Vigor Monsoon III vs. Kigmatek Dark Knight for i7

[p_su]

Which of these is a better cooler? The price is the same with a combo deal with the 920 i7 processor - so that is not an issue. Any advantages to either? I am looking to do some overclocking- but do not need to go crazy.

Vigor Monsoon III LT Dual 120mm Fan CPU Cooler Socket 1366 Ready - Retail

XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail

I know these things are huge - and was thinking of using this case -
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Any advice on this? Or a similar case that is a known good fit? Thanks!

 

[AKM880]

The Xigmatek is a very popular and good performing cooler, I would go with the Xigmatek personally. Thats just me

 

[ahslan]

I would go with the Xigmatek too...they have a great reputation for being a top performer...and its cheaper too

 

[p_su]

Thanks all. Looks like that's the best deal. Just wanted to double check, as newegg had a similar number of reviews for both.

 

[sinner01]

I own a vigor monsoon, and my friend owns a dark knight.. and there isn't a day that goes by where he wishes he got another heatsink. mine out performs his idle temps by 9-10c.. of course, the monsoon is more money..

If you can afford to pay the extra $15, get the monsoon.. If you plan on going water cooling anytime, get the dark knight... so you feel like you aren't throwing away such an amazing heatsink.

 

[p_su]

Thanks for the info sinner. Newegg is running a combo deal with another component that I need so i can get $15 off the monsoon. What heat sink compound did you guys use? same? Do any lapping on either cooler, or stock?

 

[sinner01]

Both me and my friend are running stock with no lapping. I didn't purchase the arctic silver compound, i used Coolermaster Compound that came with the heatsink.

My friend is useing some compound/grease that came with his heatsink, the stuff is probably junk he says... and might be leading to his poor temps in comparison to mine. However, we are running identical systems with Antec 1200 cases.

 

[GBerger]

I have the Dark Knight in a 690. The top stands close to the side panel but it fits. You shouldn't have any problems. I don't have it on an i7, though, so I can't speak to its performance there.

 

[Bolas]

Which of these is a better cooler? The price is the same with a combo deal with the 920 i7 processor - so that is not an issue. Any advantages to either? I am looking to do some overclocking- but do not need to go crazy.

Vigor Monsoon III LT Dual 120mm Fan CPU Cooler Socket 1366 Ready - Retail

XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail

I know these things are huge - and was thinking of using this case -
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Any advice on this? Or a similar case that is a known good fit? Thanks!

I'm interested in this question as well as to which performs better. I'm leaning towards the Vigor Monsoon III due to it being on the recommended hardware list of both anandtech and tomshardware as well as the Blue LEDs. I like blue lights so that appeals to me.

 

[vznoobie12]

The Dark Knight has noticeably more CFM than the Monsoon III. The only thing that the Monsoon has going for it is that it comes with an extra fan. But you can always buy an extra fan and run push/pull on your Dark Knight anyways; and it would cost less (or about the same, depending on how much u spend on your second fan).

So if money isn't an issue, I'd go with the Dark Knight + buying a second 120mm fan.
If money is a concern, and I pretty much agree with zip, I'd go with a hyper 212+.
Out of the three, its the hyper 212+ has the best price to performance.