Page 3 - Test Results
Our test configuration is as follows:
CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K @ 3.9GHz (Stock settings)
Motherboard: ASUS Z170-E
RAM: Kingston HyperX Fury HX421C14FBK2/16 2x8GB
Graphics: ASUS GeForce GTX 1060 3GB
Chassis: SilverStone Kublai KL07
Power: Corsair RM650X 650W
Storage: Kingston SSDNow UV400 480GB; Seagate BarraCuda ST1000DM003 1TB
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home x64
Compared hardware:
- Scythe Mugen 5
- Scythe Fuma
- CRYORIG A80
- CRYORIG A40 Ultimate
All tests were run in our custom built computer to best reflect real life performance. The computer remained in the same place and room for all tests. The ambient temperature of the room was roughly 22 degrees Celsius. The thermal paste applied to each cooler was stock respective to their manufacturer's to rate its performance. Sufficient time between testing was applied for the paste to settle. The fans on all heatsinks were connected to the same motherboard 4-pin connector. The test computer was turned on and idling for at least one hour for the idling tests. High CPU load results were obtained using the Prime95 in place large FFTs test with four worker threads for a minimum of fifteen minutes, and recorded when the temperature was deemed stable. The Mugen 5 was tested using the stock fan from factory. The performance was compared with another air cooled CPU cooler from Scythe -- the Fuma, and two water cooled CPU coolers from CRYORIG, namely the A80 and A40 Ultimate. The purpose of doing such tests was not for a performance competition, since they were quite different in terms of design and targeted market; it is only for some comparison. The temperature results for each cooler was measured with CoreTemp, which reports the CPU's integrated digital thermal sensor for maximum accuracy. Each temperature result was calculated by taking the maximum value of the cores inside the CPU.
In the idle test, all coolers had similar results. The Scythe Mugen 5 stabilized at 20 degrees Celsius. It was a pretty good result, considering the room ambient temperature was around 22 degrees Celsius. The temperature at idle state differed slightly between the Mugen 5 and other coolers. The other air cooler, the Scythe Fuma, brought the temperature down to 19 degrees. Do not forget that one had two fans. As for those water coolers -- the CRYORIG A80 and CRYORIG A40 Ultimate -- they had rather interesting results. The A80 performed better than the Mugen 5, while the A40 Ultimate performed worse. The results suggested that, at idle state, the Mugen 5 had satisfactory performance.
The real challenge happened when the CPU was working at high load. Along with the increased processing speed of the CPU, the fan’s RPM also reached the maximum. After about half an hour, the Scythe Mugen 5 kept the temperature constant at 69 degrees Celsius. Unsurprisingly with only one fan, today’s review unit resulted in five degrees Celsius higher CPU core temperature compared with the dual fan Scythe Fuma. Please note regarding the single fan performance, the Scythe Fuma’s Slip Stream 120 PWM is better than the Mugen 5’s Kaze Flex 120 PWM. Therefore, with two higher performance fans, the Fuma easily defeated the Mugen 5. However, it did not mean the Mugen 5 had poor cooling performance. Compared with the two closed loop water coolers, the Mugen 5 actually kept up well. Specifically, the CRYORIG A40 Ultimate only made the CPU two degrees Celsius cooler than the Scythe Mugen 5. Note the A40 Ultimate had a 272 mm long radiator. I would say the Scythe Mugen 5 was not designed to have the ultimate cooling performance; nevertheless, it has the ability to keep CPU reasonably cool.
I am the kind of person who really cares about the noise level of my computer. In this case, I only had one fan running on the air-cooled heatsink. Therefore, the computer should be really quiet, even though there were three other fans inside the case. On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is totally silent and 10 is a jet taking off, I would rate the Scythe Mugen 5 at 2.0/10 and 2.5/10 regarding noise emissions at idle and high load, respectively. The Kaze Flex 120 PWM was really quiet thanks to the maximum 1200 RPM, rubber plates, and its Sealed Precision Fluid Dynamic Bearing.
After all the tests were done, I would like to say that the Scythe Mugen 5 was a well-balanced CPU cooler rather than a cooling monster. Why was that? Because we had acceptable cooling performance measured in numbers, and pretty good subjective test results regarding noise level.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware; Installation
3. Test Results
4. Conclusion
