In our continuing quest for the best top-end air cooler it has been interesting to see the heatpipe towers pull to the front of the pack. Coolers like the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme and the Ultra-120, the Tuniq Tower 120, and the Scythe Ninja Plus 2 with push-pull fans have topped our all-time performance charts. They are all very similar in concept, with a vertical heatpipe array supporting horizontal fins with cooling from a side-mounted 120mm fan. More heatpipes have generally meant better cooling performance, at least in coolers from the same manufacturer.

Readers have pointed out that this cooler configuration probably is not the best for cooling motherboard components as well the CPU, and yet we find this type of cooler doing well enough in cooling the systems to consistently rise to the top of the performance charts. Logically a cooler with heatpipes and a fan blowing down should perform better, but our testing of the Cooler Master GeminII showed this was not the case. The GeminII is a decent cooler at stock speeds, but it just does not compete very well or cool well enough at higher Core 2 Duo overclocks.

The answer, according to some readers, is to test more of the down-blowing coolers, as the ones we've tested just can't be representative of a class that has to be better. So here we go again with the down-blowing coolers, and this time we are testing two of the most highly advertised on the market - namely the Scythe Andy Samurai Master and the Thermaltake MaxOrb.


As you can see in the side-by-side comparisons, both these coolers are fairly massive for CPU toppers. The MaxOrb is smaller and is similar in appearance to the older Zalman coolers like the 7000 and 7700. However, the MaxOrb is still large enough to mount an integral 110mm fan. As you will see in the specifications, the MaxOrb is also much lighter than the Andy Samurai, weighing in at a very svelte and moving friendly 465g.

Another significant difference in the two coolers is that any 120mm x 25mm fan should mount on the Scythe, where the Thermaltake 110mm fan is embedded and not changeable. To make up for this Thermaltake has thoughtfully included a rheostat for fan speed adjustment right on the fan, and the adjustment range is specified as 1300-2000rpm with a 2000rpm output of very high 86.5cfm. The on-cooler speed control is handy - at least until you close your case.



Thermaltake MaxOrb

Thermaltake started business in 1999 in Taiwan, and has since become one of the most recognized brands in computer cooling as well as cases. Since 1999 the company has grown into a world-class company with a state-of-the-art testing and R&D facility based in Taiwan. Thermaltake employs 60+ engineers covering each application segment such as Liquid Cooling, Air Cooling, PC Enclosure and Power Supply for main-stream users, high-end solutions, system integrators and industrial applications. Today you will find Thermaltake cooling solutions around the world.

The MaxOrb is the latest in a long line of Thermaltake "orb" coolers. The Orb name was first used in 2000 when Thermaltake launched the Golden Orb cooler for Pentium processors. The name has been revived recently with the MaxOrb cooler, which combines radial fins and heatpipes in a down-facing CPU cooler.


This cooler stands out with distinctive red and black packaging, and the package itself is huge. The MaxOrb and a box of accessories are protected by a plastic clamshell inside the box.


The cooler uses large radial aluminum fins and a large 110mm fan. As you can see there is also a built-in fan speed control that allows fan output to be adjusted up to a claimed 86.5cfm at 2000rpm. The embedded 110mm fan is lit by a blue LED. 110mm is a non-standard fan size, but that is somewhat a moot point since the fan was not designed to be changed.


The cooling is further enhanced by six heatpipes extending from the copper base. These turn and pass horizontally through the radial fins to dissipate heat from the processor.


Accessories include mounting brackets for Intel socket 775 and AMD 754/939/940/AM2. The key component is the universal mounting base.


The base attaches the MaxOrb cooler, and four pop-clips slip onto the base for mounting to an Intel socket 775. You don't need to remove the motherboard to mount this cooler.


The base pops on first, then the cooler attaches by clipping to the base lug and attaching a single screw. Unlike other coolers that claim simple installation without board removal, this one actually works. The only awkward task is attaching the single screw since there's just no good way on a board mounted in a case to hold the screw while trying to screw it on.

Specifications

Our test system is Intel socket 775, but the Thermaltake MaxOrb will mount on any recent AMD socket as well - including socket 754/939/940 as well as the more recent and AM2. All the needed hardware is included.

