Xigmatek Achilles S1284

Xigmatek has really made a name for themselves over the past year thanks to the Heat-pipe Direct Touch technology that they have embraced. When Benchmark Reviews originally reviewed the HDT-S1283 cooler we were absolutely astonished by the incredible results. Once again, we are the very first to test the newest hardware, and you'll be impressed to know that this product delivers the performance needed by overclockers while fulfilling the enthusiasts wish list for attractive features. Benchmark Reviews introduces the Xigmatek Achilles S1284 HDT CPU Cooler CAC-SXHH4-U02 and tests the performance against the top competitors.

Since we have very recently published our Best CPU Cooler Performance - Q1 2008 article, there's still another two months remaining before the follow-up is due out. We know that HDT (Heat-pipe Direct Touch) technology has turned the CPU cooler industry on its ear, and enthusiasts are still clinging onto their old technology for hopes that it will forever be the best. After the OCZ Vendetta 2 (OCZTVEND2) was declared the champion, and a handful of other HDT coolers trailed closely behind, old products like the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme were knocked down a few pegs from the top of the list. This effectively stirred a revolt in the enthusiast and overclocker ranks, with confusion and chaos ensuing. But have no fear, Benchmark Reviews is here.

In this review, we have spent an entire day testing and re-testing some of the most popular coolers available. Even the "TRUE" fan-boys should rejoice, because we've retested this product (four different installs) to make sure we put the controversy to rest. Now, we don't want to give up too many details so early on the article, not this will stop the majority of people from skipping directly the test results, but there's something a few "readers" might find interesting if they peruse though this entire article... think of it as a buyer beware warning, or two.

Computer hardware is an ever-evolving industry, and since Moores law only applies to an exponentially growing transistor count then there should probably be another law for cooling. In the very recent past there have been two major trends which have accelerated the performance potential of CPU cooler. That first development was the use of heat-pipes to directly contact with the CPU surface; which resulted in the Heat-pipe Direct Touch technology. The second development is by no mean a new concept, just new to our industry in specific. For many years now heatsinks have been full of right angles, but very recently companies have begun to recognize the need to disrupt smooth airflow and reduce the laminar skin effect which allows air to travel just above the solid surface. Some manufacturers have used at least one of these new concepts in their product design, and only a few are beginning to incorporate both. Benchmark Reviews will see how much this effects the overall performance as we test a large segment of products.

Our scope is limited to stand-alone products only, meaning those products which can be installed and operated without additional critical components needed or kit construction. This generally excludes nearly all liquid cooling systems, which may offer better performance than the products we test. Suffice it to say however, the vast majority of gamers and enthusiasts are using air-cooled solutions and therefore we target this article towards them.

Manufacturers are not expected to enjoy this sort of comparison, since we level the playing field by replacing their included fan (whenever applicable) with a common unit which we then use in testing every CPU cooler unit in our product group. Manufacturers regularly include fans with their CPU cooler products, and more often than not these fans are very high RPM units which offer great airflow at the expense of an obnoxiously loud noise level. By using the same model of cooling fan throughout our testing, we can assure our results are comparable across the board, and no one product will receive the advantage of a higher-performing fan. This is one of the more significant changes we have made to our test methodology, since many of the benchmark tests we have conducted in the past have compared the total package. Ultimately we're more interested isolating the product and discovering the best CPU cooler performance, and we believe that you'll feel the same way.

We encourage hardware enthusiasts to utilize the equipment available to them, and select the cooling fan that best suits their needs. Just keep in mind that exceptional cooling performance must begin with the CPU cooler, and end with the cooling fan. It's the foundation of the unit that makes a difference, which is exactly what we're after in this article.

About the company: Xigmatek Co, Ltd.

XIGMATEK, a European company, was established in 2005 with the aim of becoming one of the world leaders in the Thermal field. In XIGMATEK, the major members of management have many years experience in Thermal industry, PC, manufacturing and other applications. With our fruitful experience, we have full confidence that we can provide not only the best, reliable, environmental and performing Thermal/Cooling systems but excellent service also to fulfill global user demand.

Purpose and targets of becoming one of the worlds leaders in thermal PC Industry were set for Xigmatek Co. Ltd in 2005, the founding year! To ensure reaching this project aim, Xigmatek's management followed up with hard work, experience and customer friendly business style.

