X-bit labs

New Coolers from Scythe: Katana II and Kama Cross Review (page 8)

Category: Coolers

by Sergey Lepilov

[ 07/02/2007 | 03:58 PM ]

Thermal Performance

The results are shown in the following diagram:

Unfortunately, the new coolers could not deliver very good performance. The Scythe Katana II coped with the overclocked quad-core CPU but maintained 9°C higher temperature under load than the cheaper Hyper TX from Cooler Master. I should acknowledge the much lower level of noise of the Katana II, though. The new coolers are beyond competition in this aspect.

The Scythe Kama Cross disappointed us despite its enlarged dimensions and higher price (in comparison with the Katana II). I reinstalled it and repositioned on the CPU but to no effect – its performance would not improve. Suspecting poor contact between the cooler and the CPU’s heat-spreader I checked it out and found it was normal:

Thus, in its standard version and in a closed system case the Scythe Kama Cross does not cope with an overclocked quad-core CPU and lets it begin to skip clock cycles. Replacing the stock fan with a 120mm one improves the cooler’s performance a little, yet it is still far from the performance of the Thermaltake Big Typhoon that costs the same amount of money. Thus, the more expensive of the new Scythe coolers proves to be less efficient. It may be better than the Katana II at cooling the mainboard’s near-socket area but I guess cooling the CPU must be the main priority. The optimization of the Kama Cross heatsink for cooling the near-socket area results in worse cooling for the CPU.