Review - Xigmatek Battle-Axe VGA-Cooler

[noxon]

Xigmatek Battle-Axe
VGA-Cooler VD964

Up for test is the Xigmatek Battle-Axe, it comes with the H.D.T. (Heatpipe Direct Touch)
It will be tested against the Thermalright HR03-Plus, and a highend watercooling system.
The two fans from the Battle-Axe will be used on the HR03 as well to give a fair comparison.

Specification

The two aircoolers side by side.

In comparing to the HR03-Plus, witch come without a fan and is much heavier. Battel-Axe 220gram and HR03 380gram both without fans.

The Package and accessories


The box, front and backside


Accessories

H.D.T. (Heatpipe Direct Touch)


And a closeup

Mounting the cooler

Assembly of the cooler is very easy, for example the anti-vibration rubber pieces to mount the two 92mm fans i find very cleverly designed.
And it lowers the vibrations and noise considerably.

The sticker says Xigmatek Brushless DC Fan, rated at 12V 0.17A, thats 4,08Watt for both fans.

The two 92mm fans isnt quiet at 12volt, but do move alot of air. They have no problem starting at 7 volts, and here they are silent and still move some air. So can usefully be hooket up to a fan controler, or to the motherboard and controlled via SpeedFan or another program like it.


Note
RAM and mosfets cooling, i used those from the HR03, because i didn't fell like change them just for a picture, as i use them for 24/7.
Second, there wasn't any profile for the power mosfets area.

2 extra ram profiles, but not big enough to cover hole area, and 2 missing.


If u are wondering if the cooler will fit your card or not, here are some numbers for the mounting holes.


Mounting the two metal brackets is a very easy process, four screws and done, then a Hexa-screw in each corner.


Then it's ready to get mounted on the card with 4 spring screws.

Testing

Testbed and Methods:

• Graphics Card: BFG 8800GTX WC-E
• Mainboard: Gigabyte P35-DS4
• Cpu: Intel E8400
• Memory: Crucial PC5300 cl3
• System case: Chieftec Medi Dragon
• Cooling past: Arctic Silver 5
• Room temp 23.6-24.6C

The watercooling used:

• Shiftech MCW60-R
• EK Supreme
• Laing DDC 18w+XSPC Top
• Car radiator with 4x120mm low noise fans
• ½” Tubing


Test 1 will be made with stock clocks, and for better comparison the Thermalright HR03-Plus will be using the Xigmatek cooling fans.
Test 2 will be made with 621/1404/1890 Mhz, both tests will be performed with 7 and 12volt on the fans, also.

Temps are Measured with Rivatuner 2.09, and i used ATITool 3D View to load the GPU.

Fans at 7 volt and standard 8800GTX clocks


Fans at 7 volt and overclocked 8800GTX


Fans at 12 volt and standard 8800GTX clocks


Fans at 12 volt and overclocked 8800GTX

Notes.
The Thermalright didn't have 100% contact with the GPU, i even remounted it twice. But the contact was perfect with the Battle-Axe!

Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste applied



Perfect contact !


This picture shows that the contact isn't the best

Conclusion.
The Xigmatek Battle-Axe amazed me by the ease of the installation, its very well thought through.
And performance wise i was a bit surprised, the cooler is about 70% lighter than Thermalright HR03-Plus, and it outperformed it !
If the contact was better on my HR03 the result might have been closer, but still it would have been great performance from the Battle-Axe!

Only thing is the missing mosfet cooling, -maybe they don't get hot enough? There are some airflow over them from the cooler, maybe thats enough?


The Xigmatek Battle-Axe was provided by Xigmatek Germany.
http://www.xigmatek.com/product/air-...axevd964.php#1

Written and tested by noxon

[BecH]

Nice review noxon! Lets see some more of them

[Duzter]

Really god review noxon, I especially like your pictures!

Hope you keep up the work, cause it brings more life to this forum with some reviews.

So your work is really appreciated from here!

[Nanok]

They make some nice collers Xigmatex !
And nice review Noxon.

[simon bay]

Kanon test, med mange gode billeder

[noxon]

Thanks all
Hopefully this isn't the last review from me.

