Prolimatech Megahalems Rev. C CPU Cooler Review

Prolimatech's Megahalems is a cooler which has been around for many years. It has long been a favourite in the enthusiast market due to its ability to offer excellent performance when coupled with the correct fan, a choice which Prolimatech leave down to the end user. Limited compatibility has always been its let down with only a select few sockets being natively supported in the cooler's out-of-the-box configuration. Prolimatech aim to solve the compatibility issues with their Megahalems Rev. C cooler so that it can become a force to be reckoned with. The Megahalems is a single tower CPU cooler which is split down the centre by an air pressure-enhancing channel. 6 nickel-plated, U-shaped, 6mm copper heatpipes connect the flat, nickel-plated base to an aluminium fin array. 2 pairs of fan clips allow users to install a pair of 120 or 140mm fans of their choice in a single or push-pull configuration. Prolimatech also offer separately-available 38mm wide fan clips for users looking to unleash some extreme cooling potential with 38mm thick fans. At a height of 158.7mm and weight of 790g without fans, the Megahalems can certainly be considering beastly in size when it comes to single tower CPU coolers. Prolimatech solve previous issues on the Rev. C by offering native support for all modern Intel and AMD sockets excluding LGA 2011 which requires the use of separate mounting hardware. With a retail price of £46.99/€51,90 without fans, the Megahalems is rapidly approaching the pricing territory which is held by the dual tower CPU coolers. Can Prolimatech's updates to their tried and tested Megahalems prove that it is still a worthy option in a dual-tower dominated segment of the market? Prolimatech state the specific revision of the Megahalems model on the front of the box along with the compatible fan sizes and CPU sockets. Specifications such as the dimensions, materials and weight are located on one side of the packaging. The supplied bundle consists of Intel and AMD mounting hardware, 2 sets of fan clips, a tube of Prolimatech thermal paste, a Prolimatech case sticker and the installation manual. The single tower design of the Megahalems features a split down the centre creating 2 physical cooling towers besides one another. All 6 of the 6mm nickel-plated copper heatpipes are positioned in a straight line through each of the cooler's aluminium fin arrays. This method allows the heat to be conducted to the thickest parts of the aluminium cooling towers. Each fin array's front edge angles towards the centre gap, a method which should greatly increase the pressure of air travelling through the heatsink. Prolimatech also emboss a funky design onto the summit of the Megahalems' fin stack. Each of the 6mm, U-shaped heatpipes exit and enter the nickel-pleated base at separate sides allowing heat to be evenly distributed between the right and left fin array. Seeing as, in typical Prolimatech fashion, the Megahalems Rev. C is supplied without any fans, we will be using a pair of 140mm Prolimatech Blue Vortex 14 fans which proved their worth on our Prolimatech Genesis. They are 140mm fans which operate at 1000 RPM for an airflow rate of 87 CFM. Firstly we had to position 4 rivet nuts through the specific mounting holes in our backplate and fasten them in place with rubber O-rings. This kept the backplate secure while we prepared the rest of the cooler for installation. 4 double-ended stand-offs are screwed into the rivet nuts which emerge from behind the motherboard. The cooler is fastening in position by a sturdy cross-bar which screws into the pair of metal retention bars. When installed, the Megahalems Rev. C was held very securely in place. Prolimatech's cooler mounting method is excellent, something that other CPU cooler manufacturers could really learn from. Their fan installation method on the other hand is continually frustrating. Small metal fan clips which aren't particularly sturdy and limit fan choice really should have been abolished years ago. One slight positive of the annoying fan installation method is that the height of the fan is user-definable resulting in a variable amount of RAM clearance. On our MSI P67A-GD65 motherboard the Megahalems overhung the first RAM slot but didn't quite hit the second. Using a pair of 140mm fans, the Megahalems Rev. C dictates a good amount of clearance inside any chassis. Our NZXT Phantom offers plenty of internal room, but other chassis' may be slightly more reluctant to fit this CPU cooler and fan combination. We decided to compare the Prolimatech Megahalems Rev. C