Honing one of the world's most efficient manufacturing operations, Integration Presence in major economic regions, being tied up with most important strategic alliances between suppliers and academia and further majority investments in R&D are some of Xigmatek's aggressive enhancement strategies.

Combining the cream of product designers, R&D engineers and technical people (main team in Germany) Xigmatek is proud and full of confidence to offer excellent quality products and service to cover the customers requirements and demands.

Within the standard channels as the consumer market and the distributing electrical appliances, Xigmatek will keep on focusing on development and set up even new sales channels to comply with ever-changing demands and requirements.

Several years of experiences company background in Thermal IT industry provides our customer the best, reliable, environmental and performing Thermal/Cooling Systems including excellent Service to fulfill global users and customers demands.

Thermally Conductive Element Reference

Manufacturers have made a small fortune off of misinformation and confusion tactics. Marketing departments often times neglect to refer back to solid science when making claims, which is why we have assembled a complete list of thermally conductive elements in the reference chart below.

It's very well known that Silver, Copper, Gold, and Aluminum together comprise top four most thermally conductive elements. However, without knowing the thermal conductance of these elements you might think the performance was close. As it turns out, Silver and Copper both offer nearly twice the performance of Aluminum when transferring thermal energy such as heat. Aluminum is the least expensive top-tier metal, which explains the popularity.

Most Thermal Interface Material and CPU coolers use several different elemental ingredients to work together, but after a careful inspection of the performance levels it comes as a surprise to me that some of the most popular products make use of such poor conductors. Elements such as Nickel are less than one-quarter as effective as Copper in conducting thermal energy, which places it on par with Iron and Chrome.

Recipes usually call for only the finest ingredients, and the very same principal is true for overclocker and hardware enthusiast products. Thermal pastes are often times mixed from at least a dozen different components, while heatsink coolers may use only one or two different metals. Armed with the knowledge above, you might expect any silver-based product to be a clear-cut winner... but building a superior product by design is different than what you receive in execution.

Achilles S1284 HDT CPU Cooler

Life for Heat-Pipe Direct Touch products first started on February 2007 in Japan, where Zaward introduced their ZikaRay cooler. It didn't take long before their were versions of this product spawning from every corner of the globe. Xigmatek was the first major name to embrace the HDT technology, and revamped their entire European product line with the new exposed copper design. Like most things, they start small and grow big, and that's exactly how Xigmatek crafted their product line.

Inheriting a design from the HDT-S1283 it is derived from, Xigmatek's Achilles S1284 (SKU CAC-SXHH4-U02) offers some much needed glamour to the already market-proven high-performance cooling solution. With four staggered Nickel-plated copper heat-pipe rods and a transparent orange PWM fan housing four white LED lights, the Red Scorpion not only performs well but also looks very attractive. Benchmark Reviews has long since been a believer of the excellent performance Heat-pipe Direct Touch coolers have offered, and since the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 has been a fan favorite for almost a year now it will be interesting to see how the nickel plating will impact performance.

Similar to Xigmatek's recent Red Scorpion S1283 HDT CPU Cooler, the Achilles S1284 sports a nice orage fan with smoky dark frame. The LED's on this 120mm fan shine white and light the blades up to a very firey amber glow. Xigmatek uses a PLA12025S12L-4 12V 0.20A PWM fan, which includes four anti-vibration rubber latches to minimize vibration and noise.

In most circumstances the Xigmatek Achilles S1284 is very similar in construction and design to the HDT-S1283 CPU cooler. The heat-pipe rods are the same size but now have a nickel plating over them, however the number of rods has been raised from three to four. The finsink is among the first major change in the entire Xigmatek HDT series, with new jagged edges to expose more cooling surface area.

Notice from the image above that the Achilles S1284 looks a lot like the Red Scorpion S1283 with the nickel plated copper heat-pipe rods, and has had the surface ground flat and level after the rods are pressed into place. Unlike the Scorpion, the Achilles has a staggered rod design that doesn't appear to give an aligned contact patch. Even in this close-up view, the grain in very minimal and the surface area is very large.

In our next section, Benchmark Reviews puts the camera into macro mode and zooms in for a close-up look at the Achilles S1284 HDT CPU Cooler CAC-SXHH4-U02.

