Scythe Ninja Copper - bit-tech.net Forums

Tim S · 16th Jun 2008, 12:04

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...ninja-copper/1

Scythe is a company with a massive reputation in the enthusiast community and it recently released its Ninja Copper cooler. We test the Ninja Copper out to find if it lives up to the company's reputation for making great low-noise coolers.

Timmy_the_tortoise · 16th Jun 2008, 12:13

I'm liking this new Heatsink review thing. I've always been unsure about Heatsinks, and it's hard to find a comprehensive benchmark which can assure me which I should go for.

It's just a shame you haven't tested the Scythe Ninja Mini, since that's the one I'm looking at for building my HTPC.

g3n3tiX · 16th Jun 2008, 12:32

Quote:

it’s very disappointing thermal performance is hard to overlook

Slight typo.
What are the "wallet meltingly expensive" ways of testing heatsinks ?
The scythe looks nice but performs poorly, as you said. So the silent Square pro is better ?

Blood · 16th Jun 2008, 12:42

Shame - I really liked Scythe coolers back in the day of skt 478. Working for maplin and someone messed up - I got four Scythe Heatlanes for 3 quid each!

Disappointing

Paradigm Shifter · 16th Jun 2008, 13:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timmy_the_tortoise

It's just a shame you haven't tested the Scythe Ninja Mini, since that's the one I'm looking at for building my HTPC.

I'm running a Scythe Ninja Mini on a Q6600 in my HTPC - idles at 28*C (with C1E, Speedstep etc disabled) and loads at 54*C. This is on a low VID batch Q6600, though, so temps are pretty good. Ambient temp around 18 or 19*C. It's a surprisingly capable heatsink, but the fan is a little loud. In fact, aside from the fan on the GPU, the fan on the Ninja Mini is the only one in the case. (Well, and the PSU fan, but that sucks air in from a grille in the side of the case and vents it out the back of the PSU, so is effectively a seperate airflow system from the rest...)

Am looking to get a Scythe Zipang to test out, as I think it'll just fit in the case...

Timmy_the_tortoise · 16th Jun 2008, 13:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paradigm Shifter

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timmy_the_tortoise

It's just a shame you haven't tested the Scythe Ninja Mini, since that's the one I'm looking at for building my HTPC.

I'm running a Scythe Ninja Mini on a Q6600 in my HTPC - idles at 28*C (with C1E, Speedstep etc disabled) and loads at 54*C. This is on a low VID batch Q6600, though, so temps are pretty good. Ambient temp around 18 or 19*C. It's a surprisingly capable heatsink, but the fan is a little loud. In fact, aside from the fan on the GPU, the fan on the Ninja Mini is the only one in the case. (Well, and the PSU fan, but that sucks air in from a grille in the side of the case and vents it out the back of the PSU, so is effectively a seperate airflow system from the rest...)

Am looking to get a Scythe Zipang to test out, as I think it'll just fit in the case...

I'm looking at just using the heatsink, since the Antec NSK2480 which I'll be putting it in has good airflow with 2x120mm fans included which sit on the case exhaust literally right next to the CPU heatsink. Hopefully I'll be able to OC a Q6600 to 3.0GHz, if not I may have to attach the fan.

Baz · 16th Jun 2008, 14:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paradigm Shifter

Am looking to get a Scythe Zipang to test out, as I think it'll just fit in the case...

Stay tuned on this front! I'll be looking at the Zipang shortly, and hopefully it won't be such a disappointment as the Ninja Copper.

Mo_ · 16th Jun 2008, 14:46

im glad i did'nt buy this, go noctua - http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...ctua_nh-u12p/1

p3n · 16th Jun 2008, 15:09

There seems to be a distinct lack of fin'age per heatpipe (new heatsink stat is born?) ... all well and good having 2010 heatpipes but i'd imagine the surface area on that must be pretty low compared to the 'density' of a zalman flower of old..

wharrad · 16th Jun 2008, 15:34

Ach, what a shame. The original Ninja was a really good performer. It seems somewhere along the line the mounting plate got changed and then the performance drops off wildly.

Clearly I can't be sure, but I wonder if the additional weight of the copper is pulling it away from the motherboard when it's on it's side... Thus reducing the contact pressure.

Oh well, I suppose it's time to have yet another 'eXtreme' branded product in the case

Paradigm Shifter · 16th Jun 2008, 15:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baz

Stay tuned on this front! I'll be looking at the Zipang shortly, and hopefully it won't be such a disappointment as the Ninja Copper.

Great!

Do Scythe want it back when you've tested it, or can you send it to me?

dragontail · 16th Jun 2008, 16:59

Well, as far as I'm concerned, the original was a fantastic performer when used in a push-pull combination. It was also really quiet. Shame this new one isn't great, but I kind of expected it actually. Replacing all the aluminium fins with copper will give a disproportionate performance advantage over the cost overlay. Scythe is better off designing a more efficient heatpipe system and a better mount.

liratheal · 16th Jun 2008, 17:41

Nice review!

