Oval CPU Cooler Xigmatek Colosseum SM128164 Review

Rivalry in the CPU cooling market is rather tough nowadays. Each and every manufacturer tries to exceed its competitors by elaborating high-performance and durable coolers. Some companies pay attention primarily to efficiency, while the others try to draw potential audience by an unusual design. Xigmatek, a renowned manufacturer in this segment, has been introducing qualitative and original solutions for many years. Its Colosseum SM128164 is a vindication of the assumptions that unusual in design coolers can be efficient. Let’s have a look at it.

Design and Framework

The Xigmatek Colosseum SM128164 at the first sight looks as an ordinary cooler of a rectangular form with the height of 157 mm. It consists of a heatsink block, a fan, a mirror-like base, and five heat pipes. The central pipe is larger than the other four: its diameter equals to 8 mm, whereas the side pipes feature 6 mm diameter. Nonetheless, if turning the cooler sideways, it becomes vivid that the item is a symmetric two-section tower with a fan in the center, and nickel-plated heat pipes with decorative caps on edges.

The most peculiar feature is the framework of the heatsink ribs – it’s oval. Their facets are wave-jagged. Reflecting each other, they create an illusion that the construction is all about metallic squama. The overall area of heat transfer approximates 7800 cm2. The company’s logo is situated in the central part of a removable plate that hides the access towards the fan.

The base is developed according to a classic design without direct contact technology. This implies that the cooling process will be more even. There are no soldering prints at the site where the pipes are connected with the base; at the same time, the pipes are evenly pressed into the base sole.

The incorporated 120 mm fan features a classical shape of blades. It is powered by means of a four-contact cable and is governed due to PWM technology. Thus, its rotational speed might vary from 1200 RPM to 2000 RPM (the maximal airflow equals to 89.45 CFM). The fan is based on a sleeve bearing, so its noise level is heightened. The estimated MTBF makes up 50.000 hours. The frame is equipped with four blue LED lights.

Delivery

CPU cooler Colosseum SM128164 comes in an attractive cardbox that gives the first hint about the support of Intel LGA2011 platform. The rear part of the box contains a list of technical peculiarities. Inside the package, the user will be able to find, except for the cooler’s components, a set of fixtures for all actual processor sockets, a screwer, a thermal compound, and a user’s manual.

Installation

Thanks to the availability of a universal fixture set, the Colosseum is able to support all up-dated Intel/AMD CPU platforms. Let’s give an example of mounting guidance, based on Intel LGA1155 platform. As far as Intel’s platform is concerned, the backplate can be oriented as horizontally, so vertically. Before fixing it, it’s necessary to place red isolating hoops between the motherboard and the fixing pins.

After this, the user needs to apply crossbars in a way they were parallel to the CPU socket and to each other. Further on, a pair of bushings must be inserted into the holes of the clamping strap; the fixture is realized by means of screws. The final step is to mount the fan on the already installed heatsink block. It is fixed due to four screws.

It should be mentioned that in vertical orientation Colosseum SM128164 is too close to the first PCI Express slot. Still, it’s feasible to place an expansion card there, on condition that it is void of a voluminous backplate. The cooler is also too close to the RAM modules; hence, it might become a problem to install the planks with high heatspreaders. In horizontal orientation the cooler takes two RAM memory slots; this implies that the first slot can’t be taken by a plank, while the second one provides for the installation of a standard plank with the heatspreader height of not more than 20 mm.