The packaging is in typical Scythe style. Now where the PR team dig up all the names for their products remains a mystery to me. Even when looking it up on Wikipedia, it left me completely puzzled. Feel free to send a PM if you got it figured out.

The Scythe Ashura tower is a pretty big cooler, however this time the cooling surface is not purly determined by the height, but more achieved in width. The dimensions are 145 x 161 x 65mm ( W x H x D ).

The six 6mm heatpipes are of a slanted/assymetrical design, which de-centers the position of the fin based cooling surface from the CPU's center. A solution we have seen before and one that works to maximise RAM compatibility.

The specifications of the Ashura tower cooler are:

• Intel Compatibility:
  Socket LGA2011
  Socket LGA775 (one position possible)
  Socket LGA1155
  Socket LGA1156
  Socket LGA1366

• AMD Compatibility:
  Socket AM2
  Socket AM2+
  Socket AM3
  Socket AM3+
  Socket FM1/2
  
  
• Dimensions:
  145 x 65 x 161mm / 5.71 x 2.56 x 6.34 inch
  
  
• Weight:
  750 g / 26.46 oz (excl. fan)
  
  

Assembly is straight forward, in typical Scythe style. If you need to use the backplate, take your time to pick the right holes.

As you can see in the below picture, the backplate is well engineered, leaving no room for a possible short circuit with the protrusions on the backside of the motherboard. The new developed retention mechanism is over-dimensioned and assures a firm mounting of this huge cooler. Scythe includes the clips for the optional second 140 Glide Stream fan.

The 140mm fan has been named Hayabusa by the R&D team. Being PWM speed controlled, the RPM varies between 500-1300rpm. The airflow generated can raise up to 97,18CFM which is pretty high for a 140mm fan. Another feature of this Glide Stream 140 fan is that it uses compatible 120mm fan mounting holes, at 105mm. Each fan blade has added slits for less air resistance.

FAN Specifications:

• Dimensions:
  140 x 140 x 25mm / 5.51 x 5.51 x 0.98 inch
  
  
• Noise Level:
  13 - 30.7dBa
  
  
• Air flow:
  63 - 165 m³/h / 37.37 - 97.18 CFM
  
  
• Fan Speed:
  500-1300 rpm (PWM regulated)
  
  
• Static Pressure:
  1.47 ~ 10.0 Pa / 0.15 ~ 1.02 mmH²O
  
  
  

We already spotted Thermalright's solution, the slanted/asymmetrical heatpipes, to enhance RAM compatibility. Scythe uses a similar looking concept to displace the tower and fan from the centre of the CPU. A brilliant idea that will be adopted by many more aftermarket cooling manufacturers.

We tested the cooler's RAM compatibility on both the socket 1155 and S2011. No installation problems were encountered.

From the quick compare with previous air coolers tested it's no surprise that the Scythe Ashura has got the best cards on paper. The large cooling surface and high flow 140mm FAN make this cooler shine versus the other three air coolers. At IDLE we see the new Scythe Ashura outperforming the rest. Best of all this is cooling performance comes at no noise cost at all. The 140mm Glide Stream fan is topping it all off.

Once we start to prime our hexacore CPU we see big differences pop up. The Thermalright True Spirit 120m with the smallest cooling surface has a hard time to keep things under control. Both the Alpenföhn Matternhorn Pure and Zalman XPS14 got pretty slow spinning fans and lack the airflow the Scythe 140mm Glide Stream fan produces.

Next step is to Overclock our i7-3970X to 4500MHz, by increasing the multiplier to 45X and setting the VCore at 1.35V. At idle we hardly spot any differences now between the air coolers, the 140mm FAN rotates at an inferior speed versus the other tested air coolers. Even tough the All In One Liquid coolers in the chart cool better, the noise level is already more pronounced then the Scythe Ashura.

When running the Prime95 test things heat up fast. The Scythe Ashura remaining the top performer of the listed air coolers. The Ashura is closing the gap between the Hydro units listed in the chart. while it might not look impressive at first glance it's the last chart that tells the difference.

The 140mm FAN shifts some serious air, yet remaining very comfortable for the ears. We measured 28dBa at 1 meter distance form the inlet, which is a great result. Especially comparing with the fans from e.g. the Hydro 80 unit. Even the 140mm version Fans from Corsair's brand new Hydro90/110 are clocking in at 34dBa.

Scythe's brand new Ashura cooler has proven to be a perfect blend between a high performing air cooler, offering maximum board/RAM compatibility and the great thermal dissipation capacity is not at the cost of any extra generated noise. In typical Scythe style, the retail price of this complete bundle remains pretty affordable too.

With the asymmetrical heatpipe design, the new Ashura is more versatile then comon upright heatpipe design tower coolers. Filling up the 4 dimm banks on our socket 1155 or the 8 on our socket 2011 testbed, did not pose any installation problems.

Due to the width of the cooler, installation on mATX boards can pose a problem (like it did with our ASUS Maximus V Gene board) with the graphics card installed in the first PCI-E slot. However installing a normal sized tower cooler is already pretty limited on the aforementioned platform.

The new retention mechanism is very durable and easy to install. Doing what is designed for, keeping  the big Ashura tower cooler firmly pressed down on your CPU, thus maximising heat transfer.

The 140mm Glide Stream fan is unlike some other silent 140mm versions very powerful and shifts some serious air. In the actual price range including one fan is normal. But it would be nice to see if Scythe would opt to include a second fan in e.g. the Ashura XL. The clips to attach an optional fan are included in the box.

The Scythe Ashura is a welcome addition to Scythes extensive line of air coolers. A new more versatile tower design, improved retention mechanism and big powerful 140mm fan makes the Ashura pretty awesome bang for the buck. While it might not be the best performing air cooler on the market, the combination of the good thermal performance, silent operation and retail price of around 45 euros make it pretty darn good value.

PROS:

• powerful & silent 140mm fan
• retail price (45 euros)
• RAM compatibility
• optional clips included

CONS:

• second fan plz

I wish to thank the following people who made this review possible:

Sven & Rogier from ASUS for the X79 Sabertooth mainboard

Gareth from Corsair for the C70 Vengeance case

eTonix Media PR for supplying the ASHURA sample