Anyway, let it be on the engineers’ conscience. As for us, let’s check out the cooler base:

The heatspipes in the base have been finished as good as those by Xigmatek coolers. However, the aluminum insert between the heatpipes is a little wider here and equals 1.5~1.7 mm. The base is impeccably even:

OCZ Gladiator Max comes with a 120 x 120 x 25 mm fan with 7 blades:

The fan rotation speed is controlled using pulse-width modulation approach in the interval between ~800 RPM and ~1500 RPM at 19.6~26.4 dBA noise. The specifications suggest that this fan also uses a rifle bearing with the same MTBF as the one from Xigmatek: 40,000 hours. The retention mechanism is also the same: vibration-absorbing silicone spindles:

The assembled OCZ Gladiator Max looks as follows:

Here I have to add that it weighs 780g.

It uses exact same retention kits as Xigmatek coolers:

As a result, Xigmatel Crossbow retention kit will work perfectly fine on OCZ Gladiator Max:

In conclusion I would like to show you two photos of the OCZ Gladiator Max cooler installed into the system case:

Once again, when we installed the cooler with the heatpipes along the processor socket locking lever (photo on the right) the cooling efficiency improved by 2°C. The distance from the mainboard surface to the lower heatsink plate of the cooler measures 41mm.

OCZ Gladiator Max is priced at $45.