Scythe Ninja or SI-120?

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Lukano

Limp Gawd
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Mar 11, 2003
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I've been doing some digging and am trying to decide what to replace my Artic Cooling Freezer 64 with (the fan is a bit gummed and noisy now, and I figure it's time for a change).

Everyone and their dog recommends the SI-120 and the Scythe Ninja - but I've not seen a lot of comparison between the two. Assuming I'd be using the best-blend airflow vs noise 120mm fan I can find, which of the two coolers will do a better job of cooling an overclocked Opteron (likely 165 or 170).

Motherboard as per sig - thus the SI-120 over the XP-120.
 
I can't comment on the SI-120, but my Ninja keeps my Opteron 148 @ 3025mhz 1.5v very cool. We're talkin 35 C idle and 44 C load. This is with a quiet panaflo 120mm
 
TheGamerZ said:
I can't comment on the SI-120, but my Ninja keeps my Opteron 148 @ 3025mhz 1.5v very cool. We're talkin 35 C idle and 44 C load. This is with a quiet panaflo 120mm
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How well does the Scythe do without the 120mm running? Just for curiosity (and noise) sake.
 
Well for noise sake, it'd be silent. But even with the fan, its silent from 2ft away... (although i do have an Antec P180, so that could be it)

I never tried it without the fan, as it is not recommended. It claims to be able to run passive on non overclocked processors.

I think the Ninja would be the best bet either way. At least with the ninja, you'd have the opportunity to run it passive. The SI-120 would never be able to cope with the heat passively... the design wouldn't allow it.
 
ive got my ninja sitting on my bed...just moved computer to a new case and bought the ninja but I havn't put it on yet. running my spark7 copper heatsink with stock intel fan. it looks cool...just havn't found the time to put it on yet
 
Careful when installing it. It's easy to bend the fins or get cut on them. I did both *d'oh*
 
If your case will support a case fan that removes heat from the Ninja, then I think you can get a pretty good cooling setup.
 
_Korruption_ said:
If your case will support a case fan that removes heat from the Ninja, then I think you can get a pretty good cooling setup.
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Currently a Lian Li PC-61 but eyeballing an Antec P180 as the straight-up-aluminum Lian Li is just too noisy.
 
The P180 should support the Ninja under passive mode if you've got both rear and top fans running, and if you keep your CPU at the stock 1.8GHz.
 
_Korruption_ said:
The P180 should support the Ninja under passive mode if you've got both rear and top fans running, and if you keep your CPU at the stock 1.8GHz.
Click to expand...

I'm not adverse to running a fan on it - I was more just curious.

Besides, I don't mind a bit of fan noise considering that it'll be a dual-core Opteron :)
 
Tell ya what. I'll turn off the fan and report back to ya.


EDIT: With the fan off and exaust fans on medium (turned them up from low as a precaution), idle temp has risen to 40C while load hits 53C. Well within its limits, but I much rather have the fan on it...heh.

It should cope with your Venice fine. Opterons put out way more heat than a regular A64 and mine is heavily overclocked to add onto things. Go for the Ninja dude. :cool:
 
The ninja is arguably the best HSF out there. If you want silent, just slap a Nexus on the side. The ninja doesn't really benefit all that much from high cfm fans; 1-2C difference.
 
Depends on your motherboard. Most come with backplates already installed and then the installation is simple. Mine however, required me to take my motherboard out and install a new backplate. Wasn't a big deal though, since I was moving my computer to a new case at the same time anyway.
 
I would go with the Ninja, just for WOW factor.

The thing is big and when people see it, they don't know what to say at first.
 
http://hi-techreviews.com/reviews/SI-120/P4.htm

heres a good review that shows temps comaring the si120 and the ninja, idle temps are about the same, but the si 120 seems to win on load temps. although ive seen other reviews where the scythe does better than the Si 120.

i guess the better heatsink can go either way, it just probably depends on the fan you chose, the air flow in your case, if you processor runs hot like intels, etc. i would just pick the one that is easier to install for my mobo and processor.

and i heard installing the ninja on a K8 is a pain.
 
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