Intel Core i7 / LGA1366 CPU Cooler Roundup

Kingwin XT-1264 Installation

For all intents and purposes this cooler has the exact same installation process as that of any push pin based CPU heatsink; albeit one with a twist usually not seen on the Intel side of things. Unlike most after market coolers it is up to you and your comfort level whether or not you need first removed the motherboard from your case.


Interestingly enough, the installation process seems to indicate that the XT01264 is primarily designed as an AMD cooler. As such the very first thing you need to do is remove two small screws located on one side and yank off the AMD mounting bracket if you are installing it one an Intel chip. You then install two i7 brackets (or 775 depending on your setup) onto the based and you are off to the races.

When CPU is properly prepped (thermal compound application and all) you simply place the Kingwin cooler in place and push the four corner pins into place to secure it to the motherboard just like you would for the Intel stock cooler. While this is a much faster installation process it does have one potential down side: performance robbing stretching and / or other negative movement happening because the plastic pins become malleable in high heat situations. This can mean decreased pressure between the CPU and the cooler which would in turn cause lower performance than if Kingwin had used a backplate.


The next step is to install the 120mm fan which is held in place by a simple wire retention mechanism. This is a tried and true method which has its own set of pros and cons. The upside is it a very fast and easy way to install the fan and this is in keeping with the underlying philosophy of this installation: speed over performance. The main issue here is the fact that the wire mounts to the outside face of the fan thus limiting your choices to 25mm thick fans.


On the positive side, we did not have many issues with clearance of the fin array and our motherboard heatsinks. If your motherboard has overly tall heatsinks your installation options may be limited but we doubt many people will have issues installing this particular cooler. As for the ram, there were no issues with clearance as the neither the fins nor fan extend over the slots.


When it comes to AMD systems the installation is even faster than what we saw with an i7 setup. As you can see the XT-1264 uses the standard AMD retention mounting setup and does not block or hinder any of our DFI’s passively cooled heatsinks.

All in all both AMD and Intel based systems will have the same basic issue with this Kingwin cooler: plastic flexes when pressure is constantly applied over time and plastic is what lies at the heart of both mounting setups. However, if this is not a concern this particular product has one of the easiest and fool-proof installations we have come across in a long time.