Today we have a chance to look at Prolimatech's first attempt to make an entry-level cooler, the Prolimatech Lynx. Sticking to what it knows best, making a tower design air cooler, Prolimatech's Lynx is pretty much slimmed down, smaller version of what we usually see from Prolimatech. In the next few pages we will definitely check out if the new Lynx actually lives up to high expectations that we are used to see from Prolimatech.
The Prolimatech Lynx is quite an interesting CPU air cooler as it represents
Prolimatech's first attempt to make a cooler aimed at entry-level market. Mostly
famous for high-end CPU air coolers, Prolimatech's Lynx is quite a
different animal. Based on a tower design with three heatpipes, all
nickel plated copper base, and backed by a 120mm PWM fan, the Prolimatech Lynx certainly
draws a lot of attention with its sleek and quite slim design.
As noted earlier, both the base and the heatpipes on the Prolimatech Lynx are
made from nickel-plated copper. It features three heatpipes with 6 millimeter
diameter which are not
in direct contact with the CPU but have been routed through a copper base. Since Prolimatech used quite a slim heatsink, the heatpipes are bent in order to be
spread across two halves of the heatsink and cover as much area as possible and
also fit inside the heatsink for that matter. The heatsink fins are made from
aluminum and the entire Prolimatech Lynx is quite compact and sleek compared to
what we are used to see from tower-design CPU coolers. The manufacturing quality
is definitely high and we certainly did not expect anything less from
Prolimatech. The base does not have a perfect mirror finish but it is still very good.
The tower-design that Prolimatech decided to use for its first "entry-level" CPU
air cooler is quite simple but also very effective. The bundled 120mm PWM fan,
model S1202512LNP-4M, is quite simple as well and will not stand out from a pile
of standard OEM fans.
Specifications |
Model |
Lynx |
Type |
Classic 120mm tower |
Provided Fan(s) |
1x 120x25mm PWM |
Supported Fan(s) |
2x 120mm |
Base Material |
Nickel
plated copper |
Fins Material |
Aluminum |
Socket Support |
AMD AM2(+), AM3(+), FM1,
FM2
Intel LGA 1150, 1155, 1156 |
Thermal compound |
Prolimatech (Tube) |
Product Page |
Lynx |
The bundle and the box are also quite simple and it almost feels like
Prolimatech 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,
four fan clips, a
tube of Prolimatech thermal compound, a 120mm fan and of course the tower heatsink
itself.
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Photo Gallery
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Installation
Installation of the Prolimatech Lynx is quite simple and easy, as it should
be on a CPU cooler aimed at entry-level market. Prolimatech kept everything nice
and simple as there are not many mounting parts. The thermal paste is not
pre-applied and comes in a tube. The overall pressure on the CPU is quite good
and you get two mounting kits, one for AMD and one for Intel sockets.
Unfortunately, the simplicity has its price, so the Intel mounting system does not
have a wide compatibility list and includes only Intel LGA 1150, 1155 and 1156
sockets. AMD mounting system is a different story as it supports most if not all
AMD sockets.
Due to its slim-design, the Prolimatech Lynx does not block any memory slots or
any other components for that matter. The fan clips are easy and practical and
Prolimatech threw in an additional set of clips in case you decide to use it in a
push-pull configuration with two fans. The clips are compatible with any
120x25mm fan.
Test Setup |
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 |
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Absolute Performance
Temperatures
7 V
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.
12 V
Fan Speeds
Fan speeds (RPM) at 7 and 12 V.
Noise Levels
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.
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PWM Performance
Temperatures
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
Values are in RPM, we took the lowest speed hit by the fan(s) in idle and the
highest under load.
Noise Levels
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.
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Conclusion
General |
|
+ |
- |
The Prolimatech Lynx comes as a very welcomed
surprise. It is an affordable cooler aimed at entry-level market but
comes with an impressive level of manufacturing quality. 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. The cooler is silent with the
bundled PWM fan, we had no complaints whatsoever on the manufacturing
quality, it has an easy and practical mounting system and the only
remark is its narrow compatibility on Intel side as there is no support
for Intel LGA 775, 1366 or 2011 sockets. |
|
- Performance
- Noise levels
- Quality
- PWM
- Mouting
- Price |
- Socket compatibility |
|
Installation |
|
+ |
- |
Mounting is quite easy and practical but unfortunately
it does not have a wide compatibility. The mounting mechanism parts are
solid, thermal paste comes in a tube and Prolimatech went an extra mile
to include additional fan clips in case you want to add another fan. |
|
- Easy and practical
- Compatible Intel and AMD
- Thermal compound (Tube) |
- No LGA 775/1366/2011 compatibility |
|
Performance |
|
+ |
- |
The cooling performance of the Prolimatech Lynx is
definitely 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. |
|
- Cooling performances |
|
|
Noise
Levels |
|
+ |
- |
The overall noise levels are good and the
Prolimatech Lynx is silent.
However, we are a bit sensitive when it comes to noise and we would
surely like that the noise levels are just a tad bit lower. The cooler
is extremely silent but it is not noiseless in idle. |
|
- Silent
|
|
|
Recommendation / Price |
|
+ |
- |
We can definitely recommend this cooler as it is a
very good alternative to boxed and cheap looking coolers. The
Prolimatech Lynx is high quality cooler with an aggressive price of 25
Euros, and even good enough to put to shame some higher priced and
bigger coolers from its competitors. |
|
- Price
- Office PC
- Gaming |
- Overclocking |
|
Rating |
We gave the Lynx from Prolimatech 4 out of 5 stars. |
|