Prolimatech Armageddon CPU Cooler Review

[nextpage title=”Introduction”]

Today we are reviewing Prolimatech Armageddon CPU cooler, which has a slim tower heatsink with six U-shaped heatpipes and room for two 140 mm fans. Will it perform well in our tests? Let’s see.

Armageddon box is quite small since the heatsink is slim and it comes with no fans.

Figure 1: Box.

Inside the box we found the heatsink, manual, installation hardware and a tube of thermal compound.

Figure 2: Box contents.

In the next pages we will see this cooler in detail.

[nextpage title=”The Armageddon”]

In Figure 3 you have a front view of the cooler. Note it has two independent heatsinks, each one connected to one of the tips of the six heatpipes.

Figure 3: Front view.

In Figure 4, you can see the side of the cooler. Note how the heatsink is just a little bit wider than the base of the cooler.

Figure 4: Side view.

In Figure 5, you can see the heatpipes in detail. Armageddon is different from most coolers we saw so far because the heatpipes are not positioned in a straight line, but side by side, which means all of them receive direct airflow.

Figure 5: How the heatpipes are distributed.

In Figure 6, you can see the top of the cooler, where you can check the position of the heatpipes.

Figure 6: Top view.

[nextpage title=”The Armageddon (Cont’d)”]

In Figure 7, you can see the base of the cooler, which is smooth but with no mirror-like finishing. Note that Prolimatech says the base of their coolers doesn’t have a mirror-like finishing on purpose: according to them this provides the best performance and users should not try to polish the base.

Figure 7: Base.

Prolimatech Armageddon does not comes with fans, but the manufacturer sent us two Xigmatek XLF-F1453 fans (140 mm, 1000 rpm, 16 dBA, 63.5 cfm) with the cooler, so we tested it with these fans. Keep in mind that if you use other fan(s) the results may be different from that we found.

Figure 8: Fans.

In Figure 9, you can see Armageddon with the fans installed. A highlight of this cooler are the clips that hold the fans, called "armaclips". They are really practical, making it easy to install or to remove the fans.

Figure 9: Fans installed.

In Figure 10, you can see the backplate used by this cooler.

Figure 10: Backplate.

[nextpage title=”Installation”]

Armageddon installation system is identical to the one seen on Prolimatech Megahalems Rev. B, which we tested some time ago. First you must attach two aluminum bars to the motherboard, screwing them to the backplate.

Figure 11: Aluminum frame.

After that you need to put the cooler in place and attach it to the frame, using a third aluminum bar.

Figure 12: Installed on the motherboard.

Then you install the fans, as you can check in Figure 13.

Figure 13: Fans installed.

In Figure 13, you can see the cooler inside our case.

Figure 14: Installed in our case.

[nextpage title=”How We Tested”]

We are adopting the following methodology for our CPU cooler reviews.

First, we chose the CPU with the highest TDP (Thermal Design Power) we had available, a Core 2 Extreme QX6850, which has a 130 W TDP. The choice for a CPU with a high TDP is obvious. To measure the efficiency of the tested cooler, we need a&
nbsp;processor that gets very hot. This CPU works by default at 3.0 GHz, but we overclocked it to 3.33 GHz, in order to heat it as much as possible.

We took noise and temperature measurements with the CPU idle and under full load. In order to achieve 100% CPU load on the four processing cores we ran Prime95 with the "In-place Large FFTs" option, and three instances of the StressCPU program, all at the same time.

We also compared the reviewed cooler to the Intel stock cooler (with copper base), which comes with the processor we used, and also with some other coolers we have tested using the same methodology.

Temperature measurements were taken with a digital thermometer, with the sensor touching the base of the cooler, and also with the core temperature reading (given by the CPU thermal sensor) from the from the SpeedFan program, using an arithmetic average of the four core temperature readings.

The sound pressure level (SPL) was measured with a digital noise meter, with its sensor placed 4" (10 cm) from the fan. We turned off the video board cooler so it wouldn’t interfere with the results, but this measurement is only for comparative purposes, because a precise SPL measurement needs to be made inside an acoustically insulated room with no other noise sources, which is not the case here.

