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| Scythe
Katana CPU Cooler |
|
The main selling point of this cooler is that it is better and quieter than the stock cooler. The bundled fan only produces 25dBA. On its own, it has better performance than the A64 stock cooler, even though the heatsink base couldn't fully cover the processor's heatspreader. But it's evident that this cooler
can do much more. Its potential was evident in our test results. Slap
on one or more faster fans, and you will see it cut down the processor
temperature! Maybe Scythe should break out into
the hardcore enthusiast market with a spruced-up version of the Katana
with one or two fast fans. Unfortunately, it has some issues
that Scythe should look into right away. For starters, the spring is
WAAAY over-specified. Some of the other Scythe heatsinks that we've
handled actually had that same problem with the spring. Cutting the
spring was the only way to go, unless you (and your motherboard) have
the strength of the Hulk to compress those springs! Another gripe we have is that Scythe did not design the base to fully cover the heatspreader on the AMD A64 processor. This will definitely corrode its performance, compared to other A64 coolers which have full contact with the processor heatspreader. However, its performance results were still good, even with the slightly smaller contact area. If you are interested in heatpipe coolers, the Scythe Katana is worth a look. The heatsink itself has great potential. You can use it, as it is, for quiet cooling. But if you want better performance, just slap on faster fans. For more details, read our Comprehensive Review! |
The
Scythe Katana heatsink is a well-built and well-designed
cooler. Heatpipe coolers may be the current trend but they are that
for good reasons. It's not hard to see why! 
With the exception of the mounting plates, the Katana had a great build
quality to it. It has one of the best finishes we've seen on a heatsink
base. Really need to break out some shades... 
| MSRP | • N/A |
| Lowest PriceGrabber Price | |
| Review | • Comprehensive Review |
| Processor Compatibility | Intel AMD |
| Total Cooler Dimensions | • 98 mm wide |
| Weight | • 300 g |
| Fan Dimensions | • 92 mm wide • 92 mm long • 25 mm tall |
| Fan Bearing Type | • Sleeve bearing |
| Fan Voltage Input | • 12 V |
| Fan Current Draw | • 0.13 A |
| Fan Power Output | • 1.56 W |
| Fan Speed | • 2000 rpm (±10%) |
| Fan Noise Level | • 25.0 dBA |
| Air Flow | • 35.12 CFM |
| Package Contents | • One Scythe Katana cooler • One bag of mounting plates • One bag of screws and mounting components • One Socket A mounting prong • One Installation Guide |
* Our New Review System
ARP is committed to developing new ways to improve your experience with us. As part of our continuous efforts to improve the value of our reviews to you, we are implementing a new review system.
This new review system is designed to allow you to quickly receive information on the latest hardware. This new system also allows you to quickly get the gist of the review without reading through it. This can be very useful, especially in situations where you need to make a quick purchase decision.
In this new system, we start with a Product Overview whenever a company sends us a press release about their latest product. We shift through extraneous PR-talk to create a straightforward summary of the product's features as well as its specifications. This allows you to quickly find out all the pertinent details about the product, without reading through official press releases.
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After thorough testing, we will post a Comprehensive Review of the product. This adds on to the pictorial review with comprehensive test results and our final conclusion on the product.
But no matter whether you are reading a Pictorial Review or a Comprehensive Review, you can always read the summary of the review as well as examine the product's specifications right on the first page. In all our new reviews, we will maintain the first page as a Product Overview page. If the product is listed in PriceGrabber, you can also check out the lowest price online.
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