Scythe Big Shuriken SCBSK-1000 120mm CPU Cooler

Pros: I had to remove the fan to get the heat sink to fit in my HTPC. Still cools fantastically with the PSU fan blowing on it. Keeps my dual core Athlon II at 26°C.

Cons: None.

Other Thoughts: Can't verify how the fan sounds, as I didn't use it.

Pros: Quite quiet, at least compared to stock options i have replaced.

Nice option to replace with any 120 mm fan if desired.

Cools more than adequately for stock settings.

Fits on the stock AMD mount.

Cons: As many have observed, if you are using all of your memory bays and they have heat sinks on the sticks... you are probably going to have to remove some. In my case i only had 2 that i had to move to the far bay...but it's definitely worth reiterating.

The levers to install on an AMD build are really tight and hard to lock in place without scraping up your fingers a bit. Doable... but you have to take extra time to avoid some minor scratches.

Other Thoughts: No complaints. I would buy this again for any system i was running at stock and just wanted to be quiet.

Works great in an HTPC build where space is at a premium.

Definitely not for any major overclocking imo.

Pros: I bought this for a new build featuring the ASRock Z68 Pro-3 MATX motherboard, hoping it would fit in my Silverstone Grandia GD-02 case. No dice. It overhung the first memory slot and also blocked the slot for the video card.

This is just a review to let people know that 120mm CPU fans lying horizontally will not likely fit your Micro ATX motherboard.

Cons: Too big for my needs unfortunately. Tried to push the limits of my case and had to RMA the unit back to Newegg.

Other Thoughts: Hope this helps.

Pros: I have this cooling an Intel i3-560. With the stock cooler, idle was ~38 C, 100% load 80+ C. Now idles ~28 C, 100% load about 59 C. The engineering quality of the cooler is clearly evident as soon as you take it out of the box. Contact patch has an impressive mirror finish. Fan is very quiet and spins at only 900 rpm on idle.

Cons: Difficult to install. I bought the Scythe Universal retention kit, which helped a lot (but added $15 to the cost). Even on my mini-ITX board, it still wasn't the easiest task to screw the cooler onto the backplate.

Other Thoughts: In my Antec ISK300-65 case, the stock bracket for mounting an optical drive will no longer fit. I wasn't using it anyways so it wasn't a big deal, but if I ever want to add one, I'll have to go external.

Pros: Low-profile cooler made for HTPC cases.
Quiet cooling.

Cons: Insane installation. Especially for HTPCs which is the only reason to get this type of cooler.

Other Thoughts: I was leery buying this after reading the complaints on the difficulty of installing this cooler on both Newegg and on review sites. I decided to buy the Scythe universal mount since one of the Newegg reviews mentioned this made the install easier.

It is difficult to describe how absurdly difficult this cooler is to physically install. This is compounded by the fact that most people are buying this because they have HTPC cases where space is tight. It's like trying to put mushroom-shaped cooler in a tight space with the mushroom cap completely blocking access to the pins from above.

With the universal bracket (not great IMO since the support mount has too many holes leaving the installer to guess) I could at least throw the threaded screws on and tighten the mount into place. Even then one screw is impossible to securely tighten despite removing a side fan on my Antec Fusion to get some extra space. Still not sure how good the cooler is contacting the cpu.

Pros: Price
Versatility
Effectiveness

Cons: Somewhat quiet
Moves air but not much
May bump into memory pending on MB layout

Other Thoughts: So I just got my 6 core Phenom, the 1055t and the stock fan sounds like a jet, seeing that I have limited space to install third party CPU coolers, I purchased this Big Shuriken SCBSK-1000 to fit in my APEVIA X-QPACK case. But what put the icing on the cake is when I replaced the Big Shuriken fan with this - Scythe SY1225SL12LM-P 120mm Case Fan. Even though it is a case fan it has a 4 pin connector and it fits perfect with the clips on the Big Shuriken. Its only about 5mm taller than the Big Shuriken fan but it moves a lot more air and is a lot quieter.

Pros: This product is quite, cools well, and looks cool. Plus its as wide as i could find for use in my silverstone ml03b. It even has room to spare for a kaze maru.

Cons: Yes it was very hard to install on 2500k.

Other Thoughts: I'm probably going to switch to a z68 micro atx for my htpc and i dread removing and replacing this.

Pros: Fits perfectly in a Silverstone SG-05 Case on an ASUS M4A88T-I with a Phenom II 925. Keeps my itx build cool and quiet.

Cons: None to speak of.

Other Thoughts: The retail box for his cooler has no padding or protection other than a plastic strip to keep the base clean. The cooler has no signs of damage so no harm no foul.

Pros: I have this fan in an HTPC/emulator box. I've disabled all the smart temperature controls so it runs at full speed and it's still inaudible unless I lean my ear up right next to the case.

The fact that it's wide enough to partially cool the RAM and the northbridge makes it particularly suitable for overclocking budget builds. It keeps my X2 Phenom stable at 4.1GHz, which is a nice consolation prize for my bum cores not unlocking.

Cons: Many reviews have said it: don't use RAM with heatsinks.

Other Thoughts: Lots of reviews bemoaning the difficulty of installation for Intel systems; so I'll point out that if you have AMD it'll be quite easy to install.

Pros: Low form factor, very quiet.

Cons: Poor mounting kit makes low form factor a detriment.

Other Thoughts: I used this in an ESXi whitebox/testlab I put together. It is currently up and functioning. Seems to be cooling the i5 2400S without too much trouble, which is great. However, the ends of my fingers are a tattered mess trying to install this on the board. Seriously, the "Scythe" brand name took on a new meaning as many cuts and slices can attest to. The motherboard wasn't in the case during construction, but the clearance between the push-pins and upper fins is completely inadequate. I normally love their products. I have a Ninja cooling my gaming rig which has a Core 2 Duo E6600 running well at 3.4Ghz (a 1Ghz overclock) for the past 4 years; no complaints. So I have no issues with the brand. But this product should be avoided if you're going to mount it on an Intel chip motherboard. AMDs and older Intel chips seem to have a different mounting kit that comes with the package, so maybe they work better. Nonetheless, I'd go to another product line.