14 DAY TRIAL // Cooling products come in many shapes, sizes and materials, but individual coolers don't offer too much variation themselves. Xigmatek has launched a model that does come in more than one version: Dark Knight II SD1483 CPU cooler.
This is not a case of the product being released in versions specific to Intel and AMD central processing units / accelerated processing units.
There are two versions of the cooler because Xigmatek wanted to use two distinct materials for the heatsink, to provide more than one option to its customers.
One of the coolers, the Dark Knight II SD1483 is black, having a heatsink made from aluminum but covered in a black ceramic coating.
The other model is called Dark Knight II SD1483 Frostbourne and is coated in white. Not metallic grey or silver, but full white.
The specs of the Dark Knight II SD1483
First we may as well get this out of the way: the cooler is compatible with both Intel CPUs and AMD CPUs / APUs. Not all of them, but most of the relevant ones.
The list is as follows: the Intel LGA sockets 755, 1155, 1156, 2011, and AMD sockets K8 / AM2 / AM3. Curiously, the FM1 and FM2 sockets are not listed.
The cooler uses an Aeronautical Oil System Bearing-copper bushing axis fan, all in the interest of properly dissipating the heat pulled from the chip and diffused through the heatsink by the Heatpipe Direct Touch technology (three 8-mm thick heat pipes).
The fan is blue by the way, to provide some contrast with the black of the frame and the black / white of the rest. The airflow is of 90.3 CFM and the maximum noise output is a surprisingly low 18 dBA.
The maximum TDM (thermal design power) that the Xigmatek Dark Knight II SD1483 CPU cooler can cope with is 160W.
Availability and pricing
Sadly, Xigmatek did not specify either. It is likely that retailers will start listing the product on their websites in a matter of days or weeks, and that the price will not be known until that time.