against 11 other CPU coolers from a variety of price ranges that we have previously had experience with. Testing method: Stable recorded CPU temperatures from a 15 minute idle test Stable recorded CPU temperatures from a 15 minute load test The cooler’s fans are set at 100% speed unless otherwise stated All tests are repeated to check the consistency and reliability of the results Delta temperatures are used in the charts to provide more accurate results Maximum recorded noise output at 100% fan speed The supplied thermal paste is always used to make the results a fair interpretation of the cooler’s stock performance The temperature threshold we set before calling the test a fail is 65oC above ambient but if the cooler manages to complete more than 75% of the test before rising above the 65oC delta mark, we allow it to complete the test, provided it is capable A +/- 1 degree Celsius margin of error is incorporated by our CPU/GPU temperature recording method A +/- 0.1 degree Celsius margin of error is incorporated by our ambient temperature recording method Test system: MSI P67A-GD65 Intel Core i7 2600K 4GB DDR3 1600MHz XFX Radeon HD 4870 1GB 128GB Kingston SSDnow V100 (OS) Corsair TX650 NZXT Phantom Case Supplied Prolimatech thermal paste Comparison used: Phanteks PH-TC14PE Corsair H80 Corsair H100 Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO Enermax ETS-T40-VD Thermaltake Frio Advanced Noctua NH-D14 Thermalright Silver Arrow Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom Prolimatech Genesis (with 2 Prolimatech Blue Vortex 14 fans) Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro Software used: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit HWMonitor Prime95 Measuring temperatures is all about being consistent; therefore we make sure that the test is kept completely fair so that none of the coolers are at a disadvantage. We measure the CPU temperature using HWMonitor after a 15 minute idle period. We then measure the CPU temperature using HWMonitor after a 15 minute load period using Prime95 with the small FFTs setting. The chart shows the delta CPU temperature (difference between ambient temperature and recorded CPU temperature). This way we can fairly compare each cooler without presenting any inaccuracies due to slight fluctuations in the ambient temperature or unfair results. Here is an example of how to understand delta temperatures. “If the ambient (room) temperature is 25C and the recorded CPU temperature is 65C, the delta temperature is the CPU’s temperature rise above ambient temperature, therefore the delta temperature in this case would be 40C. If the ambient temperature is 23C and the recorded CPU Temperature is 80C, the delta temperature in this case would be 57C. Delta temperature = Recorded CPU temperature – Ambient temperature” The Megahalem's Rev. C shows promising performance at stock CPU frequency. It manages to outperform the Alpenföhn K2 and matches the performance of Noctua's NH-D14. Each of the options from Phanteks, Be Quiet! and Thermalright outperform the Megahalems Rev. C at this frequency. Beating the performance of Thermaltake's Frio Advanced by 2°C puts Prolimatech into first place when it comes to single tower CPU coolers, at stock frequency at least. We repeated the testing procedures with our Intel Core i7 2600K CPU overclocked to 4.4GHz using a BIOS voltage of 1.240V which crept up to a maximum of 1.288V under load conditions. We must remind you that we have discovered our processor runs slightly hotter than usual, but seeing as all tests use the same CPU, the results aren’t biased. The good performance of the Megahalems Rev. C continues when the CPU frequency is increased to 4.4GHz. This time it manages to outperform both the Noctua NH-D14 and Alpenföhn K2. Thermaltake's Frio Advanced closes its performance deficit to 1°C while the PH-TC14PE and Silver Arrow widen their performance leads. When we observe the facts these cooling ‘big boys’ are eating the 4.4GHz overclock for breakfast (albeit while getting heartburn by lunch), we decided that there was need for an even higher overclock to separate the men from boys, the high end from the extreme, the coolers from the refrigerators. With our goal being to provide realistic results of what end users are likely to be able to achieve and successfully run with their processors, we decided a dynamic 4.7GHz overclock was a great frequency to aim for. Upping the 2600K CPU’s core voltage to a BIOS set 1.340V which peaked at 1.40V under load conditions, would be perfect for testing the overclocking headroom available with these heat dissipation