Cooler Master MasterAir Pro 3 & Pro 4 CPU Cooler Review

By Brian Nyhuis October 31, 2016

Cooler Master MasterAir Pro 3 & Pro 4 CPU Cooler – Final Thoughts and Conclusion

We dont get a chance to check out air coolers these days, as theyre not as big in the enthusiast market anymore liquid coolers are. We were happy to take a look at the new Cooler Master MasterAir Pro 3 and 4 coolers and add them to our new growing charts.

The MasterAir Pro 3 and 4 are much lesser expensive counterparts to the only other MasterAir sibling, made to give you plenty of performance and not break the bank. They do include several Cooler Master patented features that should increase performance of your cooler. The new feature on these coolers is the Continuous Direct Contact Technology 2.0. This patented technology is designed to increase surface area of the cooler base by 45%, which will improve heat dissipation. Overall, while these coolers look pretty generic, theyre still very nice looking, too.

Installation is a bit interesting. Both coolers feature a push-pin system, like youd find on your stock Intel HSF, or you can utilize the X-bracket mounting system. Should you choose to go with the push-pin system, Id recommend only a passive heatsink here, as the added weight of the fan seems like a bit much. Instead, when you use the X-bracket, you will feel more comfortable with all of that weight on the socket.

I found installation of both systems to be annoying, tedious, and over complicated. Cooler Master could have refined this a bit to be a much better user experience. I wish they would have found a way bring on a similar mounting system like you find on their liquid coolers, such as the Nepton 240M.

Performance wise, these coolers did their job, and though I dont have a stock HSF to compare to, I guarantee you they cooled better than the stock heatsink could. Dont expect to overclock [much] with these coolers, as youre pushing high numbers and probably pushing your luck and longevity of your processor.

Should you want to grab your very own MasterAir Pro 3 or 4 cooler, the MSRP on them is $39.99 and $44.99 respectively. These prices are not bad, and I have to admit, if you have the room for the MasterAir Pro 4, spend the extra couple dollars for it. Both coolers do feature a 5-year warranty.

Legit Bottom Line: Cooler Master has brought in two new budget friendly coolers to the MasterAir line-up, and if youre on a very strict budget and want better than stock, these coolers are not bad! The mounting system can be tedious, but the performance was decent.