SPCR

I like the size. Same reason I like the size of the Shuriken as opposed to the Big Shuriken. The Big Shuriken is tough to fit sometimes =P. The fan clips definitely don't make sense.

Are the fan clips loose on the 15mm thick fan so that they also work on 25mm thick fans?

Garak wrote:Are the fan clips loose on the 15mm thick fan so that they also work on 25mm thick fans?

They work with any thickness of fan, but on the Shurekin (not the big one) they only work with 100mm fans. That means you are stuck with Scythe brand fans.... not good. At a minimum you should replace the 12 x 100mm Scythe fans with the slow version of the 25 x 100mm Scythe fans.

Hi SPCR,

Thanks for the constant stream of superb reviews! I would like express one wish for all those heat sink tests that look like they might be a good fit for a mini-ITX build: If possible, please try fitting them on one of the more recent LGA1155 mini-ITX mainboards, the ones that have their PCI-E slot in such close proximity to the CPU slot, just to give an indication on compatibility. With the GremlinII M4 it is pretty clear that it won't fit as you are saying it's roughly the size to the Big Shuriken. Never the less, it's not always that clear and a couple of mm here and there can make the difference.

I am wondering, has the normal Shuriken not been tested on this site? I wonder how it fairs since it seems like it could just about fit those LGA1155 mini-ITX mainboards, possibly with a sheet of card board or plastic between itself and the card fitted into the PCI-E slot.

Thanks & Best Regards,
Gundy

ces wrote:They work with any thickness of fan, but on the Shurekin (not the big one) they only work with 100mm fans. That means you are stuck with Scythe brand fans.... not good.

The 100m fan fitted to the Shuriken has two sets of fixing holes - one for 100mm and one for 92mm - and the supplied fan clips actually use the 92mm holes. So replacing the stock unit with a 92mm fan is a straightforward operation with this cooler.

lodestar wrote:The 100m fan fitted to the Shuriken has two sets of fixing holes - one for 100mm and one for 92mm - and the supplied fan clips actually use the 92mm holes. So replacing the stock unit with a 92mm fan is a straightforward operation with this cooler.

I put a 25x100mm fan on my Shurekin. In order to do so, I had to cut the posts. I just eyeballed it right now, and it is pretty clear to my eyes that, at least my Shurekin's clips are 100mm ones. I remember trying a 92mm fan on it and having problems... one of which was that it just didn't work well with the plenum.

I must say, that Shurekin disappointed in so many ways. The reviews looked so good, but I found reality not so good.

Gundy wrote:please try fitting them on one of the more recent LGA1155 mini-ITX mainboards, the ones that have their PCI-E slot in such close proximity to the CPU slot, just to give an indication on compatibility.

Yes. That is a real issue. Don't forget in 6 to 9 months, Intel is going to be changing the format on us once more with the Haswell CPU

I wanted to express my personal good fortune with this particular cooler. My gaming HTPC has a i5-2500k @ 4.2Ghz (stock voltage) in a Silverstone GD04 HTPC case. My options were pretty limited as my Blu-Ray drive mounts right above the CPU limiting cooler height to max of 70mm. The OEM cooler had on occasion allowed temps to bust into the 70-72C range under heavy load using coretemp as a measuring utility. Now 70C is not damaging, but higher than I like. Quick stress tests with Prime95 allowed temps to exceed 80C.

I have used the Scythe Big Shuriken in a past AMD PII HTPC build and liked it, but I was not so overly impressed with it's performance or noise level with the OEM fan that I felt I had to get another one. I was not able to locate one easily this time, so I went with the M4 as an alternate choice.

Thus far I like the CM M4. The build quality of the Scythe is superior, but it is also more expensive and as I mentioned before, scarce. Temps while running Prime95 have dropped 14C compared to the OEM Intel cooler while having a more pleasant noise profile. Under normal use (normal use is using my HTPC as a 4 tuner DVR) the fan is inaudible with my smartfan profile and idle is still only 30-33C. Under heavy load the fan ramps up but meshes well with my case fans and is never real noticeable and when gaming, the 660ti fan noise exceeds them all anyway. Overall I am pleased, not blown away, but pleased for $25 (Got it on sale).