Thermaltake MaxOrb Specifications
Heatsink
Dimensions	143(L) X 114(D) X 85.2(H)mm
Weight	465g (including fan)
Material	Pure Copper Base and Aluminum Fins
Heatpipes	Six 6mm copper heatpipes
Fan
Fan Size	110 mm x 25mm
Bearing Type	Sleeve Bearing
Fan Life	50,000 hours
Connector	3-pin with integral fan-speed rheostat, 3.0 Watt Input
Speed	Silent Mode	1,300rpm	Low-noise Mode	2,000rpm
Noise Level	Silent Mode	16.0dBA	Low-noise Mode	24.0dBA
Fan Output	Silent Mode		Low-noise Mode	85.5cfm

The MaxOrb is a big cooler, but it is much shorter than the typical heatsink towers we have been reviewing. The EVGA 680i is a difficult to fit board due to the copper-finned heatsink and fan cooling the Northbridge. It is a snug fit, but the MaxOrb mounted fine on the 680i, the ASUS Striker and ASUS Commando, and on the two new P35 boards - the ASUS P5K Deluxe and P5K3 Deluxe. The P5K3 Deluxe is almost a fit test for any motherboard, since the heatpipes completely circle the CPU socket and connect various cooling heatsinks around the CPU socket. The only precaution on the P5K3 is to mount the MaxOrb with the screw "tongue" over the lower heatpipes near the DIMM sockets. It clears everything in this mount position.



Scythe Andy Samurai Master

Scythe Co., Ltd. is a Japanese company located in Tokyo. Beginning in 2002 Scythe started manufacturing and distributing products for the PC enthusiast. This included CPU cooling solutions. Scythe's first product, the Scythe Samurai, developed quite a reputation among computer enthusiasts.

Scythe currently lists about a dozen air cooling solutions on their company website. These range from entry cooling solutions all the way to full cooling tower designs.

Their current catalog includes the well-known Scythe Infinity and the Scythe Ninja Rev. B full cooling tower solutions, both reviewed at AnandTech. There are also mid to low-end offerings such as the Scythe Katana that was also reviewed at AnandTech. A new top-end offering is the Andy Samurai Master.

Scythe always seems to have catchy and clever names for their coolers. They usually contain Asian warrior names, so we understand the Samurai Master. We just wonder who the "Andy" is in the Andy Samurai Master?


The box is very compact compared to the MaxOrb, and it is the typical Scythe graphics that tries to tell you everything you might ever ask about the cooler somewhere on the box. The box may be compact, but the Andy Samurai Master is a large and heavy cooler with a 120mm fan.


The Andy Samurai Master is another down-facing fan design, using an easily changed 120mm fan held on by fan wires. The heatsink uses a large aluminum fin array cantilevered over the mount to the CPU.


Six copper heatpipes extend from the copper base to the upper fin deck to provide further cooling. The best way to describe the design would be something like a large cast aluminum base heatsink with a larger heatpipe fin array attached to the top.


The Andy Samurai Master includes mounts for Intel socket 775, AMD 754/939/940/AM2, and even Intel 478. The mounting parts are cleverly designed to pop into slots on the side of the cast base.


Here we see the attached Intel 775 pop-clip sides that make the cooler ready for mounting on the Core 2 Duo test bed. The pop-clips mean you don't need to remove the motherboard to mount the Andy Samurai Master. However, things are not always as simple as they appear. The Andy overhangs the push clips on all 4 sides, and when mounted in a case we just couldn't reach all the push-clips to pop them in. We had to remove the motherboard to reach a hand in and drive that 4th clip home. The design works great on a test bench, but someone should have tried it in a real case. The overhangs make mounting without removing the motherboard almost impossible.

Specifications

Our test system is Intel socket 775, but the Scythe will mount on all current CPU sockets. All the needed hardware is included to fit the variety of supported sockets.

Scythe Samurai Andy Specifications
Heatsink
Dimensions	125(L) X 137(D) X 104(H)mm
Weight	685g (including fan)
Material	Pure Copper Base and Aluminum Fins
Heatpipes	Six 6mm copper heatpipes
Fan
Fan Size	120 mm x 25mm
Bearing Type	Sleeve Bearing
Connector	3-pin
Speed	1200rpm
Noise Level	20.94dbA
Fan Output	49.58cfm

The Scythe is heavier and taller than the MaxOrb, but uses six heatpipes, just like MaxOrb. Scythe includes the medium output and quiet Scythe 1200rpm fan we have seen used on some other Scythe coolers, but the fan is easily switched to whatever 120mm fan you prefer.



CPU Cooling Test Configuration

The standard test bed for cooling tests uses an EVGA NVIDIA 680i SLI motherboard. This is primarily based on the consistent test results on this board and the excellent NVIDIA Monitor temperature measurement utility, which is part of the nTune program.


NVIDIA Monitor has a drop-down pane for temperature measurement which reports CPU, System, and GPU results. Reviews at this point will concentrate primarily on CPU temperature. In addition to the real-time temperature measurement, NVIDIA Monitor also has a logging feature which can record temperature to a file in standard increments (we selected every 4 seconds). This allows recording of temperatures during testing and play back, for example, of stress test results that can then be examined when the stress tests are completed. There is also the handy reference of speeds and voltages in the top pane to confirm the test setup.

NVIDIA Monitor was compared to test results from the Intel TAT (Thermal Analysis Tool). Intel TAT CPU portions do function properly on the EVGA 680i motherboard, but the chipset-specific features do not operate as they should. Idle temperatures in TAT were in line with measured idle temps with NVIDIA Monitor. The CPU stress testing with TAT pushing both cores showed TAT stress temps at 80% CPU usage roughly corresponded to temps reported in our real-world gaming benchmark.

Other components in the cooling test bed are generally the same as those used in our motherboard and memory test bed:

Cooling Performance Test Configuration
Processor	Intel Core 2 Duo X6800 (x2, 2.93GHz, 4MB Unified Cache)
RAM	2x1GB Corsair Dominator PC2-8888 (DDR2-1111)
Hard Drive(s)	Hitachi 250GB SATA2 enabled (16MB Buffer)
Video Card	1 x EVGA 7900GTX - All Standard Tests
Platform Drivers	NVIDIA 9.53
NVIDIA nTune	5.05.22.00 (1/16/2007)
Video Drivers	NVIDIA 93.71
CPU Cooling	Thermaltake MaxOrb Scythe Andy Samurai Master Cooler Master GeminII Noctua NH-U12F ASUS Silent Square Pro Scythe Ninja Plus Rev. B OCZ Vindicator Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme Thermalright Ultra 120 Scythe Infinity Zalman CNS9700 Zalman CNS9500 Cooler Master Hyper 6+ Vigor Monsoon II Lite Thermalright MST-9775 Scythe Katana Tuniq Tower 120 Intel Stock HSF for X6800
Power Supply	OCZ PowerStream 520W
Motherboards	EVGA nForce 680i SLI (NVIDIA 680i)
Operating System	Windows XP Professional SP2
BIOS	Award P26 (1/12/2007)

All cooling tests are run with the components mounted in a standard mid-tower case. The idle and stress temperature tests are run with the case closed and standing as it would in most home setups. We do not use auxiliary fans in the test cooling case, except for the Northbridge fan attached to the 680i for overclocking.

Scythe and Thermaltake provided a generic white cooling compound, so we skipped this and tested with our standard premium silver-colored thermal compound. In our experience the thermal compound used makes little to no difference in cooling test results. This is particularly true now that processors ship with a large manufacturer-installed heatspreader. Our only control on thermal compound is that we use the manufacturer-supplied product if they supply a premium product or a standard high-quality thermal paste if a premium brand is not supplied.

We first tested the stock Intel cooler at standard X6800 speed, measuring the CPU temperature at idle and while the CPU was being stressed. We stressed the CPU by running continuous loops of the Far Cry River demo. The same tests were repeated at the highest stable overclock we could achieve with the stock cooler. Stable in this case meant the ability to handle our Far Cry looping for at least 30 minutes.

The same benchmarks were then run on the cooler under test at stock, highest stock cooler OC speed (3.73GHz), and the highest OC that could be achieved in the same setup with the cooler being tested. This allows measurement of the cooling efficiency of the test unit compared to stock and the improvement in overclocking capabilities, if any, from using the test cooler.

Noise Levels

In addition to cooling efficiency and overclocking abilities, users shopping for CPU cooling solutions may also be interested in the noise levels of the cooling devices they are considering. Noise levels are measured with the case open on its side and are measured using a C.E.M. DT-8850 Sound Level meter. This meter allows accurate sound level measurements from 35b dB to 130 dB with a resolution of 0.1 dB and an accuracy of 1.5 dB. This is sufficient for our needs in these tests, as measurement starts at the level of a relatively quiet room. Our own test room, with all computers and fans turned off, has a noise level of 36.4 dB.

Our procedures for measuring cooling system noise are described on the page reporting measured noise results comparing the stock Intel cooler and recently tested CPU coolers to the Thermaltake MaxOrb and Scythe Andy Samurai Master coolers.



Cooling at Stock Speed

Some users will never overclock their CPU, but they still want to run the coolest CPU temperatures possible to enhance stability and extend CPU life. Both the Thermaltake MaxOrb and the Scythe Andy Samurai Master come complete with fans. Therefore we tested both coolers with the supplied fans.


Where the very good Intel stock cooler keeps the X6800 at 41C at idle, the MaxOrb and Andy Samurai both manage 29C, which is a very good performance. This is a significant improvement over the Intel stock cooler, but it is not the best we have tested. The Thermalright coolers, at the top of our heatpipe tower performance charts, cool to 26C and 27C, and the Tuniq 120 maintains 27C. The MaxOrb and Andy Samurai are not the best stock idle coolers we have tested, but they are competitive at the top of stock cooling.

It is more difficult to effectively simulate a computer being stressed by all of the conditions it might be exposed to in different operating environments. For most home users CPU power is most taxed with contemporary gaming. Therefore our stress test simulates running a demanding contemporary game. The Far Cry River demo is looped for 30 minutes and the CPU temperature is captured at 4 second intervals with the NVIDIA monitor "logging" option. The highest temperature during the load test is then reported. Momentary spikes are ignored, as we report a sustained high-level temp that you would expect to find in this recording configuration.

Cooling efficiency of the Scythe Andy Samurai Master and the Thermaltake MaxOrb were compared under load conditions at stock speed to the retail HSF and other recently tested CPU coolers.


The MaxOrb under load at stock speeds reached a maximum temperature of 40C with the embedded fan at high speed. Performance of the Andy Samurai was similar at 41C load temperature at stock speed. This performance compares to the Thermalright coolers at 32C and 33C, the Tuniq at 34C and the Cooler Master Hyper 6+ and Zalman 9700 at 36C. Stock load performance is average at best among tested coolers.



Scaling of Cooling Performance

The Andy Samurai and MaxOrb were excellent at stock idle and average among top coolers at stock load. However, as overclocks were raised, neither cooler was particularly outstanding in the ability to cool the CPU under stress conditions. To be as fair as possible all overclocking tests were run with the MaxOrb fan at the highest speed. The Scythe Andy Samurai has a fixed speed fan.


At 2.93GHz the retail HSF is running at 41C, compared to 29C with the MaxOrb and Andy Samurai at 29C. This is not the best performance seen in our tests at idle, but it is competitive with the top coolers tested so far. This is a delta of 12C. The delta becomes greater as the overclock increases. At 3.73GHz when idle the retail fan is 56C compared to the MaxOrb at 40 and the Scythe Andy Samurai Master at 41C - a delta of 15C to 16C. The cooling performance of MaxOrb and Andy Samurai are much better than the Intel Retail cooler at idle, but they do not reach the same cooling levels seen in the Thermalright coolers or Tuniq 120. The top Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme, for example is at 33C at the same 3.73GHz, and it is still cooler at 36C at the much higher overclock of 3.94GHz.

Cooling efficiency of the Scythe Andy Samurai Master and Thermalright MaxOrb were compared under load conditions to the retail HSF and other recently tested CPU coolers. Load testing can be very revealing of a cooler's efficiency. A basically flat line, particularly form 3.73GHz upward, indicates the cooler is still in its best cooling range. A line that is increasing rapidly indicates a cooler nearing the end of its ability to cool efficiently. Lines which parallel the best coolers over a range of values are showing similar efficiency slopes.


The MaxOrb and Andy Samurai are both very efficient in cooling in the 2.93GHz to 3.73GHz overclock range. The MaxOrb continues on to a highest overclock of only 3.83GHz, which is well short of the 3.90GHz to 3.94GHz most of the top coolers in our testing have achieved. The Scythe Andy Samurai fares even worse, topping out at just 3.81GHz. Both these coolers cost around $50, which is definitely in the range of the top-of-the-line coolers we have tested. However, neither cooler is really performing any better than some of the $20 to $30 coolers we have tested.

As stated many times, the overclocking abilities of the CPU will vary at the top, depending on the CPU. This particular CPU does higher FSB speeds than any X6800 we have tested, but the 3.9GHz top speed with the Tuniq is pretty average among the X6800 processors we have tested with Tuniq cooling. A few of the other processors tested with the best air coolers reach just over 4 GHz, but the range has been 3.8 to 4.0GHz. Stock cooling generally tops out 200 to 400 MHz lower, depending on the CPU, on the processors tested in our lab. The 3.83 GHz with the Thermalright MaxOrb and 3.81 GHz with the Scythe Andy Samurai Master - both achieved with the cooler fans at their highest levels - are average at best. We would expect premium-priced CPU coolers to perform better.



