
 
Sripad ,
Thanks For Reviewing the Megahalem For Us And TE .I Imported this Cooler Cos of The Hype it Was Creating .I read your entire review with interest ,I Have My Own Thought Of the Same Here it Goes .

1 :If i Was Buying a Cooler With Such small difference in Performance I will Never Go for a Expensive Cooler ,For People Who Find The Thrill To Find Lower Temps They Might Go For The Megahalem

2 :Yes The Built Quality is Better No doubt .

3 :I Will Like To compare This With Vendetta II and also Thor ,If you Do That the Review Is Complete Currenly ,The Nocta Fan Should Be Out of The Review Its Not available Here .
 
What does local availability has to do with product being in the review?

Noctua is one of the better coolers available at the moment and thats why it is in the review.
Even though we are in India, internet is not restricted to any country. People from all over the world can read this review.
Also, I could source it :P so someone else can as well.

And pricing is somethign dealers and distributors have to work out for us :P

Internationally Megahalems costs less than TRUE 1366. ;)
 
Final choice should be left to the user- some like to spend, some don't- all on priorities.

One may wear locally available Levi's jeans and import Noctua direct from Sidewinders.

Someone else may wear imported Diesel jeans but avoid buying better cooler and try to OC on stock cooler? :P

A good review tries to present all the facts- within the given time, space and material constraints. :)

And cooler choice is not restricted to temps alone.

At the level of performance these air-coolers are, something radically better maybe still some time away.

When the playing field is levelled, build quality, ease of mounting, etc become much more important to a user.

These things were overlooked as even with all it's flaws, the TRUE was simply the best.

But now, at the same price point or if available lower (internationally), why will one buy something with build quality, base and mounting issues?

Almost all the so-called HDT stars have come and fallen out with most- so many trying to sell theirs now. :S

Most people make a mistake of buying something looking only at the max figures with a totally different setup in totally different ambients from what is realistic in their own homes- some personal analysis is necessary imho.

Like i said earlier, for a E5200/E7200 at stock, a user maybe hard-pressed between a AC freezer7 pro/CM hyper TX2 and a TRUE or an ultima90i.

the freezer7/hyperTX2 will logically win for the total price to be paid for the performance "required".

Does that make the TRUE or the ultima90i a bad cooler?

Or just coz the TRUE is a better cooler for high loads and even though one doesn't change his h/w, should i not buy the AC freezer 7/CM hyper TX2 if it costs half as much or lower and is good enough for the purpose?

A top cooler doesn't make the vfm cooler bad or vice-versa.

Imho, such generalisation is not proper and actually not possible.

eg- When not OCing, a stock intel cooler somewhat cools NB and pwm and maybe RAM along with the cpu due to it's radially outwards fin design while a tower heatpipe cooler gives much lower cpu temps under load but the NB and other mobo components may suffer if not attended to individually.

A cooler to a discerning user is as important and personal choice as buying new shoes or undies. :)

And for people changing coolers/chips often, build quality, mounting mechanism are far more important.

Now where is that pic/screenie where the Megahalem had an almost 13C lead over the CCF? :P
 
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