Cool and Silent! Scythe Big Shuriken
Using a third party CPU cooler isn’t usually thought of as a “Mac” thing to do.
It also isn’t as simple as one might hope.
But, when it comes to CPU swaps, cooling mods are often desired, as much as they are necessary.
I previously wrote about modifying a Quicksilver OEM heat sink to accommodate the Powerlogix CPU transplant.
While the cooling worked fine, the inability to easily remove the heatsink for RAM swaps, as well as the close proximity to the PSU when closed, left a desire for improvement.
After doing a bit of looking and measuring, I decided that some type of low profile cooler would probably work.
Of major concern is the attachment of the cooler to the CPU daughter card.
As it turns out, the Intel LGA mount for 775/1156/1366 series processors works perfectly.
That is to say, the mounting pattern and fasteners work perfectly.
There is still a need for a 3 mm thick shim to contact the processor with the heatsink base.
I used a 25 mm x 25 mm x 3 mm piece of aluminum (still waiting on a copper shim) and mounted the Scythe cooler.
I did have to take the tin box off the phone jack due to a 2 mm lateral clearance problem.I decided on the 120mm Big Shuriken, as opposed to the smaller 90mm Shuriken B, mostly due to the 4 mm height difference of the two.
The Big Shuriken is 58 mm tall, allows for improved clearance between the PSU and the cooler, and just clears the optical drive when the case is closed.
RAM access is improved as well.The Shuriken comes with a special 120 mm x 120 mm x 12 mm PWM fan which blows air down through the finned heat pipe.
Rather than adapting the fan to a Molex adapter, I determined the +12v and Ground leads of the connector, and found that the 4 pin plug fit just fine on the 2 pin logic board fan connector of the previous OEM CPU fan.
Overall, the Scythe Big Shuriken is an excellent cooler, with CPU temperatures climbing more slowly, and falling more rapidly than with either the original Powerlogix cooler (62º C max), or the cooler that I made (56º C max). Peak temperatures are lower than ever, with a max of 51º C measured thus far.
The fan is also dead silent, and and has been a worthwhile upgrade.
i blog, therefore i am.... Cool!
Friday, February 26, 2010