Hardware Configuration

• Processor: Core 2 Extreme QX6850
• Motherboard: Gigabyte EP45-UD3L
• Memory: 4 GB G.Skill F2-6400CL5S-2GBNY (DDR2-800/PC2-6400 with 5-5-5-15 timings), configured at 800 MHz
• Hard drive: 1 TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 (ST31000528AS, SATA-300, 7200 rpm, 32 MB buffer)
• Video card: PNY Verto Geforce 9600 GT
• Video resolution: 1680×1050
• Video monitor: Samsung Syncmaster 2232BW Plus
• Power supply required: Seventeam ST-350BKV
• Case: 3RSystem K100

Software Configuration

• Windows XP Professional SP3

Software Used

• Prime95
• StressCPU
• SpeedFan

Error Margin

We adopted a 2 °C error margin, i.e., temperature differences below 2 °C are considered irrelevant.

[nextpage title=”Our Tests”]

On the tables below you can see our results. We ran the same tests with the coolers shown on below tables. Each test ran with the CPU idle and then with the CPU fully loaded. On BigTyp 14Pro, TMG IA1, NH-U12P and ISGC-300 the tests were done with the fan at full speed and at minimum speed. The other coolers were connected directly to the motherboard and it controls the fan speed based on CPU load level and temperature on PWM models. ISGC-400, iCEAGE Prima Boss, Megahalems Rev. B, Thermaltake SpinQ VT, Zalman CNPS10X Flex, Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme, Tuniq Propeller 120 and Zalman VF2000 LED were tested at minimum speed on idle test and at maximum speed on full load test.

CPU Idle
Cooler	Room Temp.	Noise	Fan Speed	Base Temp.	Core Temp.
Intel stock	14 °C	44 dBA	1000 rpm	31 °C	42 °C
BigTyp 14Pro (min)	17 °C	47 dBA	880 rpm	29 °C	36 °C
BigTyp 14Pro (max)	17 °C	59 dBA	1500 rpm	26 °C	34 °C
Akasa Nero	18 °C	41 dBA	500 rpm	26 °C	35 °C
Cooler Master V10	14 °C	44 dBA	1200 rpm	21 °C	26 °C
TMG IA1 (max)	16 °C	47 dBA	1500 rpm	22 °C	30 °C
TMG IA1 (min)	16 °C	57 dBA	2250 rpm	21 °C	30 °C
Zalman CNPS10X Extreme	16 °C	44 dBA	1200 rpm	21 °C	29 °C
Thermaltake ISGC-100	18 °C	44 dBA	1450 rpm	35 °C	49 °C
Noctua NH-U12P (low)	15 °C	42 dBA	1000 rpm	20 °C	30 °C
Noctua NH-U12P	15 °C	46 dBA	1400 rpm	20 °C	28 °C
Noctua NH-C12P	17 °C	46 dBA	1400 rpm	23 °C	28 °C
Thermaltake ISGC-200	21 °C	43 dBA	1100 rpm	31 °C	35 °C
Schythe Kabuto	22 °C	42 dBA	800 rpm	29 °C	34 °C
Arctic Cooling Alpine 11 Pro	20 °C	43 dBA	1500 rpm	32 °C	39 °C
ISGC-300 (min)	18 °C	42 dBA	800 rpm	26 °C	30 °C
ISGC-300 (max)	18 °C	46 dBA	1400 rpm	24 °C	26 °C
SilverStone NT06-E	21 °C	66 dBA	2600 rpm	30 °C	41 °C
Zalman CNPS9700 NT	22 °C	48 dBA	1700 rpm	28 °C	35 °C
Scythe Mugen-2	17 °C	41 dBA	700 rpm	25 °C	30 °C
ISGC-400 (min)	17 °C	44 dBA	850 rpm	24 °C	30 °C
Cooler Master Vortex 752	20 °C	48 dBA	1700 rpm	32 °C	44 °C
iCEAGE Prima Boss (min)	22 °C	42 dBA	1000 rpm	29 °C	36 °C
Evercool Buffalo	17 °C	51 dBA	1850 rpm	22 °C	29 °C
Scythe Big Shuriken	20 °C	42 dBA	900 rpm	31 °C	39 °C
Cooler Master Hyper TX3	21 °C	44 dBA	1700 rpm	30 °C	39 °C
Titan Skalli	20 °C	43 dBA	1200 rpm	27 °C	34 °C
Prolimatech Megahalems Rev. B	21 °C	40 dBA	800 rpm	28 °C	32 °C
Zalman CNPS9900 NT	23 °C	45 dBA	900 rpm	30 °C	34 °C
Cooler Master Hyper N620	21 °C	44 dBA	1200 rpm	28 °C	34 °C
Nexus LOW-7000 R2	23 °C	46 dBA	1400 rpm	33 °C	42 °C
Evercool HPK-10025EA	20 °C	54 dBA	1900 rpm	27 °C	34 °C
Evercool HPH-9525EA	23 °C	50 dBA	1900 rpm	38 °C	49 °C
iCEAGE Prima Boss II	23 °C	42 dBA	1000 rpm	29 °C	35 °C
Thermaltake SpinQ VT	24 °C	45 dBA	950 rpm	32 °C	39 °C
Titan Fenrir	21 °C	42 dBA	950 rpm	29 °C	35 °C
Zalman CNPS 10 Flex	23 °C	40 dBA	800 rpm	32 °C	39 °C
Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme	24 °C	43 dBA	1100 rpm	30 °C	37 °C
Gelid Tranquillo	22 °C	41 dBA	850 rpm	29 °C	36 °C
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus	20 °C	45 dBA	1200 rpm	27 °C	35 °C
Spire TherMax Eclipse	20 °C	58 dBA	2300 rpm	< font size="1">25 °C	34 °C
Tuniq Propeller 120	20 °C	43 dBA	1050 rpm	24 °C	33 °C
Nexus VCT-9000	20 °C	44 dBA	600 rpm	28 °C	37 °C
Coolink Corator DS	19 °C	45 dBA	1050 rpm	25 °C	32 °C
CoolIT ECO	17 °C	43 dBA	900 rpm	–	32 °C
Zalman VF2000 LED	17 °C	43 dBA	1300 rpm	28 °C	36 °C
Cooler Master Vortex Plus	17 °C	45 dBA	1400 rpm	23 °C	34 °C
Prolimatech Armageddon	17 °C	48 dBA	1050 rpm	20 °C	25 °C

