The Xigmatek Dark Knight S1283

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While everything about this cooler is based on the same technology that has proven itself for Xigmatek thus far, The Dark Knight has an advantage over its more basic counterparts. Xigmatek has covered the entire fin area, heat-pipes as well as the base in a black nickel coating. This process has a two-fold benefit. First is the attractive and non-tarnishing aspect of the cooler and Xigmatek claims it can be beneficial for another two to three degree drop in overall temperatures.

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From the side we can see, once again, nothing completely new with this cooler from here either. They do follow the old adage here; if it isn't broke, don't fix it.

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The top view of the cooler shows that the new black nickel coating does have a more reflective quality than the aluminum alloy version. Also note that they covered the heat-pipes all the way to and including the tips. This keeps the black theme continuing throughout the entire cooler. If this is your first time looking at Xigmatek product, the round cutouts on each side of the fins is where the anti-vibration fan mounting slips into place.

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A close up of the top of the base again shows that Xigmatek has left no stone unturned with the black coloration. With the base itself, this angle is to show where the AMD mounting bracket slides into place. Also noticeable is the screw holes for the LGA775 mounting clips.

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Here we have the so called money shot of the Dark Knight. Xigmatek has milled the cooler and then added the black nickel coating to cover every aspect. One major change I see here is that the base is now milled with the pipes. On previous coolers I have tested the aluminium base didn't even go all the way to the bottom of the heat-pipes. As you can see here, it looks to be milled all at one time.

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Here is a shot of the anti-vibration fan mounting once it is installed. The rubber mounting slides around a fin tip and into the round cutout I mentioned earlier. On the fan side of this mount, it is as simple as pulling the rubber mounts through the holes until you see the ring that holds the fan into place make it out of the hole.

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Here we get a good look at the seven bladed, 89.45CFM, four white LED fan mounted to the Dark Knight. As you can see, this fan gives great coverage to the fins.

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Another shot from the side shows how the LEDs are mounted in the fan, as well as the setup of the Crossbow mounting kit. Not very clear to see, but the wiring included is long enough to reach even the furthest CPU fan headers.