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FINAL THOUGHTS
Scythe Ninja 3
While the Ninja 3's base is polished to an almost mirror-smooth finish, Scythe
should focus more on its flatness rather than the visible shine. Its concave
shape is likely the main cause of its lackluster cooling. Though not a poor
heatsink, the Ninja 3 underperforms for its size/weight. It is possible that
our review sample is an anomaly; if so, perhaps Sythe will see fit to send us
another sample.
Not only is it a behemoth, it's a pain to install as well because bolting down
the heatsink requires the motherboard to be out of the case, and flipped upside
down. It's something that should've been addressed after the Mugen-2;
Scythe still has a ways to go in this regard. It is a secure mounting system,
though, and like all previous Ninjas, the latest incarnation is a symmetrical
square so there are no orientation issues on AMD motherboards.
The stock Slip Stream fan has a higher maximum speed than we would have liked,
but the included controller can bring it down to near inaudible levels and below
if connected to a PWM controllable fan header. The current street price for
the Ninja 3 is US$45, a little high considering there are a slew of better performing
alternatives.
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Scythe Ninja 3
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PROS
* Symmetrical (proper orientation on AMD boards)
* Secure mounting system
* Quality stock fan with controller
|
CONS
* Poor concave base
* Annoying installation procedure
* Big, heavy |
Scythe Yasya
The Yasya, despite its smaller size, managed to outperform the Ninja 3 by
about 3°C consistently in our tests. Another 3°C and it would've challenged
for champion status. Unfortunately it uses the stock mounting mechanism which
isn't ideal because of the Yasya's weight. In addition, the fan points upward
when installed on AMD motherboards; given its performance it really deserves
something better.
The Yasya ships with the same stock fan and controller as the Ninja 3, so the
acoustic quality and overall noise level simply isn't an issue. The Yasya can
be found online for as low as US$35, a US$10 discount over the Ninja 3, making
it a very solid budget cooler.
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Scythe Yasya
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PROS
* Great performance
* Quality stock fan with controller
* Affordable
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CONS
* Blows upward on AMD boards
* Questionable mounting system
* Sharp |
Our thanks to Scythe
Co., Ltd. for the Ninja 3 and Yasya heatsink samples.
* * *
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