INTRODUCTION

   When the very first dual tower (or sandwich type as many like to call them) CPU coolers made their debut roughly 8 years ago everyone in the industry understood that this pretty much ment that manufacturers had reached a point where they could no longer squeeze much better cooling efficiency numbers from typical tower (U-type) and top-down (C-type) models. To date of course such CPU coolers are still around in numbers and although it doesn't seem they are going anywhere (besides they are still suitable for cases with space constraints) they simply can't match the performance levels produced by the much larger and heavier (in most cases) dual tower models. Scythe is responsible for some of the largest CPU coolers to ever be released in the market and today we're testing their latest "beast" which is also based on a dual heatsink design and is called the Fuma.

   Scythe Co., Ltd., (Registered and incorporated in Tokyo Japan) originally started its business operation in Japan's famous "Akihabara Electric Town" located in the metropolitan Tokyo, where visitors can find a variety of products from the latest computer parts to the world's most advanced high-tech electric devices. Scythe Co., Ltd., began its operation and business since November, 2002 as a distributor and the manufacturer of passive and low-noise PC parts. Since then, the company has established the R&D facility in Taiwan & China for production and quality control, and the USA office (in Los Angeles, California) & European office (in Hamburg, Germany) for customer care and sales support. At Scythe, we believe that the best ideas for product come simply from knowing customers' needs and their expectations. Based on this philosophy, the PC enthusiasts working at Scythe know what to develop because that is exactly what we would like to have for ourselves too! We offer products with 100% quality assurance and total pride, and if the product has the Scythe name on it, you can rest assure that its quality will be up to the "Zero Tolerance" standards!

   Much like most dual tower CPU coolers in the market currently to cover even the more demanding users the Fuma is capable of holding up to three 120mm fans in push & pull configuration for increased cooling efficiency. Still since space is always a concern even in large PC cases Scythe bundles the Fuma not with three but two sleeve-bearing 120mm Slip Stream PMW fans. What really makes the Fuma stand out however when compared to other high-performance dual tower and even single tower models is its height since it measures just 149mm a number that allows it to fit in most cases (even mATX ones). Well as usual with such reviews it's up to us to find out whether or not the brand new Fuma is good enough to compete with other similar dual-tower CPU coolers and since it's not as large as some of them this should be interesting.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The Fuma arrived inside a black box that has its name and the mainboard compatibility list at the front.

On the left side we see the product specifications printed in 6 languages and placed right beneath several drawings of the cooler used to showcase its size.

Four product pictures are used to showcase its main features on the right side.

Warranty and contact information about Scythe can be found at the rear of the box in several languages.

In terms of packaging Scythe could had done a better job but since the sample arrived here without issue i guess it is ok.

Inside the box you will find the dual-tower Fuma CPU cooler, two 120mm Slip Stream PWM fans, 6 fan mounting clips, thermal paste tube, fan Y splitter cable, backplate, Allen key, installation instructions and 3 plastic bags with all the necessary screws and washers for mounting on Intel LGA 775/1150/1151/1155/1156/1366/2011/2011-v3 and AMD AM2/AM2+/AM3/AM3+/FM1/FM2/FM2+ compatible mainboards.

THE FUMA

Without any of the fans installed the 700g heavy dual-tower Fuma measures 149mm in height, 135mm in width and 105mm in length.

Each of the two heatsinks features a total of 47 aluminum fins.

Taking a look from the side we see that the fins are stacked in such a way to increase airflow.

Six nickel plated copper heatpipes leave the base of the Fuma and pass through all 94 aluminum fins of both heatsinks.

The copper base features a nice mirror-like finish and is pretty much flat.

Scythe has bundled two 120mm Slip Stream PWM fans with the Fuma capable of spinning up to 1400RPM (+-300) to produce up to 79CFM of airflow with just 28dBA of noise.

