Very recently we took a long hard look at the Scythe Mugen 5 Rev.B and walked away very, very impressed with the value this moderately large size cooling solution offered buyers. The Mugen series however is not, and never was, Scythe’s premium / ‘flagship’ series. That is reserved for the likes of the Ninja line, which when enthusiasts think about Scythe, they think of the Ninja. This makes perfect sense as this was the series which put Scythe on the radar for a lot of people. Not that long ago Scythe upgraded this vaunted series and released the Scythe Ninja 5 (SCNJ-5000). Today this is the next CPU cooling solution we are going to put under the microscope.
In order to not only live up the Ninja series excellent reputation but actually improve upon it, Scythe has baked in some pretty noticeable improvements. First and foremost is while the Ninja 5 is a heavy beast that tips the scales in at nearly 1.2KG, and has a foot print the size of some small mammals, it is designed to actually be easy to install and work with – thanks to a few nifty tweaks will go over in the review. Equally impressive is this cooler comes with two fans and not one like the latest Mugen 5 Rev.B. Admittedly there are some very large differences in the fans included vs. the Mugen 5 Rev.B; however, one thing is for certain this cooler has been optimized for silent running. In addition to all these things the Ninja 5 has also been optimized for looks. So much so that its aesthetics are best described as ‘drop dead gorgeous’.
These are all things are what you would expect from a flagship offering. However, while the latest Ninja 5 certainly has all the hallmarks of a powerhouse cooling solution there is one area it does not live up to expectations. That area is price. With an asking price of only 60 USD (or only about $12 more than the Mugen 5 Rev.B) this mega-sized cooling solution is surprisingly affordable. After all, similarly… weighty CPU cooling solutions like the Noctua NH-D15 command $80 or more – and that is pretty much in the ballpark for ‘typical’ big tower solutions these days. Needless to say, this is not a bad thing.
Put another way Scythe’s Ninja 5 may in fact be another excellent value orientated solution for those who fell the Mugen 5 is not up to the tasks they wish to accomplish… and not just a solution for those without mega bucks to spend on their CPU cooler. So without further ado, let us take this heavy weight for a spin and see what it can do.
