Introduction

Computer enthusiasts are a very demanding group of people. As far as they are concerned, stock coolers are almost never an option, even if they don't really overclock. Thus, the world of aftermarket coolers just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

There is now a plethora of coolers in the market. When I first started out, the most common third-party cooler was just a copper heatsink topped by a screamingly loud fan. Now, there are many different types of coolers to satisfy all sorts of niche markets. If you want quiet cooling, there are passive heatsinks with or without a slow-running fan. If you are looking for nothing but the best performance, there's always water cooling.

Coolers that incorporate heatpipes in the heatsink design are becoming more and more popular. Heatpipes are a relatively new technology. They allow the heatsink to channel the heat load more efficiently to the fins of the heatsink.

Today, we'll be looking at one of the latest heatpipe coolers - the Scythe Katana!

First, let's take a look at the company that produced this cooler - Scythe.

Scythe Co., Ltd.

Scythe is a relatively new company in the CPU cooler market. The company was set up in 2002 as a distributor and manufacturer of PC parts and gaming hardware.

Scythe is based in Tokyo, Japan. But it has regional offices in Torrence, CA in the USA, and in Hamburg, Germany.

One of their first heatsinks to hit the market was the Kamakaze, which was released in 2003. Scythe has now expanded its product line to passive CPU coolers as well as enthusiast-level coolers.

Their latest cooler is the new Scythe Katana heatpipe cooler. Let's check it out now!