Conclusion, awards and where to buy.
From our test results, it becomes clear that making purchasing decisions based on marketing spin, or always expecting greater performance from greater financial outlay would be a folly.
The two Xigmatek coolers, ones that heavily promote the company's 'latest and greatest' H.D.T. concept, would be expected to offer greater performance than the two basic coolers from Akasa or Cooler Master. This is manifestly not the case, however.
The H.D.T. concept seems to be flawed both conceptually and in execution with the Achilles S1284 and Red Scorpion S1283.
The Cooler Master Hyper TX2 is reasonably easy to install, and it offers adequate performance and universal mounting support at an entry-level price. Yet compared to the Akasa AK-965 it loses shine.
It was certainly a surprise that the cheapest cooler on test, the £11.74 Akasa AK-965, outperforms heatsinks costing as much as three times the amount, whilst being incredibly easy to use and rather quiet.
The AK-965 certainly punches above its weight and comfortably wins this showdown.
HEXUS.Awards
The Akasa AK-965 receives the HEXUS.essentials recommended award for offering great value coupled to good performance.
Akasa AK-965HEXUS.Certification
The Cooler Master Hyper TX2, Xigmatek Achilles S1284 and Xigmatek Red Scorpion S1283 heatsinks all receive HEXUS.certification for keeping the Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850 within safe operating temperatures for the duration of our testing. However, this is certainly not a recommendation to buy these products.
HEXUS Where2Buy
The Akasa AK-965 can be purchased for £11.74.
The Cooler Master Hyper TX2 can be purchased for £14.99.
The Xigmatek Achilles S1284 can be purchased for £35.19.
The Xigmatek Red Scorpion can be purchased for £22.27.
HEXUS Right2Reply
At HEXUS.net, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any AKASA, Coolermaster or Xigmatek representatives choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.
Tony Sahin, product manager for Xigmatek, had the following to say:
"Dear Tarinder,
Actually I just found out that you have tested Achilles Rev. 1, we had some modifications after launching this product, unfortunately you got the wrong sample from the beginning and “we” (hexus and us) didn’t recognize it and I have to apologize for this inconvenience. Nevertheless I will resend you the Achilles S1284C which has better HDT (gaps are smaller in between the Heat Pipes) and more fins added on this cooler and also the HDT-S1283 Red Scorpion Edition for your reference and re test."
