Prolimatech Megahalems or Zalman CNPS10X Extreme cooler?

liamcrane

liamcrane

liamcrane

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hey everyone im looking to replace my artic cooler 64 pro with one of these to coolers but i just cant decide the mege seems to get great reviews but not sure if it will fit on my board
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-357-AS

i would like to avoid taking the board out when fitting a new cooler if possible, just would like to advice on the 2 im deciding between if anyone has one or ever used one id be very greatfull to hear from you

many thanks
 
The Megahalems is probably the best CPU air cooler available currently. The Zalman is getting good results with i5 where it's probably the only cooler available.

You will have to remove the motherboard to fit either cooler.
 
You are going to have to remove the mobo to fit both of these coolers mate, there is no-way of avoiding this.

The Zalman needs to be bolted through the mobo, and the Megahalems uses a backplate, so unless you have a case that has a square hole cut out of the mobo tray behind the CPU socket, you will have to remove the board to fit the cooler.

::edit::
beaten to it...
 
o right i see i would have to buy the am2 bracket for the mega as well, i thought that just went on top of the standard bracket on am2 boards, i hate taking boards out lol, also as the cooler has no fans what are the best 120m fans to get never had a fanless cooler b4 so kinda new to that.

My freezer 7 pro idles at 32c o my phenom II 955 and underload with crysis hits around 45c do i really need a change prob not but i like to change lol

thanks again
 
If your looking for a good cooler but not wanting to remove the mobo, then I think you are approaching it the wrong way. The best coolers need a backplate as it gives them a tight fit to the CPU and holds their huge mass. Generally, coolers which do not need backplates are smaller and perform worse.

If you want the best cooling performance, get one that uses a back plate. My recommendation would be the megahalems, though the Corsair H50 is fantastic and well worth a look (AMD brackets can be requested from corsair).
 
i see wat your saying my freezer pro is kinda big but i always think i might wake up and see it hanging of the board lol think i will definatly look into a mega the reviews seem so speak for themselves, having never installed a backplate b4 are they easy to install? will it fit on my board do you think i posted link above, as for fans sycthe always seem to get good reviews would they do the job?

as for the corsair it does look really neat, i have thought about water cooler but the idea of a leak scares me a bit, i take it the pump just sits behind your case? dam you now you got me loving the look of this arrrgh
 
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The backplate for the Megahalems is amazingly easy to install. I admit it is a bit of faff getting the motherboard out, but the megahalems mounting system makes up for this, very simple and strong. Remember, you will need to buy this as well for an AMD system. As for fans, I have found that the Noctua P12s are fantastic. They are a bit costly, but they are quiet and have very good airflow (especially through heatsinks).

The idea of water cooling can be a bit daunting, but the corsair kit takes almost all of that away. The entire system is full sealed (the pump is actually on the block that attaches to the CPU). As for performance, as it is (corsair supplied fan) it performs as well as the megahalems, if you add two of those Noctua Fans it performs far better.
 
cmndr_andi said:
As for performance, as it is (corsair supplied fan) it performs as well as the megahalems, if you add two of those Noctua Fans it performs far better.
Click to expand...

That's not true. I've got side-by-side test data to show the Megahalems is 3-5C better on quad-cores with the standard Corsair fan. And they perform about equally if you have double the fan power on the Corsair.

All these claims about the Corsair being better than this and that are simply impossible given the amount of cooling surface available and the laws of physics.
 
Fair enuf, if you have the data I would love to see it, I certainly don't want to be misinformed and passing this on to others. The data I was working from was that the TRUE is equivalent to a stock H50, I realise these are different cooler but they come very close in most tests, there are not many direct comparison reviews of the megahalems vs H50 so one would be very welcome.

In terms of laws of physics, cooling an aluminium fit connected to a heatpipe is a different affair than cooling a water filled radiator, though I do concede that a single rad needs a lot of airflow to compete with a high-end heatsink.
 
I have the Zalman CNPS10X Quiet (with Akasa Apache fan) which is very similiar to the "EXtreme" version and it certainly is a good cooler, but not as good as the Prolimatech Megahalems, so I would get a Prolimatech Megahalems with a couple of quality fans...
 
