Coolers for Intel LGA775 processors
Date: 06.07.2005 |
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Coolers Scythe Kamaboko, Kamakiri, Samurai rev. B
Scythe, a Japanese company little known on the Russian market, has presented a number of unusual and interesting products.
The first cooler - Kamaboko - offers quite a standard design: a massive aluminum radiator with a copper insert in the base and a large 92 mm fan.
The cooler is packaged in a stylish box with a transparent plastic window.
Apart from the cooler itself, in the box you can find a set of fasteners suitable for all the popular platforms (Intel LGA775, Socket 478, AMD Socket754, and Socket939).
There is also an instruction guide to the cooler (in English and Japanese languages) which describes the set-up procedure.
The main feature of the cooler - it is a rather quiet (22.9 dBa) and powerful (47.3 CFM) fan. At the same time, the maximum rotational speed is 1900RPM.
The fan is equipped with a 3-pin power connector and is attached to the radiator with wire clips. The radiator itself did not leave a strong impression because of the sparse, thick and low-set fins.
The radiator base is a copper plate with the surface processed well enough:
Installation of the cooler on a LGA775 board is quite a hard task which takes much time. The major problem is fastening of metal plates with "hangers".
To do the operation, the following has to be done simultaneously: hold the motherboard, hold the metal enforcement plate (thus aligning the holes with the assembly holes on the board), hold the plate with hangers on the other side of the board (again aligning the holes), run the screw through and tighten it with a screwdriver. In other words, this task is not for a regular user but a juggler :).
Lastly, when the plates with "hangers" are in place, you should snap the fasteners on the cooler. At first glance, the task seems simple - just press the latches until the last ones run through the "hangers". But the fasteners are so tight that the strength of Schwarzenegger is needed to handle them. To be more precise, a couple of Schwarzeneggers is needed because it is advisable not to warp the cooler during installation.
Finally, on some boards the radiator may rest against onboard components (e.g. the way it is on the photo of Asus P5AD2-E).
Pros:
- Universality (can be installed on all popular platforms)
- Excellent exterior
Cons:
- Low cooling efficiency of high-end LGA775 processors
- Complicacy of installation
The next cooler is dubbed Samurai, and we received its improved model (rev. B).
On the cooler, there is a 80 mm fan of variable rotational speed. The variation range is between 1300 RPM to 4600 RPM. At the same time, the cooler noise varies within 15.1 dBa to 46.1 dBa, and the air flow within 15.2 CFM to 60.6 CFM.
Control of the rotational speed is effected with a regulator fitted on a special bracket. The fan is powered through a 4-pin Molex connector.
Half face, the radiator looks like this.
Note that although the radiator is made of copper, it has some engineering shortcomings. In particular, the fins are glued to the base. That naturally reduced the radiator's efficiency as compared to those full copper. The base of the radiator has excellent processing quality:
to provide protection against scratches, it is covered with a special film (prior to installation on the cooler, it has to be removed).
Installation of the cooler is almost the same as in Kamaboko cooler. The only difference is that a metal plate to which the cooler is screwed is fitted on plates with hangers.
Pros:
- Universality (can be installed on all popular platforms)
- Excellent exterior
- Low noise level at the minimum speed
- Thermo paste shipped as a bundled item
Cons:
- Low cooling efficiency of high-end LGA775 processors
- Complicacy of installation
The last of the examined coolers is called Kamakiri and is the most practically feasible.
The package of the cooler is the same as in the previous Scythe products, with the package bundle matching that of the Samurai model. The installation procedure is precisely coincident.
For that cooler the engineers of the Japanese company used the same fan as is installed on Samurai cooler. The variation range is between 1300 RPM to 4600 RPM. At the same time, the cooler noise varies within 15.1 dBa to 46.1 dBa, and the air flow within 15.2 CFM to 60.6 CFM. Also unchanged is the speed regulator positioned on the bracket.
The most interesting component of the cooler is its radiator which is an aluminum base on which there are 6 heat pipes. On each three pipes a great number of aluminum plates is strung.
Over the sides and on top, the radiator is covered with a plastic housing. It acts as a conductor pipe through which air is fed. Thus the housing makes the air-flow work more efficiently. Note that the fan's efficiency is very high. The incoming air flow also serves to spread heat from half the fins of the radiator.
However, the radiator offers its shortcomings. In particular, each radiator fin has quite a poor contact with the heat pipe, without any signs of soldering or a binding thermo interface. Therefore, the plates are easy to remove without any tools.
The processing quality of the base is very high:
To provide protection against scratches, the same transparent film is used:
On the whole, of all the above listed coolers by Scythe, we liked the Kamakiri cooler most. Its cooling efficiency outweighed the shortcomings like complicacy of installation and large overall dimensions.
The cooler's overall dimensions are 99.5x72x110 mm, but the total weight of the cooler (together with the fastening) does not exceed 700 g (to be precise, 675 g).
Pros:
- Universality (can be installed on all popular platforms)
- Excellent exterior
- Low noise level at the minimum speed
- Speed regulators fitted on a bracket
- Thermo paste shipped as a bundled item
- Relatively small weight
- Good cooling efficiency of high-end LGA775 processors
Cons:
- Complicacy of installation
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