Xigmatek Gaia SD1283 CPU Cooler Review

The Xigmatek Gaia SD1283 may not be the best performer out there, but it is available at the very affordable price of £17/$30/€24 which more than makes up for any performance deficits in comparison to today’s competitors.

The performance on show is pleasing considering the cooler’s price. At stock CPU frequency, it readily engages in a head to head battle with Cooler Master’s significantly larger and more expensive Hyper 612S. When our 2600K CPU is overclocked, the Hyper 612S does pull ahead slightly, but the Gaia still manages to beat one of its nearest pricing competitors, the Gelid Tranquillo Rev. 2. The fact that this ‘budget’ CPU cooler is able to handle a hot and heavy 4.4GHz overclock is a very plausible achievement. The Gaia’s cooling performance isn’t to be overlooked!

Installation was straightforward and doesn’t have to be a worry for anybody considering the purchase of a Gaia SD1283. Including the required hardware for a push-pull fan configuration was a very smart move by Xigmatek which we praise them highly for. Compatibility is another area that needs no concern. All modern Intel and AMD sockets are supported by the Xigmatek Gaia and even LGA 2011 will be supported when it is released very soon. The relatively accommodating dimensions ensure that plenty of mid-tower or larger cases will be the perfect home for this 158mm tall cooler and RAM interference won’t cause major headaches.

Noise output is another of the Xigmatek Gaia’s strengths. It is one of the quietest coolers that we have tested to date and has the potential to be even quieter in operation thanks to its PWM fan. The anti-vibration rubber fan mounts were clearly doing their job and were even compatible with Scythe’s awkwardly designed AP-15 fans. Anybody who values low-noise computing but also wants a decent cooling performance upgrade from their CPU’s stock cooler should definitely put the Xigmatek Gaia SD1283 up for serious consideration.

As we discovered in our review of the Xigmatek Aegir SD128364, Xigmatek’s cooler pricing is a very difficult area to evaluate. In the UK, the Gaia is available from as little as £17 delivered. This makes it an extremely competitive cooling solution and is probably as close as we have seen to the price vs. performance factor of the legendary Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus. In Europe, the €25 price tag isn’t quite as attractive as here in the UK, but it is still very competitive nonetheless. In the US however, the $30 price tag isn’t nearly as competitive as that of the superior $25 Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus. We will let you digest this information and make up your own mind on the accuracy and rating of the price based upon where you live.

Overall, we are extremely pleased with the Xigmatek Gaia SD1283. Its offers competitive cooling performance, the ability to tame a hot 4.4GHz overclock, very quiet operation, simple installation, excellent compatibility and a UK and European price vs. performance factor which is comparable to that of the legendary Hyper 212 Plus.