- Joined
- Dec 28, 2009
- Location
- under a heatsink
I would have liked to have done a better review of this cooler, but unfortunately I don't have anything relevant to compare it to or a CPU hot enough to test with, so this is more like a collection of my results using the KingWin XT-1264 CPU Cooler.
Introduction:
For a while now I've been dealing with some crappy CPU and NB cooling. I tried a Thermaltake SpinQ CPU cooler with some decent results. I was able to hit 3.6GHz (3.6GHz was stable, but my VRM's and NB were too hot to keep it there) with my Athlon Kuma 7750BE. I then sold that cooler to a friend who wanted it as I figured I'd get something better. A few days ago I decided I would try out the cheapest 120mm tower style CPU cooler I could find. And behold the KingWin XT-1264. The cooler only cost me around $25 on NewEgg, and I've heard you can get them as low as $18 at some other online retailers, now that's what I call budget. I also picked up a Rosewill 120mm blue LED case fan (RFX-120BL) and a Cooler Master chipset blue LED HSF as well so I could push the the voltage without worrying.
First Impressions:
The box it came in is pretty typical I guess, just a plastic shell to hold the cooler and fan. The package also comes with 2 fan clips (the bottom "wing" prevents a push/pull config so only one fan can be mounted) a user manual, a packet of thermal paste, an AMD bracket, and 2 push-pin style brackets for 1366 and 775 mounting.
I would have liked better packaging to help protect it during shipping (some of the fins were slightly bent, but were easy enough to bend back) but I guess that's what you expect for so cheap.
The heatsink itself isn't the biggest of its class, but it sure ain't small!
The heatsink doesn't appear to be anything special, although it does have an interesting design if you look at the bottom. The finsinks are extended all the fan down to the CPU block, where they are joined by not only the heatpipes, but also by a large array of aluminum square pins coming off the CPU block. This design may be what will give it an edge over other coolers similar to it.
This cooler is advertised with HTC technology (heat pipe touch chip) which is pretty much the same as other heatpipe touch technologies like what you see with the Sunbeam core contact freezer. All this means is that the heatpipes are not molded into the base of the cooler, but are what you see in the above picture, this allows them to make direct contact with the CPU. Unfortunately, this type of base is hard to lap because the pipes are really thin, and you don't want to sand through them. Also, if you look closely, you can see where there are grooves between the copper heatpipes and the aluminum base, this will require a unique way of applying the thermal paste. The base on the XT-1264 was far from perfect, there were several pocks and pits on the surface and you could clearly see the grooves cut in from using a grinder to grind the pipes flat. The quality of the base reflects the price I paid I guess, but overall it wasn't that bad.
Specs:
Here is a list of the specs of the KingWin XT-1264:
Heatsink Specs:
- Dimensions: 120mm (L) x 74mm (W) x 150mm (H)
- Material: Aluminum Alloy (base and fins) / Copper (heatpipes)
- Heatpipes: 4 x U-shaped 6mm (Diameter)
- Weight: 467g (with fan) / ~380g (estimate without fan)
Fans Specs:
- Dimensions: 120mm (L) x 120mm (H) x 25mm (W)
- Type: PWM fan
- Voltage: 12v (max speed)
- Speed (RPM): 700 - 2400
- Bearing Type: N.D.B. Bearing
- Air Flow (CFM): 82.0 - 101.2
- Static Pressure (mmAQ): 3.28 - 3.97
- Life Expectancy: 60,000 hours
- Noise Level (dBa): 34.50 - 38.00
- Connector: 4 pin PWM
Mounting:
I am sure every Intel user that saw that the included LGA1366 and LGA775 clips were push-pin style was a little dissapointed. From what I know, the push-pin style mounting system really sucks, especially when you want to perform; they don't provide nearly enough pressure as a bolt through kit. However, the AMD clip is the complete opposite. This has got to be the tightest fitting HS I've ever had to deal with (I've only ever mounted 5 or 6 high performance HS's before). Getting the cooler on isn't that hard, but getting it off is almost impossible! After dry mounting it to check that it fit, I had to remove it to apply the thermal paste to begin testing; it was impossible to remove the conventional way of pushing the tab down and unclipping it. I then tried to use a screw drive to pry the clip off, which only led to me stabbing my mobo (don't worry it somehow survived!) After about half an hour of trying to get it off, I had to completely remove the AMD retention bracket and back plate off my mobo to get it off. This is kind of a good thing, since it tells me this baby will hold on really really tight, which means a better mount and cooler temps
Next came applying the thermal paste. I didn't bother with the stuff that came with as it didn't even have a name, so I used some trusty Arctic Silver 5. If you are used to the "pea-sized" application than you should be aware that this is slightly different. Because of the grooves formed between the heatpipes and the CPU block, extra thermal paste is required. You should apply the paste in a straight line across the surface that will be perpendicular to the grooves on the base.
