The Scythe
Katana II heatsink boasts four rather unique technologies to its name; OFCS,
VFMS, wide range RPM, and four way mounting. The first of these acronyms
essentially describes how the copper heat pipe comes in contact with the
aluminum fins of the heatsink. Oval Fin Contact Structure (OFCS) increases the
surface area between the aluminum fins and heat pipes by a small degree, which
apparently improves heat transfer. Additionally, the slanted orientation of
the fins reduces the overall volume of the heatsink, and works to direct exhaust
airflow down towards adjacent motherboard components.
The Versatile Fan Mount System (VFMS) simply means
that a user can install any 25 mm thick fan they wish. Last but not least
is four-way mounting - essentially that the heatsink can be installed
with the fan pointing up, down, to the rear or forward.
Like many of the heatsinks coming out of Scythe's Japanese headquarters, the Katana II
heatsink (model no. SCKTN-2000) makes use of one large slow rotating fan to push
air through an array of slanted aluminum cooling fins. The fans' low speed of
1500RPM makes the Katana II a very quiet heatsink under operation. The heatsink
weighs in at 535grams, and stands about 144mm tall. If you have an AMD
Athlon64 processors in socket 754/939/940/AM2 or socket /478/775 Intel Pentium
4/D, Core 2 Duo/Quad processor you'll find the Scythe Katana II SCKTN-2000
heatsink compatible. It is available through most this online retailer
for around $32 USD.
Scythe Katana
II Heatsink
|
 | |
 |
| HEATSINK
SPECSHEET |
| Manufacturer: Scythe |
| Model No.: Katana II (SCKTN-2000) |
| Materials: Aluminum fins, copper heatpipes,
copper base plate |
| Fan Mfg: SY1025SL12M |
| Fan Spec: 1500RPM, 12V, 0.11A |
| Fan Dim: 25x100x100mm |
| Heatsink & Fan Dim: 144x75x105mm |
| Weight: 535 grams |
| Includes:
multi-socket mounting hardware, screws, thermal compound, printed
instructions |
Compatible with Sockets: 754/939/940/AM2, 478/775 |
| Est. Pricing: $32USD ($45CDN / £16
GBP) | |
The Katana II heatsink uses three 6mm diameter copper heatpipes
to conduct heat from a thin 4mm thick copper
base plate to the 51 slanted aluminum fins above. Since the aluminum fins are slanted about 10°
downwards, exhaust airflow is directed right at motherboard power circuitry, or northbridge chipset. The added airflow simply
helps to further reduce board level component temperatures.
Installing
the Scythe Katana II heatsink onto LGA775, Socket 478 Intel
processors, or AMD Athlon64 K8 motherboards each requires one different metal mounting bracket
be used. The heatsink ships with three separate mounting brackets, each of which is
attached with a couple of screws. It's an uncomplicated way to make one
heatsink multi-platform compliant. Thankfully each of the clips interface with existing heatsink retention mechanisms, or
use through-PCB holes, and no proprietary or complicated mechanisms are used.
The Scythe
Katana II heatsink is compatible with socket 754/939/940/AM2 AMD Athlon64
processors, and socket 478/775 Intel CPUs. The heatsink ships
with printed instructions and a small packet of silicon-based
thermal compound.
The Scythe Katana II SCKTN-2000 heatsink will be tested on
FrostyTech's Intel LGA775 and K8 version of the Mk.II
synthetic thermal temperature test platform, and compared against several
reference LGA775 and K8 heatsinks. The whole test methodology is outlined in detail
here if you'd like to know what equipment is used, and the parameters under
which the tests are conducted. Now let's move forward and take a closer look at
this heatsink, its acoustic characteristics, and of course its thermal
performance!
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