That thing dominates the board, though

I noticed in the AM2 socket demo you fitted it to an M3A32-MVP. Is there any chance anyone could give me an idea of the gap between two cards in the two lowest PCI-E sockets? I cannot, for love nor money, find a review that has four PCI-E cards fitted.

dmak · 17th Jun 2008, 13:27

when I looked into this cooler before as well as the aluminum one with the push pin mounts it was reviewed similarily. They were disapointed, one site made the point of using the same fan on all their cpu tower heat sinks though and found that a better fan produced fantastic results bringing it to just under the mighty ultra 120.

oh and I hate their mounting system with the push pins, it may appear easy but is far from it and will require the MB to be removed to get it out.

16th Jun 2008, 12:04	#1
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	Scythe Ninja Copper http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...ninja-copper/1 Scythe is a company with a massive reputation in the enthusiast community and it recently released its Ninja Copper cooler. We test the Ninja Copper out to find if it lives up to the company's reputation for making great low-noise coolers. __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

16th Jun 2008, 12:13	#2
Timmy_the_tortoise International Man of Awesome Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: County Durham, UK Posts: 964	I'm liking this new Heatsink review thing. I've always been unsure about Heatsinks, and it's hard to find a comprehensive benchmark which can assure me which I should go for. It's just a shame you haven't tested the Scythe Ninja Mini, since that's the one I'm looking at for building my HTPC. __________________ Q6600 @ 2.40GHz w/G0\|Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R\|4GB OCZ Gold PC-6400 800MHz\|Powercolor Radeon HD4850\|Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB\|Scythe Ninja Mini\|LG Blu-ray/HD DVD/DVD-RW Combo Drive\|Corsair TX650W\|Antec NSK2480 Pioneer VSX-417\|2x Gale 3010\|2x Yamaha NSP110\| MS304W Centre \| MS308 Subwoofer

16th Jun 2008, 15:34	#10
wharrad Hypermodder Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Burford, Oxfordshire Posts: 866	Ach, what a shame. The original Ninja was a really good performer. It seems somewhere along the line the mounting plate got changed and then the performance drops off wildly. Clearly I can't be sure, but I wonder if the additional weight of the copper is pulling it away from the motherboard when it's on it's side... Thus reducing the contact pressure. Oh well, I suppose it's time to have yet another 'eXtreme' branded product in the case __________________ Jimmy Carr - "It's easier to get forgiveness than permission"

16th Jun 2008, 16:59	#12
dragontail 7-2 offsuit Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Belfast/Cambridge Posts: 1,389	Well, as far as I'm concerned, the original was a fantastic performer when used in a push-pull combination. It was also really quiet. Shame this new one isn't great, but I kind of expected it actually. Replacing all the aluminium fins with copper will give a disproportionate performance advantage over the cost overlay. Scythe is better off designing a more efficient heatpipe system and a better mount. __________________ Project COMTAR Acoustic Guitar, meet Mini-ITX *[ * * * * * * * * ]* MBP 15" \| Dell 2408WFP

16th Jun 2008, 17:41	#13
liratheal Just got a great book on tape Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: High Wycombe, UK Posts: 3,638	Nice review! That thing dominates the board, though I noticed in the AM2 socket demo you fitted it to an M3A32-MVP. Is there any chance anyone could give me an idea of the gap between two cards in the two lowest PCI-E sockets? I cannot, for love nor money, find a review that has four PCI-E cards fitted. __________________ Gigabyte MA790FX, X4 9950 Black Edition, 8gb Geil Black Dragon, 2x4870 512mb, Antec TruePower Quattro 850w I game, Do you?

16th Jun 2008, 12:42	#4
Blood Multimodder Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Glasgow, Scotland Posts: 181	Shame - I really liked Scythe coolers back in the day of skt 478. Working for maplin and someone messed up - I got four Scythe Heatlanes for 3 quid each! Disappointing

16th Jun 2008, 14:46	#8
Mo_ Did this world come by chance? Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Bedford Posts: 75	im glad i did'nt buy this, go noctua - http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...ctua_nh-u12p/1

16th Jun 2008, 15:09	#9
p3n Hypermodder Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 737	There seems to be a distinct lack of fin'age per heatpipe (new heatsink stat is born?) ... all well and good having 2010 heatpipes but i'd imagine the surface area on that must be pretty low compared to the 'density' of a zalman flower of old..

17th Jun 2008, 13:27	#14
dmak Minimodder Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: canada Posts: 32	when I looked into this cooler before as well as the aluminum one with the push pin mounts it was reviewed similarily. They were disapointed, one site made the point of using the same fan on all their cpu tower heat sinks though and found that a better fan produced fantastic results bringing it to just under the mighty ultra 120. oh and I hate their mounting system with the push pins, it may appear easy but is far from it and will require the MB to be removed to get it out.