Scythe Ashura Review
Category : Aircooling
Published by Hiwa Pouri on 20.02.14
With the Ashura, Scythe has made a single tower cooler, that is surprisingly well built, especially if we consider its price of 39 Euro. Other than that it should offer decent cooling capacity, so it's not going to be an issue if you want to overclock your CPU by a few hundred MHz. So far we're rather curious to see what this cooler is capable of.



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The Scythe Ashura is quite an interesting CPU air cooler. In this case we get a mid-range CPU cooler that features a total of six heatpipes, which all have a six millimeter diameter. It is basically a single-tower cooler, that comes with an all nickel plated copper base, while the heatsink is cooled by a 140mm PWM fan .The Scythe Ashura certainly draws a lot of attention with its sleek and rather slim design.

 


As noted earlier, both the base and the heatpipes on the Scythe Ashura are made from copper while the tower heatsink itself is made from aluminum. It features six heatpipes with six millimeter diameter which are not in direct contact with the CPU but have been routed through the copper base. Since Scythe used quite a slim heatsink, the heatpipes are bent in order to be spread across two halves of the heatsink and cover as much area as possible as well as also fit inside the heatsink for that matter. The heatsink fins are made from aluminum and the entire Scythe Ashura is quite compact and sleek compared to what we are used to see from tower-design CPU coolers. The manufacturing quality is definitely high and we certainly did not expect anything less from Scythe. The base does not have a perfect mirror finish but it is still very good.

The cooler comes bundled with a 140mm PWM fan - model SV1425HB12M-P. Scythe did well choosing this fan, since it is one of the best fans we have seen in a long time. There is absolutely no noise originating from the bearings and rotation speeds can be as low as 100 rpm, which is seriously impressive.


Specifications

Model Ashura
Type Classic 140mm tower
Provided Fan(s) 1 x 140x25mm PWM
Supported Fan(s) 2 x 140mm
Base Material Nickel plated copper
Fins Material Aluminum
Socket Support AMD AM2(+), AM3(+), FM1, FM2
Intel LGA 775, 1150, 1155, 1156, LGA 1366, 2011
Thermal compound Scythe (Bag)
Product Page Ashura


   


The bundle and the box are quite simple but that does not mean that Scythe did not do a good job at this point too. Inside the box you will find everything you need to put things in place and the mounting kit offers really good compatibility. The box is made out of solid cardboard and although it is only protected by a plastic shroud our sample arrived without a single dent or any damage whatsoever. The bundled fan is not attached to the heatsink while the rest of the mounting components are placed in a separate small box on the other side of the cooler. The bundle includes an installation manual, mounting components, four fan clips, small bag of Scythe thermal compound, a 140mm fan and of course the heatsink itself.



Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications
Page 2 - Photo Gallery
Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup
Page 4 - Absolute Performance
Page 5 - PWM Performance
Page 6 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

Photo Gallery


   

   

   

   

   




Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications
Page 2 - Photo Gallery
Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup
Page 4 - Absolute Performance
Page 5 - PWM Performance
Page 6 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

Installation


 


Installation of the Scythe Ashura is quite simple and easy. Scythe kept everything nice and clean as there are not too many mounting parts. The thermal compound is not pre-applied and comes in a small bag. The overall pressure on the CPU is quite good and you get one universal backplate but two different brackets to keep the cooler in place. There is really nothing much to complain about, since this cooler is compatible with any socket it might be used on. Especially considering the decent price point, this is certainly a pleasant surprise. 

Due to its slim-design, the Scythe Ashura does not block any memory slots or any other components for that matter. The fan clips are easy and practical and Scythe threw in an additional set of clips in case you decide to use it in a push-pull configuration with two fans. The clips are compatible with any 140x25mm fan.

Test Setup

Mainboard ASUS Z87-Deluxe (BIOS 1602)
CPU Intel Core i7-4770K Stock (Turbo On / HT On)
Memory ADATA XPG V2 2x4GB DDR3-2800 CL12 1.65V
Video Intel HD Graphics 4600
Software Windows 7 x64
wPrime Benchmark v2.10
CPUID HWMonitor 1.24.0
PSU Seasonic Platinum SS-660XP2
Fan Controller Lamptron FC5 V3
Thermal Compound Pre-applied or bundled
GELID GC-Extreme else




Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications
Page 2 - Photo Gallery
Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup
Page 4 - Absolute Performance
Page 5 - PWM Performance
Page 6 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

Absolute Performance

Temperatures

7V Idle Load
Corsair H75 Single Fan 33 °C 53 °C
Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan 33 °C 53 °C
Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan 34 °C 57 °C
Scythe Ashura 36 °C 58 °C
Cooler Master Hyper 103 36 °C 60 °C
Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure 36 °C 61 °C
Prolimatech Lynx 35 °C 63 °C
Intel Stock 39 °C 83 °C


To measure the cooling capacity we took temperatures in idle and load with the fans at 7 and 12 V. The idle temperature represents the lowest temperature hit by the processor package after 10 minutes in idle. The load temperature is the highest temperature hit by the processor package after one pass of wPrime v2.10. The wPrime test takes 4 minutes and puts load on all 8 threads. Room temperature is 25°C.

12V Idle Load
Corsair H75 Single Fan 32 °C 51 °C
Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan 33 °C 51 °C
Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan 33 °C 53 °C
Prolimatech Lynx 34 °C 55 °C
Scythe Ashura 34 °C 55 °C
Cooler Master Hyper 103 36 °C 58 °C
Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure 34 °C 57 °C
Intel Stock 35 °C 70 °C


Fan Speeds

  7 Volt 12 Volt
Scythe Ashura 600 rpm 1'440 rpm
Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan 900 rpm 1'500 rpm
Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan 900 rpm 1'500 rpm
Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure 660 rpm 1'530 rpm
Prolimatech Lynx 600 rpm 1'740 rpm
Corsair H75 Single Fan 1'200 rpm 1'980 rpm
Intel Stock 1'260 rpm 2'040 rpm
Cooler Master Hyper 103 1'580 rpm 2'400 rpm


Fan speeds (RPM) at 7 and 12 V.

