Cooling
performance
Diagram
of cooling performance
Frankly, we didn’t expect Scythe Grand Kama
Cross Rev. B to do so well. Not only did it perform better than other
well-renowned coolers in efficiency respect, but it proved to be better than
the leading products in the same price segment. Moreover, Grand Kama Cross
turned out to work well in all operational modes. For example, if the coolers
are equally working at maximum fan speeds, at 1200 RPM Scythe’s leading coolers
lower 4°C when temperature reach the peak, says Thermalright, at 1100 RPM, it’s
6°C, and at 800 RPM is 7°C. To be fair I have to say that Grand Kama Cross has
a 140 mm fan, while according to TRUE, Spirit 120 was a 120-mm fan. We are
going to stop at their respectable performance a little bit later, but I have
to admit that we were very surprised with the results of Scythe Grand Kama
Cross Rev. B.
For sure, we didn’t stop here and tried to
overclock the six-core processors even further under Scythe Grand Kama Cross
Rev. B cooling support. The next time will be supposed to be 4.375 GHz with Vcore
at 1.385~1.4 V. Unfortunately, the Japanese flagship cooler failed when
maintaining stability for our processor at these above speeds and each of our
efforts ended when a system freeze or have the following error:
The
system is faulty
However, Thermalright TRUE Spirit 120 has
copied the same test as in the condition when the max temperature is 80oC.
Replicating
result of Thermalright TRUE Spirit 120
In other words, we can conclude that Scythe
Grand Kama Cross Rev. B does its task very well during moderate processor
overclocking and can successfully compete against a rivals considered to be the
leader of pricing. Unfortunately, this is all it can do. Higher frequencies are
unreachable.
Sound performance
We measured the noise level of two coolers
throughout tested when the fans went at their full speed, as described in the diagram
at testing time. Here are the results:
Measuring
noise level
Though the diagram of the fans is
different, the curve of the diagram expresses that noise level of Scythe Grand
Kama Cross Rev. B and Thermalright TRUE Spirit 120 are very alike. And even
though top-cooler loses to its rival in this aspect, the difference is pretty
small. The 140-mm Scythe fan still has subjectively audio range up to 1050 RPM,
while the 120-mm Thermalright fan is 100 RPM higher. In quiet mode, the RPM
difference for Grand Kama Cross is at 860~ 870 RPM, which is less high than at
980~990 RPM for TRUE Spirit 120. Still, going back to the cooling efficiency
tests now that we know the noise reading that we can conclude that is lower to
Thermalright TRUE Spirit 120 can’t save this preceded cooler from being
completely defeated by Scythe Grand Kama Cross Rev. B. Even if considering at
maximum fan speeds.
Conclusion
The system-modified Scythe Grand Kama Cross
Rev. B version has accomplished something practically impossible: it did better
than flagships that rule in the 40-USD price segment in cooling efficiency and sound.
Most remarkably, it is a leading-cooler, and not any higher-ranked product can
be more logical and predictable according to our experience in this field. At
the same time, it can’t be left behind that Thermalright TRUE Spirit 120, a
product that is still more preferable for aggressive CPU overclocking. As for
Scythe Grand Kama Cross Rev. B, this module is definitely not the one that uses
all of its potential of modifications and improvements. Take, for instance, the
grooves in the base plate where the heat pipes are welded, higher-pressure
retention, or silicone frames for the 140-mm fan instead of the screws. Time
will show us if Scythe decides to implement any of these aforementioned changes
and when. At present, Scythe Grand Kama Cross Rev. B is one of the top-cooler
for systems with moderately overclocked processors. And considering the
popularity of Scythe products, very competitive price of Grand Kama Cross Rev.
B, its common design, simple installation and efficient cooling of the area
around the socket and memory, this cooler will become pretty popular. And we
wish all the best things would come to it!
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General info
·
Brand: Scythe
·
Product name: Grand Kama Cross Rev. B
·
Product code: SCKC-2100
·
EAN code: 4571225049649
·
Added on: Thursday 26 April 2012
Technical Specifications
·
Socket 775 support: yes
·
Socket 1156 support: yes
·
Socket 1366 support: yes
·
Socket 2011: yes
·
Socket AM2/AM3 support: yes
·
Weight: 750 gram
·
Height: 13.7 cm
·
Width: 17.7 cm
·
Depth: 14 cm
·
Bundled thermal grease: Thermal grease gray
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