Intel Core i7 / LGA1366 CPU Cooler Roundup

ProlimaTech Mega Shadow Deluxe Installation

Before we begin we would like to state that unlike the original Megahalems, we had absolutely no problems with the mounting brackets. Everything was of the absolute best, highest quality we have seen in a long while and everything was perfectly executed.


Once you have removed your motherboard from the case, simply place the backplate in position and using the short end of the thumb screw's bolts, screw through the motherboard and into the backplate. When all four are done you can lay the motherboard back down.

Then you grab the two large 775 / i5 / i7 combo brackets and gently lay them across the double sided screws before tightening the two larger cross braces into place. With the brackets in place and secured, we then applied our thermal compound and inserted the third bracket through the top of the cooler’s base.

As with the Megahalems, this bracket has two “fingers” which line up with two small indents in the top of the Mega Shadow’s base, allowing the bracket to freeze the cooler in place. The fact it has two of these fingers instead of the usual one also means this heatsnk won’t twist on you like the TRUE has been known to do. With the bracket in place we simply lowered the cooler into position and used the two spring loaded screws to lock the whole thing together.


With the cooler secured you can then easily mount either one or two fans to it with the 4 included wire mounting brackets.


When it comes to clearance issues we can say things were tight all around when it came to dual fan setups, but installation with a single fan shouldn’t yield any issues on most Intel motherboards. However, it’s a damn shame that ProlimaTech makes you spend even more money if you want to install this monster on an AMD rig. Considering the recent popularity of AMD’s Phenom II chips, this is totally acceptable for what is supposed to be a flagship model.

Honestly, we were expecting good things from the installation of this cooler and we weren’t disappointed. It seems that while the Mega Shadow itself got nothing more than a hot dip in a black bath, the backplate was improved upon and so was the whole mounting setup when compared to the Megahalems. It also supports 775, i7 and i5 right out of the box and it does it all without cutting corners or undermining the robustness which so impressed us with the first “mega” cooler from ProlimaTech. Unfortunately, the exclusion of an AMD mounting option is a blemish on an otherwise spotless installation process.