CoolerMaster MasterAir Pro 4 Review

Up Close:  Heatsink

The Heat-sink measures 60x116158mm (LxWxH) without the 120mm fan.  It has four 6mm Copper heat pipes which leave the base before travelling up into the Aluminium fin stack. 

  

 

The Fin stack has 56 Aluminium elements, and is reasonably densely packed for a tower cooler of this size.  Let’s hope CoolerMaster have gotten their sums right and paired it with a fan that has enough oomph to push the air through.

  

 

The MasterAir Pro 4 sports what CoolerMaster are calling direct contact technology 2.0, or CDC 2.0 for short.  In essence what this means is that they claim to have improved the amount of surface area available by 45% over their previous version (CDC 1.0).  Now, we’re all very familiar with manufacturers coming up with some difference in design that they claim is a huge improvement over other designs, and we have to be honest and say we’re not always convinced that there’s any difference at all, so it will be interesting to see if this CDC 2.0 is as good as CoolerMaster would have us believe.

  

 

With the fan attached the thickness of the heat sink increases to 84mm, so if you’re worried about RAM encroachment you really needn’t be.  With an overall height of 158mm the Pro 4 will also fit into a good many cases, including quite a few of the cheaper mini towers that clutter up the bottom end of the enclosure market.  The 120mm fan attaches by means of plastic brackets that are screwed to the side of the fan.  It’s worth saying that they are some of the easiest clips we’ve ever used.  In fact, if there was an award just for fan attachment alone we think we’d give it to CoolerMaster right here and now.  The fan itself is a 25mm thinck 120mm model that out puts up to 2000 RPM at a maximum reported noise level of 30dB(A).  Our noise measurements were significantly Different, but we do rate the Pro 4 as one of the quietest on the Market.

  

 

The fin stack is topped off with an aluminium plate which is finished off in satin Black.  Although not brushed, the effect is, none the less, one of simple elegance, and we have to say we quite like it, especially when combined with the black fan and cowling attachment.