Scythe Katana 4 Quiet CPU Cooler

A surprisingly light cooler. I think the fan weighs more than the cooler itself. Replacing a stock Intel cooler that I managed to break a fan blade on. I liked the sideways airflow set up as I have a through and through NZXT ‘Hush’ case, so the Katana lined up just right. Fitting, found it less simple than the instructions implied, but once I’d set the push pins up right it was fairly simple to seat it all in place. Operation, had to double check the fan was working as it was so quiet !!

It’s been installed a couple of weeks now, CPU temps are 40[deg]-45[deg] well within my i7’s comfort zone. Excellent value for money !! If you haven’t got room for a huge cooler or are concerned about hanging something heavy off the motherboard, the Katana 4 is a good option to consider.

Quiet PC gave me top class advice and service all the way through. I can’t thank them enough for that. A point of information for all. If you have an Asus P6X58D-E motherboard, there is a large plate on the back that will prevent many coolers with back plate fittings from seating down !! Be warned !!

I was using a stock AMD cooler before (three or four years), which was just not up to the job. During the summer, the noise alone was a clear indication the PC was running much too hot. But when a noise was indicating a failing fan, it was only the use of CPUID HWMonitor which told me how hot the processor was getting — typical temperature was 77C (after replacing case fans with two Nanoxias). After installing this, the typical temperature has dropped to 33C, and runs much quieter. Finally the PWM fan isn’t running at 100% all the time, and I may even reduce the speed of the non-PWM fan with the 7-volt adaptor.

I am just using the included thermal paste. Make sure to have some isopropanol to hand so you can clean off the old thermal paste before applying the new paste.

On AMD systems, the cooler can only be used in one of two ways. The first so that the fan blows the hot air across the motherboard (which you obviously don’t want), or the second up to the top of the case. If you have an AMD processor, and don’t have a top exhaust on your case, then this isn’t the cooler for you.

With Scythe’s mounting clips, it’s good to know that if in future I change from an AMD system to an Intel system, I wont necessarily need a new CPU cooler. The cooler was in the main very easy to install, without the need to remove the motherboard. The trickiest part is that the cooler fan needs to be removed to give access to the motherboard mounting clips, and putting the fan back on once the cooler is mounted can be frustrating. I found grunting a lot, and swearing, to help.

System details: AMD Phenom II X4 955, Gigabyte MA790GPT-UD3H motherboard, Hiper Osiris case.

Also, this was my first order from Quiet PC. Brilliant, super-fast service. 5 stars for both the cooler, and Quiet PC.