Scythe Ashura CPU Cooler Review

Scythe’s Ashura CPU cooler costs £44.99 currently and it is worth noting that you can add another Glide Stream 140mm PWM fan to make this CPU cooler push-pull for £9.18. This would further increase performance or maintain the same level of performance and decrease noise depending on how you choose to configure your fans. Either way to Scythe Ashura, like the Mugen 3, is incredibly well priced at just £44.99. At this price it is cheaper than the Noctua NH-U12S, Thermalright Archon SB-E X2 and the Corsair H55 yet performs better than them all. It also matches the performance, more or less, of the Noctua NH-U14S which costs about £61.99.

Yet the strengths of the Scythe Ashura lay in other areas than cooling performance. It has great acoustic performance too as our results show and it matches the Noctua NH-U14S in that regard. Furthermore the off-centred design allows it to maintain excellent RAM compatibility which would be great for anyone rocking some high profile RAM modules. The mounting kit that Scythe have opted for also impresses me. One of my main concerns with the Scythe Mugen 3 was that the mounting kit was fiddly but Scythe’s new mounting kit for the Ashura is really quite good and has fixed that problem, it very much reminds me of the mounting kit SilverStone uses on their Argon series coolers and NZXT uses on their Respire series coolers. Finally another brief point worth mentioning is that at just 161mm tall this CPU cooler will comfortably fit into most mid tower cases unlike the Thermalright Archon SB-E X2 or Noctua NH-U14S both of which are taller at about 170mm upwards. As with many Scythe products in the past I am once again truly impressed and have struggled to find much wrong with this product.

Pros

• Great cooling performance
• Very quiet during PWM under high loads
• Highly competitive price for what you get
• High build quality on the heatsink
• 2 year warranty
• Strong mount
• 100% RAM compatibility on most ATX platforms
• Clean aesthetics
• Relatively compact design, will fit most mid tower cases at 161mm high

Cons

• Sachet not tube of thermal paste, difficult to apply
• Fan cable not sleeved/black to the motor

eTeknix says: Scythe have once again redefined the standards of what to expect in a CPU cooler. The Ashura offers an unmatched amount of quality, performance, silence and functionality at its price point. What’s more by adding another fan you could easily take this CPU cooler to the next level and have one of the most potent air coolers on the market. If you’re looking for a high quality cooling solution but don’t want to get into water cooling, closed loop AIO cooling, or simply do not have the space for a large tower heatsink then the Scythe Ashura is definitely for you. The Scythe Ashura comes highly recommended from eTeknix and is one of my top picks to date – and I’ve reviewed a lot of CPU coolers.

Thank you to Quiet PC for providing this review sample.