Noise Levels

  7 Volt 12 Volt
Intel Stock 33.3 dBA 37.1 dBA
Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan 32.3 dBA 37.4 dBA
Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure 32.3 dBA 38.4 dBA
Cooler Master Hyper 103 34.2 dBA 39.5 dBA
Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan 33.4 dBA 39.6 dBA
Prolimatech Lynx 33.0 dBA 40.3 dBA
Scythe Ashura 32.0 dBA 41.0 dBA
Corsair H75 Single Fan 34.5 dBA 41.7 dBA


Decibel meter (Voltcraft SL-200) has been placed 1 meter away from the cooler. Measurements are conducted in a quiet room, where there are no other noise source. 32 dBA is the lowest we can get in our room. Also here the measurements are conducted at 7 and 12 V.



Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications
Page 2 - Photo Gallery
Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup
Page 4 - Absolute Performance
Page 5 - PWM Performance
Page 6 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

PWM Performance

Temperatures

  Idle Load
Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan 33 °C 55 °C
Corsair H75 Single Fan 35 °C 55 °C
Prolimatech Lynx 34 °C 57 °C
Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan 36 °C 57 °C
Scythe Ashura 36 °C 58 °C
Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure 35 °C 59 °C
Cooler Master Hyper 103 36 °C 60 °C
Intel Stock 39 °C 75 °C


At this point we plugged the fan(s) to the motherboard CPU fan header and let the motherboard take care of fan speeds. In other words the motherboard will adjust the fan speed via PWM signal according to CPU temperature. The idle temperature is the lowest temperature hit by the processor package after 10 minutes idle. The load temperature is the highest temperature hit by the processor package after one pass of wPrime v2.10. The wPrime test takes 4 minutes puts load on all 8 threads. Room temperature is 25°C.

Fan Speeds

  Idle Load
Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan 380 rpm 687 rpm
Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan 450 rpm 740 rpm
Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure 471 rpm 770 rpm
Scythe Ashura 436 rpm 550 rpm
Corsair H75 Single Fan 800 rpm 969 rpm
Prolimatech Lynx 765 rpm 1'077 rpm
Cooler Master Hyper 103 950 rpm 1'465 rpm
Intel Stock 1'230 rpm 1'630 rpm


Values are in RPM, we took the lowest speed hit by the fan(s) in idle and the highest under load.

Noise Levels

  Idle Load
Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan 32.0 dBA 32.0 dBA
Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan 32.0 dBA 32.4 dBA
Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure 32.0 dBA 32.7 dBA
Corsair H75 Single Fan 32.2 dBA 33.2 dBA
Scythe Ashura 32.0 dBA 33.4 dBA
Cooler Master Hyper 103 32.0 dBA 33.6 dBA
Prolimatech Lynx 33.3 dBA 33.9 dBA
Intel Stock 33.3 dBA 34.4 dBA


Decibel meter (Voltcraft SL-200) has been placed 1 meter away from the cooler. Measurements are conducted in a quiet room, where there are no other noise source. 32 dBA is the lowest we can get in our room. Also here the measurements are conducted at lowest and highest fan speeds in idle and under load respectively.



Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications
Page 2 - Photo Gallery
Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup
Page 4 - Absolute Performance
Page 5 - PWM Performance
Page 6 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

Conclusion

General + -
With the Ashura, Scythe has a convincing product in its lineup. It is an affordable mid-range cooler and features great manufacturing quality. The overall performance is good and noise levels are decent as well. The cooler is extremely silent with the bundled PWM fan at 7 volt. The mounting system is also practical and compatible with all Intel sockets since LGA775 as well as all AMD sockets from AM2 to FM2.   - Performance
- Noise levels
- Quality
- PWM
- Mouting
- Price - Socket compatibility
- Noise levels at 12V
 
Installation   + -
Mounting is easy and practical and the mounting kit is compatible with any recent Intel and AMD socket. The mounting mechanism parts are solid, thermal paste comes in a small bag and Scythe went an extra mile to include additional fan clips in case you want to add another 140mm fan.   - Easy and practical
- Compatible Intel and AMD
- Thermal compound (Tube)
 
 
Performance   + -
The cooling performance of the Scythe Ashura is good. It does a way better job than most cheaper coolers and to make things worse, for competition at least, it even does a better job than some more expensive and bigger coolers.   - Cooling performances  
 
Noise Levels   + -
The overall noise levels are good and the Scythe Ashura is silent. However, we are a bit sensitive when it comes to noise and we would surely like that the noise levels are just a tad bit lower. The cooler is extremely silent when the mainboard controls it for us but when we want to set 12V, maybe to overlcock a little bit, our decibel meter reports 41.0 dBA, which is rather high.   - Silent PWM and 7V - Noise levels at 12V
 
Recommendation / Price   + -
We can definitely recommend this cooler, since it features a truly excellent fan as well as decent cooling performance. The Scythe Ashura is a high quality product with a reasonable price of 39 Euros, and even good enough to put to shame some higher priced and bigger coolers from the competition.   - Price - Office PC
- Gaming
- Overclocking
 
Rating
We gave the Ashura from Scythe 4.5 out of 5 stars.
 






Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications
Page 2 - Photo Gallery
Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup
Page 4 - Absolute Performance
Page 5 - PWM Performance
Page 6 - Conclusion