Big Shuriken 3 Review

There are no ifs, no ands, and no buts about it the Scythe Big Shuriken 3 is a nearly perfectly executed design. One in which the designers had a goal and not only hit the bullseye by actually raised the bar on what can be expected from small form-factor cooling solutions. No, this cooler will never compete against the likes of the Scythe Mugen’s or Ninja’s of the marketplace. It was never meant to. Instead it was designed to take on ‘low profile’ cooling solutions (like Noctua and their NH-L12S) and 120mm radiator based sealed All In One liquid cooling solutions. At this it is a resounding success. So much so it is bordering on no-brainer territory for many small form-factor builders. With it you will get excellent CPU cooling performance, excellent motherboard cooling, and will do both without breaking the bank.

Arguably the last is the most important detail and why the Big Shuriken 3 impressed us so much. With small form-factor builds the $50 Noctua NH-L12S is (but should soon will be ‘was’) considered the gold standard. The Scythe Big Shuriken 3 eats its lunch in cost, value, and performance departments. Put simply, even with a ‘slower’ 1800rpm fan vs Noctua’s 1850rpm fan the Scythe does a better job in all three key areas.

The fact it can do all this and is 1mm shorter than the NH-L12S when you mount the NH-L12S’ fan underneath the fin array underscores how good a cooling solution it really is. Better still you can easily swap out the fan for an even better/taller one. When you do swap out the 17mm fan for a standard 25mm height fan, it still is only going to be 7mm taller than the Noctua NH-L12S in its ‘suggested’ under-side mounted fan orientation – and in ‘apples to apples’ will only be 77mm tall vs 85mm with the stock Noctua NF-A12x15 fan on top of the fin array (77mm vs 85mm). Yes, the Big Shuriken 3 is one potent little powerhouse of a cooler.

This actually leads us to the only area the Scythe Big Shuriken 3 ‘loses’ to Noctua… and we use the term ‘lose’ loosely here. That is the warranty. At only two years the warranty is noticeably shorter than Noctua’s six year warranty period. Most people however will not care… as it is an air cooler and only the fan is going to fail in your lifetime. Thanks to a much-needed Fluid Dynamic Bearing upgrade over the Big Shuriken’s 2 sleeve bearing fan, the fan is going to last years and years. A longer warranty period really does not buy you much beyond ‘peace of mind’. If that matter to you then the Big Shuriken 3 may not be optimal. For everyone else, it really is a non-issue.

When compared against any single thickness 120mm sealed AIO you care to mention, the Scythe Big Shuriken 3 once again proves to be a great value. While yes, it will not fit inside some ultra-small mITX cases, all important CPU temperatures will not only be better but so too will be motherboard VRM temperatures. The only time the Scythe Big Shuriken 3 comes out worse for the comparison is when the AIO’s fan is reversed and exhausts hot air out the case as the Scythe Big Shuriken 3 dumps its heat into the inside of the case. As such it will come down to a case by case basis on which is optimal. If both will fit the Scythe Big Shuriken 3 is a better value as it costs noticeably less than what an AIO will set you back and will typically perform as good or even better.

When taken as a whole the Scythe Big Shuriken 3 brings the term value back into the lexicon of small form-factor builds and does so without sacrificing all that much performance. As long as you understand what this CPU cooling solution was built to do (and for), and these goals align with your next build’s needs it is a veritable no-brainer. Buy it. You will not be disappointed.