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Published: June 27, 2009 | Source: Nexus | Author: Wesley Rickward

Nexus XiR-3500 Copper Edition CPU Cooler

Introduction
 
Nexus LogoNexus Technology BV is based in The Netherlands and was founded in 2000 by a group of experts on heat conductivity and noise reduction within the IT Industry.
 
Their goal – “To build a strong and reliable trademark for silent computing”
 
Today I have one of their best offerings – the XiR-3500 v2 which is now compatible with the i7 mounting system to try out. The Nexus website boasts “Ultimate performance has never been this quiet”. Well we the users will be the judge of that.
 
I will be pitting this silent but cool character up against the OCZ Vendetta II and the stock Intel Core i7 cooler, let’s see if it can live up to this claim.
 
So let’s take a look at the specifications…….
 
 
Specifications
 
The Nexus website is a very well laid out and easy to navigate around. I had no problems at all finding the specifications below:
 
 Features
 • Copper base
 • 4 x 6mm copper heat pipes
 • SkiveTek heat-sink
 • Copper fins
 • Ultra-thin fins
 • Temperature controlled fan
 • Orange fan led’s
 • 1200 ~ 2500 RPM Fan
 
 Heat Sink Specifications
 Universal Application  Intel 1366, 775
 AMD AM3, AM2, 754, 939, 940
 Dimensions  106 x 122 x 111 mm
 L x W x H  4.17 x 4.80 x 4.37 inch
 Materials  Pure copper base
 Pure copper heat pipe
 Pure copper fins
 Weight  736 gr / 25.96 oz
 Heat pipe   4 heat pipes of 6 mm / 0.236 inch diameter
 
 Fan Specifications
 Fan Size  92 x 25 mm / 3.6 x 0.9 inch
 Fan Voltage  12v
 Fan speed  1200 to 2500 RPM, Temperature controlled by fan sensor
 Fan connector  2 x orange LED’s in the fan centre
 Noise level  15 ~ 24 db
 
Nexus XiR-3500 HeatsinkThe specifications certainly look the part, but I was intrigued as to what “SkiveTek” actually was. It sounded like something we used to do back in the school days!
 
As it turns out, that is the manufacturing process used to create a heat sink from one block of material, be it copper or, as in this case, aluminium. As the fins are not soldered on, this allows for a better heat transfer from the base of the heat sink through to the fins. As a result of skiving, (as it’s known) there is a rough finish left on the fins and the surface of the block, which has the added benefit of increasing their surface area. Clever stuff eh?
 
Nexus claim 15 to 24db noise levels on the fan, which is pretty impressive, which was measured at 1 meter from the noise source. That’s equivalent to a whisper, a normal conversation with someone is normally around the 60db range so it’s looking promising on the silence front. So it’s pretty safe to say the Nexus XiR-3500 is not going to be the noisiest component within your system.
 
Compatibility wise the Nexus XiR-3500 has it covered, with mounting fittings supplied for both the Intel and AMD camps they have all bases covered there. I will say however, check the clearance around your motherboard CPU socket, any large northbridge coolers may interfere with the mounting of the heatsink.
 
Let’s take a look at the packaging……