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.

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Figure 1: Box.

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

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Figure 2: Box contents.

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

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Figure 6: Top view.

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.

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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.

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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.

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Figure 9: Fans installed.

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

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Figure 10: Backplate.

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.

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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.

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Figure 12: Installed on the motherboard.

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

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Figure 13: Fans installed.

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

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Figure 14: Installed in our case.

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 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: 1680x1050
• 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 ^oC error margin, i.e., temperature differences below 2 ^oC are considered irrelevant.

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

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

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.

Main Specifications

Prolimatech Armageddon main features are:

• Application: Socket 1156 and 1366 processors (officially; we could easily install it on our socket 775 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: http://www.prolimatech.com
• Average price in the US*: USD 65.00

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

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 ºC 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.