We don't usually refer to coolers as "sweet", but the new Scythe Kozuti indeed looks "sweet". Only 40mm high, it's designed for small cases and even ITX boards. But while it's not high, it's 10cm wide and that may be a problem for some boards. Regardless, the design is quite radically different, because the fan sits below the cooler and an 8cm fan suggests that it will be pretty loud at 100% speed.

 

 

 

Testbed:

ASUS M4A88TD-M EVO (provided by DiTech)
AMD 880G/SB850

CPU:
AMD Phenom II 905e (provided by AMD)

CPU-Cooler:
Scythe Kozuti (provided by Scythe)

Memory:
G.Skill Eco 4GB Kit PC3-12800 (provided by G.Skill)
1333MHz CL7-7-7-20 CR1T 1.35V

Hard disk:
Mushkin Callisto Deluxe 60GB (provided by Mushkin)

Case:
Cooler Master Stacker 831 Lite (provided by CoolerMaster)

OS:
Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 x64

Overview:





The base is pure copper but Scythe decided to nickel-plate it, to avoid discoloration due to oxidation. Of course, it has a mirror finish and yes, the reflection on it is our camera.
 


 The cooler consists of three 6mm heatpipes.

 

As you can see the heatpipes are tightly "wrapped" around the fan, of course they don't touch.

 

The aluminium fans are quite thin and as usual, build quality of Scythe's coolers is excellent.

The box contains all parts to fit on AM2/AM3 and Intel 775/115x/1366 sockets.

 

To keep the space usage of the cooler low, you have to remove the backplate of the AMD cooler mounts. To mount the cooler, you'll need to use four screws.

 

 Finally the Slip Stream 8cm fan, rated at 800 (±30%) to 3300rpm (±10%). Our fan ran from 1000 to 3550rpm.

 

If your case is taller you may also mount a 10cm slim fan on top of the cooler, which would reduce noise when the 8cm starts spinning like a little chopper. Our fan is not available anymore, but the Scythe Jyu Slim SY1012SL12L with up to 1000rpm or the SY1012SL12M up to 2000rpm will do just fine.

 

Mounting:

There are two ways to mount the cooler on your board, you can choose either to put the heatpipes parallel to the power-connector or angle them 90°:



 

After mounting the cooler, the cooler does exceed the height of a full backpanel only by 10mm.




 

Temperatures:

Generally the temperatures are a bit better when the heatpipes run parallel to the power-connector. But even rotated at 90°, the difference is not as high as you would expect.

We tested this cooler with an AMD Phenom II X4 905e, which gives ample power for gaming but at a reduced TDP of 65W. From the experience we've gathered, CPUs with a higher TDP are possible, although noise may be reason for concern. At 3500rpm our fan did about 50dB(A), which is loud. At a setting of 30% the board regulated the fan down to about 1600rpm, which was inaudible in our closed case. To help to reduce noise further, a 10cm fan can do you good. On the other hand, it may cause trouble especially in some ITX cases because it adds 12mm of height. Environmental temperature was 22.5°C.





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Conclusion:

As we've come to expect from Scythe, the built quality is excellent. With it's unusual design Scythe has once again proven to be innovative and now, even ITX case owners have a choice for a 3rd party cooler.

With only 250g and 40mm height (about 43mm mounted) the cooler is more powerfull than we have expected just by the looks of it. The mounting is not as easy, but as long as you don't need to change the CPU all the time, it's easy enough.

The sweet spot for such a product are CPUs up to 65W TDP; higher TDPs are possible but it would also cause much more noise. In our tests, the cooler kept the temperatures down to acceptable levels without doing any noticeable noise. Also consider we did test with Prime95 and most applications don't come close to the CPU-load Prime95 does.

Of course such quality has its price and is now on sale for about €25,-/$32,- which is not quite a bargain. However, due to it's unique design and the quality Scythe delivers we have no other choice but to recommend it. If you need a cooler for your ITX or µATX case, don't look further, because the Kozuti is as good as it gets.