CAC-SXHH4-U02 Detailed Features

Four is the number, not three, nor two, nary it be five, but it shall be four (in my worst Monte Python: Search for the Holy Grail reference). Xigmatek has experimented with the fourth heat-pipe in a few of the recent products, such as the HDT-SD964. There is a whole new dynamic put into place when you transition the footprint from three heat-pipe rods to four, and since the surface area of the CPU is finite the manufacturer must take care to design the contact surface to match the intended processor group.

If you look closely at the image below, you might notice that the mounting holes are not threaded. This is due to the reduced edge area that is left after a fourth 8-gauge heat-pipe rod has been added to the base.

Similar to the design we have seen in the Noctua NH-U12P, Xigmatek has utilized a staggered heat-pipe rod design in the Achilles S1284. The benefit to this design is that it allows the airflow to directly oppose the heat-pipe rod and draw heat away as it circulates past. More designs are including this technique, which has helped accomplish a very small margin of added performance.

Past heatsink fins have been rather square, with right angles at each corner. New in the Achilles S1284 are some rakish angles which help add just a small amount of additional surface area to radiate away thermal energy. So far, the CAC-SXHH4-U02 part number is the only one in the Xigmatek lineup to include this finsink design.

I was a big fan of the easy installation that came with the first HDT-S1283 design, despite the reduced contact pressure afforded to screw-type retaining brackets. The push-pin clip system returns with the Achilles S1284, as the added fourth heat-pipe rod reduces the screw size and mounting edge area. The push-pin clip system fits Intel LGA775 sockets, and a retaining clamp is used for AMD systems, making it easy to install while still offering good performance for users.

Achilles S1284 Features

• H.D.T. (Heat-pipe direct touch) technology
• Anti-vibration rubber design
• Transparent fan with colorful LED lights
• 4pcs Φ8mm high performance U type heat-pipes
• Light weight
• High performance & easy installation
• 120mm highly efficient PWM fan
• 3 in 1 application: LGA775 push-pin/K8 & AM2 tool-less clip.

CAC-SXHH4-U02 Specifications

• Product Name: Achilles S1284
• Product Number: CAC-SXHH4-U02
• Outside Dimension (W) x (H) x (D) mm 120 x 60 x 159
• Heat Sink Material: Aluminum Alloy
• Fan Dimension (W) x (H) x (D) mm 120 x 120 x 25
• Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) Fan
  • Voltage Rating (V) 12V
  • Speed (R.P.M.) 800~1500 R.P.M.
  • Bearing Type: Long Life Bearing
  • Air Flow (CFM) 61.375 CFM
  • Air Pressure (mm H2O) 1.516 mm H2O
  • Life Expectancy (hrs) 50,000 hrs
  • Noise Level (dB) 20.64 dBA
  • Connector 4 Pin with PWM
  • Weight (g) 660g (w/fan)

Thermal Interface Material Application

Over the past several months, I have read an unreasonable number of discussion forum posts which offer inaccurate and often times incorrect information. It's not really all that surprising to read poorly conceived information on the Internet, which seems to be a anonymous means of passing off opinion for fact. As a general rule we don't let too many things go untested, and the advice of wanna-be experts is not doing the hardware enthusiast and overclocker community any good. In this article, Benchmark Reviews dispels myth and establishes fact on the topic of proper application in our Best Thermal Paste Application Methods article.

After we wrote our 33-Way Thermal Interface Material Comparison article, many enthusiasts argued that by spreading out the TIM with a latex glove (or finger cover) was not the best way to distribute the interface material. Most answers from both the professional reviewer industry as well as enthusiast community claim that you should use a single drop "about the size of a pea". Well, we tried that advice, and it turns out that maybe the community isn't as keen as they thought. The example image below is of a few frozen peas beside a small BB size drop of OCZ Freeze TIM. The image beside it is of the same cooler two hours later after we completed testing.

After discussing this topic with real industry experts who are much more informed of the process, they offered some specific advice that didn't appear to be a "one size fits all" answer:

1. CPU Cooling products which operate below the ambient room temperature (some Peltier and Thermo-electric coolers for example) should not use silicon-based materials because condensation may occur and accelerate compound separation.
2. All "white" style TIM's exhibit compound breakdown over time due to their thin viscosity and ceramic base (usually beryllium oxide, aluminium nitride and oxide, zinc oxide, and silicon dioxide). These interface materials should not be used from older "stale" stock without first mixing the material very well.
3. Thicker carbon and metal-based TIM's may benefit from several thermal cycles to establish a "cure" period which allows expanding and contracting surfaces to smooth out any inconsistencies and further level the material.

The more we researched this subject, the more we discovered that because there are so many different cooling solutions on the market it becomes impossible to give generalized advice to specific situations. This is where our testing comes into play. For the tests in this article, the processor received a thin layer of thermal paste which was kept consistent throughout every test. Ultimately it is the contact pressure of the coolers retaining system that is created when the elements are mounted with enough force which ensure excellent thermal conductivity between metals. With this principal kept in mind, those coolers with the stronger retaining system will often times benefit from the improved thermal conductance.

Surface Finish Impact

Here's the part I've been waiting to reveal... the importance of surface finish in relation to the impact on thermal conductivity. CPU coolers primarily depend on two heat transfer methods: conduction and radiation (heat-pipes also add convection). This being the case, let's start with conduction as it related to the mating surface between a heat source and a cooler.

Because of their density, metals are the best conductors of thermal energy. As density decreases so does conduction, which relegates fluids to be naturally less conductive. So ideally the less fluid between metals, the better heat will transfer between them. Ultimately, this means that the perfectly flat and well-polished surface (Noctua NH-U12P) is going to be preferred over the rougher and less even surface which required more TIM to fill the gaps (Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme).

Heat radiation is different however, and requires exactly the opposite. Because gases (air) are naturally poor heat conductors, surface area is key to the performance of cooling through radiation. This type of cooling is what you commonly see automobile radiators, which utilize large arrays of metal fins to radiate heat to be drawn away by a fan. The same is true for the CPU cooler, which needs as much surface area as possible to optimize it's radiative effects. OCZ and others have recognized that the surface of a heatsink does not have to be the sum of its overall size. By adding dimples and bends, the surface area is increased without growing the overall size.

To sum it all up, science teaches us that a smooth flat mating surface is ideal for CPU coolers so that less Thermal Interface Material is used. Because these coolers are using fans to force air over the heatsinks fins, the overall surface area of those fins should be as large and uneven as possible. In the next section we'll find out just how well all of these principals worked for our collection of test products.

Testing Methodology

Testing was conducted in a loosely scientific manner. Ambient room temperatures levels were held to within one degree of fluctuation measured at static point beside the test equipment with a calibrated digital thermometer. All coolers had their original manufacturer-supplied fan removed and replaced with our common test fan listed in the support equipment section below. Each product then received the same amount of Thermal Interface Material (specified below), which amounted to roughly a BB-sized drop placed onto the center of the CPU. The CPU cooler product being tested was then laid down flat onto the CPU, and compressed to the motherboard using the supplied retaining mechanism. If the mounting mechanism used only two point of force, they were tightened in alternation; standard clip-style mounting with four securing points were compressed using the cross-over method. Once installed, the system was tested for a baseline reading prior to testing.

At the start of each test, the ambient room temperature was measured to track any fluctuation throughout the testing period. Lavalys EVEREST Ultimate Engineer Version 4.20.1170 was then utilized to create core loads and measure each individual CPU core temperature. It's important to note that software-based temperature readings reflect the thermistor output as recorded by the BIOS. For this reason, it is critically important to use the exact same software and BIOS versions throughout the entire test cycle, or the results will be incomparable. All of the units compared in our results were tested on the same motherboard using the same BIOS and software, with only the product itself changing in each test. These readings are neither absolute nor calibrated, since every BIOS is programmed differently. Nevertheless, all results are still comparable and relative to each products in our test bed.

One unfortunate problem is that CPU's report temperatures as a whole number and not in fractions. This in turn causes the motherboard BIOS and subsequent software applications such as EVEREST to also report to the nearest whole number. To compensate for this, our tests were conducted several times after complete power down thermal cycles. Conversely, the ambient room temperature levels were all recorded and accurate to one-tenth of a degree Celsius.

Four heat-pipe rods may be just too much for the footprint of todays Integrated Heat Spreaders. The image above depicts where an Intel E8200 makes contact with the Xigmatek Achilles S1283. While the outer pipes make some contact, the two center rods are offset and do not make 100% contact with the processor.