Overclocking

As cooling solutions do a better job of keeping the CPU at a lower temperature, it is reasonable to expect the overclocking capabilities of the CPU will increase. In each test of a cooler we measure the highest stable overclock of a standard X6800 processor under the following conditions:

CPU Multiplier: 14x (Stock 11x)
CPU voltage: 1.5875V
FSB Voltage: 1.30V
Memory Voltage: 2.20V
nForce SPP Voltage: 1.5V
nForce MCP Voltage: 1.7V
HT nForce SPP <-> MCP: Auto

Memory is set to Auto timings on the 680i and memory speed is linked to the FSB for the overclocking tests. This removes memory as any kind of impediment to the maximum stable overclock. Linked settings on the 680i are a 1066FSB to a memory speed of DDR2-800. As FSB is raised the linked memory speed increases in proportion. The same processor is used in all cooling tests to ensure comparable results.


The Scythe Andy Samurai Master reached just 3.81 GHz, which is middle of the pack and competitive with the much cheaper Thermalright MST-6775 and the Scythe Katana. The Thermalright MaxOrb barely did better at 3.83 GHz. With most of the better coolers reaching 3.90 to 3.94GHz these results are somewhat disappointing.

Since the Scythe Andy Samurai Master allows easy fan swapping, we did try a number of fans with the cooler. The supplied Scythe fan is only about 50cfm compared to the 90 for the MaxOrb on high. The Scythe S-Flex SFF21F (63.7cfm), the SilenX IXTREMA (72CFM) and the Aero Cool Xtreme Turbine (89.39cfm) were all tested with the Andy Samurai. To our surprise none of the three would allow the Andy Samurai to reach higher than a 3.81GHz overclock. Apparently the close spacing of the fins is optimized for a medium output fan and more airflow just will not improve performance.

One of the arguments for down-facing coolers is that they should cool board components better than the side blowing heatpipe towers. Lower board component temperatures should allow a higher overclock, at least on paper. The unfortunate reality so far, with all the down-facing coolers tested from the Cooler Master GeminII to today's MaxOrb and Andy Samurai Master is that these down-facing coolers just do not cool as well as side-blowing heatpipe towers. Since cost is about the same as the best heatpipe towers we have tested, you really don't get great value with the down-facing designs.



Noise

For many enthusiasts upgrading cooling the goal is maximum stable overclock, and they will live with the inconvenience of a louder system. For other users silence is the most important factor, and these users will forgo maximum overclocking if that increases system noise levels.

There are virtually no power supplies that do not include a fan. While Zalman and a few others do make an expensive fanless power supplies, we have not seen a fanless unit larger than 500W, or one that would be used for seriously overclocking a system. With that in mind the noise level of the system with all fans turned off except the power supply was measured. The power supply used for the cooling test bed was the OCZ PowerStream 520, which is one of the quieter of the high performance power supplies.

We have also measured the Corsair 620-watt and Mushkin 650-watt power supplies which are reported to be quieter than the OCZ. Both the Corsair and Mushkin are indeed quieter at idle or start up speed. However, as soon as load testing begins and the PSU fan speed kicks up the measured noise level is almost exactly the same as the OCZ PowerStream 520 watt power supply.

We are currently in the process of evaluating "quieter" power supplies for an update to our cooler test bed. We will make changes to that test bed as soon as we are confident in the noise measurements and test procedures with a variable speed quiet PSU. We plan to evaluate additional power supplies and configurations in our upcoming 120mm fan roundup, at which point we will complete the transition to a revised and lower noise cooler test bed.

The noise level of the power supply was 38.3 dB from 24" (61cm) and 47 dB from 6" (152mm). The measured noise level of the test room is 36.4 dB, which would be considered a relatively quiet room with a noise floor slightly below the OCZ PowerStream 520 PSU.

We measured noise levels with the Thermaltake MaxOrb and the Scythe Andy Samurai Master with the stock Scythe fan at its single speed and the embedded MaxOrb fan at Low and High speeds. Results were then compared to the other coolers/fans tested in this category. Measured noise levels in this chart should be considered worst case. Measurements were taken with an open side of a mid tower case 6" and 24" from the HSF. Real world would be a completely closed case resulting in a further reduction in noise.




The measured noise levels at 6" and 24" are below the system noise floor with the quiet Scythe fan on the Andy Samurai Master. The Thermaltake actually specifies even lower noise levels than the Scythe, but at both low and high noise it was above the 24" noise floor at 40.7dbA at low speed and 45.8dbA at high speed. The MaxOrb fan is definitely audible, but the noise is not particularly irritating in frequency. If you are very sensitive to noise you should be aware you will likely hear the MaxOrb fan with an open case.

At the 6" measurement the MaxOrb was below the noise floor at low speed, and significantly above the noise floor of 47dbA at high speed with a measured 52.5dbA. The Tuniq Tower 120 on high, the Zalman 9700 on high, and the Monsoon II Lite stressed were noisier than this, but this is still one of our highest measurements. Again the noise frequencies are well placed and not particularly irritating as there is none of the high-pitched whine that some fans generate, but the MaxOrb is definitely not silent.



Conclusion

As the numbers in our CPU cooler tests have risen, certain conclusions have become more obvious. After testing some 23 separate coolers and many more configurations the heatpipe tower has emerged as the best performing design among the coolers. A tall heatpipe tower with horizontal fins attached to a number of vertical heatpipes is the best air-cooling performance you can buy these days. These towers all use side-blowing fans to further dissipate the heat. Most are designed to use a single fan, but some can use two or more fans in a push-pull configuration.

Top air-cooler performance solidly belongs to the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme at 3.94GHz, with the Tuniq Tower 120, the regular Thermalright Ultra-120, the Scythe Ninja B Plus with SilenX fan, the OCZ Vindicator with SilenX, and the Scythe Infinity with dual push-pull Scythe fans all right behind and tied at 3.90GHz. This is a remarkable group of performers that definitely deliver value for your money.

We have tried to keep an open mind about the supposed advantages of down-facing fans. The arguments and logic are persuasive - a fan or fans blowing down should also cool your motherboard components better, and that should mean better performance. The argument is logical enough, but unfortunately the execution leaves a lot to be desired. So far we have tested three down-facing designs - the Cooler Master GeminII, Scythe Andy Samurai Master, and Thermaltake MaxOrb. That's quite an illustrious group, but none of these three could really compete with our top tier of coolers.

We are left to ask the question if down-facing cools better, then why can't these down-facing designs compete with the best heatpipe towers in performance? We have no auxiliary cooling in our test bed, so the down-facing designs should shine in better performance. Unfortunately they don't.

It is sad to say that we considered the Cooler Master GeminII performance disappointing in our last review, when it is definitely the best of the down-facing coolers. That is not praise for the GeminII; it is just an example of what a disappointment this design really is. The GeminII turned out to be the best of a group of underperformers.

There are definitely good things to say about the MaxOrb and Andy Samurai Master once you get past the disappointing performance. The MaxOrb is elegant and exceptionally light for a top cooler. This means it should travel well in a LAN Party PC for example. The MaxOrb also has one of the slickest and best-working installation systems we have seen. You can truly mount the MaxOrb without any thought of having to remove your motherboard. We can't say that about many of these big high-end coolers.

The Andy Samurai does not fare quite as well. It is much heavier and not a cooler you should use in a computer on the go. Replacing the medium output quiet Scythe fan does absolutely nothing to improve performance. Fans with double the airflow still leave the Andy Samurai Master at a maximum overclock of 3.81GHz. Mounting is also supposed to be a snap without removing the board, but we found the wide overhangs made it almost impossible to mount the Andy Samurai Master without removing the motherboard from the case. Fortunately Scythe has two other heatpipe tower designs that do make it to the top of our performance charts, so you can always buy one of those if you are set on the Scythe brand.

In the end the only conclusion to be reached is that the heatpipe towers with side fans are a superior design to the down-blowing coolers. They cool to lower temperatures and allow higher overclocks than the down-facing designs - even those with super high-output fans and their own heatpipes. The conventional wisdom and logic for down-facing fans just doesn't pan out in real-world performance.

The real advantage of comparative testing in a consistent test bed is you can see patterns like this emerge over time. This is easily missed with tests that use a different test bed for almost every review, or that only compare a few items on the same test bed. Large numbers consistently tested allow you to look more deeply at a group as we are doing here with CPU coolers on a Core 2 Duo test bed.

The down-facing coolers are just fine for routine cooling. Some perform very well indeed at stock speeds. Others compare well if noise is your first concern. However, in the important cooling performance and overclocking areas, the down-facing coolers are consistently outperformed by heatpipe tower designs. The best values in cooling performance and overclocking are the heatpipe towers with side fans that top our performance charts.