[Maverick]

Exellent Review, with **** good pictures.

[Nosfer@tu]

Thanks all
Hopefully this isn't the last review from me.

I dont hope so

[Macho Man]

Nice review do you know if this fits on the 48xx series? (I could use google but if you know already..)

[Pederrs]

Good to see a review from you noxon

Nice pics, what camera have you used?

[Nosfer@tu]

Nice review do you know if this fits on the 48xx series? (I could use google but if you know already..)

I dont think it does.

IHS less gfx cant be used with this cooler

maybe modding it a bit But I dont know if that will work with a custom ISH

[Macho Man]

I dont think it does.

IHS less gfx cant be used with this cooler

maybe modding it a bit But I dont know if that will work with a custom ISH

ok thats too bad thanks for the answer.

[Giraffen]

great job Noxon. Very nice pic

[noxon]

Nice review do you know if this fits on the 48xx series? (I could use google but if you know already..)

Maybe with a thin copper plate between core and cooler.
And of course the mounting holes have to fit too

Good to see a review from you noxon

Nice pics, what camera have you used?

Thanks

Used a Canon PowerShot A720 IS, very good cam for the money!
http://edbpriser.dk/Products/Listpri...rea=&Soegeord=

[nismailm]

He there! I'm new to this Forum. Need your expert advice. Can this Xigmatek Battle-Axe VGA Cooler fit on a GTX285? Thank you in advance for kind advice.

[Duzter]

No it will only fit on these cards:

nVIDIA® GeForce® 8800 / 7900 / 7800 Series
ATI Radeon™ X1950 / X1900 / X1800 Series

Link: http://www.xigmatek.com/product/air-battleaxevd964.php

[Nosfer@tu]

He there! I'm new to this Forum. Need your expert advice. Can this Xigmatek Battle-Axe VGA Cooler fit on a GTX285? Thank you in advance for kind advice.

WellCome to OCteamDenmark nismailm
How did you find us if I migth ask ?

I found some that work on your card, they are a bit expensive so I dont know if they are good options for you ?

Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme GTX280
http://www.coolerkit.dk/arctic_cooli...80-p-1188.html

Thermalright HR-03 GTX Rev.A
http://www.coolerkit.dk/thermalright..._a-p-1206.html

Do you want to change the cooler because it makes to much noise or because you want to overclock more ?

If noise you can use Revatuner to lower fan speed, remove cooler and reapply cooling paste on GPU- DONT remove the small thermal pads, take very much care that you dont damage them when demounting the graphic cooler They have to stay on the card when remounting

They put ALOT of bad thermal paste on the GPU, so you should be able to get around 3-7 C° by reapplying some good thermal paste

If Overclocking then try with an extra fan on the graphic card first

[nismailm]

I've installed the Xigmatek Battle-Axe VD946 on my XFX GTX285. Idle temp: 37C & Load temp (while doing Crysis): 58C max. Using the original stock cooler, Idle temp: 55C & Load temp (on Crysis): 84C!

The screws were a bit 'fragile', so have to do it very carefully and not to over-tighten them. The GPU cooler fits in well with the new GTX200 series additional bracket. Some modding have to be done to secure the chip heat sink though....by using the cable ties (see image). Took out the aluminum cover because it touches the motherboard SATA connectors. Because of that, you need to use all the spare anti-vibration rubbers provided to secure the fans. As for the fan control, I've hooked the fans up with the Zalman ZM-MFC1 Plus fan controller.

Love this product!

p/s: Got hooked up to OCTeam Denmark through the reviews on Xigmatek's website. Link: http://www.xigmatek.com/product/air-...xevd964_jp.php

[Nosfer@tu]

COOL MAN

Thx for reporting back
So there is a mounting bracket included in the product so you can mount it ?

Or did you modify it your self ?

Now START OVERCLOCKING

[nismailm]

Only modified the chip heat sink. The rests came inside the packaging. TQ

[Nosfer@tu]

Only modified the chip heat sink. The rests came inside the packaging. TQ

COOL
Thx for sharing man
Will you start overclocking it now then or just enjoy silence ?