To get peak performance from modern CPUs requires quality cooling. The hotter the CPU gets, the higher the chance for issues to arise, especially when overclocking.  The Scythe Infinity offers excellent cooling performance at near whisper quiet levels.

Scythe Infinity CPU Cooler

Reviewed by: Tomas Ratas

Sponsor: Scythe

Edited by: Kristofer Brozio

Introduction:

The advancement of the CPU Cooler has not always evolved as quickly as that of the CPU itself. The original CPU coolers were passive devices comprised of either copper or aluminum heat sinks. As processors became hotter, fans were added to dissipate the heat that they produced.

Eventually novel forms of cooling such as liquid cooling, phase change and liquid nitrogen came into vogue. Most people do not go to these extremes, so air cooling is still the most popular and simplest form of CPU cooling.

Scythe has built a strong reputation in the CPU cooler market based on their Scythe Ninja CPU cooler. This was one of the first massive heat sink coolers. The Ninja is so big, that it was able to passively cool most modern chips. This capability is one of the reasons many HTPC builders swear by the Scythe Ninja.

One of the drawbacks to the Ninja system is the mounting system which is difficult to use. Another drawback is that the Ninja is not available for AMD AM2 systems. With the Infinity model, Scythe attempts to correct some of its brothers faults. Lets get started.

Editor’s Note: Revision B is now available of the Ninja that supports AM2

http://scythe-usa.com/product/cpu/026/scnj1100p.html

Tech Specs,Features or the Basic Info:

Model Name: Infinity CPU Cooler
Model Number: SCINF-1000
Manufacturer: Scythe Co., Ltd. Japan

Combined Dimensions: 125 x 116 x 160mm
Weight: 960g

Fan
Dimensions: 120 x 120 x 25mm
Noise Level: 23.5dBA
Air Flow: 46.5CFM
Speed: 1,200rpm (10%)

Compatibility

Intel LGA775 (SocketT) Processor
AMD Socket AM2 Processor
AMD Socket940 Processor
AMD Socket939 Processor
AMD Socket754 Processor

IIFS – Infinity Interleave Fin Structure
Seeking the better way to efficiently dissipate the heat from total 5 heatpipes to heatsink fins, this IIFS makes the quick & efficient heat transfer ever!

4 Fan Mounting Choice
Users can choose from 4 possible directions to mount the fan to get the best performance out of Infinity!

Tool Free Easy Installation
Newly developed & "patent pending" mounting mechanism "VTMS (Versatile Toll-Free Multiplatform System) allows user to install the Infinity CPU Cooler without any tool and hassle. Infinity CPU Cooler is compatible for socket 478/754/939/940/AM2 & LGA775. All in one solution for your PC system.

Wide Range Cooling
Infinity CPU Cooler is optimized to get its performance from low-rpm to high-rpm to meet the demand from silent users to heavy-core overclockers.

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A Better Look at Things

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The Infinity comes in a 5x5x8 inch black box with the CPU cooler prominently displayed on the front of the box. There is English and Japanese writing on the box, reminiscent of Japanese imported toys.

Upon opening the box, one is greeted by the 120 mm fan sitting at the top of the box. Beneath the fan, a silver heat sink embossed with the Scythe logo is visualized.

Included in the package are three sets of assembly clips for LLG775, Socket 478 and a set for all the recent Athlon configurations, including Socket 747, 939, 940, and AM2, two clips for the fan, thermal grease and the installation guide.

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A Better Look at Things

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The heat sink is the largest that I have ever encountered weighing in at 960 grams. It is mostly composed of aluminum until it attaches to the copper cooling fins and heatsink base.

(Editor’s Note: Small heatsink on base is stainless steel, and the heatpipes are copper)

The fan is 120mm sleeve bearing model with airflow of 46.5 CFM and a noise level of 23.5dBA. The top fan speed is 1200 rpm. The fan has a three pin fan sensor which attaches to the CPU fan header on the motherboard.

Mounting the fan onto the Infinity is performed by attaching the two mounting clips into the holes at the corners of the fan and along the groove along the fins of the heat sink. One of the nice features of the Scythe Infinity is the ability to position the fan on either side of the square heat sink.

If one seeks greater cooling, then up to four 120mm fans may be placed on the Infinity.

The mounting clips feature VTMS (Versatile Toll-Free Multiplatform System). This is geek speak for the mounting clips push into slots at the base of the heat sink and then snap into place.

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Installation, Testing and Comparison

Installation of the Infinity was pretty straight forward. After applying the thermal grease to the CPU, the metal assembly clip for the LGA 755 was inserted into both sides of the heat sink.

The clear protector was removed from the heatsink base, revealing a copper finish. There was some sticky reside from the protector, so I cleaned that off and used some thermal grease to fill in any microscopic pores.

Next, I carefully aligned the push pin holes to the CPU socket and then pushed down the black portion of the push pin, until these was an audible click.

The hardest step of the entire process was seating the fan onto the heatsink. The clips were much harder to maneuver once the Infinity was attached to the motherboard. After some careful negotiation of the wires, the fan was attached.

The last step involved plugging the fan sensor to the motherboard cpu fan header.

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Installation, Testing and Comparison Continued:

Test System:

GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 Rev 3.3 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor

BUFFALO Firestix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

eVGA 8800GTS 640MB

OCZ Powerstream 520 Watt SLI

Lian-Li PC-65B

For testing, the stock Intel Heatsink Cooler was used for comparison.

For stress testing, Stress Prime Orthos was used to stress both cores. The temps were monitored using Speedfan.

The results speak for themselves. As you can see the Scythe Infinity does an admirable job of cooling off the Core 2 Duo under both idle and load conditions.

Audibly the fan on the Scythe Infinity is inaudible compared to the fans on the PSU and GPU card.

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Summary:

To get peak performance from modern CPUs requires quality cooling. The hotter the CPU gets, the higher the chance for issues to arise, especially when overclocking. The Scythe Infinity offers excellent cooling performance at near whisper quiet levels.

There are some trade offs involved with a massive heatsink, such as the weight of the device and the risk of damaging the motherboard or some components if you move your PC frequently. If you travel with your PC to lan parties and other places, then this is probably not the CPU cooler for you. But, if you are an overclocker and want to improve your temps over stock cooling or a home theater PC user, then the Scythe Infinity is a near perfect choice.

DragonSteelMods gives the Scythe Infinity a 4.5 out of 5.

Pros:

– Near Silent fan

– Easy Installation

– Multiple fan installation options

– Excellent Performance

Cons:

– Large size may preclude its use with some motherboards

– Mounting System could be more secure

– Heavy

– Fan clips not the easiest to attach

I would like to thank Scythe for the chance to review the Infinity and for their continued support of DSM.

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