Prolimatech Mega Shadow?

[hopkiller]

Simply anyone know anything about it, I'm looking to do some overclocking in the future here, when I get my core i7 860.

Another community I am in another member bought one of these, and he really liked it but I wanted to get some other opinions on it before I spend 80$ on this thing.

His review
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z28VrEazYMc

Looking to push the speed up to or around 3.0 GHz and maybe higher when it starts to show its age.
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/9655/cpu-pro-05/Prolimatech_Mega_Shadow_Megahalem_Nickel_Plated_Black_Edition_Intel_CPU_Heatsink_LGA_775_1156_1366_AM2_AM2_AM3_Hot_Item.html

 

[Fisherman619]

One of the best coolers out. Wish i had one. Get it!!

 

[Conumdrum]

It's reviewed very well, pricy but at the very top of the heap.

 

[hopkiller]

The nice thing is if I bought it now I could throw it on my E8400 and overclock up to a really good speed, correct.

 

[Rustyy117]

Correct, as long as it comes with a 775 bracket or you buy one seperately

 

[hopkiller]

Yeah it comes with one, what clock speeds should I be looking for with it. I have an 4 GB DDR2 800, and a Corsair 750 watt PSU.

 

[LoneWolf_53]

As a person always looking for the latest and greatest in cooling I've been doing a fair bit of reading up on the various offerings.

Due to the many positive things I've read regarding the Prolimatech product I was seriously considering trying it but have since changed my mind.

As a person who loves his quiet I seriously feel that for the money you are looking at spending on that product you would do much better getting this... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018&Tpk=noctua%20d14

The Megashadow does not come with fans meaning an added expense plus for some odd reason they don't seem to care much about catering to the AMD crowd who are looking at an additional expense.

Also the Noctua performs at the top of the rankings and does so quietly.

 

[hopkiller]

It looks good, but the thing is, it is so large, I have an antec 900 and my current ZeroTherm barely fits. I don't know what it is but my temps are like 40C idle 49C under load. I am using AS5, should I try resetting it, or should I be able to overclock to 3.6 GHz atleast.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835887016

 

[LoneWolf_53]

I won't deny that it's large however the Megashadow with two fans attached isn't much different really.

I think the deceptive part is that the megashadow/megahalem are always shown without fans attached.

49C temps under load are not bad really.

I'm not familiar with your cooler so don't know what's normal for it.

You can always try bumping things up gradually and monitor your temperatures carefully.

I wouldn't take it above 60C myself from what I've read as I prefer a little head room and thermal spec is 72C. Don't take voltage past 1.36.

 

[hopkiller]

Ok, if I am correct when overclocking take up the clock in increments of 10 MHz, and if you get BSOD up voltage, but do not exceed 1.36.

 

[RJR]

Your E8400 will be limited by your Ram (800) speed, it will depend on how far over 800 you can push it. Example: 445X9=4 GHz Ram will have to OC to 890.

The Mega Shadow on an i7 860 will easily get you near or at 4.0 GHz 24/7.

 

[LoneWolf_53]

@ hopkiller


More or less yes just make changes in small increments.

Obviously the less voltage you need to attain stability the cooler you will operate.

There's some very good info to be had in this thread.......... http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/240001-29-howto-overclock-quads-duals-guide

 

[Aloid]

I got one she cools like a beast, paired with dual noctua nf-p12s its unheard over everything else in the case.

 

[lothdk]

I am using a Prolimatech Megahalems for my i7 920, same as the shadow, just without the "smoke" coating, and it's a beast at cooling, at 4 GHz I top out high 50s running Prime95.

Another you might want to take a look at is the new Thermalright Venemous X which has been making some waves on forums lately, but I have yet to see a tech site review, though from what others have posted, it just might be the new king of cooling.

While the new Noctua cooler is a tad better at cooling than the Prolimatech, I, personally, find it to be too massive.

Something to check before you buy any of these coolers, is if you're going to have clearance issues with your ram.
If using ram with tall heatspreaders you might not be able to install the fan, depending on your motherboard layout.

 

[LoneWolf_53]

While the new Noctua cooler is a tad better at cooling than the Prolimatech, I, personally, find it to be too massive.

Something to check before you buy any of these coolers, is if you're going to have clearance issues with your ram.
If using ram with tall heatspreaders you might not be able to install the fan, depending on your motherboard layout.

Actually Noctua provides a very useful compatibility list and touches on RAM as well.

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=compatibility_gen&products_id=34&lng=en

As far as "massive" goes I guess you are right but I'd hardly call your Megahalem miniscule especially with two fans on it.

