Scythe Kamakaze Heatsink Review - Page 2 of 2 Posted:  December 29, 2003 Author:  mAnChO Manufacturer:  Scythe Source:  Scythe Installation: Installation of the Kamakaze is greatly affected by its enormous size and weight. I found it easier to completely disassemble the cooler down to the base, and utilize the removable motherboard tray feature included with my case. This allowed me to get around the entire cooler to make sure that all the clips were connected properly. Because the weight of the Kamakaze is an issue, extra adjustment screws were added to be sure that the cooler would remain in place. Though difficult to see past the capacitors near the CPU socket, you could simply connect that side first and with some effort squeeze the clips into place long enough to tighten the support screws down. A second pair of hands was needed to complete the installation. Once the base was in place and the screws were tightened, the cooler was securely fastened, and the unit could be reassembled. Test System: Well now that I had the cooler installed I could move on to testing the actual reason for being. My test computer is as follows: • AMD XP 2500+ processor • GeForce 4 Ti 4200 video card • 160 GB Maxtor hard drive • ASUS A7N8X Deluxe motherboard • Motherboard Monitor Version 5.3 Room temperature was kept at or near 73 degrees F. The thermal compound that was used throughout the testing was Arctic Silver 3. The load test would be performed by running Folding@Home for a minimum period of 30 minutes. I put the Kamakaze up against my current cooler, a Thermaltake Volcano 7.  Volcano 7 Idle                                  Kamakaze Idle At idle the Volcano provided temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius at 3125 RPM, however the Kamakaze provided temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius at only 2343 RPM. Obviously this is a huge drop in both temperatures and speed, which equals gains in performance and quietness. Volcano 7 Load                                     Kamakaze Load At load the story is pretty much the same, with the Kamakaze coming in 6 degrees lower than the Volcano. The speeds are quite similar with the Kamakaze actually being a bit higher (the Volcano 7 has a thermally controlled, variable speed fan), but where it loses in speed it gains in temperatures. The chart below shows the idle and load thermal results as discussed above... Conclusion: Scythe has created a winner in the Kamakaze heatsink. Although it was not the easiest to install, once fitted to the socket it does an amazing job at cooling the CPU.  The Kamakaze is available for purchase directly from the Scythe website, as well as from a few BigBruin.Com sponsors, such as PC Toys and Quiet PC.  With a price tag of just under $35 (US), it isn’t a budget device, but the price is competitive with products from Switech and Thermalright, which this might be in direct competition with. The Kamakaze gets a solid four out of five stars in my book, thanks to its superb quietness and effective cooling performance. Pros: • Much quieter than devices providing comparable cooling • Effective cooling performance • Competitive pricing • Useful fan controller Cons: • It does not fit all motherboards • Requires some installation care Special thanks to Scythe for providing the Kamakaze heatsink for review! Please drop by the BigBruin.Com Forum and feel free to discuss this review. Page 1 | Page 2 | Forum | Review Index