[bespreDELL]

Hello and welcome to my new review. Today i'm testing the performance of my new cpu cooler Xigmatek Balder against my old, screaming, dirty Zalman9500a.
So, let's get to the point. My specs are the following
A room with ambient temperature 33-34 degrees above C.

So, let's begin with Zalman 9500.

So as you know Zalman 9500 has a specific design. It's made of copper. Copper fins, copper pipes, copper base, exept fan- it's made of plastic.So copper is much heavier and more expensive than aluminum ones.
Xigmatek Balder has copper heat pipes, which are connected with aluminum plates, so it's no so heavy.

The great feature of Xigmatek Balder is that it has 120 mm fan. which even at his max speed 2200 rpm is quieter than Zalman 9500 at max 2400rpm.
So is it about that additional 200 rpm's ? No it's about of fan size. Zalman 9500 has 92mm fanXigmatek Balder 120mm fan 120mm Fans are much quieter than 80\\ 92 mm fans , but fan speed is also important in modern cooling devices.

So, why did i choose Xigmatek Balder ?
1.It's much quieter than Zalman 9500
2.As i tested it has much better perfomance
3.It has removable FAN, so if Xigmatek's fan will be noisy i could easily replace another FAN. It's easy and very convenient.
4.It was a reason to try Direct Heat Pipe Touch Technology.
i like it )

Why i chose Xigmatek Balder instead of Zalman 9700 , Noctua , CoolerMaster V8, or V10 or even Thermaltake V1

First of all i like it's design , low weight , Quiete.This is just my choice. I don't like Thermaltake or Cooler Master Coolers, Noctua is expensive ,and Zalman got me borred.

So.Enough talking about nothing, Let's begin the review.

So, i highly recommend you to see my movie clip about cooler's installation.Enjoy

YouTube- Xigmatek Balder

Temps in BadCompany 2

Zalman low 67\\64\\61\\59
Zalman high 64\\63\\57\\56
Xigmatek Auto 44\\46\\41\\40

64\\63\\57\\56-Zalman
44\\46\\41\\40-XigmateK
So, Xigmatek better up to 16-20 Degrees with 32-34 ambiet. So it's fantastic cooling performance for any users, gamers, especially for quiet system lovers.

So, temps in OCCT 3.0.1.

Bye the way, the maximum fan speed of Xigmatek is 2200 rpm , and during the test it's speed hardly come close to 1800 rpm, so it's very impressive.

Zalman low 60\\60\\57\\57
Zalman high 58\\58\\55\\55
Xigmatek auto 49\\49\\42\\42

So let's see some screens durring the test.In attached files you can see 5 screen shots

1. Zalman 9500.Bad Company 2. 25min game play at LOW speed fan
2. Zalman 9500.Bad Company 2. 25min game play at HIGH speed fan
3. Zalman 9500. OCCT Linpack 20min. at LOW fan speed
4. Zalman 9500. OCCT Linpack 20min. at HIGH fan speed
5. Xigmatek Balder OCCT Linpack 20 min at AUTO fan speed
6. XigmateK Balder Bad Company 2 Auto 40 min game play

Conclusion

Xigmatek Balder SD1283 is a very successful model of CPU cooler on a market. In comparing with Zalman 9500a LED , Xigmatek has lots of advantages, for example:
1.Xigmatek is much quieter than Zalman 9500.
2.It performs better temperatures , so gives higher overclock potential
3.If fan broke , it could be easily replaced by another one. ( You can't do this with Zalman 9500)
4.Xigmatek can be modified by installing 2nd fan , to increase the performance .( You can't do this with Zalman 9500)
5.Xigmatek's Balder is lighter than Zalman 9500.
6.It also supports almost all CPU's, even Core I7 models.( Zalman doesn't supports Core I7 models)

 

[bespreDELL]

any question, advice are welcome.

 

[poohball]

wow, very nice review =)
My new build is using Balder too!

 

[Shadowclock]

Yellow hurts my eyes.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[aznofazns]

Could you add a brief conclusion with load temps at the end of your review? It would help people with snailnet like me.

 

[gymenii]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bespreDELL any question, advice are welcome.

ok, some advice....

tip 1. Your spelling and punctuation make it hard to read. Even if English is not your primary language, at least use spell check.
tip 2. The correct term is rpm not prm.
tip 3. No yellow or cyan, ever!

Other than that, good review

oh, and the part where you spread thermal paste with your finger made me laugh.

 

[bespreDELL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aznofazns Could you add a brief conclusion with load temps at the end of your review? It would help people with snailnet like me.

Add temps in my video, or in this web page ?

 

[aznofazns]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bespreDELL Add temps in my video, or in this web page ?

At the end of your post, please.

Also, replace "quite" with "quiet."

 

[bespreDELL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aznofazns At the end of your post, please. Also, replace "quite" with "quiet."

done ) thnx very much.

 

[aznofazns]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bespreDELL done ) thnx very much.

No problem! Nice review, btw. It's surprising how low your temps are. I have a 1.325v VID Q6600 as well, but it hits almost 80C when I run IntelBurnTest for 15 minutes. I'm assuming IBT is similar to OCCT, so what gives? My Xigmatek HDT-S1283 isn't exactly a puny cooler, either.

Btw, my CPU is at 3.4GHz with 1.416v under load.

EDIT: Wait, I just saw that the temps you posted are from running BC2, not OCCT.

 

[k0rnh0li0]

good review. i was just checking this out and its like the super revision to 1284

 

[bespreDELL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aznofazns EDIT: Wait, I just saw that the temps you posted are from running BC2, not OCCT.

I have 6 screens:
1-Zalman LOW Bad company
2-Zalman HIGH Bad Company
3.Zalman OCCT 20 min LOW
4.Zalman OCCT 20 min HIGH
5.Xigmatek OCCT 20 min AUTO
6.Xigmatek 40 min Bad Company AUTO

So, i can test in any software, just post a request . And i will update the topic.
Who else has a question ? )))

 

[SoporAeternus]

Do you think Balder can handle a [email protected] and have you tried a push/pull setup

Also what brand TIM comes with the package I saw somewhere it is a ArcticSilver 5 Is it true?

 

[bespreDELL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoporAeternus Do you think Balder can handle a [email protected] and have you tried a push/pull setup Also what brand TIM comes with the package I saw somewhere it is a ArcticSilver 5 Is it true?

Thermal paste was no name.
Push\\pull configuration ? No, i'm fully satisfied with what i have.

I have overclocked CPU 6600 from 2.4 to 3.5 ghz and have 52-53 in MEtro2033 gameplay,so how do yoh think ?
And it has 1156, 1366 mountings for CoreI7 , so it will be nice