Performance

The system being used to test the heatsink is as follows:

CPU:	Intel Q6600 Core2 Quad
Clock speed:	9 x 266 MHz = 2.4 GHz, Memory at DDR2-800
Motherboard:	Asus Maximus Formula (Rampage Mod)
Memory:	2 x 2GB G.Skill F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ
Video Card:	Dual Radeon 3870X2 (CrossFireX)
Harddisk:	4 x 250 GB Seagate 7200.10 in Matrix Raid 0/5
Power Supply:	ThermalTake ToughPower 850W
Case:	Lian Li PC-A10B
Software:	Windows Vista Business SP1, Catalyst 8.5

Ambient temperature was kept to 22º Celsius (+/- 1 degree) and was measured by a standard mercury thermometer.


Usually only a small difference in idle temperatures is seen when comparing an aftermarket heatsink to a stock one, but with the Achilles there is a 7º C difference. Under load, that margin jumps to 21º C.


When overclocked the difference is even higher, just as one would expect. However, the difference in load temperatures is a bit misleading, as the stock Intel heatsink was stopped about 5 minutes into the test due to the temperatures quickly reaching 85º C.

Fan Noise

To measure fan noise we used an IEC Type 2 sound level meter on the dbA setting. Measuring distance was 10 cm from the heatsink fan hub. The short distance of 10 cm is necessary to get proper readings with very silent fans. All fans were tested outside of the case at 12V supplied by a lab PSU. On fans that come with a fan controller or allow control of fan speed in any other way, "low" and "high" indicate the settings on the fan controller.


The noise of the fan used with the Xigmatek Achilles is rather impressive, especially since the fan used on the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 was very loud at full speed. I am glad to see Xigmatek made a huge improvement in the sound level, without sacrificing performance.