Xigmatek Thor’s Hammer CPU Cooler Review

Test Setup

Xigmatek Thor’s Hammer CPU Cooler
AMD Phenom II X6 1055T
Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H
8Gb Crucial Ballistix @1600MHz
AMD Radeon HD 6950 2GB
Hitachi Deskstar 500Gb
Antec TPN-750 PSU
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

At this part of this test process we will be using the following coolers to compare against the Thor’s Hammer.

• CoolIT Vantage CPU Cooler
• Xigmatek Achilles- standard HDT cooler
• AMD Stock Cooler – Heatpipe version which comes shipped with the Phenom II Series of CPUs

We will be testing all the Coolers in the following environments:

• Idle Temperature at the stock speed of 2.8GHz
• Load Temperature at the stock speed of 2.8GHz
• Idle Temperature when overclocked to 3.8GHz
• Load Temperature when overclocked to 3.8GHz
• Passively and with 1 or 2 fans

All of the temperatures are of the overall CPU temperature and not the individual core temperatures and were checked using both SpeedFan and HWMonitor throughout the testing process. All coolers and the CPU were cleaned with Tim and were tested using Arctic MX-2 compound. The fans used were Akasa Apaches.

The Idle temperature was monitored for 15 minutes after windows had completed booting and the CPU was in an idle state. The temperature was then recorded. If the temperature was not static after 15 minutes then the most dominant temperature throughout the testing was used.

To gain the load temperature we run Prime95 for 15minutes. In each case the load test was run straight after the idle test to ensure fair testing. If the temperature was not static after 15 minutes then the most dominant temperature throughout the testing was used.