Test System

• Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X48T-DQ6 (Intel X48 Chipset) with version F4 BIOS
• System Memory: Corsair PC3-14400 DDR3 1800MHz
• Processor: Intel E8200 Core 2 Duo 2.66GHz (Overclocked to 3.6 GHz)
• Audio: HT Omega Claro Plus+ AD8620BR Op Amp Sound Card
• Video: Gigabyte GV-NX98X1GHI-B GeForce 9800 GX2
• Disk Drive 1: Western Digital 74GB WD740ADFD 10,000 RPM SATA
• Disk Drive 2: (Paging File) MemoRight GT MR25.2-064S 2.5-Inch 64GB SATA SSD
• Optical Drive: ASUS BC-1205PT SATA Blu-ray Disc
• Enclosure: Lian Li PC-B25B Black Aluminum Mid-Tower ATX Case
• PSU: ePower Technology EP-1200P10 xScale 1200W PSU
• Monitor: Honeywell 22-Inch LCD Monitor MT-SY-HWLM2216
• Operating System: Windows XP Professional SP-2 (optimized to 16 processes at idle)

Support Equipment

• OCZ Freeze Thermal Interface Material (No curing time necessary or given)
• AD1212HX-A7BGL 120mm cooling fan, 12V 0.44A, Rated for 99.6 CFM @ 2200 RPM
• AD0912HX-A7BGL 92mm cooling fan, 12V 0.30A, Rated for 54.6 CFM @ 2800 RPM

All of our tests are conducted using two different product orientations: horizontal and vertical. So far as we can tell Benchmark Reviews is probably the first website to test with this method; but it's very likely that others will soon follow our lead. At the start of our test period, the test system is orientated sideways in a flat "desktop" position (similar to an HTPC or server unit) which places the motherboard and processor horizontally to face up towards the ceiling. Next, the computer system is powered on and EVEREST system stability tests are started with Stress CPU and Stress FPU options selected. Then for a minimum of ten minutes EVEREST loads each CPU core to 100% usage, which drives the temperature to its highest point. Finally, once temperatures have sustained a plateau, the ending ambient room temperature and CPU core levels are recorded and the first benchmark segment is complete. Lavalys EVEREST remains running at full load into the next test segment.

The second benchmark segment begins by simply turning the test system vertically upright, so that the motherboard and CPU are facing to the side (standard tower orientation). Many of the products we have tested utilize a "U" pattern in the heat-pipe rods, and the upright system orientation favors this particular product design because it removes the effect of gravity on the heat-pipes' thermal cycle. For a minimum of five additional minutes EVEREST continues to load each CPU core, and once temperatures have plateaued the ending ambient room temperature and CPU core levels are recorded. This process was identical for all cooling solutions used in our benchmark tests segments.

CPU Cooler Test Results

Benchmark Reviews is still a rather new website, even though we have just proudly completed our first year on the web. So in the spirit of improving on the old ways of testing, we have decided it was time for the industry to see things from a new perspective. Beginning with this review series, Benchmark Reviews is doing two things to change the way CPU coolers are tested:

1. We will test coolers using a common fan (as listed in the previous page) so that air speed and volume between products do not have an impact on our results.
2. We will test coolers in both a horizontal and vertical position, since heat-pipes are effected by product orientation and gravity.

Like we mentioned at the beginning of this article, the CPU cooler must perform for itself before a fan can improve upon it. So with the test system positioned horizontally based on our new test methodology, we recrded the benchmark results over the course of three or more tests and published the average. Because a much faster fan was used on these products, the test results differed slightly from those published in the Best CPU Cooler Performance - Q1 2008 article.

The To begin with, OCZ Vendetta 2 (OCZTVEND2) made the top of the list once again, but the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme was right behind it in performance. The Kingwin RVT-12025 clone of the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 finished with near-identical thermal delta temperatures placing them third and fourth (they are the same product after all). Kingwins 92mm Revolution RVT-9225 made fifth place, follwed by our featured test product, the Xigmatek Achilles S1284 HDT CPU Cooler CAC-SXHH4-U02 which placed in sixth place, largely in part to what I consider to be a design flaw as evidenced by the image on the previous page. The OCZ Vendetta didn't improve much over our previous test results, and showed slightly more than a four degree improvement over the stock Intel LGA775 cooling solution.