The Numbers:
Well this is the section you probably scrolled all the way down to (I don't blame you) this is where I give you the results. In order to help make my numbers a little more relevant, I am going to compare the temps using the XT-1264 at various OC's to a Thermaltake SpinQ at the same levels.
Methodology: since these results aren't going towards making the next lunar lander or anything, my methodology isn't as intensive as some other reviews. However, the numbers will be fairly accurate and will give you a good idea of what this cooler can do. All three coolers used the correct amount of Arctic Silver 5 in the same case on the same components with the same ambient ranging 21C to 22C. Idle results are from sitting at the desktop for 15minutes after I let the whole system cool down for 45 minutes. Load results are from 20 minutes of small FFT runs on both cores of Prime95 (I found that running longer didn't yield any higher numbers no matter the clock.)
Here is a table showing my collected results using an AMD Athlon 'Kuma" 7750BE (stock 2.7GHz @ 1.225v) using the KingWin XT-1264, Thermaltake SpinQ, and the AMD stock cooler:
As you can see, even at a pretty high OC of 3.585GHz @ 1.5v the cooler performed extremely well! Unfortunately, my PSU is now the only thing preventing me from a higher OC as it is providing very unstable voltages. All of these runs had the fans running 100%. The KingWin fan that is included was much louder than the advertised 38 dBA @ full speed. It only becomes bearable at ~75% speed and relatively quiet at ~55% speed. The cooling performance at 75% speed was actually only a degree or two higher than at full speed, the difference at 55% was around 5C higher than 100%. Overall, I'd say the included fan is a pretty good fan, but I opted to switch it out for the much quieter Rosewill RFX-120BL which yielded similar results at much quieter levels.
Final Thoughts
At first I thought that I might have went too cheap and got a pile of crap that would hardly perform, but after reading many reviews comparing it the likes of TRUE and CM V8 I thought it would do alright. It turns out, it did far more than just alright! I was blown away at how well it scaled, and now my top OC is not even remotely close to being limited because of heat. All in all I am pretty impressed by this budget cooler and I highly recommend it. The only disappointments are the Intel mounting clips and the poor CPU block surface. Although the Intel clips are push pin, you can easily take the push pins out and use some machine screws to secure it to a backplate. The surface could also be cleaned up with some extra work, I am sure some better finishing could help a few degrees, but despite the poor surface the cooler preformed very well. To sum it all up, the KingWin XT-1264 cpu cooler did very well for a $25 budget cooler and it even way outperformed a $70 high-performance cooler. Thanks for reading!
Introduction:
For a while now I've been dealing with some crappy CPU and NB cooling. I tried a Thermaltake SpinQ CPU cooler with some decent results. I was able to hit 3.6GHz (3.6GHz was stable, but my VRM's and NB were too hot to keep it there) with my Athlon Kuma 7750BE. I then sold that cooler to a friend who wanted it as I figured I'd get something better. A few days ago I decided I would try out the cheapest 120mm tower style CPU cooler I could find. And behold the KingWin XT-1264. The cooler only cost me around $25 on NewEgg, and I've heard you can get them as low as $18 at some other online retailers, now that's what I call budget. I also picked up a Rosewill 120mm blue LED case fan (RFX-120BL) and a Cooler Master chipset blue LED HSF as well so I could push the the voltage without worrying.
First Impressions:
The box it came in is pretty typical I guess, just a plastic shell to hold the cooler and fan. The package also comes with 2 fan clips (the bottom "wing" prevents a push/pull config so only one fan can be mounted) a user manual, a packet of thermal paste, an AMD bracket, and 2 push-pin style brackets for 1366 and 775 mounting.
I would have liked better packaging to help protect it during shipping (some of the fins were slightly bent, but were easy enough to bend back) but I guess that's what you expect for so cheap.
The heatsink itself isn't the biggest of its class, but it sure ain't small!
The heatsink doesn't appear to be anything special, although it does have an interesting design if you look at the bottom. The finsinks are extended all the fan down to the CPU block, where they are joined by not only the heatpipes, but also by a large array of aluminum square pins coming off the CPU block. This design may be what will give it an edge over other coolers similar to it.
This cooler is advertised with HTC technology (heat pipe touch chip) which is pretty much the same as other heatpipe touch technologies like what you see with the Sunbeam core contact freezer. All this means is that the heatpipes are not molded into the base of the cooler, but are what you see in the above picture, this allows them to make direct contact with the CPU. Unfortunately, this type of base is hard to lap because the pipes are really thin, and you don't want to sand through them. Also, if you look closely, you can see where there are grooves between the copper heatpipes and the aluminum base, this will require a unique way of applying the thermal paste. The base on the XT-1264 was far from perfect, there were several pocks and pits on the surface and you could clearly see the grooves cut in from using a grinder to grind the pipes flat. The quality of the base reflects the price I paid I guess, but overall it wasn't that bad.
