any experience with Xigmatek HDT-SD964?

[bobbank]

Hi all. I will be performing an upgrade on my Rig and plan to purchase the following:

Intel E8400
Gigabyte EP35-DS3L

I chose the E8400 as a sweetspot for price/performance and feeling that a higher clockrate for my dollar, which I get with a dual-core, will do my gaming more good at this time. I heard great things about Gigabyte mobo's, can't argue with the price, and don't plan to get DDR3 or RAID or firewire, so this mobo seems right for me.

Lastly I want to select a cooler for my CPU. I do not plan to do much overclocking immediately, and if I do it, I will probably not be quite as aggressive as many of you. But my apartment gets very hot in the summer and I want a nice cooler for peace-of-mind and some overclocking potential.

After a lot of research today, I have to say I really like what I see from Xigmatek. It just strikes me that they have excellent engineering, great pricing, and stellar reviews. I'm trying to decide between:

HDT-SD964
HDT-S1283

I noticed there is an SD-1284 but don't quite understand the difference.

Now, the price difference between these two is not meaningful to me. And according to reviews the 964 performs nearly as well as its bigger cousin. I'm just wondering if a slightly more compact model is better for me, in terms of easier installation, less headaches / possibility of not fitting, etc., especially if I will not be pushing the envelope anyway.

So please let me know what you think, if you have any experience with the 964, or if you think it is silly for me not to get the 1283 (or if there is some reason I ought to be looking at the 1284).

Thank you! Everyone has been so helpful.

 

[Evilonigiri]

If you're sure that the S1283 will fit, it's a better idea to go with that cooler over it's little brother. Indeed, the SD964 performs closely, but in the world of cooling, every degree counts, and there's no such thing as too cool when it comes to air-cooling.

They both have push-pins, so installation of both would be about the same. Bigger 120mm fan on the S2183 = less noise for the equivalent airflow of the 92mm fan, if you care about noise.

 

[balloonshark]

Hi bobbank,

I have the HDT-SD964 and am using it with a Q6600. The main differences between the two are the size, the number of heatpipes and the diameter of the heatpipes. The 964 has 4- 6mm copper heatpipes while the 1283 has 3- 8mm heatpipes. The newer 1284 has 4- 8mm heatpipes. You can have a look around there site for more details. http://www.xigmatek.com/

If your going to OC and it's warming up where you live and you don't have AC, I would get the 1283 or 1284. I sorta regret not doing it myself even though the 964 is all I need. Just make sure that the larger models will fit in your case if you decide to go with them.

The 1283 has free shipping (for now at newegg) so it's actually about the same price as the 964 shipped. The 964 has a smaller fan and when pushed, it is fairly loud just as the review states. When I run prime95 then fan occasionally goes to 2800rpms and it is audible over my other 4 stock case fans that run at med.

Although this was my first build, I thought the quality was good and the install went ok. I installed the rubber fan mounts on the fan first. Then I installed the heatsink to the cpu and finally the fan to the heatsink afterwards.

Here is a link of how to apply the TIM to the HDT type of coolers.
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=170&Itemid=1&limit=1&limitstart=4

The way I have my fan speed set in my BIOS, temps never go above 55, 55, 47,49 in Core Temp when running prime95 and they idle at 35,33,27,33 with an ambient temp of 22C. It should be getting close to the end of my AS5 curing time (40 more hours). I should also note that I wasn't happy with the way I applied the TIM when I installed it and may reinstall.

I hope this helps,
balloonshark

 

[bobbank]

OK, so I think tonight I will take apart my box and see whether or not the 1283 / 1284 will fit. I can get the total dimensions from newegg and just get a tape measure in there.

I have a Coolermaster aluminum mid-tower. Do you suppose I should have any trouble fitting it? I'll check tonight to make sure.

 

[balloonshark]

Make sure to unplug the box before sticking the tape measure in the case. I'm not sure if the 1283/1284 will fit or not. My case is an Antec p182 and it's 8.1" wide and yours is 7.8". If you know of anyone that has a Thermalright Ultra Extreme in a case like yours then it will fit. Hopefully someone with a similar case as yours will provide more advice.

 

[bobbank]

Well, it didn't fit!

I would need about a quarter or half an inch more depth.. so in this case the tower would just need to be wider. Actually, now that I have seen it in my case, I'm surprised anyone can fit it.

But..

A little feedback on the S1283 just based on installing it and using it (with case open lol).

First, installation was very easy. However, the pushpins used to fasten it, while they do secure it, are kind of tricky. You are going to have to put enough pressure on it that you'll worry about breaking it. So just be careful. I would have liked more guidance from the instructions (they are very minimal), especially about positioning the fan and spoiler. The rubber nubs that hold the fan to the heatsink are a little hard to get in place also - again, you're going to feel that you're about to rip them apart by the time you put enough pressure to get them through that hole on the fan.

Overall - the thing is almost completely silent, installed easily (what I said above is just minor gripes), oh and the base was flat - passed the razor test without needing any sandpaper. You could tell immediately upon working with it that it was well-engineered and precisely manufactured.

I will be replacing it with its smaller sibling, but definitley impressed by this company.

When you do your measurements.. remember that one of the unit's best features is the extra clearance it gives you above the mobo, but that it also means you need significantly more than 120mm in order for it to fit in you case.

 

[Evilonigiri]

Thanks for the little review. I was planning on getting one, and I made sure it'll fit