Temps and impressions of Scythe Infinity on a E6700

[pm]

My new system:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 (stock)
Memory: 2 x 1GB Crucial DDR2 667 ECC
Heatsink: Scythe Infinity (w/ Artic Silver 5)
Motherboard: DFI Infinity 975x
Video: BFG GeForce 7600GT 256MB PCE-E x16

I bought the Scythe after looking at several of my co-workers systems and listening to the fan noise on them and looking at their temps. We all have E6700's - two are using Zalman 9500A's, one has an Ultra-120 (not sure of the fan), one has a Scythe Ninja and then one has a Scythe Infinity. I like the Infinity the best from a noise/temperature perspective and it was cheaper than the Ultra-120.

I put the CPU in, added a thin layer of artic silver, put on the heatsink - checked to make sure that it was level and no caps on either side touched it (they don't... although the clearance is very tight. I don't think that you could slide a credit card between the gap between the board and the top of the capacitors on the DFI Infinity. The push pins were easy to do - although the last one required a fair bit of force to get in.

The weight and force heatsink does warp the board a bit. There's a noticeable bulge in the board where the CPU/heatsink is.

Ambient temperature: 18C (my basement)
Idle temperature: 31C (measured with DFI's included utility - consistent with BIOS reading)
Load temperature: 43C (running Orthos Blend - which is the highest load temp that I've seen)

The fan on the heatsink is so quiet - and my new power supply fan is so quiet - that the very first time that I powered up the system, I didn't think it was even running and I was looking at the board to see what wire I'd forgotten to hook up when it gave me the "boot-up beep". It is very, very quiet. Basically inaudible.

The question that everyone will likely ask is - how does it overclock. I'm not much for overclocking - I use my system for professional work and stability and data robustness is worth much more to me that a 10-20% performance improvement. I bought the DFI Infinity board because it was one of the cheapest 975x boards and I wanted ECC data integrity support. I bought the Scythe because it was whisper quiet. So, no OC for me. But I thought that I'd still put up the numbers and my impressions for the forum despite the lack of OC data.

 

[Ayah]

I hope you don't shake it.

 

[zephyrprime]

I was reading an article over at silent pc and the new scythe is actually worse than the old ninja. Pretty dissapointing if you ask me.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: zephyrprime
I was reading an article over at silent pc and the new scythe is actually worse than the old ninja. Pretty dissapointing if you ask me.

I didn't see that, but I saw alot of people having mounting issues with the push pin design not being sturdy enough and the heatsink being large and unable to work with many motherboards without being actually cut down with a dremel.

 

[Baked]

The one thing I don't like about the Scythe heatsinks, especially this new Inifinity model is the lack of R&D in the mounting system. Sure it's fine to use the push-pin mounting system for the retail C2D HSF 'cause it's so light. It's also fine for the AC Freezer Pro 7 'cause it's not that much heavier than the retail HSF. But when you have a heatsink that weights 2.5+ lbs. (w/o the fan) that uses the retail HSF's push-pin mounting system, I would be a little worry. BTW, you are not planning on overclocking and wanted whisper quiet, you could've gotten the Artic Cooling Freezer Pro 7 @ $22. This thing is quiet. Oh well, it's your money and decision after all. Bigger's always better.

 

[Pabster]

A shiny new E6700 and no overclocking?

A chip is a terrible thing to waste.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: Pabster
A shiny new E6700 and no overclocking?

A chip is a terrible thing to waste.

Maybe that's why he didn't get an E6300. He didn't have to overclock it to get the performance he was looking for.

 

[pm]

Originally posted by: Ayah
I hope you don't shake it.

I think I can honestly say that I have never once picked up my computer and given it a good shake. So I think I will be able to avoid the temptation to do so with this new computer.

I was reading an article over at silent pc and the new scythe is actually worse than the old ninja. Pretty dissapointing if you ask me.

I wasn't able to find the Ninja in stock. I've also seen reviews that show the reverse. I agree that the two seem very close, but the fact that I couldn't seem to find the Ninja any where steered me away from it.

