[User-Review] 1366 CPU Heatsinks Round 1

[bentleya]

1366 CPU Heatsinks Round 1
Thermalright Venomous X – Noctua NH-U12P SE2
Prolimatech Mega Shadow – Prolimatech Megahalems​

Introduction

Welcome to round one of my air-cooling heatsink round ups. This round up features some of the big players in the heatsink field. With tried and tested heatsinks up against Thermalright’s latest offerings the Venomous X. Each of the manufacturers has gained respect from air-cooling enthusiasts for a whole range of reason. But today we’re putting they differences aside while we test each of the four heatsinks to find out who owns the crown.

​

Before we crack on, I would like to thank Prolimatech for sending me review samples of two of their coolers (Mega shadow & Megahalmes) and thanks to Noctua for providing me with a discounted NH-U12P SE2.


Thermalright Venomous X

Since 2002 Thermalright has been set at the high end of the heatsink market with both design and functionality. And since then in recent time Thermalright has been the undisputed kings of air-cooling since the introduction of the Ultra-120 Extreme back in 2007.

An Overview of what is included:

•Venomous X Heatsink
•Instructions
•Thermal Interface Material (TIM for short)
•Mounting Hardware
•2 Sets Of Fan Clips
•4 Fan Anti Vibration Stripes
•Thermalright Sticker​

​

The first thing you notice about the Venomous X is the box. Unlike most other Thermalright products, which arrive in a plain brown cardboard box, Thermalright have put some time, money and effort into the box. Which is fantastic for the first impressions of the cooler.

​

Once you get inside of the box, you will be greeted with the accessory pack, the accessory pack contains all the mounting hardware you will need to mount the Venomous X. The accessory pack comes in glossy black box, which is rectangle is shape.

Once you’ve removed the accessory pack from the box, you will find the instructions and the free included Thermalright sticker.

The heatsink is the last remaining piece in the box, wrapped in clear plastic bag then imbedded firmly on a foam casing. The nickel-plated heatsink weighs in at 755 grams and its dimensions without fans are 127 x 63 x 160mm (W x D x H). Six heat pipes run though the 47 fins, which are 0.60mm thick and spaced out at 1.5mm spacing’s.


Prolimatech Mega Shadow

Prolimatech founded in 2008 by a team of experienced thermal engineers. Based in Taiwan with a quest to satisfy every overclocker's and enthusiast's needs. Prolimatech stands for Professionalism exceeding beyond all Limits.

An Overview of what is included:

•Mega Shadow Heatsink
•Instructions
•Thermal Interface Material (TIM for short)
•Mounting Hardware
•2 Sets Of Fan Clips
•Intel Backplate​

​

The Mega Shadow gets delivered in an unusual style of box, with a removable top that has clear plastic window cut out. The box has a clean style with a basic white background and a metallic mega shadow drawing on the front and back.

​

Once you lift the top of the box off, you will find the accessory pack to one side of the heatsink. The accessory pack contains all the mounting hardware you will need to mount the Mega Shadow. The accessory pack comes in glossy white box, which is rectangle is shape.

The heatsink is the last remaining piece in the box, wrapped in clear plastic bag then imbedded firmly on a foam casing. The black nickel-plated heatsink weighs in at 790 grams and its dimensions without fans are 130 x 74 x 158.7mm (W x D x H). Six heat pipes run though the 45 fins, which are 0.75mm thick and spaced out at 1.5mm spacing’s.


Prolimatech Megahalems

Prolimatech founded in 2008 by a team of experienced thermal engineers. Based in Taiwan with a quest to satisfy every overclocker's and enthusiast's needs. Prolimatech stands for Professionalism exceeding beyond all Limits.

An Overview of what is included:

•Megahalems Heatsink
•Instructions
•Thermal Interface Material (TIM for short)
•Mounting Hardware
•2 Sets Of Fan Clips
•Intel Backplate​

​

The Mega Shadow gets delivered in a regular rectangle box, with the top being swung open. The box has a clean style with a two-tone carbon fiber effect graphic, ¾ dark blue and ¼ light blue. A white wire frame drawing of the Megahalems sits nicely on the front of the box.

​

Once you lift the top of the box off, you will find the users manual and Intel Backplate. The accessory pack and the heatsink are stored in a removable brown cardboard shell. Once you remove the removable inner cardboard housing the accessory pack can be found in the fold out pocket on the bottom of the heatsink. The accessory pack contains all the mounting hardware you will need to mount the Megahalems.

The heatsink is the last remaining piece in the box, wrapped in bubble wrap. The nickel-plated heatsink with a scratch-resistant Stainless Steel top weighs in at 790 grams and its dimensions without fans are 130 x 74 x 158.7mm (W x D x H). Six heat pipes run though the 45 fins, which are 0.75mm thick and spaced out at 1.5mm spacing’s.


Noctua NH-U12P SE2

Noctua is a joint Cooperation between Austrian computer destruction company Rascom and Taiwanese Cooling specialists Kolink. With both companies Specializing in different parts of the industry, they knowledge is combined bringing premium heatsink with excellent customer service. “Noctua”, Meaning the Little Owl, the Greek goddess of Athens. She Represents Wisdom, Strategy and Science.

An Overview of what is included:

•4 -Duel Heat Pipe UD12P heatsink
•2 Noctua NF-P12 Fans
•SecuFirm Multi Socket Mounting System
•NT-H1 Thermal Compound
•Philips Screwdriver
•2 Sets Of Fan Clips
•AMD Mounting Kit
•Intel Mounting kit (775, 1156, 1336)
•2 Low Noise Adapters (Fan Extension Cable Which Lowers the Voltage)
•2 Ultra Noise Adapters (Fan Extension Cable Which Lowers the Voltage)
•Installation Manual For AMD & Intel​

​

The Heatsink along with the fans and accessories gets delivered in the sleek square cardboard box. The outside of the box has all the usual features, Reviews, Information and diagrams. But there is one major feature, which really stands out, and this is the graphics and specification on the top panel section of the box.