Specs:
Here is a list of the specs of the KingWin XT-1264:
Heatsink Specs:
- Dimensions: 120mm (L) x 74mm (W) x 150mm (H)
- Material: Aluminum Alloy (base and fins) / Copper (heatpipes)
- Heatpipes: 4 x U-shaped 6mm (Diameter)
- Weight: 467g (with fan) / ~380g (estimate without fan)
Fans Specs:
- Dimensions: 120mm (L) x 120mm (H) x 25mm (W)
- Type: PWM fan
- Voltage: 12v (max speed)
- Speed (RPM): 700 - 2400
- Bearing Type: N.D.B. Bearing
- Air Flow (CFM): 82.0 - 101.2
- Static Pressure (mmAQ): 3.28 - 3.97
- Life Expectancy: 60,000 hours
- Noise Level (dBa): 34.50 - 38.00
- Connector: 4 pin PWM
Mounting:
I am sure every Intel user that saw that the included LGA1366 and LGA775 clips were push-pin style was a little dissapointed. From what I know, the push-pin style mounting system really sucks, especially when you want to perform; they don't provide nearly enough pressure as a bolt through kit. However, the AMD clip is the complete opposite. This has got to be the tightest fitting HS I've ever had to deal with (I've only ever mounted 5 or 6 high performance HS's before). Getting the cooler on isn't that hard, but getting it off is almost impossible! After dry mounting it to check that it fit, I had to remove it to apply the thermal paste to begin testing; it was impossible to remove the conventional way of pushing the tab down and unclipping it. I then tried to use a screw drive to pry the clip off, which only led to me stabbing my mobo (don't worry it somehow survived!) After about half an hour of trying to get it off, I had to completely remove the AMD retention bracket and back plate off my mobo to get it off. This is kind of a good thing, since it tells me this baby will hold on really really tight, which means a better mount and cooler temps
Next came applying the thermal paste. I didn't bother with the stuff that came with as it didn't even have a name, so I used some trusty Arctic Silver 5. If you are used to the "pea-sized" application than you should be aware that this is slightly different. Because of the grooves formed between the heatpipes and the CPU block, extra thermal paste is required. You should apply the paste in a straight line across the surface that will be perpendicular to the grooves on the base.
The Numbers:
Well this is the section you probably scrolled all the way down to (I don't blame you) this is where I give you the results. In order to help make my numbers a little more relevant, I am going to compare the temps using the XT-1264 at various OC's to a Thermaltake SpinQ at the same levels.
Methodology: since these results aren't going towards making the next lunar lander or anything, my methodology isn't as intensive as some other reviews. However, the numbers will be fairly accurate and will give you a good idea of what this cooler can do. All three coolers used the correct amount of Arctic Silver 5 in the same case on the same components with the same ambient ranging 21C to 22C. Idle results are from sitting at the desktop for 15minutes after I let the whole system cool down for 45 minutes. Load results are from 20 minutes of small FFT runs on both cores of Prime95 (I found that running longer didn't yield any higher numbers no matter the clock.)
Here is a table showing my collected results using an AMD Athlon 'Kuma" 7750BE (stock 2.7GHz @ 1.225v) using the KingWin XT-1264, Thermaltake SpinQ, and the AMD stock cooler:
As you can see, even at a pretty high OC of 3.585GHz @ 1.5v the cooler performed extremely well! Unfortunately, my PSU is now the only thing preventing me from a higher OC as it is providing very unstable voltages. All of these runs had the fans running 100%. The KingWin fan that is included was much louder than the advertised 38 dBA @ full speed. It only becomes bearable at ~75% speed and relatively quiet at ~55% speed. The cooling performance at 75% speed was actually only a degree or two higher than at full speed, the difference at 55% was around 5C higher than 100%. Overall, I'd say the included fan is a pretty good fan, but I opted to switch it out for the much quieter Rosewill RFX-120BL which yielded similar results at much quieter levels.
Final Thoughts
At first I thought that I might have went too cheap and got a pile of crap that would hardly perform, but after reading many reviews comparing it the likes of TRUE and CM V8 I thought it would do alright. It turns out, it did far more than just alright! I was blown away at how well it scaled, and now my top OC is not even remotely close to being limited because of heat. All in all I am pretty impressed by this budget cooler and I highly recommend it. The only disappointments are the Intel mounting clips and the poor CPU block surface. Although the Intel clips are push pin, you can easily take the push pins out and use some machine screws to secure it to a backplate. The surface could also be cleaned up with some extra work, I am sure some better finishing could help a few degrees, but despite the poor surface the cooler preformed very well. To sum it all up, the KingWin XT-1264 cpu cooler did very well for a $25 budget cooler and it even way outperformed a $70 high-performance cooler.
Thanks for reading!