A chip is a terrible thing to waste.

 

[Effect]

AFAIK, the whole ninja vs infinity thing depends on the fan used. I think when everything is at stock, the ninja performs better, but the infinity surpasses it with a faster fan (i think, haven't done much research on the topic). Anyway, that whole warping motherboard thing is a little worrying for me, the last thing i'd want is to be carrying my PC to a LAN and hear the motherboard crack...It's a pity you wont be OC'ing, but having a quiet, stable and cool running system is just about worth it.

 

[LittleNemoNES]

I think it's overkill since you're not OCing.

 

[Mogadon]

I got an infinity and think it's sweet.

I mounted the HSF with the mobo outside of the box and it was probably the easiest HSF i've mounted, and I have a number under my belt. The push pin design made it very, very simple to mount but after mounting I was a little uncertain as the HSF did feel 'wobbly' and didn't seem as 'tight' as any other HSF i've mounted.

I have it running with a E6400 and at stock the thing barely breaks 30C under load. I have this chip o/c'd at 3.5GHz with 1.515V and it still idles in the low 30's and hits 54/55C load. I've seen people get similar overclocks with much lower voltages but i've also seen people that have the need to ramp up to equal voltage to get a similar o/c, guess it depends on the stepping. I'm nor worried as the temps are fine

I haven't seen any reviews with comparable fans that come to the conclusion the ninja beats the infinity.

It's a fair amount for an HSF and I know Baked will get on my case about his artic cooling freezer, but i like it. It was easy to mount and has great temps for the voltage i'm putting through this thing ... I guess y'all can use me as a guinea pig to see how long an E6400 lasts running at 1.515V ... .

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: Mogadon
I got an infinity and think it's sweet.

I mounted the HSF with the mobo outside of the box and it was probably the easiest HSF i've mounted, and I have a number under my belt. The push pin design made it very, very simple to mount but after mounting I was a little uncertain as the HSF did feel 'wobbly' and didn't seem as 'tight' as any other HSF i've mounted.

I have it running with a E6400 and at stock the thing barely breaks 30C under load. I have this chip o/c'd at 3.5GHz with 1.515V and it still idles in the low 30's and hits 54/55C load. I've seen people get similar overclocks with much lower voltages but i've also seen people that have the need to ramp up to equal voltage to get a similar o/c, guess it depends on the stepping. I'm nor worried as the temps are fine

I haven't seen any reviews with comparable fans that come to the conclusion the ninja beats the infinity.

It's a fair amount for an HSF and I know Baked will get on my case about his artic cooling freezer, but i like it. It was easy to mount and has great temps for the voltage i'm putting through this thing ... I guess y'all can use me as a guinea pig to see how long an E6400 lasts running at 1.515V ... .

Hey if it works for you that's great.

BTW; Baked is using a Thermalright Ultra-120 with a yate Loon fan on it (according to his sig) similar to myself with the same heatsink but I have a more beefy Panaflow H1BX on full blast (103cfm).

 

[pm]

I think it's overkill since you're not OCing.

Yeah, that's what several of my friends said as well. Out of curiousity, which heatsink would you have recommended that makes absolutely no noise at all? The reason that I went with it was that I'd seen it in action and knew that it was as near to silent as I wanted.

nyway, that whole warping motherboard thing is a little worrying for me, the last thing i'd want is to be carrying my PC to a LAN and hear the motherboard crack..

I don't want to overplay the board warp. There was about 1/8" of warp across the board centered near the CPU prior to mounting it in the case. It was clearly visible by looking at the board edge-on, but not enough that you'd look down on the board and think "Wow. Look at that warp." I'm definitely not worried about it - I lug my computer around to LAN parties periodically (one nice thing about working for Intel - I'm surrounded by fellow geeks).

 

[Mogadon]

The scythe ninja was designed to be used with no fan. I have a friend running his with a 3800+X2 at stock with no fan and it has good temps whilsy obviously being silent.

