[section_title title=”Conclusion”]
Conclusion
So there you have it. The results speak for themselves but of course no review is complete without a conclusion to sum up the thoughts and findings. While the Raijintek Ereboss failed to impress us, the Pallas definitely did not. How well did the Pallas do, and how did it perform compared to the Noctua NH-L12 and Thermalright AXP-200 that I previously reviewed?
The Raijintek Pallas surpassed both the Noctua and Thermalright cooling solutions and left them in the dust at stock clock speeds on the CPU. When it is overclocked, the results do however skew in the Noctua NH-L12’s favour with its dual fan solution and arguably a better design on the cooler. Performance wise, the Pallas cooler was pretty amazing given its size and the fan thickness. It managed to get some of the lowest idle temperatures we’ve ever seen which is an unexpected result for sure. However, when you placed load on the CPU, and pushed the system hard, it did begin to show that it wasn’t able to offload the heat that well but it did still keep the processor within its TJMax of 100°c at all times which is fine by any account. The Pallas performs well and it should be a real contender within the small form factor industry.
One key thing to remember is that a HTPC is usually designed with quietness in mind. Whilst the 14013 fan is spinning up, it has a turbine sort of whine to it that disappears once it is running at optimal RPM. It does however have a slight hum when the system is cool and idling. Of course, this can be rectified by playing with your PWM curves and finding that sweet spot where it stops but that can be time consuming and I expected a little better of the fan. Overall, it is very quiet though, even at 100% fan speeds.
I cannot fault the design of the cooler itself but I can however find one fault. The only thing that I can fault however is the mounting system which is pesky and has a cheap feel to it as it is made of plastic and not metal like the other coolers that have been through my hands recently. However, as the cooler is on the cheaper side, and with it being cheaper than both the Noctua and the Thermalright, I can’t complain too much if it means that I get good performance for my money. The Pallas is roughly £10 cheaper than the Noctua and roughly £14 cheaper than the Thermalright. Top job, Raijintek. I feel that this cooler deserves an Editor’s Choice award, due to the performance that it brought to the table. It would have picked up five stars in every category if that mounting kit was just a little bit better.
I’d like to finish off by thanking Raijintek for providing us with a sample of the Pallas and I look forward to seeing more from them in the near future.