monsters. The idle temperature will remain low due to the dynamic overclock’s ability to decrease the multiplier under low CPU load condition. This is different to our static 4.4GHz overclock. Note: Unfortunately, we are unable to show the Corsair H80 CPU cooler’s results at this CPU frequency due to an absence of the required data. At 4.7GHz the competing coolers from Thermaltake, Noctua and Alpenföhn manage to catch up with the Megahalems Rev. C, matching or bettering its cooling performance. The other 3 main dual tower coolers also widen their performance leads for the second consecutive time after a CPU voltage and frequency increase. The Megahalems still manages to outperform its unique brother, the Genesis, when they are both using the same fans. While situated in a room where background noise was kept to a minimum, we placed the sound level meter equal distances from our test system to measure the total noise output by the complete test system for each cooling configuration at 100% fan speed. The pair of 1000 RPM Blue Vortex 14 fans used on the Megahalems catapult it into a tied acoustic performance lead with its brother which was using the same fans. While the 1000 RPM speed of the fans may have been a hindrance in terms of cooling performance, they were a huge benefit when it came to noise output. Prolimatech's Megahalems Rev. C lives up to expectations and offers excellent cooling performance. Its split single tower design manages to achieve impressive victories over Noctua's and Alpenföhn's dual tower brutes at certain CPU frequencies. While the performance may drop off a little as the thermal load is increased, this is likely the low speed 1000 RPM fans creating a bottleneck in terms of air pressure and actual air flow performance. Using a pair of high-powered fans such as NF-P12s or Scythe AP-15s should yield impressive results at all CPU frequencies. For the extreme coolers out there, a pair of extreme performance 38mm fans such as Deltas may unleash cooling potential that was previously locked with standard 25mm thick fans. Acoustic performance is more related to the specific fans used rather than the heatsink itself. Prolimatech don't include any sort of noise-reducing adapters or mounting hardware and the metal clips will just transfer vibrations from one place to another. With the correct fans used, the Megahalems can become a quiet CPU cooler, but with slightly louder fans it is likely to become an option which outputs extra noise in the form of non-dampened vibrations. Installing the Megahalems was very straightforward. Prolimatech supply a clear installation manual which lists each part and shows step-by-step images of both Intel and AMD installation procedures. All-metal mounting hardware creates a good amount of mounting pressure while keeping the cooler securely in position. As I have said multiple times in the past, the fan installation method is poor and needs changing. It limits fan choice, can be awkward to mount a fan, uses flimsy clips and doesn't result in a particularly secure mount. Hopefully Prolimatech will fix their fan installation method on future coolers because it is letting down an otherwise excellent mounting system. With retail pricing of £46.99/€51,90 without fans, the Megahalems is priced fairly competitively as a heatsink but not so as a cooler. Add in the costs of a single or pair of decent fans and you have already entered the territory of dual tower coolers such as Be Quiet!'s Dark Rock Pro. As a single tower CPU cooler, the Prolimatech Megahalems is an excellent performer which has plenty of cooling potential that can be converted into performance when coupled with the correct fans. As a general CPU cooler, the Megahalems is a competitive option which manages to trade blows with some of the lesser performing dual tower options but can't match the high performance air cooling kings. Prolimatech's goal with the Megahalems Rev. C was to improve the out-of-the-box compatibility of an already impressive CPU cooler, a goal which they have achieved. If for any reason you can't or don't want to use a dual tower cooler, Prolimatech's Megahalems Rev. C is a great option. If you have plenty of spare fans laying about which could be coupled with the Megahalems, it can become a cheap and effective cooling solution. If you are just in the general market for a high performance CPU cooler and don't have any specific requirements, there may be better options such as Thermalright's Silver Arrow and Be Quiet!'s Dark Rock Pro, both of which are a similar price once you factor in the cost of a decent fan or pair of fans.