Prime Cooler Hypercool III+ & Hypercool 4+
Although the Prime Cooler Hypercool units are very glamorous, now it's the time where we can see if this attraction is worth anything performance wise. Although the Hypercool III+ doesn't state its compatibility with Socket T LGA775 CPUs, we had no trouble at all mounting the heatsink using the clips provided with the Hypercool 4+. We mounted both heatsinks in a system with the following specifications:
| Hardware Components | |
| Processor: | Intel Pentium 4 530 (3.0GHz) @ 3.3GHz |
| Motherboard: | DFI LANPARTY UT 915P-T12 |
| Memory: | 512MB Mushkin PC4000 |
| Graphics Card: | Sapphire X300SE |
| Hard Drives: | Hitachi 80GB SATA |
| Cooling: | 1 x 80mm intake |
| Case: | Logisys Dracula |
| Power Supply: | Seasonic Super Silencer SS-400AGX |
| Software Components | |
| Operating System: | FedoraCore3 |
| Linux Kernel: | 2.6.9-1.667 |
With the massive size of the cooler, we did experience some troubles getting the unit to fit with our motherboard's audio installed, forcing us to remove the DFI Karajan Audio Card so the heatsink fan would be able to spin properly.
For comparison purposes, we also tested an Intel stock HSF on the system. In testing, our ambient room temperature was maintained at 22°C. LM_Sensors 2.8 with Santafu 0.2.4 recorded all temperatures. For testing, we recorded both idle and load temperatures of all three heatsinks. No fan speed controllers were used during testing, to allow the fans to run at their maximum designated speeds. 100% load was obtained by running CPUBurn-in v1.00 (Linux) for 30 minutes. Idling was done by letting our systems just rest for a period of time.
| Hypercool III+: | 38 | 49 |
| Hypercool 4+ | 37 | 45 |
| Intel Stock HSF: | 42 | 57 |
°C |
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Not only did the cooling performance for both heatsinks do remarkably well, but also the noise/airflow ratio was very astonishing. Both heatsinks offer phenomenal airflow/noise ratios of 30/78.5 and 25/78.5.
Although the Prime Cooler Hypercool III+ and 4+ are relatively identical, a few features distinguish the two. Some of these differences include number of copper fins, noise level, compatibility, and other minuscule items. Nevertheless, both coolers were astonishing. Even though Prime Cooler is a relatively unheard of company, we would easily put our faith in these two heatsinks. The Hypercool III+ and 4+ are very reliable heatsinks for any situation no matter your CPU socket. Unfortunately, Prime Cooler products are a hot commodity hard to find, with a lack of distributors. One place they can be found at is TNTRADE.
Pros:
� Performance
� Quiet
� Copper fins
� Radial design
� Compatibility
Cons:
� Large design may cause difficulties during installation
� Hard to locate Prime Cooler products
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