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Xigmatek Achilles S1284: Review or Preview?

Posted by Spawne32 | Published in Cooling | [-no comments-]

Last year Xigmatek stormed the performance cooling market with their patented HDT (Heat-Pipe Direct Touch) design. This unusual variation of the traditional heatsink base allows the heatpipes of the cooler to directly contact the CPU rather then having to transfer heat through a copper or aluminum baseplate. This allows the heat to be transferred into the heatsink and into the air significantly faster than standard heatsinks. Over the past several years there have been a few breakthroughs in air cooling technology: extensive use of copper, heatpipes, and now the Heat-Pipe Direct Touch system which paves the way for the next generation of coolers.

I initially had the chance to review this out of the ordinary concept back in 2007 when I was heading up my own review site, Overclockers Pulse. Being the optimist, I was excited that this heatsink would perform quite well, however due to the limited number of heatpipes, and small surface area of the HDT-S1283, I was not expecting it to be a top-end cooler. Much to my surprise, the cooler itself managed to come within a few degrees celcius of my Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme, which was…amazing to say the least. On top of the extreme performance, the cooler itself had a very low price tag, being sold for about $40 USD. That was roughly $30 dollars less then the top tier coolers at that time.

Since that time last year, Xigmatek has come a long way, releasing a slew of new heatsink designs and accessories to go with them. Heeding the word of reviewers and the community itself they continue to improve on their original models in both performance and style. Today you are going to have a first hand look at their latest release in the heatsink lineup, the Achilles S1284.

We first heard about the Achilles S1284 a few months ago when it appeared on the Xigmatek website, sporting an extra heatpipe over the S1283, and larger surface area. Since that time, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the product, which may have wound up costing some of you money you may not have wanted to spend. Several weeks ago, review websites started receiving samples of the S1284 for testing. However our excitement about its performance soon turned to dismay, as reviewers began posting problems with the S1284 design, including issues with the base not making complete contact with the CPU, which is vital for performance on the S1284 (which we will go into later). A few days after these reviews started appearing across the web, Xigmatek released a statement saying that the S1284 samples that were issued were display models only (Note: Page 6 “Xigmatek Achilles S1284 HDT CPU Cooler”- Benchmark Reviews 5/7/2008), and that the version that would hit store shelves would fix the design flaws on the Achilles. This new version was supposed to hit stores several weeks after Computex, per the response Xigmatek marketing gave in response to my inquiry. However this did not happen, roughly 2 weeks before Computex had even begun, Newegg.com, the online computer superstore, began selling the Achilles S1284 to the public for $44.99. I immediately received questions about why the S1284 was on sale, and what should be done. Should they spring for the Achilles being sold at Newegg, or should they wait under advisement of Xigmatek for a finalized model? After making another plea to Xigmatek as to why the S1284 was on sale, I was told that Newegg made the decision to sell the product, not Xigmatek, and that the new version was still scheduled for release in June. Well its almost July now, and there is still no activity in online computer stores in regards to the Achilles and its new version, and this mystery begs for answers.

Unfortunately for some of you, you may have already purchased the Achilles S1284 from Newegg, and I know some of you have. However my dedication to the overclocking and enthusiast community remains endless, and in anticipation of this review I purchased the Achilles S1284 that Newegg started selling prior to the revised version, and will be comparing them both for you today.

- Next Page - “The First Achilles” >>