The distance between the heatpipes in the base is 2.7mm. The base surface is very even and is nicely finished:

Just like by the previous two XIGMATEK coolers, the fan of XIGMATEK Dark Knight is installed onto the heatsink with four silicon spindles:

The fan is a 120 x 120 x 25 mm model. It has 7 blades and rotates at 1000-2200RPM, which is PWM controlled.

The fan may create up to 89.45CFM airflow at its maximum rotation speed with 4.01 mmH₂O static pressure and 30.1 dBA noise. The manufacturer doesn’t mention these parameters for the minimal fan rotation speed. The rifle bearing used for this fan should guarantee 50,000 hours or over 5.7 years of non-stop fault-free operation.

The new cooler supports all contemporary AMD platforms and Intel LGA775 platforms. It installs the same way as Cobra and Nepartak coolers with that only difference that on LGA775 it doesn’t use the plastic clips anymore, but is screwed on to the backplate through the mainboard PCB:

It is a definite advantage, because screws hold the cooler better than plastic clips and hence ensure more secure contact with the CPU heat-spreader. The drawback here is also evident: you will need to remove the mainboard from the system case to install the cooler, so the process will require more time and effort on your part. Unfortunately, there is no retention kit for LGA1366 platforms bundled with the XIGMATEK Dark Knight yet.

During our test session e installed XIGMATEK Dark Knight two ways: with the airflow directed towards the back of the system case:

… and towards the top of the system case:

In the latter case when the heatpipes run across the processor socket lock, the peak CPU temperature was stably 3°C lower than when the cooler was installed as shown on the first two photos. We have already discussed this peculiarity of Intel Core i7 processors cooling in our earlier articles.

The fan has white LED lights that look very attractive in the dark:

Despite its size, design and unique looks, the recommended retail price for XIGMATEK Dark Knight is only $37. Now that we have taken a close look at this cooling solution we can conclude that it is actually XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 made back in 2007. Although now it has a nickel-plated heatsink, new fan, different LGA775 retention kit and slightly lower price (it used to be $44). But in fact, it is the same good old HDT-S1283. So, maybe the economic crisis did hit the cooling solutions market after all?