Xigmatec HDT-S1283 review.

[stoanee]

Xigmatek HDT-S1283 Review

Manufacturers product page_Xigmatek HDT-S1283
Product Number-HDT-S1283
Price-click here to compare prices

This review features one of the "budget " direct touch heatpipe coolers that seem to be making quite a buzz (pun not intended) in the air cooling market nowadays. I bought one to install on my Q6600 that I have plans to overclock. Hopefully it would do at least as well as the Thermalright Ultima-90 that I had on it previously.

Features(from Xigmatek website)

-An outstanding performance air cooler with heat-pipe direct touch CPU, HDT-S1283 creates most efficient heat conduction and particular spoiler design to cool down components around CPU.
-With anti-vibration rubber for fan and 3 in 1 application retention module design, HDT-S1283 provides users not only easier and quicker installation, but also lowest noise level.

-HDT-S1283 combines 120mm PWM fan, anti-vibration rubber, 3pcs Φ8 heat-pipe, spoiler and 3 in 1 application retention module.
-H.D.T. (Heat-pipe direct touch) technology.
-Anti-vibration rubber design.

-Particular spoiler design.

-3pcs high performance U type heat-pipe.
-Light weight.

-High performance & easy installation.
-120mm highly efficient PWM fan.
-3 in 1 application: LGA775 push-pin/K8 & AM2 tool-less clip

Technical Specs

Product Name

‧ HDT-S1283

Product Number
‧ CAC-SXHH3-U02Outside Dimension
‧ Dimension120(W) x 159(H) x 50(D) mm Heat Sink
‧ Material
Aluminum Alloy‧ Heat-pipeΦ8 x 3
Fan
‧ Dimension120(W) x 120(H) x 25(D) mm‧ Voltage Rating12V ‧ Speed800~1500 R.P.M.‧ Bearing TypeRifle Bearing‧ Air Flow 56.3 CFM‧ Air Pressure1.57 mmH2O‧ Life Expectance40,000 hrs‧ Noise Level27.2 dBA‧ Connector4 Pin with PWM Weight

‧ 600g (w/fan) Thermal Resistance
‧ 0.16 ℃/W

Motherboard compatibility
-All Intel Socket 775 CPU -Core 2 Extreme / Quad / Duo -Pentium Extreme Edition / D-Celeron D-All AMD Socket AM2 / 754 / 939 / 940 CPU-Athlon 64 / FX / X2 / Opteron / Sempron

Packaging and assessories

Include in the kit is mounting hardware for Intel socket 775 and AMD AM2 cpus, thermal compound, 120mm fan, rubber mounting clips and instructions. I found the instructions clear and easy to use. The cooler was packaged in an attractive box that did a good job of protecting the components. Mine arrived in perfect condition.



Unpacking revealed a standard looking cooler with an included fan, nothing really special here. But, I wasn't worried about looks, I wanted performance.



Looking at the bottom you can see a protective piece of plastic sticky tape that when peeled off, left no discernable residue.



The first thing I did was check the base for flatness with a straightedge and found it to be perfectly flat. Good job Xigmatek! I find sanding down heatsink bases to be a tedious job at best. The next step was to mock up the cooler to the BloodIron mobo as I had a suspicion that the Nortbridge heatsink would interfere with the installation of the cooler in the direction I wanted. My suspicions were correct. Houston..we have a problem! I had to pop off the offending Northbridge heatsink (voiding the warranty on the motherboard) and run down to my local store to find a replacement that would allow me to have the clearance I needed. Luckily, I found a Zalman that fit the bill. A little bit of fiddling and some AS5 paste and I was ready to mount the cooler.



The mounting brackets for the Socket 775 were very easy to install and use the stock style of push pin mount to the motherboard, no backplate required. I applied the TIM a little differently that I usually do, I first spread a very thin layer on the cooler base to fill in the voids between the pipes then put a glob the size of a small pea on the cpu and snapped it into place on the motherboard. I did not have any issues with this and the installation was very secure
I found the fan installation to be bit fiddly as you have to get the spacing just right for the rubber mounts, slip them onto the fin, and then line up your fan to slip the rubber tabs in. The installation instructions show putting the rubber mounts onto the fan then affixing them to the cooler. I found this method to be impossible due to the close proximity of the cooler to the Northbridge heatsink and my uncooperative fingers.



Once it was all in place everything went into the case to be fired up and tested. I previously recorded the idle and load temperatures using the stock Intel cpu cooler using four instances of prime 95 to load things up and then ran the same scenario with the Xigmatek cooler. These readings were with the Q6600 at stock settings. After I did that I overclocked the Q6600 to 3.2 ghz. and took the readings. The graph tells the tale:



This Xigmatek cooler pretty well matched my Thermalright Ultima-90 heatsink temperatures and saved me about $15.00 because I did not have to buy a fan. The supplied fan was very quiet and I could not hear it over the case fans on my Coolemaster CM690. I did however have to buy the new Zalman Northbridge heatsink so that negated any savings there. Back to the positive, the Zalman brought my Northbridge temps down from 48C running Prime95 to 40c. All in all,the heatsink works very well for its intended purpose and does this all with only three heatpipes.


For myself this cooler is recommended and the only thing to watch for is the clearance with some motherboards.

[klaiboi]

man great review and thank you very much im planning a new rig with the DFI LANParty Dk P35-T2RS and the fact that you had to change the nb heatsink made change my mind on this cooler ....i think ill stick with the true 120

i also didn't realize it was a pushpin design i though it was a backplate....


thank you very much for this review::):):):)

im giving you +5 on the ncix forums as my thanks lol (EDIT: once i find a post of yours lol)