CPU Fully Loaded
Cooler	Room Temp.	Noise	Fan Speed	Base Temp.	Core Temp.
Intel stock	14 °C	48 dBA	1740 rpm	42 °C	100 °C
BigTyp 14Pro (min)	17 °C	47 dBA	880 rpm	43 °C	77 °C
BigTyp 14Pro (max)	17 °C	59 dBA	1500 rpm	35 °C	70 °C
Akasa Nero	18 °C	48 dBA	1500 rpm	34 °C	68 °C
Cooler Master V10	14 °C	54 dBA	1900 rpm	24 °C	52 °C
TMG IA1 (max)	16 °C	47 dBA	1500 rpm	27 °C	63 °C
TMG IA1 (min)	16 °C	57 dBA	2250 rpm	25 °C	60 °C
Zalman CNPS10X Extreme	16 °C	51 dBA	1900 rpm	24 °C	50 °C
Thermaltake ISG-100	18 °C	50 dBA	1800 rpm	58 °C	93 °C
Noctua NH-U12P (low)	15 °C	42 dBA	1000 rpm	28 °C	59 °C
Noctua NH-U12P	15 °C	46 dBA	1400 rpm	25 °C	54 °C
Noctua NH-C12P	17 °C	46 dBA	1400 rpm	37 °C	76 °C
Thermaltake ISGC-200	21 °C	48 dBA	1900 rpm	42 °C	68 °C
Scythe Kabuto	22 °C	47 dBA	1200 rpm	38 °C	63 °C
Arctic Cooling Alpine 11 Pro	20 °C	51 dBA	2300 rpm	49 °C	85 °C
ISGC-300 (min)	18 °C	42 dBA	800 rpm	36 °C	64 °C
ISGC-300 (max)	18 °C	46 dBA	1400 rpm	31 °C	56 °C
SilverStone NT06-E	21 °C	66 dBA	2600 rpm	39 °C	96 °C
Zalman CNPS9700 NT	22 °C	56 dBA	2600 rpm	34 °C	63 °C
Scythe Mugen-2	17 °C	46 dBA	1300 rpm	28 °C	54 °C
ISGC-400 (max)	17 °C	47 dBA	1400 rpm	36 °C	69 °C
Cooler Master Vortex 752	20 °C	55 dBA	2300 rpm	48 °C	92 °C
iCEAGE Prima Boss (max)	22 °C	53 dBA	2000 rpm	35 °C	59 °C
Evercool Buffalo	17 °C	51 dBA	1850 rpm	32 °C	67 °C
Scythe Big Shuriken	20 °C	50 dBA	1500 rpm	51 °C	85 °C
Cooler Master Hyper TX3	21 °C	53 dBA	2700 rpm	39 °C	66 °C
Titan Skalli	20 °C	47 dBA	1550 rpm	37 °C	69 °C
Prolimatech Megahalems Rev. B	21 °C	61 dBA	2600 rpm	30 °C	51 °C
Zalman CNPS9900 NT	23 °C	56 dBA	2000 rpm	34 °C	54 °C
Cooler Master Hyper N620	21 °C	50 dBA	1650 rpm	32 °C	56 °C
Nexus LOW-7000 R2	23 °C	53 dBA	1900 rpm	45 °C	74 °C
Evercool HPK-10025EA	20 °C	54 dBA	1900 rpm	39 °C	69 °C
Evercool HPH-9525EA	23 °C	50 dBA	1900 rpm	58 °C	100 °C
iCEAGE Prima Boss II	23 °C	56 dBA	2100 rpm	32 °C	56 °C
Thermaltake SpinQ VT	24 °C	52 dBA	1500 rpm	40 °C	68 °C
Titan Fenrir	21 °C	50 dBA	1600 rpm	33 °C	58 °C
Zalman CNPS 10 Flex	23 °C	61 dBA	2600 rpm	33 °C	59 °C
Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme	24 °C	56 dBA	1900 rpm	35 °C	60 °C
Gelid Tranquillo	22 °C	46 dBA	1450 rpm	31 °C	60 °C
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus	20 °C	52 dBA	1900 rpm	32 °C	64 °C
Spire TherMax Eclipse	20 °C	58 dBA	2300 rpm	29 °C	73 °C
Tuniq Propeller 120	20 °C	55 dBA	1900 rpm	36 °C	68 °C
Nexus VCT-9000	20 °C	50 dBA	850 rpm	43 °C	88 °C
Coolink Corator DS	19 °C	56 dBA	1800 rpm	32 °C	62 °C
CoolIT ECO	17 °C	54 dBA	1850 rpm	–	62 °C
Zalman NF2000 LED	17 °C	51 dBA	2200 rpm	43 °C	97 °C
Cooler Master Vortex Plus	17 °C	57 dBA	2700 rpm	33 °C	78 °C
Prolimatech Armageddon	17 °C	48 dBA	1050 rpm	24 °C	56 °C

