Prolimatech PRO-SAM17 Samuel 17 CPU Cooler

Pros: Dropped my temps by 10-12c in a very small/tight SFF case with not so good airflow. only about 5-7mm of clearance below power supply and wires blocking a lot. Had to pair it with a gellid slim 120mm fan to fit in my coolermaster elite 120

Cons: Expensive- but its quality and works if you need it in a very tight space verticaly

Pros: Low profile; compatible with many motherboards; great for Mini-ITX; very efficient, effective cooler.

Cons: Incompatible with a few motherboards (check before you buy).

While it might be the best low-profile heat sink you can get, it's still a low-profile heat sink. Don't expect miracles; build sensibly.

Other Thoughts: I have this heat sink paired with a Scythe SY1212SL12H-P fan in a Lian Li PC-Q12 case, where it keeps an i7-3770S at a consistent 27°C, even under load. This is by far the coolest, quietest machine I've ever put together (well, not counting some fanless Atom builds).

Based on this experience, I'd be comfortable using this cooler on a 95W CPU. (But with the i7-3770S available, who needs a 95W CPU?)

Pros: Looks like a nice cooler

Cons: Will not fit a ASRock FM2A85X-ITX due to the RAM location. I purchased RAM without high heat spreader to make sure that there wouldn't be a fitment issue. I was wrong. Installed one way the heat sink overhangs the memory and hits them. Install the other the heat pipes hit the side of the memory.

Other Thoughts: I will keep it and use it for a future build. A bit disappointed that it didn't fit as the stock AMD coolers are not very good.

Pros: Great cooler for small form factor setups. I'm using it with an Asus P8H77-I mini-ITX board, Intel Core-i7 2600K, and a Lian Li PCQ-18 case. It was the only cooler I could find to fit my board without hitting any components and work within the confines on the case. Very good CPU temps!

Cons: Overall setup was straightforward but fastening the screws was a bit of a juggling act.

Other Thoughts: Choose your DRAM carefully. DRAM sticks with tall heatsinks may be a problem.

Pros: It fits in many itx cases.
it works with many itx boards.
it really keeps cpus cool. comes with all mounting parts and nice thermal paste

I have 3 of them as they really work well and are a pleasure to mount.

Cons: it is costly. it sells out all the time.

Other Thoughts: This is a true case of you get what you pay for. yeah for a heatsink with out a fan I want to pay 2x or 3x not 5x.

but it fits and works and is easy to mount. that is very worth while

Pros: After mounting the heatsink I had to wait on some other parts for my mini ITX build and I accidentilly threw the long fan mounting screws out that came with it. I was about ready to use the intel stock HS instead of paying another $50 for another Samual + screws but decided to contact tech support first as a last ditch effort.

I've never been so pleased with customer service as I've been with Prolimitech. NOT ONLY did they quickly respond to me (they are based in Taiwan) but the next day they shipped the screws certified mail ALONG with a 1g tube of their PK-1 compound just for good measure.

It doesn't happen often but when customer support works this well it really gives me the warm fuzzies.

Oh also the HS is a little touch to install but then you are likely doing a mini ITX build so you're up for the challenge.

Cons: None

Pros: My go-to ITX cooler! I have fit this on many ITX boards, including the Zotac Z68, Gigabyte H55N, Asus and ASRock A75s, Asus and ASRock Z77 and H77s, all without RAM or PCIe conflict. Excellent backplate mounting system. Despite low profile, still easy to make CPU fan connection and 4/8 pin EPS connection. 6 heatpipes and 410 grams without fan can handle A83870K at 3.5 GHz at 62 degrees at load! Laughs at 3770K! Oversized downdraft cooling solves chipset overheating problems (see the Zotac Z68 ITX reviews on the web). Can be installed in all four directions depending on your board. Highly recommended!

Cons: More expensive than others, but worth it. Must purchase fan separately, but that gives you more control and allows you to tailor your build to its intended purpose, so not really a con to me. Consider the excellent 120x120x12 mm fans from Scythe for tight cases.

Other Thoughts: Must use standard heat sink RAM - G. Skill Ares is the new ITX standard! My Ares sticks have worked with all of the above boards with easy XMP adjustment to rated speeds, and zero DOAs! May need to install RAM before the SAM 17.

ITX is back in force with the Z77/Ivy Bridge / Ares / SAM 17 team!!!

Note - I only use ITX cases with a direct CPU vent (I like the Inwin BP671 a lot) and avoid cases with the PSU mounted over the CPU. With the BP671 I make a quick fan shroud from plastic strips to direct air from the vent into the CPU fan (attaching to CPU fan), and cover the remaining opening of the vent with black tape from the inside, so all air is flowing over the CPU fan. It's just fluid dynamics, baby!

Pros: Keeps my Phenom 960T at stock speeds cool with a 120mm Antec fan and Arctic Silver paste. Very easy to install and the flat surface on the processor is much nicer than the heatsinks with the groves from the heatpipes that always get paste in them and you have to clean them out.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: NZXT Tempest 410
GIGABYTE GA-970A-UD3
Phenom X4 960T - 6core unlock easily
Mushkin 120GB Chronos for boot and games
8GB Mushkin blackline
3Ware 9650SE RAID card
EVGA Fermi 465 GTX unlocked to 470GTX


This heatsink keeps the processor cool with an Antec 120mm fan. Processor is not OC'd and runs at 19-21C idle according to Coretemp and gets to 30-34C under load from games and 37C 100% load on all cores with Prime95. The case is packed with cables but cable management helped a lot.

Pros: *Cools great with a 120mm COOLER MASTER Excalibur Fan
*Super short, haven't had a heat sink this short since my ol' Thermalright xp120 (Thermalright offers some great alternatives to this cooler as well)
*Keeps a 2500k around 37 degrees average, 49 degrees at 100% load (with the COOLER MASTER Excalibur)
* Comes with a syringe of the BEST thermal paste available for air cooling set-ups. Prolimatech PRO
*This is absolutely perfect for the Thermaltake ARMOR A30 mATX case and will provide ample clearance for the above CPU mounted PSU

Cons: N/A

Other Thoughts: A couple tips:

1) Install RAM first, you will regret it the other way around.
2) I recommend RAM sticks that do not include unnecessarily tall heat sinks as it will be a tight fit, and the last thing you want is dimm heat getting pulled into your CPU heat sink.

Pros: -easy to install
-secure attachment to mobo
-elegant design
-generous tube of thermal paste

Cons: -none!

Other Thoughts: Just loving it like I should.