Prolimatech Lynx Review
Category : Aircooling
Published by Christian Ney on 06.01.14
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.
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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.
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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 |
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| 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.
| 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 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 |
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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
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.
| 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
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.
| 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 | + | - | |
| 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. | |||
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |