Xigmatek Gaia SD1283 CPU Cooler Review

The first installation step was to attach the cooler’s universal back plate.

Next, we had to fasten the knurled threaded nuts to the protruding screws. This gave us the base upon which the cooler would be stationed.

After attaching the Intel mounting clips to the cooler, we were ready to position the cooler on the previously built base and fasten it in place.

The final mount was very secure due to the sturdy metal mounting hardware. Attaching the fan to the heatsink is tricky and can cause some of the aluminium fins to bend, so take care when completing that step.

RAM clearance is very good with the Gaia SD1283. The fan barely reaches our MSI P67A-GD65 motherboard’s first DIMM slot meaning that we could have occupied all 4 DIMM slots with tall RAM modules such as Corsair Vengeance DDR3.

The Gaia SD1283 fits perfectly into our NZXT Phantom case with plenty of room to spare. Multi-coloured fan cables may not be on some people’s wish list, but the fact that this one is very flexible and easy to hide makes this niggle a very minor one.

We are very pleased to report that installing the Xigmatek Gaia SD1283 was a very simple and painless procedure for the most part. When installing the heatsink itself, we didn’t run into any major problems. This feat reflects upon the well documented and clear installation manual. Fan mounting is, much like the Aegir, slightly awkward and potentially damaging, so take care when attaching the fan to the heatsink so that you can avoid deforming any fins.