INSTALLATION
The cooler was tested on a LGA 1156 based Intel platform. The installation process is very straight forward. It is only made confusing and difficult by the included instructions, which can leave a rookie bewildered at times.
The installation begins with the positioning of the back plate. The back plate needs to be oriented with the hollow side pointing towards the motherboard for LGA 1156 and LGA 1366 boards. For LGA 775 boards the back plate is mounted the other way around. Both sides of the back plate are covered with an adhesive. Ideally the back plate should be stuck on the motherboard. The downside of this is that it will be pretty difficult to reuse the cooler on another board without purchasing another mounting kit. It is possible to mount the cooler without using the adhesive
Once the back plate is in place the two retention plates (wing clips) can be screwed onto the cooler. This is a very straight forward procedure.
As this is a heat pipe direct touch (HDT) cooler it is recommended to apply thermal grease to the heat pipe rather than the processor heat spreader (read thermal grease shootout article here for why this is done).
The cooler is positioned over the processor and is screwed onto the back plate by the 4 spring loaded screws. For LGA 1156 sockets the middle-peripheral openings in the retention plates are used (This is not mentioned in the installation instructions).
The screws are tightened in a diagonal fashion.
The fan is mounted on using the anti-vibration rubber pegs. This is not a novel solution as Noctua provides these with their coolers as well. These pegs are relatively easy to install on the fan, but require a bit of an effort to mount (and un-mount) from the cooler. These sit in the specially designed recess that runs down the side of the cooler near its front end.
The final installation looks like this
The cooler leaves a decent thermal grease imprint. The secret is in the application of the thermal compound (click link above).
INSTALLATION HINTS
- 1. The instructions manual are very vague. If you have never installed a processor cooler before (after market variety) take help from a friend who has some experience with installations.
2. The back plate needs to be mounted with the hollow side facing the board for LGA 1156/1366 boards. The orientation is reversed for LGA775 socket based boards
3. The retention clips (wings) have openings that cater to all three Intel sockets. The innermost opening is for LGA 775 sockets, the one furthest is for LGA 1366 socket. The one in between is for LGA 1156 socket based boards
4. As this is a HDT cooler applying thermal grease on the heat pipe base is better than applying it on the processor heat spreader surface.
TEST SYSTEM
TEST RESULTS
The cooler performs very predictably here. Its performance matches that of another very popular HDT cooler the Cooler Master Hyper 212+.
It obviously can’t be compared to the top daddies of air cooling. That would really be unfair. What you get is what you pay for here. The cooler is not going to magically overtake the best air coolers on the market.
CONCLUSIONS
Xigmatek has a fine product on its hand. The cooler is well constructed, ships with a good fan. The instructions should be revised to reflect the latest version of the cooler. The mounting mechanism can be improved a tad as well (Sticky back plates are so 2000 and late!).
Xigmatek have some over kill features as well. The cooler could have done just as well with standard 6mm heat pipes. Nickel plating, while definitely adding to aesthetics is not doing much for cooling performance. Both of these factors do add to the cost of the cooler and unfortunately this is where the troubles for this cooler begin. The cooler’s retail price is about 4000 Rupees, while the hyper 212+ retails for at least 500 less and performs just the same.
Is the cooler worth it? If you need have a case with a side window and want to show off a very cool looking orange fan with white LEDs and don’t mind the extra 500 and are adept at cooler installation the answer is yes. Otherwise the hyper 212+ is just a better buy.
PROS
- 1. Well constructed
2. 8mm Nickel heat pipes
3. Shiny base
4. Orange Propeller fan with White LEDS
5. PWM controlled fan
6. Universal application
CONS
- 1. Vague and confusing instructions
2. Mounting system that involves sticky back plates
3. Not the best price/ performance ratio in business
WCCF would like to thank PC Xtremist for sending in the review unit. For those who are not unaware, PC Xtremist is a hardware accessories on-line store operating out of Pakistan. They are local distributors for many well known brand names including Arctic cooling, Xigmatek, Lamptron and Antec to name a few. If you are looking to jazz up your PC with CCFLs, LED lights, fan controllers, fans etc be sure to look em up pcxtremists
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