Xigmatek HDT-S1283 CPU Cooler Review

FAN DESIGN

The fan that comes with this CPU cooling solution is a 7 bladed 120x120x25mm rifle bearing / Hypro bearing fan made by Adda; to be more specific this is the AD1212DX-A7BGL 120 mm low noise fan. This PWM capable fan is designed to run between 800 and 1500rpm. At its maximum nominal speed of 1500rpms it rated to move 56.3CFM with a moderate 1.57mm H20 of static pressure. As mentioned before this fan is made by Adda and as such should be relatively quiet, of course time and testing will tell on this but one thing is for certain it is a tight fan that displays very little slop and creates only a moderate amount of vibrations when running full speed.

One interesting thing about it though is the HYPRO bearing (as ADDA calls it) or the “Rifle bearing” as Xigmatek calls it, is a unique hybrid sleeve bearing design in which a normal sleeve bearing has been modified so that there is a continuous groove (that when looked at looks a lot like lands and groves of a “rifled” gun barrel) on the bearing shaft which keeps a constant flow of oil moving between the shaft and the bearing. While they may not be as quiet as normal sleeve bearings they do have a longer life expectancy. To make things even more interesting, ADDA has added magnetic a field to prevent friction between the bearing and fan hub, further increasing the life of the bearing.


Another interesting thing about this fan is that fact that it uses the newer 4 pin PWM header. This means that you can control it either by voltage or PWM. This is great if your motherboard supports it and if it doesn’t, and uses the older 3 pin header style you can simply let the extra pin out hang over the edge of the motherboard fan header without worry.

The only big annoyance we had with this fan was while the wires were nice and long, they were not sheathed. This does take away from an otherwise clean sharp looks of the unit. Hopefully future models will be sleeved as it is conspicuous by its absence. Honestly though, sleeving a short wire like this is not that difficult so if one is so inclined it would not be that hard or expensive to sleeve it.

Rather that rely on MTBF numbers, an easier and better way to get a “feel” for what the manufacturer thinks is the real length of time a product should last is to simply look at the length of warranty provided. The length of warranty has been calculated to be long enough so that customers feel secure in purchasing it BUT still short enough that it will be “out of warranty” when most fail. Taken for what it's worth, the HDT-S1283 comes with a 1 year warranty.

Overall this is a very nice fan that is everything you would want in a value oriented CPU cooling solution; as it was quiet, efficient and gets the job done without adding to the overall cost of the unit. However, there is one area in which this fan is lacking, and this was its low static pressure. This tower cooler has closely stacked fins and this shortcoming may have major negative effects on the HDT-S1283’s overall performance.