It was interesting to see the order of performance get shuffled by the horizontal positioning of our test system. Even more interesting was the immediate effect it had on our test results. Here is an example of the effect on performance that turning a heat-pipe CPU cooler from a vertically-standing position to the normal horizontal position will have:

In every case where the CPU cooler used a "U" shaped heat pipe rod in their design, having the unit positioned with the rods running horizontally proved to offer a cooling benefit. This was especially true for the Xigmatek Red Scorpion S1283, which had the most significant drop in temperature out of the bunch. This goes to show you that heat-pipes are in fact prone to suffer the effects of gravity in their design. Once the vapor cools and becomes liquid, it seems to have an easier time completing the thermal circuit from side to side than it does from top to bottom. So let's see how these coolers performed with the stress of gravity removed from them:

When I tested each cooler, I made certain to keep the hardware settings identical across the test platform. This would enable me to clearly compare the performance of each product under identical conditions. While the ambient room temperature did fluctuate between 23.8~24.2°C, this would not be enough to cause a noticeable impact on our test results. For the most part, the product performance in this vertical position was very close to the same order as it was horizontally. Almost all of the products dropped a few degrees, which is something you'll want to consider if you're building an HTPC that sits horizontally.

For most users with a tower-style computer case, the vertical test results are the most important. Gravity does play a very minor role in the performance of heat-pipe coolers, but not nearly enough to make or break the benefits of having the technology.

The OCZ Vendetta 2 led the pack by a fair margin, which cements our previous results from tests conducted over a month ago on a different system. Right behind the OCZTVEND2 and tied for second place are the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 and Kingwin RVT-12025 clone. Although falling a little more behind, Thermalright's Ultra-120 eXtreme secured a solid third place in the vertical test. Trailing behind the "TRUE" is the Xigmatek Achilles S1284 for fourth place. Rounding out the final top-tier products is the RVT-9225 92mm cooler with the OCZ 92mm Vendetta in tow for sixth place.

EDITORS NOTE 05/09/2008: Xigmatek has issued to following statement following the release of our article:

Hi Olin: I need officially to apologize for this issue, the Achilles you have received was sending accidentally. It was supposed only to be sending for showing purpose. As I mentioned before, the Achilles you got wasn't finalized in reference of technical... We will update you very soon with the finalized model after Computex as one of our first reviewers worldwide. Tony Sahin, Xigmatek

HDT Final Thoughts

Like it or not, the Heat-pipe Direct Touch feature is proving itself a top-performer, and putting the older cooling solutions closer to the bottom of the pile. I know that many enthusiasts believe the Thermalright's Ultra-120 eXtreme is the best cooling solution ever, hands down. I can't change how they feel about a particular product, because that's not my job. But I can assure you that Benchmark Reviews has worked very closely with Thermalright to ensure testing is conducted as it should be, and that all of our facts are correct about their cooler (such as the textured convex finish which reduces contact area, and the nickel-plated design which reduces thermal efficiency). The bottom line is that Xigmatek has introduced a whole line of products which offer better cooling performance right out of the box; not aftermarket fan purchase or special effort given to lapping the surface is necessary.

No doubt there will be a few readers who will scoff at my results, and claim that anyone with ten minutes of experience will "lap" the processor's integrated heat spreader smooth as well as polish the CPU coolers mating surface. Sure, I concede that the bonafide overclocker with more time on his/her hands than the average hardware enthusiast will wet-sand their equipment so that they can get a few extra degrees of cooling performance. But for the other 99.99% of the consumer population, this is what you can expect from these cooling products if you want the CPU cooler to perform right out of the box.

There are numerous ways to improve upon the performance that any one of these products has offered, so claiming that "if you do this or that" to one product will not exactly put it ahead of another. You could file and polish the mating surface of any one of the Heat-pipe Direct Touch coolers and use Xigmatek's Crossbow ACK-I7751 bolt-though backplate mounting kit to exert the same benefit (but not on the Achilles S1284, which requires a different kit not yet released). Either way you look at it, you'll have to compare stock-for-stock or modified against modified; just like anything else.

Achilles S1284 Conclusion

For the first time in the history of CPU cooler reviews, I have finally found a product package worthy of a perfect 10. Xigmatek touches on our inner Spartan, and delivers a combination of playful artwork with informative statistics on their retain package. More effective than anything, is that for the first time in HDT product history, the base of the cooler with its exposed heat-pipe surface are right at the forefront of attention and kept in clear view. Kudos to Xigmatek for changing the face of product packaging. Believe me, if you saw the Achilles S1284 sitting on a shelf, you couldn't resist the urge to pick it up.

