Let us start with the large and angry elephants in the room. Yes, this cooler is heavy. Yes, its footprint is large. Yes, it even costs more than the Mugen 5 Rev.B. These are certainly all things that are going against the Ninja 5. The fact of the matter is Scythe has created a rather high bar with their latest Mugen 5 Rev.B and while the Ninja 5 has a lot more potential the choice of fans is the weak link in the Ninja 5’s arsenal. Simply put, it is like arming the love child of the Terminator and Bruce lee with a wiffle ball bat. Yes, it can still kick some major butt, and arguably outperform most coolers even with 800RPM fans, but if they had given this Ninja 5 a pair of faster fans it would be easily capable of beating the even more expensive Noctua D-series coolers… which are even bigger, heavier, louder, and cost noticeably more.
Counterbalancing this is a few key things which have to be taken into account before writing the Ninja 5 off. Firstly, it is drop dead gorgeous. Arguably a ninja is not supposed to draw attention to itself and rather is historically a rarely seen assassin. Scythe begs to differ and made this a drop dead gorgeous looking cooler that simply completes a custom build like few air coolers can. Mix in fans that are not ‘Noctua brown’ and you got one stylish looking cooler that easily smokes 90 percent of the competition in this very, very important category. Though even here a pair of LED equipped Scythe Kaze Flex RGB PWM fans would have been even more impressive.
The next thing to remember is while it does come with two fans… they are silent. Think nearly at background noise levels silent. So silent they will live up to your expectations of what a ‘ninja’ is supposed to sound like. Lastly, its stock performance is still very good. This is not a bad cooler by any stretch of the imagination, it is actually a very good one, and if you feel the need for speed… swapping out the fans for a pair of high-performance ones is a breeze. It will however, increase the noise profile almost as much as it improves the cooling potential. It really is a double-edged sword, so to speak, as this cooler’s main claim to fame is the ‘silent but deadly’ performance it offers. We however think a pair of 1200rpm fans would have been a more optimal choice than a pair of 800rpm ones as this would have better-balanced noise vs performance than the included 800rpm fabs. You may disagree based on your specific requirements and/or cooling needs.
As such the Ninja 5 is not going to be right for everyone. Silent PC enthusiasts will have a tough time choosing between it and Noctua’s more costly offerings. The average custom PC builder will also like it for its drop dead looks… but if you are trying to push the boundaries of overclocking sanity, or want to really bling out your rig, you will have to spend even more on fans that can cut the mustard. Overall most people will be perfectly content with its combination of low noise, good looks, and decent performance… but for $12 less (or about the cost of a second 120mm fan) the Mugen 5 is still hard to beat in the overall value department. So choose wisely, and choose based on your needs and your requirements. Not what other people tell you to buy. As long as you understand the design philosophy behind the Ninja 5, and it meets your needs, the Ninja 5 will be sure to please.
The Review
Scythe Ninja 5
With its unique tower design, the Scythe Ninja 5 does offer a lot of performance for its asking price. However, it has been designed to be a low noise cooling solution. This does negatively impact total performance so if you want the ‘best of the best’ you may want to think about picking up a pair of faster fans to go along with your new purchase. Alternatively, you may be better served with other CPU cooling solution altogether. It really will depend on what you prize the most: cost, noise, or CPU temperatures.
