Scythe Kozuti Mini-ITX CPU Heat Sink Review

[Myrkvidr]

In our continuing coverage of low-profile cooling solutions for mini-ITX builds, we take a look at the Scythe Kozuti and its unconventional design. Does pulling air through heat sink fins facilitate better performance than blowing it through?

Scythe Kozuti Mini-ITX CPU Heat Sink Review : Read more

 

[pit_1209]

is it just me or there´s something wrong with that conclusion. I mean, the fan it´s louder and can´t get better temps than the stock without resorting to high rpm, as I said been much more louder in the process so you have to pay $50 for an equal cooling solution or get used to some jet like party inside your build for 7c less. What did I get wrong?

 

[g-unit1111]

I'd love to see a round up of ITX components and SFF builds with ITX cases, I think things are definitely starting to get very interesting in that area. Especially with Steam OS due next year I think ITX could really be a game changer.

 

[DonQuixoteMC]

I definitely agree. Mini-ITX is going to be pretty exciting when it comes to DIY Steamboxes.

 

[-Fran-]

Come on manufacturers! DIRECT. CONTACT. HEAT. PIPES.

Is that hard to grasp?

Cheers!

 

[squirrelboy]

"an 11mm-thick 8cm fan"
"6mm heat pipes"
Dimensions in inches.
Weight in I'm gonna guess oz is ounces.
Heat pipe dimensions suddenly in mm.
More dimensions in inches.
Temp difference in Kelvin.
"And at 1.6” tall, it stays clear of our 2" threshold."
"a 12cm fan"

 

[rwpritchett]

[quotemsg=14637598,0,73949]Come on manufacturers! DIRECT. CONTACT. HEAT. PIPES.[/quotemsg]

Zalman CNPS2X?

 

[Vlad Rose]

@pit_1209 - Yeah, I came up with that same question myself. This cooler seems worse than the stock Intel one in cooling until you kick up the fan speeds to higher rpms; leading to higher noise.

 

[Vlad Rose]

@pit_1209 - Yeah, I came up with that same question myself. This cooler seems worse than the stock Intel one in cooling until you kick up the fan speeds to higher rpms; leading to higher noise.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

@pit_1209 - Yeah, I came up with that same question myself. This cooler seems worse than the stock Intel one in cooling until you kick up the fan speeds to higher rpms; leading to higher noise.

yeh, the conclusion is strangely, Intel boxed cooler ftw. I guess the radiator capacity is the bottleneck here, heat pipes isnt going to do anything on such a thin heatsink i dont think.

 

[Myrkvidr]

[quotemsg=14637191,0,652793]is it just me or there´s something wrong with that conclusion. I mean, the fan it´s louder and can´t get better temps than the stock without resorting to high rpm, as I said been much more louder in the process so you have to pay $50 for an equal cooling solution or get used to some jet like party inside your build for 7c less. What did I get wrong?[/quotemsg]

You're not supposed to use it in a rather big ITX computer case like I'm using due to compatibility (one ITX testing station should be enough - beside all the other testing stations we're actually running^^). But if you choose a SFF-ITX solution the stock cooler might not fit -> that's where the Scythe Kozuti, Noctua NH-L9i etc. come into play. Besides - what the sound level measurements won't tell you @dB(A): the sound characteristic of INtel's stock solution is lousy although the dB(A)-values are quite okay.

[quotemsg=14637741,0,1313788]"an 11mm-thick 8cm fan"
"6mm heat pipes"
Dimensions in inches.
Weight in I'm gonna guess oz is ounces.
Heat pipe dimensions suddenly in mm.
More dimensions in inches.
Temp difference in Kelvin.
"And at 1.6” tall, it stays clear of our 2" threshold."
"a 12cm fan"
[/quotemsg]

-> translation issue, sorry. The reviews were published on our German website a couple of weeks ago and went on to the translation team for the US site.

