Xigmatek HDT S1284 CPU Cooler Review

Page 2 - Closer look

Xigmatek HDT S1284 surprisingly enough comes in a box that not only displays list of its features but also allows you to see the actual product (well... ok the fan at least):

The cooler itself is well packed and protected. The bundle of course provides short manual, and mounting brackets for the different processor sockets:

The fins of the Xigmatek HDT S1284 radiator are placed rather scarcely, which is beneficial for its quiet work. They also has quite complex design, which we're more than sure has a purpose for improving cooler efficiency. You can see it compared to the recently reviewed by us Sunbeam Core-Contact Freezer, that is from the same class of products:

H.D.T. (Heat-pipe direct touch) means exactly that – the heatpipes are in direct contact with the processor, furthermore these particular heatpipes are U-shaped. We see two advantages with this – firstly they being in direct contact, the liquid inside reaches boiling point faster and the thermal transfer in general is better. And second - the evaporated liquid raises in two directions (U-shaped, remember?) cooling in this manner more rapidly:

Installing Xigmatek HDT S1284 is simple and fast, since it uses standard brackets and adding a plate on the back of your motherboard is not required. Then again, you might have to remove the fan when installing the cooler, in order to get better access to the brackets. That is not a problem since it is kept in place by rubber studs and its mounting/unmounting is easy:

The studs in question also keep in check the fan vibrations and keep the cooler quiet. The fan itself uses PWM in order to keep quiet along with HYPRO bearings. The bearings are in fact sleeve bearings with grooves on the axis that drive out the dust and aid lubrication. This results in them being more quiet than ball bearing ones while still having longer life than plain sleeve bearing fans.