Xigmatek Dark Knight-S1283V Review

Testing

When testing the Dark Knight, like any other heatisink I have reviewed, I used Prime 95 v25.9 to stress the CPU to its highest possible limit. When stressing both overclocked and stock, I stress for 1hr to get the best possible exposure and then record the temperature using RealTemp v1.00. For idle testing both stock and overclocked, I used a similar process, but I leave the system idle for a half hour and then record the temperatures.

Testing Setup:

• Processor: Intel i7 920 (Stock & 3.44GHz)
• Motherboard: DFI Lanparty UT X58-T3eH8
• Memory: Mushkin HP3 12800 7-7-7-20
• Video Card: Sapphire HD4870 1GB Toxic
• Power Supply: OCZ 700W ModXStream Pro
• Hard Drive: Seagate 320GB HDD
• Optical Drive: LG DVD-RW
• Case: Lian-Li PC60FWB
• OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit
• Ambient Temperature: 24° Celsius

Comparison Heatsink:

• ThermalRight Ultra Extreme 120
• Kingwin XT-1264
• CM Hyper 212 Plus
• Xigmatek Thor's Hammer

Lower Temperatures = Better

Overall, the Dark Knight didn't fair too badly. It did lose out in most tests by one or two degrees, which isn't too bad either. For the price, the Dark Knight perfroms pretty well compared to some of the more expensive choices on the list. One thing to note, is that some of these heatsinks are able to take advantage of multiple fans, whilst the Dark Knight is not - at least not without some creativity when mounting the second fan. Duct tape, wire or zip ties can all make it become a reality.