WJA96 said:
That's not true. I've got side-by-side test data to show the Megahalems is 3-5C better on quad-cores with the standard Corsair fan. And they perform about equally if you have double the fan power on the Corsair.

All these claims about the Corsair being better than this and that are simply impossible given the amount of cooling surface available and the laws of physics.
Click to expand...

No its not. My corsair is 1c-2c lower than the megahalems I had before with the same 2x apache fans. I posted results elsewhere.
What is the heat absorbtion properties of the Megahalems in the first place. The laws of Thermodynamics are not as cut and dried as bigger is better. The COP of the radiator is just as important as it total surface area. The Ethylene Glycol used will also act as surface area and radiate a certain amount of heat through the tubing, especially the metal ringing it has. The shape and curvature of the radiator also plays a part in heat dissapation and the efficiency of any given radiator. There are too many variables just to say its smaller so its impossible.
 
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cmndr_andi said:
The backplate for the Megahalems is amazingly easy to install. I admit it is a bit of faff getting the motherboard out, but the megahalems mounting system makes up for this, very simple and strong. Remember, you will need to buy this as well for an AMD system. As for fans, I have found that the Noctua P12s are fantastic. They are a bit costly, but they are quiet and have very good airflow (especially through heatsinks).

The idea of water cooling can be a bit daunting, but the corsair kit takes almost all of that away. The entire system is full sealed (the pump is actually on the block that attaches to the CPU). As for performance, as it is (corsair supplied fan) it performs as well as the megahalems, if you add two of those Noctua Fans it performs far better.
Click to expand...

thanks so much for your input mate you have really helped me out! as for the fans i take it that i will only need 1 fan? its just the shear size of the heatsink i thought you might need 2 on it!!

will artic 5 be a good compound to use with these heatsinks to
 
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1 fan will be absolutely fine. Adding a second will give you the best possible performance, but it will only be 1-2 degrees cooler and quite a bit more expensive (will need a second fan and a second set of fan clips).

Arctic Silver 5 is good stuff, but if I were you - use the new MX-3 stuff.
 
cmndr_andi said:
Fair enuf, if you have the data I would love to see it, I certainly don't want to be misinformed and passing this on to others. The data I was working from was that the TRUE is equivalent to a stock H50, I realise these are different cooler but they come very close in most tests, there are not many direct comparison reviews of the megahalems vs H50 so one would be very welcome.

In terms of laws of physics, cooling an aluminium fit connected to a heatpipe is a different affair than cooling a water filled radiator, though I do concede that a single rad needs a lot of airflow to compete with a high-end heatsink.
Click to expand...

I agree, the larger the heatsink and heatpipe the more heat is actually retained within the heatsink itself. The corsair uses Ethylene Glycol antifreeze which is better at moving that heat from the source than a copper heatsink or heatpipe. The pump is also very efficient and includes a small copper heatsink to dissapate heat into the liquid.
 
i have just been on the Prolimatech site and seen how to install this beast, it says you have to put thermal paste on the cpu and the heatsink as well, just wanted to know why you had to spread paste on the bottom of the heatsink as well never done that before just the cpu normally?

last of all im going to get the noctua fans but i have been thinking of getting 2, do i just clip one on the front blowing air thru the cooler to the back of the case and the other one the same way round sucking air thru the cooler to the back of the case?
 
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I have the megahalems and I just put paste on the CPU heatspreader. I didn't put it on the heatsink too as I reckoned it would create air bubbles. The cooler is running fine.

As for a second fan, your plan is a good one - usually called a push-pull setup. Though, you will need this fan clip as the megahalems only has one set included in the box.
 
how do i go about powering the fans, there is only 1 cpu fan slot on the motherboard where would i plug the other fan in? was thinking maybe the pwr fan slot on the board? or should i power both with molex?

any ideas

many thanks
 
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how do i go about powering the fans, there is only 1 cpu fan slot on the motherboard where would i plug the other fan in? was thinking maybe the pwr fan slot on the board? or should i power both with molex?

any ideas

many thanks
 
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