To me the main point of interest was that it not only cools better but in the end costs less too since the fans come supplied.

Things like the fact that it's completely quiet may not matter to some folks but for others it will make or break the purchase decision.

 

[lothdk]

Actually Noctua provides a very useful compatibility list and touches on RAM as well.

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=compatibility_gen&products_id=34&lng=en

As far as "massive" goes I guess you are right but I'd hardly call your Megahalem miniscule especially with two fans on it.

To me the main point of interest was that it not only cools better but in the end costs less too since the fans come supplied.

Things like the fact that it's completely quiet may not matter to some folks but for others it will make or break the purchase decision.

Oh, I am not saying it's a bad cooler, far from it, it's better than the Prolimatech Megahalems, and that's impressive, and though the initial price is higher than the PM, it comes with 2 quality fans (I actually use Noctua P12 fans myself ), all I'm saying is that anyone buying a HSF of this size (PM included) should be aware of the the space they take up, ram location, northbridge heatsink size, and if their case can even accommodate a HSF this big.

A great and thorough review of the Noctua HSF can be found here

- edit - hmm guess Toms don't want us to link to that site

http://www.*****/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/26613-noctua-nh-d14-cpu-cooler-review.html

 

[LoneWolf_53]

Oh, I am not saying it's a bad cooler, far from it, it's better than the Prolimatech Megahalems, and that's impressive, and though the initial price is higher than the PM, it comes with 2 quality fans (I actually use Noctua P12 fans myself ), all I'm saying is that anyone buying a HSF of this size (PM included) should be aware of the the space they take up, ram location, northbridge heatsink size, and if their case can even accommodate a HSF this big.

A great and thorough review of the Noctua HSF can be found here

- edit - hmm guess Toms don't want us to link to that site

http://www.*****/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/26613-noctua-nh-d14-cpu-cooler-review.html

I think it would be great if every item had as detailed of a compatibility list as Noctua provides for that product.

I'm quite impressed.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

First, the Intel Core i7 860 can easily be pushed to 4.0 Ghz. The sweet spot is 3.6 Ghz. At 3.6 Ghz it is stable.

Second, here is a link to a very good web site with a lot of useful information about cpu heatsinks:

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

You can use the Google embedded search feature at the web site to find more information about heatsinks for specific cpu sockets.

My new personal pc is an Intel Core i7 860 system. I installed the brand new Thermalright Venomous-X cpu heatsink. It is the new and improved version of the Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme. The new model was designed specifically for the new Intel cpu's. Last week I ran a few torture tests at 100% load while monitoring motherboard, cpu, and cpu core temperatures. Results were excellent.

 

[SininStyle]

How does it fair against the Prolimatech and Noctua or even the H50? I havent seen many benches on it.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

First, I have no doubt that the Prolimatech is an excellent cpu heatsink.

Second, you are correct about there not being very much in the way of technical reviews for the new Thermalright Venomous-X. It is brand new. I had to pre-order it on December 24th. I didn't receive it until January 8th. I was going to use my original Thermalright Ultra 120 with a new 1156 bracket until I decided to use my old system as an emergency backup.

I installed the heatsink using IC Diamond 7 Carat Thermal Compound.

Last week I conducted a variety of Prime95 tests at 100% load. I did not overclock the i7 860. The BIOS was set to default mode. I used several utilities to monitor the motherboard, cpu, and cpu core temperatures. I also used an Asus utility that came with my motherboard. During the various tests the core temps fluctuated a bit and there was some variation between utilities but that was expected. The absolute maximum core temperature recorded was 52C. It happened briefly during one of the tests. Overall the maximum cpu core temperatures were between 48C and 50C. I would expect the temperatures to drop a little bit once the system is broken in.

 

[notty22]

The Venomous-x is going to be a big hit. Its got a cool name, it looks boss, and it has probably the best mounting system EVER. I go back and look at those brackets often, it seems optimal.

The H50 is very good. Has no problem keeping things very cool. I hope its U/L certified for 2 years 24/7 service because thats what I'm doing.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

The mounting system on the Venomous X was a total surprise. I've installed a variety of cpu heatsinks. This one was very easy install. The backplate is secured to the motherboard first with what looks like king size motherboard mounting screws. It stays securely in place for the rest of the installation. Very cool.

The only thing I was not sure about was how much pressure to apply to the supplied wrench when tightening that big pressure device located dead center over the big heatsink block (not shown in photo above). I hand tightened it first and checked wiggle room. Then I used the wrench a little at a time until it "felt right". I had to rely on experience. The owners manual indicated the pressure can be adjusted from 40 to 70 psi but there is no way to measure it.