The next graph shows how many degrees Celsius the CPU core was hotter than room temperature during our idle tests.

 

The next graph gives you an idea on how many degrees Celsius the CPU core was hotter than room temperature during our full load tests.

[nextpage title=”Main Specifications”]

Prolimatech Armageddon main features are:

• Application: Socket LGA1156 and 1366 processors (officially; we could easily install it on our socket LGA775 CPU).
• Fins: Aluminum.
• Base: Copper.
• Heat-pipes: Six copper heat-pipes.
• Fan: Two 140 mm (not included).
• Nominal fan speed: N/A.
• Fan air flow: N/A.
• Maximum power consumption: N/A.
• Nominal noise level: N/A.
• Weight: 1.65 lbs (750 g).
• More information: https://www.prolimatech.com
• Average price in the US*: USD 65.00

* Researched at Amazon.com on the day we published this review.

[nextpage title=”Conclusions”]

When we first look Armageddon we instantly remembered Prolimatech Megahalems, which we tested some time ago. We were not so sure about what to expect: it is thinner than its older brother, but taller. And the placement of the heatpipes, side by side (not in-line as with most tower coolers) made us to expect to achieve an excellent performance with this cooler, but honestly we had second thoughts.

The product advertising puts a lot of focus on its slim design, but this is not a big deal: the cooler with both 140 mm fans installed uses more space inside the case than most "non-slim" coolers. It is also a very tall cooler — the tallest CPU cooler that we’ve tested so far.

It has a good looks, but with no bells and whistles. If it will draw you attention or not will depend on the fans you install. The noise level will depend on the fans as well.

Regarding performance, we think the numbers may not tell the whole story. Armageddon kept our CPU 9 °C hotter than Megahalems (which was the best-performing CPU cooler we’ve tested to date). This means it has a very good performance (better than many good CPU coolers) and we could easily say "forget Armageddon: Megahalems costs the same and is far better". But keep in mind that Megahalems was tested using a 120 mm fan spinning at 2,600 rpm, while Armageddon was tested with two 140 mm fans spinning only at 1,050 rpm. Keep also in mind that Armageddon performed exceptionally well with the CPU idle.

In conclusion, Prolimatech Armageddon is an excellent cooler and must be considered as a good purchase if you have a wide case and can get good-performance 140 mm fans. We are giving it our Silver Award.