While the CAC-SXHH4-U02 brings a new dimension to the HDT lineup, Xigmatek could have spent just a little more effort in designing the finsink array. Overall, the appearance is solid and perfectly matches the colorful hues of the Achilles LED fan to the nickel-plating on the heat-pipe rods. In future revisions, I would enjoy it if Xigmatek stepped up the finsink profile with some more aggressive changes; a few notches out of the sides reduces total plate surface area, and would have been better applied between the fins themselves.

So many products have made their way to the Benchmark Reviews test lab, and so many products have come so close to perfection. Xigmatek is onto something good with the direction they've taken in the Achilles S1284, but it has a few design flaws that still need some revision. The staggered heat-pipe rods are a performance plus, but when they reduce the contact surface to the processor (see test notes page) it makes little difference how much performance they can add. The general construction of the CAC-SXHH4-U02 is top notch, and I have no other complaints aside from this one glaring defect.

The Achilles S1284 is not the second coming of HDT technology, and it's not quite on par with the Xigmatek HDT-S1283, but it still manages to trail directly behind products like the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme despite its flaws. Functionality is a relative term for this article, since Benchmark Reviews compared some of the very best cooling solutions available, yet the Achilles S1284 will still handle some incredible work loads while looking fierce at the same time.

Since Benchmark Reviews was able to conduct all product tests and review the Achilles S1284 HDT CPU Cooler all in the same day that one of only two samples made available were delivered, there wasn't any pricing available for the CAC-SXHH4-U02 SKU. Now just over a week later, the Xigmatek Achilles S1294 is available at NewEgg.com for $44.99. This price point seems on the high-side of coolers in this product class.

In conclusion, I can recommend the Xigmatek Achilles S1284 HDT cooling solution to only modest overclockers and hardware enthusiast looking to keep their system looking sharp while still keeping it cool. Heat-pipe Direct Touch has a tendency to chill everything it touches, as our collection of various tests have indicated, so no matter what your application is you can't really go wrong with the Achilles S1294.

EDITORS NOTE 05/09/2008: Xigmatek has issued to following statement following the release of our article:

Hi Olin: I need officially to apologize for this issue, the Achilles you have received was sending accidentally. It was supposed only to be sending for showing purpose. As I mentioned before, the Achilles you got wasn't finalized in reference of technical... We will update you very soon with the finalized model after Computex as one of our first reviewers worldwide. Tony Sahin, Xigmatek

EDITORS NOTE 05/20/2008: The full retail version of the Achilles S1294 went on sale today. Previous discussions with Xigmatek Marketing had indicated that a new 'revised' version of the Achilles S1284 would be made available after June 4th. Benchmark Reviews will still test and publish the results for the second version of the Achilles S1284 once we receive it.

Pros:

+ Competes directly with our top-five finishers from Best CPU Cooler Performance - Q1 2008
+ Four large 8-gauge copper heat-pipe rods in staggered positions
+ Nickel plated copper rods retain gas vapor for prolonged product life
+ Powerful yet quiet 120mm LED fan
+ Very easy to install - no motherboard removal necessary
+ Lightweight cooling solution
+ Super-efficient Heat-pipe Direct Touch design
+ Strong push-pin compression style mounting clips

Cons:

- Does not completely cover processor contact surface
- Nickel plating retains heat and slightly reduces performance
- Unpolished mounting base
- Silicon TIM material supplied oxidizes copper
- No spare soft rubber T-clip supplied for fan

Ratings:

• Presentation: 10.0
• Appearance: 9.75
• Construction: 7.50
• Functionality: 8.50
• Value: N/A

Final Score: 8.94

Questions? Comments? Benchmark Reviews really wants your feedback. We invite you to leave your remarks in our Discussion Forum.

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• AMD Phenom-II X6-1075T CPU HDT75TFBGRBOX
• NZXT HAVIK 140 CPU Cooler
• Insignia NSLCD32 32 Inch HDTV Widescreen LCD Monitor
• Coolit Vantage A.L.C. CPU Cooler
• nMedia System ICETANK CPU Cooler
• Cooler Master V6GT CPU Cooler
• ASUS MY-CINEMA PHC3-150 TV-Tuner Card