Xigmatek S126384 “Thor’s Hammer” CPU Cooler Review

Installation

Installing the Thor's Hammer onto an Intel-based system is actually a fairly easy yet multi-step process. The very first thing you have to do is install the proper Intel bracket to the cooler itself. As with the OCZ Vendetta 2 and Xigmatek S1283, this involved placing each bracket in the right spot and screwing in one small screw to hold it in place. The inner hole is for 775 systems and the outer if i7.

We assume at some point there will be aftermarket accessory arms for i3/i5 but for now when it comes to Intel, the Hammer is compatible with i7 or 775 only. Both sides come with a backing material which has to be put in place but this only takes a moment to “peel and stick”..


With this small step is accomplished you simply grab the backplate, flip the motherboard over and insert it up and through the four mounting holes. Just as the arms were dual purpose, so too is this backplate. One side is for 775 systems and the other is for i7. The 775 side has small raised mounting points which rise up and through the motherboard making installation slightly easier. Honestly though, neither installation procedure was exactly what you call difficult but the i7 was little tougher in comparison due to its side lacking this feature.


With the backplate in place you then flip the whole works right side up and gently lay it all back down. If you do this correctly, you should now be able to easily install the Thor’s Hammer. After applying some TIM to your CPU (and making sure the protective label is OFF the base of the cooler!) you gently lay it in position.

At this point it does get a little tricky. Unlike the “crossbow” mounting brackets and backplate we purchased for our Xigmatek S1283, the four spring loaded screws and the bolt are not held in place. Rather, you have to stick each one individually through the end of an arm and screw them in. Once you have two screws started, the other two are much easier…or at least they should have been. While we like the angled face and think its going to significantly decrease temperatures, it does have the unintended consequence of partially obscuring two corner posts. This is where the little wrench comes in handy. As we have said in the past if the manufacturer includes extra tools…it is for a darn good reason. We found hand spinning these half hidden bolts into place to get them started and then doing 1 turn on each using the supplied wrench in a diagonal criss-cross patterns worked well.


Unlike past Xigmatek and Xigmatek OEM reviews we have done in the past, installing the fan on this cooler was simplicity itself. In fact, it was actually the first time we preferred this style of mounting to the older tried and true wire bracket setup. To install a fan, first BUY one as Xigmatek does not include one and has offloaded this “value added” cost on to you the consumer. Then when you have the fan of your choice you simply push each of the small rubber brackets through one of the four fan holes and align them in a North / South orientation.


Except for the slight hiccup of aligning the backplate in our i7 testbed this, was a fairly easy installation process which belied the size of the cooler itself. The added hassle of the fin array partially blocking two of the mounting screws is more than made up for by the ease of installing the fans. Easy or not, this is not a flimsy setup and provides a very stable mounting platform with even pressure across the entire CPU.