Scythe Top-Down Coolers: Kabuto vs. Zipang 2

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If you have been out of the PC Hardware game for a bit, you may not have heard of Scythe before…but they have quickly and *quietly* (get it?) made a name for themselves with quality heatsinks and fans for your CPU’s. What started as giant towers has continued to evolve for all sorts of chassis, so here are a couple which would fit in a lot of HTPC low profile cases. No surprise, they’re good and quiet.

 

SilentPC Review

Both Kabuto and Zipang 2 turned in very impressive performances. Kabuto is the first down-blowing heatsink to displace some of the better side-blowing coolers on our top performers list. Its cooling efficiency only becomes less than stellar when the fan speed is reduced to ridiculously low levels. The Kabuto is also about 13 cm tall, so it will fit in a some cases where a typical high performance 15-16cm tower heatsink will not. Motherboard compatibility shouldn’t be an issue — if its heatpipes get in the way of any board components, it can be rotated to avoid interference.