The specification is for both the heatsink and the fans; bearing Power Consumption, Airflow and Noise against other things. The 3D White Line drawing with the maroon colored background brings a sense of well-engineered produce.

​

The accessories and the remaining parts of the cooler are packed separately, In addition to the heatsink you will find, Thermal Paste, Mounting Hardware, Installation Manuals and the Seconded of the NF-P12 Fans.
The heatsink is the last remaining piece in the box surrounded by a white cardboard outer shell. The nickel-plated heatsink weighs in at 600 grams and with fans respectively 940 grams. The heatsinks dimensions without fans are 126 x 71 x 158mm (W x D x H). Three heat pipes run though the 36 fins, which are 0.60mm thick and spaced out at 2.5mm spacing’s.


Thermal Test Specification

A 5-mount test with 1hour with each mount, 40 minutes ‘warm up’ and 20 minutes of temperature logging.

•The 1366 Test Setup is as follows: Intel Core i7 920 D0 which is at stock 2.66GHZ (no lapping) running on a Gigabyte UD5 Extreme Motherboard. 6GB (3x2GB) of Patriot Viper DDR3 1600MHz Memory - the motherboard cooling is stock with no extra airflow. Video card is a BFG 9800GXS, also on stock cooling but the outer casing removed. The power comes from a Zalman 850W Modular PSU; Samsung 500GB hard drive split into 2x250 GB partitions. Test case is a Le Chuck Test Bench, which has horizontal mounting.​

•Each cooler is tested with one, two and no fans. Each is repeated 5 times with 40 minutes ‘warm up’ and 20 minutes of temperature logging.

oEach cooler is run with no fans (Passive), this is to see its thermal threshold. It’s ability to hold and disperse heat without airflow.
oOne-fan testing is deployed into 2 sections. The fan is run at 1300 and 800rpm controlled via a Crystalfontz 635.
oTwo-fan testing is deployed into 2 sections. The fans are ran at 1300 and 800rpm controlled via a Crystalfontz 635. Where applicable the fans are lined into a push pull configuration. This means one fan is pushing air though the heatsink and the other is pulling it thought the other side. Adding more pressure and hopefully gaining better temps.​

•Each cooler is tested at overclocked settings with one, two and no fans. Each is repeated 5 times with 40 minutes ‘warm up’ and 20 minutes of temperature logging. The overclocked CPU settings are 20x200MHz which is equal to a modest 4GHz overclock.

oEach cooler is run with no fans (Passive), this is to see its thermal threshold. It’s ability to hold and disperse heat without airflow.
oOne-fan testing ran at 1300rpm controlled via a Crystalfontz 635.
oTwo-fan testing ran at 1300rpm controlled via a Crystalfontz 635. Where applicable the fans are lined into a push pull configuration. This means one fan is pushing air though the heatsink and the other is pulling it thought the other side. Adding more pressure and hopefully gaining better temps.​

•The same fans which are used on each heatsink are Noctua's NF-P12 120mm Fan.​

•The thermal interface material (TIM) I use is MX-2 like most other enthusiasts and testers alike, with it working as soon as you apply it (no break in time like AS5). Also being non conductive, conductive could become a problem with multiple applications per test and multiple coolers.​

The TIM application method I use is the dot in the center. (Small pea sized dot applied to the center of the CPU, then when block is Compressed TIM is spread evenly across the cores of the CPU), Recorded data is only used if the TIM application is good after inspection on remount (my way of validating my results). The CPU is cleaned after every mount using Arctic Clean.
​

•I have 18 temperature probes across the test bench, 10 Dallas DS18B20 Digital one-wire sensors positioned as follows; 2 x Heatsink Fins, 4 x Air In, 4 x Air Out and 4 Intel DTS in the CPU.​

•Temperature logging is recorded via my Crystalfontz 635, Using they WinTest V1.0 software for the Dallas one-wire sensors (Air). WinTest automatically logs temps and outputs them to .CSV files. OCCT V3.1.0 is used to log the core temps using the CPU’s built in DTS sensors, which are also automatically outputted to .CSV files. The .CSV are loaded in to Excel where the data in analyzed and interpreted into Graphs.​

Thermal Test Results (Stock)

​

Thermal Test Results (4GHz Overclock)

​

 

[thethe]

Thx! Why didn't you include the Noctua NH-D14?

However, well done so far!

 

[GrossmeisterB]

It's "Round 1", I think more coolers will follow?

 

[bentleya]

As GrossmeisterB said, it's only round one more heatsinks in another round up soon.

 

[Nickel020]

Thanks for the review! I like your setup, very close to mine (LeChuck Benchtable, GB X58, 920 D0, and Crystalfontz 63x)

I would like to see some numbers with an overclocked CPU though. It's kind of hard to judge ho big the difference will be when the CPU is overclocked from your numbers.

I'd also like to see the different mounting pressure settings for the Vernomous X, just one fan setting would be enough for that.

Do you use the air out and fin temperature measurements for anything? And how did you fix the sensors for the air in measurements?
How do you "synchronize" the measurments in Excel? I'm using CoreTemp and WinTest and I found that both occasionally skip a measurment and sometimes produce two values for one second.

 

[pajaa]

Noctua is a joint Cooperation between Austrian computer destruction company Rascom and Taiwanese Cooling specialists Kolink.

Rascom is not a destruction company, but a distribution company.

 

[bentleya]

Overclocked results are in, and have been added to the original post and as well as here.

​