Introduction

Last but not least in our Xigmatek review lineup is the Xigmatek GAIA SD1283. We have been talking about the company in previous reviews already and won’t go into much detail again. Xigmatek has impressed consumers with a good quality product line up and performance that can be shown off, remaining at an affordable price level. Xigmatek’s “ICE” philosophy is well-illustrated in the company and its products.

“ICE” = Impressive / Creative / Essential

The Gaia is a 120mm vertical airflow cooler featuring a heatpipe direct touch design. The HDT design is making a comeback this year in the air cooler market and many of the current top coolers implement the HDT
design in some way, shape or form. The design allows the heatpipes to make direct contact with the CPU’s heat-spreader and thus allowing for direct heat transfer. The GAIA also features a fairly unique fin design which we will get into more detail about later.

Xigmatek deploys their traditional HDT design with 3 straight heatpipes in the GAIA. The design in this specific cooler employs 3 uncoated copper heatpipes in a fairly straight forward “U” shape. The GAIA’s heatpipes stand out, visually, because of its rather narrow design. The depth of the cooler measures a mere 50mm across, which makes it pretty slim compared to many other coolers in its class. This can be a big advantage if space is limited or oversized memory modules are used.

The cooler is outfitted with a single 120mm fan, which is attached with a set of 4 rubber pins. The package includes a 2nd set of rubber pins which can be used to attach an additional fan on the back of the cooler to enhance cooling performance.

Features:

• H.D.T. (Heat-pipe direct touch) technology
• Anti-vibration grommets to prevent vibration and absorb noise
• 3x 8mm high performance U-type heat-pipes
• 120mm PWM fan

Supported Sockets:

Next: Unboxing, Packaging and Accessories

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