With both fans mounted the Fuma now weighs 920g and measures 130mm in length.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   We always take things quite seriously when it comes to work so just like with the previous LGA1366 database we will not be testing each CPU Cooler on its own and with different ambient temperature levels and thus we can actually have yet another valid CPU Cooler database. Testing a CPU Cooler automatically means that you need to know where it stands against the immediate competition and to accomplish that we have spent both money and time through the years, something that we plan to continue to do so in order to get the most accurate results for the end consumers who read these lines. Every CPU cooler in this database is tested with the bundled 140mm/120mm/92mm/80mm fans while working at both idle speed and 100% of their speeds for all the temperature tests. CPU Coolers that do not come bundled with a fan/s are measured using a Noctua fan (size dependent on the model) to test for the temperature tests but due to the lack of a stock fan dBA level tests are obviously skipped. Single (120/140mm) watercooling solutions are tested with the radiator mounted at the rear of our test rig while dual/triple/quad (240/260/280/360/420/480/560mm) solutions with the radiator mounted at the top. For the dBA tests every cooler in the database was measured both while on idle mode or with the fan controller in the minimum setting and while on extreme load or with the fan controller all the way to the highest possible setting (PWM fans do that on their own without our intervention). Every single test takes place in a temperature controlled room of 23 degrees Celsius Ambient Temp with the help of two AC units placed diagonally inside the room. The Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste is used with every CPU Cooler in our latest LGA2011 database (although initially this was not the plan we had to change things to get the most accurate results). Finally it's very important to point out that just because a CPU Cooler is better than another when tested with our test rig that does not necessarily mean that the same performance differences will apply 100% for other CPU models and in other situations (such as different ambient temps and system configurations).

     To successfully record the load temperatures we use the latest OCCT application for around 6-10 minutes to push the processor to its limits and after that is done and the temperatures are recorded we wait for about 10-20 minutes for the CPU to cool down and record the idle temperatures. This is done to allow time for the thermal conductive material to achieve the optimal performance level. Same procedure is then repeated with the Passmark BurnIn Test as a failsafe just in case the OCCT results are wrong. This procedure takes a lot more time than the usual peltier/thermometer tests but this way not only can we deliver real world results to our readers based on real CPUs but we can also triple check the results using a variety of programs. Last but not least the temperatures were recorded using both the latest versions of AIDA64 and RealTemp while the noise level tests are performed using a high precision ExTech HD600 Decibel Meter placed about 10-15cm above the CPU Cooler. Still although the same testing procedure applies to all units do take into consideration that unlike the official numbers which are measured in special noise isolated labs with just the fans here we also have both the rest of the cooler and the rest of the system (although all system fans are turned off when recording noise levels).

TEST RESULTS

CONCLUSION

   Scythe released the Fuma for people looking to get their hands on a large twin-tower yet not very tall CPU cooler so with that in mind I didn’t know what to expect in terms of cooling efficiency. Certainly better levels compared to single heatsink models but what about dual ones? Well the Fuma does very well against larger twin-tower models and although not quite as good as the Noctua NH-D15/S but it manages to match the performance of the Cryorig R1 Ultimate and that’s not a small feat. Of course to achieve that the two Slip Stream fans used by Scythe are slightly more audible at full speed but not by much and thus I doubt this really changes anything. Finally the addition of a 3^rd fan mounting clip set inside the bundle is something we hope to see from all manufacturers one day since we do believe it simplifies things.

   With a current price tag set at USD55.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and 52Euros inside the EU (Amazon.com) the Scythe Fuma may not be the most inexpensive Twin-Tower CPU cooler in the market but it’s certainly among the smallest ones. In the end if you have no space issues and are willing to spend more on a twin-tower CPU cooler then you may be better off with the Noctua NH-D15 but if you do have space issues or if you just don’t want to spend more the Fuma should do the trick and since it performed extremely well for its size and it’s also smaller compared to its competition it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Very Good Build Quality
- Height (Only 149mm)
- Cooling Efficiency (Matches The Cryorig R1 Ultimate)
- Tri-Fan Solution (3 Sets Of Fan Clips Included)
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- None