|
|
 |
|
Product:
|
Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B Cooler |
|
Price:
|
$63 (CDN) / $54 (U.S)
|
|
Supplied By:
|
Cool Tech PC
|
|
Author:
|
Mars
|
|
Date:
|
January 15th, 2007
|
|
Rating:
|
|
|
Click image for larger view
|
Click image for larger view
|
|
To further complicate things, the heatpipe passive cooling solution for my Northbridge chip created problems
on one side of the heatsink, while the cooling fin location for the North and Southbridge chips eliminated
any chance of installing the fan there as well.
|
|
Click image for larger view
|
Click image for larger view
|
|
Things are tight in my Cooler Master ITower 930 Case. In the end I had to settle for installing the fan
to the heatsink where the passive Northbridge chip cooler is located above the video card area. It worked,
but not without having to fiddle around with it, not exactly what I would call a simple plug and play
install. I hope the installation grief is worth some spectacular improvement in temperatures versus my
Thermalright Ultra 90 CPU cooler, let’s move on to the testing portion and see the end results.
Testing:
The Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B Cooler claims it can be used as an active and passive CPU cooler, I will
test it with the following hardware under both conditions and monitor the temperatures.
- Asus A8N32-SLI DLX Motherboard
- BFG 7900GT Video Card
- AMD 64 X2 3800 (Manchester) (OC’d to 2.6 GHz)
- Plextor 716SA SATA DVD Burner
- Asus AI Booster Motherboard Overclocking and Monitoring Software
- Thermalright Ultra 90 CPU Cooler
- Seagate 320 SATA II Hard Drive
- Seagate 160 SATA II Hard Drive
- Cooler Master ITower 930 Case
|
|
Click image for larger view
|
|
The first test was to see how the Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B performed in an active state, and the results
do not favor the Scythe. The CPU temperature increased five degrees and system temperatures increased
by seven degrees when compared to the Thermalright Ultra 90 I have been using. My motherboard uses a
heatpipe passive cooling solution for the chipsets and requires airflow from the CPU cooler to aid in
cooling, the better the airflow from the CPU cooler the better the chipset cooling as well.
|
|
Click image for larger view
|
|
The next test to conduct was to see if the Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B could work as a passive cooler as
claimed. I was surprised to see a small increase in system and CPU temperatures.
|
|
Click image for larger view
|
|
As we can see there is a two degree CPU difference and a three degree system temperature increase difference
when passively cooled. My case uses a 120mm exhaust fan that the CPU heatsink is an inch and half from;
your case may cause different results.
|
|
Conclusion:
After completing this evaluation I was not impressed with the Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B Cooler for a couple of reasons. The first
reason is the sheer size and weight of the unit at 770 grams versus cooling performance. My CPU is
overclocked from 2.0 GHz to 2.6 GHz and the Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B did not outperform the much smaller
Thermalright Ultra 90 CPU cooler that I have been using for the past few months. There were a number
installation issues that I experience with an Asus A8N32-SLI DLX Motherboard which make this product
fall short. The one positive point for this CPU cooler is it may appeal to those seeking a good
effective passive CPU cooler for their HTPC system, provided it will actually fit their case. Since I am
an enthusiast and an overclocker, this product does not work for my particular configuration. A quiet
CPU cooler is not a concern for me since the cooler on my 7900 GT video card makes more noise than all
the other components in my system combined. As an enthusiast I want performance above all, and this product
aims to appeal to the enthusiast and falls short in performance. The difficulties I faced versus the
performance are not worth the effort. Overall, I am awarding the Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B Cooler a final
rating of 6 out of 10. If you have any
questions regarding this review be sure to visit the Cool Tech PC
website for more information or discuss them in our forums.
|
Pros:
- Good passive CPU cooler with good case cooling
- Top quality construction
- Thermal paste included
- Universally compatible with Intel and AMD platforms
|
| |
Cons:
- Grossly oversized
- Heavy
- Performance to size ratio is poor
- Difficult installation clips
- Possible clearance issues on some motherboards
|
|
|
|
|
Error processing SSI file
|
 |
Error processing SSI file
|
|
