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Scythe Kamakaze AthlonXP / Pentium 4 Heatsink Review
Scythe Kamakaze AthlonXP / Pentium 4 Heatsink Review
  83%   
Abstract: The Scythe Kamakaze configured for Socket A processors, but with the turn of a few screws it can just as easily be set up for an Intel system.

 Manufacturer  Category  Published  Author 
Scythe   Cooling / Heatsinks   Dec 27, 2003   Max Page  

Home > Reviews > Page: Surface Roughness Comparison

Surface Roughness Comparator:

Surface finish is an important factor that we all look for when holding a new heatsink. Flipping a cooler over to see how well the base has been machined is a quick way to judge the attention to detail that was put into making it. The following FrostyTech Surface Roughness Comparator offers a concise cross section common machine surface finishes. Not every heatsink base will fit into the envelope of this gage, but it does offer a very handy set of representations.

This commercially available gage has 22 machined surfaces from 2 to 500 microinches; Lapped (2, 4, and 8 µ" RA), Ground (8, 16, 32, and 63 µ" RA), Blanchard Ground (16 and 32 µ" RA), Shape Turned (32, 63, 125, 250, and 500 µ" RA), Profiled (63, 125, 250, and 500 µ" RA), and Milled (63, 125, 250, and 500 µ" RA).

FrostyTech Surface Roughness Comparator
2L4L8L8G16G16BL32G32BL32ST63G63M63P63ST125M125P125ST250M250P250ST500M500P500ST

the base of a heatsink plays an important role in how well the cooling apparatus interfaces with the processor. poor surface roughness will affect a good heatsink just as much as a good surface finish will improve thermal conductivity. in an effort to put a more quantitative spin on the comments we provide about base finishes, frostytech has begun using a surface roughness comparator.

move your mouse over the image above to see an example at right. numbers are in microinches, and finishes from 2 microinches to 32 microinches are excellent-to-good.

Evaluation Notes:

The Scythe Kamakaze heatsink has a surface roughness of approximately 32M , so it is well within the acceptable range of surface finishes.

Acoustic Samples: Listen to this Heatsink!

The Kamakaze comes with a small brass dial attached to a PCI slot cover which allows you to alter the RPM of the fan. The only trouble is that about 3/4 of the way down from full speed the fan just stops. Quiet yes, effective no. At full speed the fan on the Kamakaze is pretty moderate all things considered, and considering that the potentiometer is too sensitive, I would be hesitant to turn it too far down for fear of shutting the fan down altogether. The heatsink barely makes a noise. To listen to this heatsink for yourself in operation, be sure to click on the little headphones icon below and download the Acoustic Sample MP3 file.

(high) FrostyTech Acoustic Sampling Chamber

Standard Waveform view of a 10 second recording. Click on the headphones to listen to an MP3 recording of this heatsink in operation.
Listen to this Heatsink now.

Sound Level Measurements:

Listening to the actual noise a heatsink makes allows you to hear what pure numbers alone cannot get across. To further emphasize FrostyTech's reliance on cold hard facts when evaluating a heatsink, we also take Decibel readings with a sound level meter. These results may be higher than the manufacturer's listed specs, but then again these are real world measurements. Measurements are made on the dB (A) scale.

FrostyTech Sound Level Results
- Manufacturer Model Noise Level Scale
Verax (low RPM) P14Cu 31.2 dB Quiet
Verax P11T 35.3 dB
Spire SPA04B4 35.3 dB
Spire 5U213C1H3G 35.7 dB
Titan D9TBCu35R1 37.5 dB
ArcticCooling CuSilent2 37.9 dB
Aopen ACK7L 40.4 dB
Coolermaster HSC-V62 43.7 dB
Akasa AK821 44.2 dB
Spire 5F263 44.5 dB
Zalman All Flower HSF 47.4/28.9 dB
Arkua 728M-7N01 48.2 dB
Taisol CGK760092 48.4 dB
Cho-Liang CB0307U-17 49.5 dB
Titan TTC-CU9TB/SC 50.5 dB
Taisol CEK787172 50.7 dB
nPowerTek TTIC NPH-2 50.7 dB
Arkua 628 50.7 dB
Scythe Kamakaze 51.0 dB
Tocools Novasonic 52.2 dB
Tocools Novasonic-AlCu 52.4 dB
Thermal Integration TI-V77L 53.0 dB
Sibak AE01625B 58.2 dB
AVC Tundra 2 58.4 dB
Sibak AC02625B 59.7 dB
Coolermaster HHC-001 59.9 dB
Sibak AC06725TH 62.4 dB
Dynatron DC1206BMP 65.1 dB
Thermalright SLK800 66.2 dB
Thermalright AX-7 66.4 dB louder

At full speed, the Kamakaze fan weighing in at 51.0 dBA of noise. This is pretty much in the center of where other heatsinks are, so it shouldn't be a problem in most computers. The fan speed controller does give you the option of turning the speed, and hence noise, down, but didn't work very well as we have already mentioned.

 Previous Page ° ° Next Page 

Table of Contents:

 1:  Scythe Kamakaze AthlonXP / Pentium 4 Heatsink Review
 2:  Closer Examination of the Heatsink
 3:  Heatsink Thermal/Acoustic Test Parameters
 4: — Surface Roughness Comparison
 5:  Socket A Temperature Results
 6:  Socket 478 Temperature Results

List all Scythe heat sinks that Frostytech tested?

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