Scythe Katana

Post by **MikeC** » Sun Oct 02, 2005 11:43 am

An odd angle on a heatpipe heatsink with"universal compatibility" -- even socket A and socket 370.

perplex · Post by **perplex** » Sun Oct 02, 2005 2:07 pm

looks good

qviri · Post by **qviri** » Sun Oct 02, 2005 2:33 pm

I'm totally digging the socket 370 compability. Go go go passive 1.3 GHz C3!

Anyone know where I'll be able to obtain one in Canada?

Devonavar · Post by **Devonavar** » Sun Oct 02, 2005 3:09 pm

I wasn't able to find anywhere yet. It's still early in the production run, and it doesn't seem to be widely available in the states either. Newegg has it...

ScubaSteve · Post by **ScubaSteve** » Sun Oct 02, 2005 8:17 pm

I think I'm gonna stick with my XP-90. Too bad the engineering quality suffers so badly on an otherwise potentially superb HS/F.

innuend0 · Post by **innuend0** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 5:44 am

Hi all !
I want to buy this HS, but my mainboard is socket A (with a hot palomino).

I want to be able to rotate the HS so that hot air go out of my case, through my 120mm, but I checked and my socket is not well oriented to do that !
As you understand, the scythe cannot be rotated as I want on socket A platforms

Is there an easy way to make it ?
What accessories bundled with the katana can I use ? (as you understand, the traditionnal socket A clips can't be used in my case...)
Should I modify, drill or whatever some bundled components ?

Oh ! and I forget :
I've got the four holes around my socket

Please help me in my project,
Thank you very much for any reply,

Pierre-Yves from France (sorry for the english)

NARC · Post by **NARC** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 11:25 am

Any idea why it doesn't list S939 with A64? Is there any reason it wouldn't work? I can't imagine there could be one...

Manufacturer Specs at Scythe

chicabobo · Post by **chicabobo** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 11:28 am

I managed to find the Katana in a few places in the US. Not sure if any of them ship to Canada though.

www.HeatsinkFactory.com
ww.newegg.com
www.CensusPC.com

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 11:40 am

for its price it seems that this hsf combo is one of the best out there.

I just wonder how it would fit on my 370 board. I have a huge copper guy on it. it takes an 80mm fan. i dislike 80 mm fans, such a waste in square area.

joemadeus · Post by **joemadeus** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 3:06 pm

Out of curiousity, would it be possible to mod the K8 base to fit AOpen's i915, MicroATX board for Pentium Ms? The holes are 56mm apart on the diagonal, I think. I have a modded Thermaltake on there now (well, I will when I get it back from AOpen's RMA shop, but that's another story) but I'm concerned that it overhangs the CPU socket so much it's blocking airflow to the components near it. Looks like this might be a better option, if it fits.

-j

moritz · Post by **moritz** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 3:14 pm

Sounds like this will be my next CPU HSF! I was going for a Ninja, but this seems less ... excessive. Thanks for the review.

NARC · Post by **NARC** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:00 am

As far as bang for the buck, I still don't see that you can beat the Zalman though.

CNPS7000B-AlCu for $28.99 shipped at Amazon for folks in the USA.

qviri · Post by **qviri** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 12:33 pm

IIRC, 7000 doesn't work on Socket A if you lack the mounting holes.

Weldingheart · Post by **Weldingheart** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 5:43 pm

They're going to release all copper Katana, but I suppose there's no much advantage in low airflow situation

ran · Post by **ran** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 8:14 am

Soo...does this katana require mounting holes?

I went and bought a Katana Cu....*before* I had an epiphany and realized my Gigabyte 7N400Pro does NOT have mounting holes....

So, am I dead in the water, or can this fit on there (502g) with only the retention bracket?

ARgghhhhh.!

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 8:36 am

Yeah, I made the same mistake. No mounting holes = no way to fix katana to CPU (expect by using thermal adhesive).

qviri · Post by **qviri** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 8:49 am

Dunno about the Cu, but the normal version definitely *is* mountable without the holes. See image in the review on page three:

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 9:28 am

Thanks Qviri. I was just about to throw it in the junk as another non-functional Ebay purchase.

ran · Post by **ran** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 12:32 pm

ahhh..thanks for the pics -where'd ya get those?

Well, the non-Cu is 300g - which is the "recommended" limit for Socket 462 retention clips. The Cu version is 502g - almost twice the weight.

I know that Cu dissipates heat better, and that's why I got that one...but now I'm wondering if I should have gotten the AlCu version.....

I wonder if I really want to test the clip, especially as I'm mounting this vertically (in a tower, not a desktop).

