Date: October 4th, 2010
Article by: Joe Anderson (Hardware Reviewer)
Edited By: Nathan Glentworth (Owner / Head Editor)
Product was submitted by: Xigmatek
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PRODUCT INSTALLATION AND TESTING
Our testbed for the Xigmatek Dark Knight CPU cooler will consist of the following hardware:
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Intel Q6600 Kentsfield Core2Quad CPU
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Western Digital WD800 hard drive
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Western Digital WD6400 hard drive
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Samsung SH-S203N DVD writer
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Buffalo Firestix DDR2 RAM (2 X 1GB)
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EVGA 8800 GTS 640MB graphics card
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Thermaltake Toughpower 750W PSU
We'll test it in the open case pictured above. Keep in mind that temps inside your case will be different, depending on the chassis and airflow.
After gathering the necessary parts, a screwdriver and the manual, it was a simple matter to attach the brackets to the heatsink base. As with any modern Intel cooler that has a backplate, the mobo will have to come out of the case for installation unless there is a cutout on the mobo tray in your case for this purpose.
After applying some AS5 to the processor, the backplate is installed and the spring fasteners are tightened in a criss-cross manner per the instructions, until they bottom. Next, we pull four of the rubber fasteners through the mounting holes on the fan (making sure the flow is oriented properly, of course,) and attach the fan to the cooler. This is a bit tricky, but once you get everything lined up and the fins through the slots in the rubber fastener, the fan goes on relatively easily. While it would be much easier to install the Dark Knight with the board out of the case, I was able to do an install inside the chassis with a bit of creativity and a pair of needle-nosed pliers. I really like the all-in-one Intel mounting solution that Xigmatek has come up with, and the Dark Knight was much easier to install than the Thor's Hammer, largely due to the mounting solution and physical size difference of the two coolers.
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