FrostyTech.com Heatsink Reviews and Analysis
   
  

TOP 5 Heat Sinks     TOP 5 Low Profile Heat Sinks     TOP 5 Liquid Coolers    
 Heatsinks by Brand / Mfgr      Reviews + Articless     Advanced Search    

Scythe Ashura Shadow Heatsink Review
Scythe Ashura Shadow Heatsink Review
  84%   
Abstract: The Scythe Ashura Shadow is a dark nickel plated version of the vanilla Ashura heatsink Scythe also has on the market. Structurally, there's no difference between the two coolers, aside from the cosmetic metal coating. The Ashura Shadow heatsink stands 162mm tall and has a footprint of 145x89mm so it should fit most motherboards without memory slot interference.

 Manufacturer  Category  Published  Author 
Scythe   Cooling / Heatsinks   Feb 17, 2014   Max Page  

Home > Reviews > Page: 360° View - Scythe Ashura Shadow Heatsink

360° View - Scythe Ashura Shadow Heatsink


Information on Frostytech's test methodology is available here.

Scythe's Ashura Shadow heatsink ships with a 140mm PWM fan that draws power from a standard 4-pin fan header. The 162mm tall heatsink has six 6mm diameter copper heatpipes rising up through a 107mm tall fin stack. The nickel plated aluminum fins measure 0.4mm thick and are spaced 2.0mm apart. The bottom-most fin is elevated 41mm above the socket for good motherboard component clearance.

Wire fan clips lack thumb holds so they are less likely to interfere with the back of a videocard; the entire heatsink is no wider than 145mm. The heat pipes are soldered to the copper base plate/aluminum top cap and swaged into the nickel plated aluminum fins. The outer-most heatpipes are piped to the center of the base plate and the inner-most heatpipes to the outside of the base plate. This arrangement conducts CPU heat to the region of aluminum fins which receive the highest airflow.

The nickel plated copper base of the Scythe Ashura Shadow measures 43x43mm in size and is between 2-5mm thick. The aluminum support on the top-side of the heatpipes is 9mm thick. A sacrificial aluminum fin hides the presence of the heatpipes on the top of the heatsink, presenting a clean visual appearance. The leading and trailing edges of each fin also have a small crimp to help break up laminar airflow.

Base Finish and Flatness

Flipping a heatsink over to inspect the business end is often a simple indicator of overall cooler quality. More practically speaking, a heatsink is in many ways only as effective as the contact it makes with the processor - the flatter and smoother the better. Base finish is one of the criteria that Frostytech measure in the course of evaluating heatsinks, and it involves two distinct aspects. Surface Finish is the first; this is calculated with the aid of Surface Roughness Comparator that has a cross section of common machine surface finishes and their numerical surface roughness equivalents in microinches. The second is Surface Flatness. This is tested with an engineer's straight edge or proven flat surface, in two axes.

Scythe's Ashura Shadow heatsink has a dark nickel plated copper base plate / heat spreader. By the looks of it, the small square of copper was turned in a lathe and whether by design or mistake, is slightly convex in both axes. The machined finish of the base is very smooth, surface roughness is higher than ~16 microinches.

Case in point, here's how much of the Ashura Shadow base makes contact with a perfectly flat surface:

Sound level measurements are coming up next on Frostytech...

 Previous Page ° ° Next Page 

Table of Contents:

 1:  Scythe Ashura Shadow Heatsink Review
 2: — 360° View - Scythe Ashura Shadow Heatsink
 3:  Sound Level Measurements: Which Heatsink is Quietest?
 4:  AMD Heatsink Temperature Comparisons
 5:  Intel LGA115x/775 Heatsink Temperature Comparisons
 6:  Intel LGA2011 Heatsink Temperature Comparisons

List all Scythe heat sinks that Frostytech tested?

Facebook RSS Feed Twitter
Resources
° Got Feedback?
° Mk.II Test Platform
° Where To Buy?
° Manufacturer Index
° Industry Dir.
° Cooling Projects
Recently Tested

Scythe Mugen 5 Rev B SCMG-5100 Heatsink Review

Gelid Tranquillo 4 Air Cooled Heatsink Review

Coolermaster Ergostand III Laptop Cooling Stand Review

Noctua NH-D9DXi4-3U LGA2011 Xeon Server/Workstation Heatsink Review

Noctua NH-L9x65 Low Profile Heatsink Review

Scythe Fuma SCFM-1000 Heatsink
...More Articles >>


Websites you may also like:
PCSTATS


FrostyTech.com
Since June 1999


Find a Heatsink
Latest Heatsink Reviews
Top 5 Heatsinks Tested
Top 5 Low Profile Heatsinks
Top 5 Liquid Coolers
Heatsinks by Mfgr / Brand


Social Media
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest


FrostyTech.com Info
Feedback
Contact Us / Heatsink Submissions
Submit News
Privacy Policy
Suite 66

© Copyright 1999-2023 www.frostytech.com All Rights Reserved. Privacy policy and Terms of Use
Images © FrostyTech.com and may not be reproduced without express written permission. Current students and faculty of accredited Universities may use Frostytech images in research papers and thesis, provided each image is attributed.