Xilence Performance C Series I402 & M403 CPU Cooler Review

Introduction

Finding the right cooler for your system can a tricky process. Do you stick with the stock cooler that came with your processor? Unless you got an OEM one that came without a cooler of course. Do you invest a small fortune in water cooling, a high-end air cooler, AIO unit or something specialist for a low-profile build? There are a lot of options out there and quite frankly, it’s easy to forget that many coolers are complete overkill for your needs, but it’s often still nice to have a great cooler regardless.

The latest coolers from Xilence are targeted at the budget friendly end of the market, perfect for workstations, desktops and essentially any system that isn’t overclocked to high heaven. That’s not to say they’ll be incapable of running on overclocked hardware, but we’ll find that out for ourselves in a short while.

In the eTeknix office today we have the Intel-compatible I402 and the Intel and AMD compatible M403, both offer a 92mm fan, the 402 will handle up to 130W TDP (despite the typo that reads 13W in the image below) and the M403 will manage 150W TDP. So let’s jump right in and see what these coolers have to offer.

I402 Features

• Silent hydro bearing 92mm fan
• Two 6mm copper heat pipes for better air flow
• Fin Design for high airflow and efficient cooling of the CPU and surrounding components
• Slight overhang of the fan avoids hotspots
• Possible mounting of the fan on both sides of the heat sink
• Suitable for all current LGA 115x INTEL sockets

M403 Features

• Silent hydro bearing 92mm fan
• Three 6mm copper heat pipes for better heat flow
• Fin Design for high airflow and efficient cooling of the CPU and surrounding components
• Slight overhang of the fan avoids hotspots
• Possible mounting of the fan on both sides of the heat sink
• Suitable for all current AMD and INTEL sockets

Both come nicely packaged with their main specifications detailed on the front of the box.

Same around the back, with each coolers full socket support listed; nothing worse than buying something which wouldn’t be compatible with your hardware!

Since the M403 is AMD and Intel ready, you’ll find a retention bracket, for AMD, as well as a pair of screw on mounting arms with pre-fitted screws. There’s also a mounting backplate and a small tube of thermal paste.

The Intel only I402 comes with a bracket and a tube of thermal paste.