Raijintek Pallas Review
Category : Aircooling
Published by Hiwa Pouri on 05.02.14
The Pallas from Raijintek is a rather interesting new CPU cooler, that features a low-profile form factor. At a first glance manufacturing quality appears to be on a really decent level and judging by the number of heatpipes used as well as the size of the heatsink, it looks like this cooler could also perform quite well. Paired up with a price that is actually payable we're curious to see what this cooler can do.
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Raijintek is one of the new kids in the cooler market but nevertheless with the Pallas they're already bringing the second series of coolers to market. In this case we're looking at a low-profile cooler that features decent manufacturing quality but still comes at a reasonable price.
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As noted earlier, both the base and the heatpipes on the Raijintek Pallas are made from nickel-plated copper. It features six heatpipes with 6 millimeter diameter which are not in direct contact with the CPU but have been routed through a copper base. In case of the Raijintek Pallas you get a low-profile, cooler that perfectly suits small-form-factor builds. The heatsink fins are made from aluminum and keeping in mind, this is a low-profile model, the dimensions are still rather massive. The manufacturing quality is definitely high, which is a pleasant surprise in case of a budget cooler. Even the base comes with a perfect mirror finish. The bundled slime, 140mm PWM fan, is quite simple as well and will not stand out from a pile of standard OEM fans.
Specifications |
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| Model | Pallas |
| Type | Low-profile 140mm |
| Provided Fan(s) | 1x 140x13mm PWM |
| Supported Fan(s) | 1x 140mm |
| Base Material | Nickel plated copper |
| Fins Material | Aluminum |
| Socket Support | AMD AM2(+), AM3(+), FM1,
FM2(+) Intel LGA 775, 1150, 1155, 1156, 1366, 2011 |
| Thermal compound | Raijintek (bag) |
| Product Page | Raijintek Pallas |
The bundle and the box are also quite simple and it almost feels like Raijintek was trying too hard to make an entry-level cooler and not just cut on the cost. The box is made out of solid cardboard and although it is only protected by a plastic shroud our sample arrived without a single dent or any damage whatsoever. The bundled fan is not attached to the tower while the rest of the mounting components are placed in a separate small box on the other side of the cooler. The bundle includes an installation manual, mounting components, two fan clips, a small plastic bag with Raijintek thermal compound, a 140mm slim fan and of course the heatsink itself.
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
Photo Gallery
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
Installation
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Installation of the Raijintek Pallas is quite simple and easy, as it should be on a CPU cooler aimed at entry-level market. The thermal compound is not pre-applied and comes in a small plastic bag. The overall pressure on the CPU is quite good and you get two mounting kits, one for AMD and one for Intel sockets. Another upside is the fact, that this cooler is compatible to a wide range of sockets, meaning you'll even be able to use this cooler on old motherboard too.
Since the Raijintek Pallas is an overall rather small cooler there won't be any compatibility issues with memory that features large heatspreaders, at least not on standard ATX motherboards. Putty the fan in place can be quite a challenge, since the clips fit very tight, but once it's done you can be sure, that fan won't move a tenth of a millimeter anymore. Apart from that the fact, that the clips are only compatible to fans with a heigt of 13 millimeter is also worth mentioning.
Test Setup |
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| Mainboard | ASUS Z87-Deluxe (BIOS 1602) |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-4770K Stock (Turbo On / HT On) |
| Memory | ADATA XPG V2 2x4GB DDR3-2800 CL12 1.65V |
| Video | Intel HD Graphics 4600 |
| Software |
Windows 7 x64 wPrime Benchmark v2.10 CPUID HWMonitor 1.24.0 |
| PSU | Seasonic Platinum SS-660XP2 |
| Fan Controller | Lamptron FC5 V3 |
| Thermal Compound |
Pre-applied or bundled GELID GC-Extreme else |
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
Absolute Performance
Temperatures
| 7V | Idle | Load |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 32 °C | 51 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 33 °C | 53 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 34 °C | 57 °C |
| Raijintek Pallas | 37 °C | 59 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 36 °C | 60 °C |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 36 °C | 61 °C |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 35 °C | 63 °C |
| Intel Stock | 39 °C | 83 °C |
To measure cooling capacity we took temperatures in idle and load with the fans at 7 and 12 V. The idle temperature represents the lowest temperature hit by the processor package after 10 minutes in idle. The load temperature is the highest temperature hit by the processor package after one pass of wPrime v2.10. The wPrime test takes 4 minutes and puts load on all 8 threads. Room temperature is 25°C.
| 12V | Idle | Load |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 32 °C | 51 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 33 °C | 51 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 33 °C | 53 °C |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Raijintek Pallas | 36 °C | 56 °C |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 34 °C | 57 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 36 °C | 58 °C |
| Intel Stock | 35 °C | 70 °C |
Fan Speeds
| 7 Volt | 12 Volt | |
| Raijintek Pallas | 960 rpm | 1'440 rpm |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 900 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 900 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 660 rpm | 1'530 rpm |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 600 rpm | 1'740 rpm |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 1'200 rpm | 1'980 rpm |
| Intel Stock | 1'260 rpm | 2'040 rpm |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 1'580 rpm | 2'400 rpm |
Fan speeds (RPM) at 7 and 12 V.
Noise Levels
| 7 Volt | 12 Volt | |
| Intel Stock | 33.3 dBA | 37.1 dBA |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 32.3 dBA | 37.4 dBA |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 32.3 dBA | 38.4 dBA |
| Raijintek Pallas | 34.7 dBA | 39.3 dBA |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 34.2 dBA | 39.5 dBA |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 33.4 dBA | 39.6 dBA |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 33.0 dBA | 40.3 dBA |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 34.5 dBA | 41.7 dBA |
Decibel meter (Voltcraft SL-200) has been placed 1 meter away from the cooler. Measurements are conducted in a quiet room, where there are no other noise source. 32 dBA is the lowest we can get in our room. Also here the measurements are conducted at 7 and 12 V.
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
PWM Performance
Temperatures
| Idle | Load | |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 33 °C | 55 °C |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 35 °C | 55 °C |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 34 °C | 57 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 36 °C | 57 °C |
| Raijintek Pallas | 37 °C | 58 °C |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 35 °C | 59 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 36 °C | 60 °C |
| Intel Stock | 39 °C | 75 °C |
At this point we plugged the fan(s) to the motherboard CPU fan header and let the motherboard take care of fan speeds. In other words the motherboard will adjust the fan speed via PWM signal according to CPU temperature. The idle temperature is the lowest temperature hit by the processor package after 10 minutes idle. The load temperature is the highest temperature hit by the processor package after one pass of wPrime v2.10. The wPrime test takes 4 minutes puts load on all 8 threads. Room temperature is 25°C.
Fan Speeds
| Idle | Load | |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 380 rpm | 687 rpm |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 450 rpm | 740 rpm |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 471 rpm | 770 rpm |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 800 rpm | 969 rpm |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 765 rpm | 1'077 rpm |
| Raijintek Pallas | 952 rpm | 1'170 rpm |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 950 rpm | 1'465 rpm |
| Intel Stock | 1'230 rpm | 1'630 rpm |
Values are in RPM, we took the lowest speed hit by the fan(s) in idle and the highest under load.
Noise Levels
| Idle | Load | |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 32.0 dBA | 32.0 dBA |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 32.0 dBA | 32.4 dBA |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 32.0 dBA | 32.7 dBA |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 32.2 dBA | 33.2 dBA |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 32.0 dBA | 33.6 dBA |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 33.3 dBA | 33.9 dBA |
| Intel Stock | 33.3 dBA | 34.4 dBA |
| Raijintek Pallas | 35.9 dBA | 41.4 dBA |
Decibel meter (Voltcraft SL-200) has been placed 1 meter away from the cooler. Measurements are conducted in a quiet room, where there are no other noise source. 32 dBA is the lowest we can get in our room. Also here the measurements are conducted at lowest and highest fan speeds in idle and under load respectively.
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
Conclusion
| General | + | - | |
| Overall the Raijintek Pallas is a very pleasant surprise. It is an affordable cooler aimed at mid-range market but comes with an impressive level of manufacturing quality and also performance. While some coolers might be cheaper, they are also much cheaper in terms of design, simplicity and manufacturing quality. The overall performance is good and noise levels are decent as well. They could be a little bit lower but as we said, for that you get great cooling performance. The cooler is bundled with a slim PWM fan, which is a little noisy at 12 Volt. Apart from that we liked, that this cooler is compatible to virtually any socket out there on the market. |
- Performance
- Quality - PWM - Price - Socket compatibility |
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| Installation | + | - | |
| Mounting is quite easy and practical but unfortunately the fan clips can cause some headache. Putting them in place requires a decent amount of force, since the clips fit rather tight. The mounting mechanism parts are solid, thermal paste comes in a small plastic bag and there is enough inside to mount the cooler twice. |
- Basic mounting easy and practical
- Compatible to all Intel and all AMD sockets |
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| Performance | + | - | |
| Cooling performance of the Raijintek Pallas is definitely very good for its size. It does a way better job than most, if not all, cheaper coolers and to make things worse, for competition at least, it even does a better job than some more expensive and bigger coolers. So far Raijintek's Palls is the best performing low-profile-cooler we've had for testing in our lab. | - Cooling performances | ||
| Noise Levels | + | - | |
| The overall noise levels are good and the Raijintek Pallas is silent, except for 12V. Luckily this cooler is powerful enough to keep a CPU at adequate temperatures, even when the fans are driven at 7V, meaning noise level won't be an issue anymore. | - Silent | ||
| Recommendation / Price | + | - | |
| We can definitely recommend this cooler as it is a very good alternative to boxed and cheap looking coolers. The Raijintek Pallas is high quality cooler with a decent price of 39 Euros, and even good enough compete with more expensive and bigger coolers. |
- Price
- HTPC - Mini-ITX Gaming |
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| Rating | |||
| We gave the Pallas from Raijintek 4.5 out of 5 stars. | |||
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |