Check here for a full review of the Xigmatek 1283 http://www.frostytech.com/articlev [...] cleID=2233

Finally getting around to posting the photos and my experience with lapping a Xigmatek 1283 CPU cooler. The lapping process on this cooler was very time consuming due to the heatpipe direct touch technology. The design of the cooler means there are grooves between the copper pipes and the aluminum plate they are sandwiched into. You really have to clean those areas out as when you switch paper grains.

Some other things I noticed is that you will want to limit your strokes when going with the direction of the heat pipes as a clump can fall from between the copper and alluminum and really do a number on one the copper pipes forcing you to drop back to a rougher grain to fix it. When I got to the finer grains I didn't have this problem with much severity, but it seems that going with the direction of the pipes can lead to some nasty grooves getting in there. I don't recommend more than a few light passes when going with the grain before you turn and go back against the grain.

Without further ramblings, the photos of the heatsink after a 2000 grit finish with no pollish applied.

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/7985/mg3762ck0.jpg
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/8360/mg3760sc1.jpg
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/7606/mg3761yw7.jpg


Temps

Q6600@3.6 = 38-40 idle, 46-48 load


I'll come back and edit the temps section with numbers and photos for 3.6ghz and 4.0ghz after I get my new board (Rampage Formula) set up.


A side note about my recent board swap. After getting absolutely sick of getting stuck at below 430fsb on my Foxconn x38a board I decided it was time to swap it out for a board with better overclocking features so I ordered a Rampage Formula and cleaned up the wiring a bit more; it was pretty clean to start with. Anyway I was really pleased with how it looks so I'm posting a few shots of that as well.

Antec P182
PC P&C 750
5 Scythe Ultra Kaze fans

My little vortex.


http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/9320/img3777ra6.jpg
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/5557/img3772np1.jpg
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/6500/img3771hl9.jpg
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/4030/img3770zg8.jpg

Do you have before temps to compare it to? I think the vast majority of the enthusiasts on this site would be more interested in the gains of effort (as opposed to the final product). Either way, it looks great. Good job!

beautiful!

Looks very nice. I'd like to to know how much temp drop you got from lapping.

...dang 5 Ultra Kazes?

I can't find the SS from the pre lapped Xigmatek but I know them off the top of my head. I did a CPU lap at the same time and didn't test between since installing the pushpin style connector proved nearly impossible without removing the motherboard completely. Since I have no workbench setup I skipped any extensive step by step testing.

At any rate I only managed an average of (3c idle, 5c load)drop between the cores from the combination of the CPU and HS lapping with a Q6600 @ 3.6GHZ. I think the small gains were due to the already massive airflow in the case. I was hoping for better results tbh, but I think it will be sufficient cooling to hit 4ghz without high temps so in the end it really won't matter to me.


Also, since my old motherboard wasn't cooperating at anything over 420fsb I didn't get any testing done (pre lapping) for the speed I really want which is 450x9 for 4.05ghz. Time constraints prevented me from building the system up with the new board, testing it at 4ghz, lapping the CPU/HS and then putting it back together; it was much easier to just do the work all at once, since I'm lazy lol.


I still thought I'd put up at least a small review of the pitfalls of lapping the Xigmatek cooler which took about 8 hours of labor over the course of 2 days. It wouldn't have taken quite so long without the problems I ran into during the process. I figured people considering lapping this HS should know what they are getting into.

I think the TRUE is much easier to lap and will probably yield more gains depending on how well your supposedly concave CPU matched up to the supposedly convex TRUE to begin with. At any rate, lapping a TRUE or a CPU is much easier than lapping the Xigmatek 1283. The cleanup between each level grit paper is a nightmare with the Xigmatek because of all the grooves between the copper and aluminum.


Edit - I would also like to note that I have 4GPUs releasing a lot of heat into the case since I'm not using rivatuner to up the fan speeds on the two cards to cool them off. Until I do, I've got me 4 very hot (65-70c) chips in there which up the overall case temp.

Actually 5 was kind of misleading. With the old mobo I couldn't squeeze the 5th ultra kaze into the top exaust fan position without it grinding on the the heatsink. There is plenty of room for me to squeeze it in now, but the pictures are still showing 4 ultra kaze fans along with the stock antec fan in the top exaust.

1k, 2k, or 3k RPM? (Just curious)

I think the gains you got (3-5°C) is a great result, I would have been perfectly content with similar numbers.

Sorry for the double-post but you should read this article:

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index. [...] mitstart=4

It has tips for every type of cooler (HDT, round, square) and what the best way of applying TIM is. I know it's a pain in the butt to remove something so huge, so it's probably not worth it to remove it just to clean and reapply, but if you ever have it out again, it's probably worth following their advice for maximum performance.

question, do you remember your temps before and after the kazes? that would be interesting too. Looks great though. amazing

I used the scotch tape and credit card method because I was worried about the single drop spread method not working. Rightly so it seems. I like the solution he found though so thanks for the link (which I must say gives the impression HDT is here to stay).


Oh and Jailbait the temps I have recorded pre Kaze were from a different CPU cooler so they wouldn't really tell you much.

The 3k RPM Kaze fans did however give me a drop of 8c on my motherboard temps which should you an idea of how much air they move; I wouldn't recommend these fans for general use though as they are very loud. It doesn't bother me because it's my gaming rig which means I usually have my headset on when it's running.

5 @ 3000RPM! Holy cow. Is that thing teathered to the ground so you don't get liftoff. That thing must sound like a Prescott-based server room.

5 @3000rpm!!!that must feel like living at the airport runway for 24/7.

perp thats some nice cable management man!my case sucks at that.take a look.
http://cid-1532ae9d192e3fbe.skydri [...] David%20PC

Well done! I gotta hand it to you that cooler is not the easiest to lapp.

does anyone know exactly how thick are the copper?because he is sanding the actual pipes itself.so could be "dangerous".