Primecooler - Zalman knockoffs? UPDATED: buy for $16

[Zap]

UPDATED: I've found these online for $16 at Coolerguys.com. See my followup post below for details, links and initial assessment from specs/pictures.
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Don't know how I got on their mailing list, but I just received some email about the new Primecooler cooling products.

http://www.primecooler.com/

They have CPU coolers that look to be knockoffs of the Zalman 7000 series coolers, plus even a "FanMate" knockoff. They link to a bunch of reviews, but only one CPU HSF review was in English:

http://hi-techreviews.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=102

Two things have my attention in regards to these CPU coolers. First is that it can mount on Socket A boards that do not have the four mounting holes through the board, instead relying on a cage that mounts to the three lugs on each side of the socket. Second is price. The email I received was for resellers looking to buy in large quantities (how about... 10,000 units?). Pricing was around $13 for quantities. Don't know what this would translate to for a single unit retail purchase, but $20 or less doesn't sound out of the question.

 

[PlatinumGold]

PC Twin cools look really good.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

I would liek to further examine the twin coolers. I whould think they are disigned to both suck air away from the motherboard. that seems like it would work the best.

 

[beatle]

The Twincool doesn't really interest me in that it uses 60 or 70mm fans. Noise doesn't really start dropping until you hit 80mm fans, IMO. The Hypercool fan looks promising, and the price would be a steal @ $20, provided it performs on par in regards to noise and cooling with its Zalman cousin.

 

[Zap]

I've found the same HSF units sold under the "ACFA" name at Coolerguys.com. There are two models, the ACFA Cyclone and the ACFA Twister. Both are at a "sale price" of $15.95. A bargain for a heatsink of any reasonable performance and at half the price of the Zalman unit. A bonus would be the fact that it is more universal than the universal Zalman 7000A series HSF because for socket A the unit mounts to the socket lugs, not through the motherboard holes.

However, there may be some drawbacks. The fan is of unknown quality. It does not come with a fan speed controller like the Zalman. Finally, it has only 84 total fins versus 134 for the Zalman. Assuming similar surface area for both, the Zalman would be the superior heatsink due to a 60% higher surface area.

This said, I'm still thinking about these things because they'll probably be quieter and outperform any similarly priced unit from any manufacturer.