A Closer Look

The Xigmatek Achilles is the successor to the famous HDT-S1283 heatsink. Naturally, the overall design is similar, but Xigmatek made several improvements on the design. Most obvious is the inclusion of a fourth 8mm thick heatpipe, but the fins are deeper, too.


With the cooler laying on its side the base and its exposed heatpipes can be more easily seen. Notice this time Xigmatek has nickel-plated the heatpipes, and that these pipes are slightly staggered on the base. Also note that the sides of the fins are shaped differently, and that they force the air from the fan right toward the heatpipes. This design may even help to pull cool air in from the sides with the negative pressure from the fan.


When checked with a razor blade the base is very flat from corner to corner. Many times exposed-heatpipe heatsinks have irregularities between the pipes and the aluminum base between them, causing poor contact. This exact problem was evident on the HDT-S1283 reviewed earlier, and it is good to see this has been addressed by Xigmatek.


The fan is attached to the heatsink with four rubber mounts. Each one needs to be pulled through the fan's mounting holes, then the perpendicular end slides into a groove on the side of the heatsink. This method holds the fan securely and prevents most unwanted vibrations.