SCYTHE KATANA SCKTN-1000 HEATPIPE CPU COOLER REVIEW

[TN] Nathan · ALMIGHTY PWNER! Joined: 14 Feb 2002 Posts: 7406

Please feel free to post your questions here.

Review can be found here:

http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/katana/
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[KoG]^weaZel · Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2005 10:44 am Post subject:

wow that is a difference. I would have thought that a heatsink of that size would cool that 2.4c rather well. The style of that unit reminds me of the Asetek Mirco vaporchill. And if I remember right it didnt perfrom that well either.
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[TN] Nathan · ALMIGHTY PWNER! Joined: 14 Feb 2002 Posts: 7406

While Heatpipe coolers are interesting and something different when compared to standard heatsink, it will nevre match the thermal efficiency of directly mounting a heatsink directly to a flat surface to cool.
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FreeTheRock [banned] · Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2005 5:49 pm Post subject:

if you base your decision on to get a heatpipe HS/F on that review then you are not smart, that cooler is a joke, a unknown company trying to get a foot in the market. If you get a heatpipe cooling solution from Cooler Master, Thermalright, Thermaltake, or Zalman it will wipe the floor in performence against that intel stock cooler. I dont know if you guys have seen this yet but the new Zalman CNPS9500 LED cools on par with a good water cooling setup. You guys should also look at the new Astek Vaopchill Micro. Both are next gen heatpipe coolers.

[TN] Nathan · ALMIGHTY PWNER! Joined: 14 Feb 2002 Posts: 7406

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sandness · Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2005 10:56 pm Post subject:

The review sounds about right. I have a Scythe Kamakazi heatpipe cooler and it looks impressive, but that's about it. My idle temps are ok at around 57C on a 3.4ghz P4 prescott, but at load, it can get up to 79C, which is totally unacceptable. Waste of my money.

Sally · UberTweaker Joined: 31 Mar 2004 Posts: 1158 Location: WA

[TN] Nathan · ALMIGHTY PWNER! Joined: 14 Feb 2002 Posts: 7406

Even when testing the 670, the stock fan did a great job.
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Silicon Skum · Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2005 1:26 am Post subject:

In the right environment the heatpipe coolers CAN be a very good option to use, but they do have their limitations. I've been playing around with heatpipes to cool the hot side of peltiers in a water cooling setup, with the heatpipe I can keep all the peltier / waterblocks inside the case and only have the cooling fins of the heatpipe cooler emerge on the outside of the case. Not something easily or cheaply done with a solid heatsink.

Heatpipes have a set operating temperature range (depending on the working fluid used) and seem to have a fairly small temperature curve where they operate most efficiently. Too little heat and not enough fluid is vaporised to carry heat away, too much heat and there is less of the working fluid in the fluid state to be able to effeciently vaporise and carry heat.
As a heatsink to remove heat away from a hot CPU inside a closed computer case, the heatpipe is not a better alternative to a solid copper heatink. The main use (and possibly ONLY real use) for a heatpipe is it's ability to be able to transfer heat along a pipe to another area, i.e to remove the heat from the CPU or heat source in an enclosed space, to an area where that heat can be most effectivly removed (such as the exterior of a computer case) or allow the heat to be carried over a small distance through a very tightly packed, enclosed space without causing a build up of heat in the imediate area surounding the heat source.

There have been heatpipes used in computers for a number of years, the Alpha CPU ran fairly hot and the was not much space around the CPU or inside the case for a very large heatsink like we commonly use today, so large heatpipe coolers were used to remove the heat into a more open spacious area of the case. one added benifit of the heatpipe was that it would still function even if the cooling fan failed, as long as there was a decent airflow through the case. An important feature in a machine often used soley as a 24hr 7day a week machine.

You have to have the right use for a heatpipe for it to be an effective way to cool a heat source.

sorry for long post.

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