User Review Prolimatech MK-26 Review


Introduction


GPU cooling is much more challenging than CPU Cooling as High-end graphics cores power requirements have long surpassed that of desktop CPUs. The TDP of the most power hungry CPUs has hovered around 130W for many years, while the top GPU requirement has actually exceeded 250W and we're only talking about single core Graphic cards and for aftermarket graphics card cooling there are two real options i.e Air cooling, Water cooling. Air cooling systems are isolated to the card itself and increase the weight while Watercooling kits have tubes and radiators ran elsewhere and weigh less on the card itself. Both are very viable options for cooling off the latest cards that have stock cooling.

What ever you choose for your gpu cooling both options will lead to void your graphic card warranty so it is a risk if you are willing to take it .

Enter the MK-26, a sprawling nickel-plated GPU heatsink from Prolimatech with six heatpipes. The MK-26 is designed to use two 140mm or two 120mm fans and is compatible with almost every current GPU on the market. The cooler doesn't come with fans so Prolimatech also provided two Ultra Sleek Vortex 14 fans that are only 15mm thick will double ball bearings, 60,000-100,000, and push air up to 98 CFM / 0.9mm H2O at up to 18 DBA on a 17-blade impeller! Specifications seems to be great to run MK-26 Cooler Quietly .



Specifications


  • TDP target: 0 – 320 Watt
  • Mounting system: Omni-mount universal tool-free kit
  • Fin spacing : 2.0mm
  • Pipes: Six 6mm, sintered metal powder wick.
  • Fin to pipe contact: Nickel solder
  • Fan compatibility: 2 x 140mm fans or 2 x 120mm fans
  • Recommended fans specifications: 140mm/1000rpm 120mm/1200rpm


Preview


On the top of the shiny black packaging you find a slack of color as the blue camouflage accents the white outlined rendering of the MK-26 contained inside. It of course shows the Prolimatech name and site address, while in the other corner it simply states that this is a multi-VGA cooler.




Laying the box back to expose the specification chart .



On the bottom Prolimatech uses this space to give you a look at the base and how the Omni-Mount works. On the right half there is a list of ten features of the MK-26.



Upon opening the box, the first thing to be found is the instruction manual. Immediately under the foam padding is the heat sink, protected from dirt by a plastic bag. Underneath that are the rest of the accessories needed for installation. Included are heat sinks, Prolimatech PK-3 thermal paste, mounting parts, and other instructions including a parts list and smaller instructions for heat pad and smaller heat sink installation.



Backside of the box reveals the compatibility list of this Gpu Cooler with Different Nvidia/Amd Graphic card Models.




Heat Sink


On the right side there are 20 fins, six 6mm heat pipes and the base in the middle, and then the heavier side of the cooler with its 45 fin arrangement.




Flipping the MK-26 over to expose the underside, the base has a warning sticker to protect the base in transit, remove it before installation .



The base is really flat and very nearly polished to a perfect mirror reflection. The three holes in the base will come into play with Amd 7970 Fiting, but the two on either side of the base allows for the Omni-Mount system to be used.




The below picture shows up the accessories that comes with this Cooler, including the Prolimatech PK-3 Thermal Compound.




Ultra Votex Fans



The fans Prolimatech sent with the MK-26 are new Ultra Sleek Vortex 14s. The fans have double ball bearings. The fan operates around 500~1000 RPM while still pushing an impressive 98 CFM with static pressure up to 0.9 mmH2O. The sound ranges from 9~18 DBA which is quite low .





Instead of going with the traditional single cable extension, Prolimatech has included something different. The PWM pins are the only 2 pins that connect to the 4 pin. The power is obtained from a Molex plug, with pass-through.






The unique 17 blade design allows the Ultra Sleek Vortex to push more air than most thick 140mm fans. The fan is also unique in the fact that it uses 120mm mounts.






Fan Specifications:-




  • Fan: - 140x140x15mm with 120mm mounting holes
  • Bearing: - Double Ball Bearing
  • Weight: - 81g
  • Fan Speed: - 500~1000 RPM
  • Noise Level: - 9~18 DBA
  • Air Flow: - 98 CFM
  • Static Pressure: - 0.9 mmH2O
  • Connectors: - 4-pin PWM
  • Rated Voltage: - 12V
  • Rated Current: - 0.19A Max
  • Input Power: - 2.04W
  • Input Current: - 0.19A Max


Magnetic Pins


Prolimatech sends us two separate packs of Magnetic Pins which help to mount fans easily wherever a magnetic surface is available.








The Promlimatech Magnetic Pin is a unique rubber pin that magnetically attaches your system fan to your case.





The embedded magnets are what make this product so unique, because it allows you quickly install and remove your fans, with no screwdriver needed! The rubber pins also absorb vibrations, which reduces fan noise! So, you get tool-free fans and reduced noise when using the Prolimatech Magnetic Pin set.





This is what Magnetic pin looks from the bottom, These magnetic pins weren't needed for this review so just preview only.





Test Setup



  • AMD BULLDOZER FX 8120
  • ASROCK 990FX EXTREME 4
  • CORSAIR DOMINATOR PLATINUM 2133CL9
  • CORSAIR FORCE 3 60GB SSD
  • ZALMAN HD7870 TURBO
  • PROLIMATECH MK-26 & ULTRA VORTEX 14 FANS
  • SEASONIC PLATINUM 1000W


Software used



  • MSI Afterburner
  • Unique heaven benchmark




Adding Some more Pics .. Mk-26 Working inside Cabinet










Testing Results



The room temperature was maintained at around 24-25°C using air-conditioner. All the testing is done inside the cabinet considering most of you guys use Heatsinks inside the cabinet. To measure maximum load temperature, I used MSI Afterburner to stress the Gpu and temperatures were taken the highest reached in more than 20 minutes of test.


Heatsinks are tested with Stock and Overclocked clocks of gpu, and thermal compound used for both heatsinks is Prolimatech PK-3 so firstly with stock clocks.

Idle Condition





Under Load












Now with little bit overclocking, gpu overclocked to 100mhz on both memory and core clock.


Idle Condition





Under Load





In idle state there is an approx negligible difference between both Heatsinks but under load Prolimatech manage to hold a temperature around 45c while Zalman Vf3000 cross over 90c with a difference of more than 45c. I must say here MK-26 performs very well compared to Zalman VF3000 and start pushing core and memory clocks to 100mhz more maximum temperature noted in MSI afterburner is 56C where Zalman Vf3000 fails to manage that high clocks.

To check stability I increase the core clock to 50mhz more and run unique heaven benchmarks and it works perfect .






Conclusion


No doubt that Prolimatech MK-26 is a high performance video card cooler when paired with the right fans even that makes it an excellent choice for a quiet gaming system. Also with the provided manual installation is more than simple. Prolimatech has even provided a dual fan adapter to reuse the small 4-pin PWM fan header on most cards, providing fan control and freeing up power supply connectors or valuable motherboard fan headers for other uses.

The only drawback is the size of the cooler. This cooler requires more than 300mm of space inside the cabinet.




The Good


Low temperature
Easy installation
High compatibility
Awesome performance




The Bad

Size
Not compatible with stacked power socket graphic cards





Specially Thanks to Prolimatech for providing the review Sample.



 
Update:- Mk-26 standard edition is compatible with stacked power socket graphic cards using asymmetric omni mount brackets and MK-26 Black series is compatible with stacked power socket graphic cards While both are compatible with GTX TITAN .
 
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