Xigmatek Thor’s Hammer CPU Cooler Review

Installation
One of my pet hates is installing CPU coolers, there is a lot of room for error, a fair amount of guesswork involved and can be one of the most fiddly things when it comes to building a PC! So I am going to cover my recommended process to make life easier for you, and to make sure the product is up to standard when it comes to installation.

Before you go anywhere, a word of warning. Do whatever it takes to avoid touching the top of the cooler with your hands. I have dealt with this cooler in the past and a downside to it’s fantastic looking black nickel is that it marks very easily. All it takes is a touch and you will see a bold black fingerprint, then you try to wipe it and the cycle begins. I would strongly recommend wearing thin rubber gloves, like the ones you can get at petrol stations, because at some point in installation you are bound to touch the top. If you do touch it, you will have trouble getting it off. I found the best method of cleaning it was either a small amount of water wiped on it, then quickly wiped off with a dry cloth, or to use Windolene (other brands are available)! I would really have liked to see it supplied with a protective film for the top.

The first stage is to attach the rubber grommets for holding the fan(s). Always to this before installation otherwise you will be in a lot of trouble! I suggest attaching them to the fins shown for best results.

This next stage is up to you to decide when to do it. Attaching the fan while in the case can be very difficult and if anything is likely to get in your way I suggest attaching it before installation. Using a pair of pliers to gently ease the grommet through the hole may help, and these grommets are thicker than most out there so no need to worry about damaging them. The downside of this is that the fan will obstruct your view of the clip later.

The next step is to actually install the cooler. I am doing this installation on and AMD platform although the principles are roughly the same for Intel installation but require a few more steps such as installing a new backplate and retention bracket. The installation is essentially the same as the AMD stock cooler but a little more difficult due to the size. First put a blob of thermal paste on the CPU then lower the cooler into place. Ensure that the clip is roughly in position before putting it in there and make sure that the side with the clip is in the most accessible position. Put the side of the bar without the clip over the notch, then undo the clip and put it over the other notch, this may require some persuasion and moving the cooler may help. Once this is done, simply force the clip shut, this requires a fair bit of force. The cooler is now secure, it does install at a slight angle so don’t worry about it not looking quite right. To be able to install such a heavy cooler with a high clamping force using this simple method is fantastic, great work Xigmatek.

The only downside to this configuration is that on AMD systems the cooler must be installed with the fan blowing vertically rather than horizontally. Although that makes good use of top exhaust fans, it does mean that hot air produced by graphics cards will be blown through the heatsink rather than cooler air from the front of the case. This can be adjusted by buying an optional retention bracket from Xigmatek- the ACK-ATI775.

The completed installation: