In an ever-ending quest to find true silence, I have previously used watercooling, but today fans and cooling solutions have progressed to their its max and aircooling is becoming just as silent. Zalman is a leader in this industry, but there are many other heatsinks that do the job just as well. One of these pioneer companies is Scythe. Scythe was founded in 2002 in Tokyo, Japan. As you can see on the box its specs are in 2 languages ;) and it kinda look cool as well. They focus on the do-it-yourself kits and have done a great job so far.
The cooler excels in 2 ways to the eye; one is its sheer size. Two, it is very versatile as you can put this cooler on virually every CPU on the market today. It’s usable for Intel and AMD systems, it will fit on the AMD sockets 754 939 940, and for Intel sockets 478 and LGA 775. It gets this versatility by using interchangeable socket lockdowns that snap in the base of the heatsink (or as Scythe likes to call it “VTMS Versatile Toolfree Multiplatform System”) and is compatible with the following processors:
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Specifications
- Model Name: MINE CPU Cooler
Model #: SCMN-1000
- Manufacturer: Scythe Co., Ltd. Japan
- Heatsink Dimensions: 109 x 105 x 150 mm
- Weight: 560g
- Fan (Scythe KAZE-JYU Fan: SY1025SL12M)
- Dimensions: 100 x 100 x 25mm
- Noise Level: 22.0dBA
- Air Flow: 42.69CFM
- Speed: 1,500rpm
- Cable Length: 30cm
- Bearing Type: Sleeve Bearing
Now with that last line I’m not so impressed: sleeve bearings tend to be noisy due to quicker ball bearing wear. But the fan is interchangeable so if it happens you can swap it for a new one, but still it’s a thing to look for since 100mm fans aren’t very common and thus not available at any store. You could replace it with a 120mm fan but that would mean you need a frigging huge case!
The heatsink itself is made out of 3 copper heatpipes soldered onto a copper base with a stack of aluminum fins. Between these stacks is a 100mm silent fan. This is an awkward size fan but otherwise the heatsink would get way too large, and is bulky enough already. Another thing I noticed is that the copper surface was totally flat and polished, but after a closer examination you can see the dents in the material… I would rather see a truly flat milled surface than a nice and shiny base.
Talking of bulk, this cooler is frigging huge and I mean HUGE! It’s too huge for my personal flavour, we know larger heatsinks have more surface to dissipate heat. But if you think this will fit in every case you’re sadly mistaken. When purchasing this cooler be sure you have a wider then average pc case… Then again it has that warning on the package.
Looking at the package, it comes in a cardboard box with the regular colors you see with the other Scythe products, but it’s not the quality packaging you’d expect when puchasing a $54 heatsink. It’s firm but contains no padding or shock absorbing material whatsoever, thus making it prone to shipping damage (in the way of bent fins), as some of the fins were just a little out of line but nothing serious. I would still like to see those fragile fins protected, so there’s one area of improvement for Scythe, IMO.
Well, enough yapping, let’s see how well it performs! I will be testing the cooler on an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (Venice core). Before conducting the tests I installed the cooler and used it as I usually would for 3 days to get accurate results. I let the system warm up from idle for 1 hour using minor processing tasks (visiting forums and general internet flash games). For the burn in test I used the little program called Toast and let it run for 1 hour. Toast is a utility used to torture test and burn in your CPU which heats up your core like no other.
So here are the test results after benching: the stock cooler Idles at 38 degree Celsius and is pushed to 49 degree Celsius after 1 hour of full load. As for the Mine cooler it idles at 35 degree Celsius and peaked at 45 degree Celsius, a much better improvement over stock cooling.
Now the results might be a bit low, but the Mine cooler loves fresh air, it requires a good airflow to work at its max, as stated on its packaging. As for sound, well it is a silent cooler; I noticed the fan didn’t even turn the first 15 minutes of the idle stage, but even at full load with the fan spinning around 1500rpm it is virtually silent! As a matter of fact I couldn’t hear it through the other PC noises like the VGA cooler.
Overall this is a great performing cooler and a great looker. You almost need to have a side window to fully appreciate this cooler, the Scythe cooler preformed as it’s supposed to and I (and the rest of the OCMS team), are looking forward to reviewing more of Scythe’s product, as it competes very well with the excellent Zalman range of products.
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