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Heatsink Group Test - August 2007
Author: Simon BriersPublished: 2nd August 2007
Scythe Infinity:
CPU Socket Support: AMD AM2 / 940 / 939 / 754, Intel LGA775, Intel S478Weight (with fan): 960g
Size: 116mm x 125mm x 160mm (excluding fan)
Price (as reviewed): £28.00 (inc. VAT)
Scythe is a Japanese company that produces a wide range of air coolers for the hardware enthusiast and overclocker. As hardware enthusiasts, many of our readers asked for reviews of some of Scythe’s coolers – there are two in total in this group test and the Scythe Infinity is the first of them.
The Infinity is by far the largest cooler in this group test and it makes Noctua’s NH-U12F look small in comparison. It comes complete with one 120mm low-noise fan that spins at 1,200 RPM, but given its sheer size there are provisions to attach up to four fans to this beast.
Like the Asus Arctic Square, the Infinity uses a hybrid design with a copper base, five copper heatpipes and a large array of aluminium fins. The base had a very nearly mirrored finish, with no obvious flaws. It had a strange two-tone gold-red tinge to it though, which is perhaps a result of the heat from the polishing process.
Click to enlarge
Installation:
The Infinity's instructions are very clear and the procedures are very easy to follow. Unfortunately, we found the push-pins to be extremely difficult to engage fully, due to the massive overhang of the fins. We triple-checked each pin to make sure that they were all properly engaged. Once we were satisfied, we moved on to mounting the fan.The instructions suggest to test each orientation for your own setup, to find what works best. As we found with the similar Noctua NH-U12F from the last group test, it can make a large difference to final temperatures. I settled for the more common configuration, with the fan blowing towards the I/O plate, though this left the fan very close to the memory slots on our P6N SLI Platinum.
Click to enlarge
Before we move on, it’s worth highlighting the fact that the Infinity’s mounting mechanism is far from optimal again. It’s incredibly difficult to ensure the pins are exerting enough pressure on the CPU because there is virtually no room to get to the pins from above.
When it came to removing the Infinity, we used a combination of pliers and brute force to disengage the four push-pins, which put up quite a fight. This makes me wonder how many times this heatsink could realistically be re-fitted – whether through the pins wearing out or through sheer frustration on the user’s part.
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