Introduction

Looking back over the years, it is perhaps shocking to remind ourselves just how limited were the methods used to cool CPU's. As some older readers may recall, it wasn't until the later 80386 days when CPU coolers even became common. Initially, these were low profile heatsinks and much didn't change even in the 80586 era with the usual slight increase in heatsink height and on occasion, a 40mm fan. Today a typical northbridge cooler is larger than the then CPU coolers used to cool say a Pentium/Pentium MMX. The reason is of course simple - heat. As Silicon Valley rose so did the amount of heat, even with advanced nanotechnology running a CPU at several GHz is not just a case of ramping up the clocks. I remember Intel showing a nice slide at IDF 2003 which depicted just how hot CPU's have become over the years, easily hot enough to self destruct if it wasn't for the many in-built thermal properties in modern processors. Competition in the CPU cooler market segment is tough with designs galore all trying to grab the hearts and wallets of none other than, you guessed it consumers. Today Scythe feels up to the challenge and thus has sent us their mid-range Samurai-Z CPU cooler. Can it make the mark or is it destined for a life beyond your PC? Let’s find out!

First Impressions

Scythe is a Japanese company hence we expected great things from this cooler. The first thing that stands out is of course the box, which apart from being quite illustrative attempts to reveal the most important facts in several languages thus apart from English we have French, German, Spanish, and Japanese. Scythe claims this cooler has dimensions of 128x85x98mm (WxHxD), and houses a 92x92x25mm (WxHxD) sleeve bearing fan that spins at 2000rpm producing a maximum noise of 23.5dbA while delivering 32.4CFM. The aluminum cooler itself weighs in at 360g and uses a two heat-pipe design. All this put together translates into what one may expect from a mid-range CPU cooler. What's worthy of note is of course the platforms we may use it with, in this respect the Samurai proclaims to fit onto any AMD 754/939/940 or Intel LGA775/478 socket. Should anything go wrong there's a 2 year warranty though with very few moving parts, the chances of this happening are pretty low. In terms of looks it's really a case of whether you care and if so, are you the type that loves colorful LED's flashing gloriously or do you go for that more conservative elegant look. In terms of this Samurai it chooses to be elegant rather than flashy hence no LED's and certainly no unique art. The aluminum heatsink is divided into a lower and upper level with the double heat-pipe linking the two together. The lower level is smaller and has thicker fins while the upper is an array of more precise thinner fins. The 92mm fan predominantly blows over the upper level. Furthermore, the base that contacts with the CPU heat spreader is very well polished. Is this design one that deserves an abrupt round of applause? Soon we reveal all.

Click images to enlarge.

Specifications

Model Name: SAMURAI Z
Model #: SCSMZ-1000
Manufacturer: Scythe Co., Ltd., Japan

Compatibility:

Intel® LGA775 (SocketT) Proessor

Intel® Pentium® Processor Extreme Edition
Intel® Pentium® D Processor
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor Extreme Edition supporting Hyper-Threading Technology
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor supporting Hyper-threading Technology
Intel® Celeron® D Processor

Intel® Socket478 Proessor

Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor Extreme Edition supporting Hyper-Threading Technology
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor supporting Hyper-threading Technology
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor
Intel® Celeron® D Processor
Intel® Celeron® Processor

AMD Socket940 Proessor

Dual-Core AMD Opteron™ Processor
AMD Opteron™ Processor

AMD Socket939 Proessor

AMD Athlon™ 64 Processor
AMD Athlon™ 64 FX Processor
AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor

AMD Socket754 Proessor

AMD Athlon™ 64 Proessor
AMD Sempron™ Processor

Dimension: 128 x 85 x 98 mm (W x H x D)
Weight: 360g
Price: ~$25

Fan dimension: 92 x 92 x 25 mm
Speed: 2,000rpm
Noise Level: 23.5 dbA
Air Flow: 32.4CFM
Bearing Type: Sleeve Bearing