Scythe Ninja

We tested the boxed version of the Ninja, but before it used to come fanless. Because it is so large, its fins have a huge surface area. It (and the Infinity too) can be used in a fanless mode. This is ideal for those who do not overclock, and those with the need for a very quiet PC. The Ninja is a behemoth. It has a record 12 heatpipes, three stemming from each side. From the top it is perfectly square and perfectly symmetrical. Although each fin touches all 12 heatpipes, there are four cut out sections and a whole in the center. On the edges you can see two grooves on each side. Like the Infinity and the Andy, the Ninja’s fan is mounted with wire clips that go in these grooves.



To make the most of its amazing amount of heatpipes, the Ninja’s base is well finished to transfer the most heat from the CPU to the heatsink. The mounting hardware included with the Ninja is different from the other three Scythe coolers we looked at. AM2, 939/754 and 775/478 mounting brackets are included along with a 120mm fan, fan wire clips, and two bags of screws.

Installation

Since heatpipes extend from all four sides of the Ninja, there was no way Scythe could incorporate its notches at the bottom of the heatsink, found on the other three Scythe coolers. They had to change the mounting mechanism and came up with something along the lines of what Cooler Master invented for their Hyper 6+ and Evercool made for their Sharks. The only thing they kept is the standard 775 mounting mechanism with the black stumps going to the back of the motherboard. They sometimes do not go all the way down and you have to readjust them.

First, using the set of 4 small screws, attach the 775 mounting plate to the base. Next, attach the fan by putting the ends of the wire clips in the screw holes on the fan and pulling the clips over the edges of the heatsink and into the grooves. Finally push down on the black stumps until they click to secure the CPU to the motherboard.