 

[dovah-chan]

Scythe, be quiet!, Thermalright, and Akasa are all really good manufacturers that need more USA support. ;_ ;

 

[quilciri]

For everyone saying "why get this over intel's stock cooler?":

Intel's stock cooler is 2.7" tall, measured from the board. This prevents it from being used in many mini-ITX cases.

 

[mortsmi7]

I put one of these in the NAS I built. The whole purpose of the passive PSU and silent case fans were defeated by this cooler. So now it resides in a room I rarely spend any time in.

 

[leclod]

Hi Guys, I've got the Arctic Freezer 11 LP. It's roughly 2" and great for me. Right now it runs at 1110RPM 40° on my 3770. Impossible to hear in my already quiet computer.

 

[Bannereus]

Honest question here, where did the 2" standard come from?

Last time they did a low-profile round-up, 4" was the ceiling (height of a graphics card slot above the motherboard).
Do all mini-ITX cases now prevent graphics cards from mounting without an adapter?

 

[pit_1209]

[quotemsg=14639504,0,708622]For everyone saying "why get this over intel's stock cooler?":

Intel's stock cooler is 2.7" tall, measured from the board. This prevents it from being used in many mini-ITX cases.[/quotemsg]

Thanks for making that clear for me.

 

[digiguyONE]

I don't know what all the fuss is about.

I've been using 4 of these coolers in cube cases for the past 3 years are so.
The fans are terrible as 3 of them have presented problems by not spinning up fast enough (probably caused by dirt build-up) so that they cause the system to halt at booting time.
Cleaning these fans is a nightmare as you have to get the fans out of under the heatsink. Usually, depending on the way you have installed them, this can only be done in one direction and even then you'll have to remove the RAM first.
Refitting them is equally frustrating if not more so.
Yes you can mount a 100mm or even a 120mm fan (with a bit of skill) on top, and get better cooling results, but this rather defeats the purpose of such a low profile cooler, even if you choose to use a slim type fan.
You could even choose to mount the fan so it sucks the air through the heatsink away from the motherboard, which in my cases would have been more effecient but all of this just makes it more of a hassle and even more expensive.
All in all I would not recommend this cooler just because of its fan and would rather look at a Prolimatech Samuel 17 as an alternative.

 

[bloc97]

Pretty good airflow for such a small fan... Compared to a much larger fan, it can spin at a same RPM and produce similar airflow...

 

[fwupow]

Hello?

 

[fwupow]

Lord I hate when my comment is vaporized because I wasn't logged in. If this is the future, lemme tell ya folks; It sucks!

In my experience, blowing air through the fins is better. Fans are kind of crappy. Heat sinks are square, but fans are round and they have a motor in the center, so all they do is blow a rather scrawny ring of air through the HS finnage.

 

[fwupow]

The best solution is case mounted fan which pushes air through a duct to the CPU heatsink.

 

[bit_user]

I'd say find yourself a good deal on a Scythe Big Shuriken 2 Rev B. It has 2 more heatpipes and a 120 mm fan on top. I don't know how the overall dimensions compare, but I'll know soon enough if it works in my mini-ITX build. Also, I'll run a 140 mm round fan on it, if I can.

 

[bit_user]

[quotemsg=14637598,0,73949]Come on manufacturers! DIRECT. CONTACT. HEAT. PIPES.[/quotemsg]
Totally agree. Unfortunately, I think Xigmatek or somebody has a patent on it.

BTW, you can regain some efficiency if you're willing to lap your heatsink & CPU. I did my last two heatsinks, but I haven't yet risked lapping a CPU. If you do only your cooler, just make sure your CPU isn't concave, first.

 

[quilciri]

[quotemsg=14645277,0,1790383]Honest question here, where did the 2" standard come from?

Last time they did a low-profile round-up, 4" was the ceiling (height of a graphics card slot above the motherboard).
Do all mini-ITX cases now prevent graphics cards from mounting without an adapter?[/quotemsg]

Many ITX builds don't use dedicated video cards and have slimmer cases. There are also cases that mount their pci-e slot on a daughterboard that makes the video card parallel to the mobo.