xigmatek Apache CD901 Heatsink

Relatively quiet – OK for mom.

The good guys at xigmatek were nice enough to send a sample of the xigmatek Apache CD901 heatsink. This is built up from the aluminum fins.

• Aluminum construction
• Dimension 112 x 110 x 57 mm
• Fan speed 2500 rpm, 61.3 cfm, 28 dBA – four pin molex connector
• Weight 285 grams
• Cooling for Intel® socket LGA 775 CPU ((Core™2 Extreme / Core™2 Quad / Core™2 Duo / Pentium® Extreme Edition / Pentium® D / Celeron® D) Pentium® D / Celeron® D)
• Cooling for AMD socket AM2 / 754 / 939 / 940 CPUs (Athlon™ 64 / FX / X2 / Opteron™ / Sempron™)

The base is made up from the fins’ base – the fins are squeezed together to form the base and then polished flat. However, the base could be better polished.

Mounting is very simple – the ring is secured to the motherboard with four push-pins. This system does not require removing the motherboard from the case.

The Apache was tested on an Asus P5WD2 motherboard with a modified Pentium D 805 to read CPU case temps while running Prime 95.

¹On-die temperatures.
²50 dBA measured 8″ from the fan intake corresponds to about 30 dBA measured 3 feet from the fan, a very quiet noise level.

Performance was.. what’s the word – sedate. I was concerned about elevated temps as I tested. The Apache ranks at the low end of heatsinks tested HERE.

If you’re looking for aggressive cooling, this is not for you. If you bought an OEM CPU without a heatsink, this is an OK replacement for the stock Intel cooler for “normal” use.

Thanks again to xigmatek for sending this our way to test out.

Email Joe

Disclosure: Joe Citarella has a financial interest in a company developing products for electronic chip cooling.