Hmmmmm.........

kenji · Post by **kenji** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 12:40 pm

Technically the copper version "absorbs" the heat better. Copper isn't as good at "dissipation" of heat as aluminum. As a passive cooling device, the inclusion of aluminum is generally a vital contribution to good heat dissipation.

Look at the Scythe Ninja, and the top thermalright passive coolers (XP-120/90)(SI-120/90)

They all include aluminum to dissipate the heat. As copper is better at absorbing heat, it also is better at retention of heat. This is why "all copper" (meaning 100% copper) heatsinks generally require fans to be successful. Of course this is a generalization based on simple science.

Post by **MikeC** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 12:57 pm

kenji wrote:Technically the copper version "absorbs" the heat better. Copper isn't as good at "dissipation" of heat as aluminum.

This is completely incorrect, a much REPEATED myth that needs to be squashed out of existence. This has been stated way too many times in these forums and on the main site for people to be unaware of it by now:

THERMAL COEFFICIENT INDICATES THE EASE WITH WHICH HEAT CAN PASS THROUGH A SUBSTANCE. IT DOES NOT MATTER WHICH 'DIRECTION". COPPER HAS A MUCH HIGHER T.C. THAN ALUMINUM; IT ALWAYS TRANSFERS HEAT BETTER THAN ALUMINUM, WHETHER COMING OR GOING. PERIOD.

When aluminum and copper are used together in HS, it's almost always to keep mass down.

All things being equal, if one imposes a maximum mass limit (say 600g), with a low airflow design, the total area of cooling surface is usually more important than the TC of the material. Thin aluminum fins allow for a larger cooling surface area than copper of the same mass.

kenji · Post by **kenji** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 2:09 pm

i stand corrected. i should have known better than to listen to a machinist

now i feel sheepish

ran · Post by **ran** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 7:57 am

thanks for the replies, guys.

So, do you think I should get the lighter Al-Cu version (300g) for my Socket A (no holes) motherboard, or is the added weight of the all-copper version (520g) ok for just a retention clip on my Gigabyte 7N400Pro?

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 8:56 am

do you think I should get the lighter Al-Cu version (300g) for my Socket A (no holes) motherboard, or is the added weight of the all-copper version (520g) ok for just a retention clip on my Gigabyte 7N400Pro?

The aluminium cooler will cool your CPU just as efficiently as the copper one, and with less risk of damage to the motherboard.

ran · Post by **ran** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 10:27 am

jaganath wrote:The aluminium cooler will cool your CPU just as efficiently as the copper one, and with less risk of damage to the motherboard.

Oh - thanks for the reply. Btw, what's the point of the all copper if they perform essentially the same?

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 2:04 pm

Btw, what's the point of the all copper if they perform essentially the same?

Theoretically, the heat from the CPU should travel faster through the copper heatsink than the aluminium one (as copper has a higher thermal conductivity than aluminium) but the main determinant of cooling performance in fan-cooled CPU heatsinks is surface area; in this case the surface area of the two heatsinks is identical, and the performance should be also.

vitaminc · Post by **vitaminc** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 1:09 pm

NARC wrote:As far as bang for the buck, I still don't see that you can beat the Zalman though.

CNPS7000B-AlCu for $28.99 shipped at Amazon for folks in the USA.

The Zalman HS requires mounting hole.

My question would be, how will this Katana HS work as a passive cooler (with the fan taken off)?

qviri · Post by **qviri** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 1:12 pm

vitaminc wrote:My question would be, how will this Katana HS work as a passive cooler (with the fan taken off)?

Depends what kind of CPU you're looking to place it on...

vitaminc · Post by **vitaminc** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 1:19 pm

qviri wrote:
vitaminc wrote:My question would be, how will this Katana HS work as a passive cooler (with the fan taken off)?
Depends what kind of CPU you're looking to place it on...

Forgot to mention that its going to be put on a Sempron 2200+ OC from 1500Mhz to 1600Mhz. :p

vitaminc · Post by **vitaminc** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 8:26 am

Aight. I got myself a Katana Al, and I been running it without Fan.

My CPU temperature is running at 51 degrees (IDLE) to 61 degrees (after running Super PI for around 20 minutes)

Here is my setup:

AMD Sempron 2200+ (1500MHz)
Case: Antec P180
Motherboard: ECS 741GX-M
Memory: Generic PC3200 512MBx2
Video: ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
SCSI: Adaptec 39320-R
HDD: Seagate Cheetah 15k.3 36GB, Seagate Cheetah 10k.7 72GB
PSU: Antec Smart Power 2.0 500W (yes I am planning to add about 2-4 more HDD later on)
Cooling: 1 Nexus 120mm Case Fan, 1 Nexus 120mm front side Case Fan, 1 Nexus 120mm lower HDD chamber case fan.