From what I understand the infinity was designed to be used with a fan but as you have one already why don't you just try taking the fan off and see what temps you get. In my opinion it would be fine ... you're not gonna kill the CPU by testing it out and you may be pleasantly surprised and not want to fork out more dollar to boot.

edit - and to add, i don't 'see' that much difference in HSF design to justify the ninja being effective without a fan and the inifinty not.

 

[n7]

Nice system.

 

[pm]

Nice system.

Thanks. I'm looking forward to reading about how yours goes. When's the stuff arriving? Tomorrow?

Thanks for the suggestion, Mogadon. I might try it without a fan... although at this point, it makes so little noise - like I said, I was sitting next to it, cover off and I didn't even know it was running - that I think I'll just leave it as is.

My video card heatsink is the noisemaker in the system. I need to figure out what I want to do about that.

 

[n7]

Mine?

It's been done for a while now, thanx

Specs are in sig.

Current settings:
http://img127.imageshack.us/img127/6913...hz4555515orthosblendstable45hrsdn7.jpg

 

[lukx]

I was also thinkin about getting Infinity over Ninja. How hard is mounting Ninja? Is it possible to broke something when not beeing really carefull?

 

[lukx]

after reading few reviews I'm not sure if I get it right but... Ninja was made to work in passive mode but also can add fan. Infinity was made to work only with fan and wasn't desing to be pure passive solution? So NINJA is better? What about noise. Are they the same when working with fan?

Do I have to unscrew bracket or something else from ASUS P5B Dleuxe to mount Ninja?

 

[LittleNemoNES]

I'm using the infinity. It's really quiet, IMO.

 

[NoStateofMind]

Scythe Infinity + fat fingers = Bloody hands!

Yeah, I just installed mine last night, and it took me almost an hour! Go ahead, laugh away funny boy. My fat fingers couldn't fit around it to push in and twist at the same time. I am pleased with it's performance though, 5c lower (than stock) Idle temp. Sits at 35c, and when I used Orthos blend last night for an hour, the highest temp was 49c.

EDIT: I haven't started OC'ing yet, due to the fact I need to update my BIOS (current version 0302). Stupid "Asus Update" is worthless!

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: Effect
AFAIK, the whole ninja vs infinity thing depends on the fan used. I think when everything is at stock, the ninja performs better, but the infinity surpasses it with a faster fan (i think, haven't done much research on the topic). Anyway, that whole warping motherboard thing is a little worrying for me, the last thing i'd want is to be carrying my PC to a LAN and hear the motherboard crack...It's a pity you wont be OC'ing, but having a quiet, stable and cool running system is just about worth it.

IMO its just crazy to not disconnect your heatsink before moving your computer by car......if nothing else give it more support during shipping

 

[LittleNemoNES]

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda

Originally posted by: Effect
AFAIK, the whole ninja vs infinity thing depends on the fan used. I think when everything is at stock, the ninja performs better, but the infinity surpasses it with a faster fan (i think, haven't done much research on the topic). Anyway, that whole warping motherboard thing is a little worrying for me, the last thing i'd want is to be carrying my PC to a LAN and hear the motherboard crack...It's a pity you wont be OC'ing, but having a quiet, stable and cool running system is just about worth it.

IMO its just crazy to not disconnect your heatsink before moving your computer by car......if nothing else give it more support during shipping

I have a friend who is SO damn careless with his CPUs. He yanks it off the socket without releasing it (S478) and also sticks it in his jeans while he travels O_O
He's extremely lucky cos he hasn't damaged a single CPU...That lead him to believe that its not a big deal and pretty much can't be bothered to stop doing it (I begged him).

 

[NoStateofMind]

Updated my BIOS to 614 and emediately started to OC. Ran 2 hours of Orthos and it never topped 58c with my Scythe Infinity. Love the heatsink, hate the installation!

 

[pm]

Originally posted by: PC Surgeon
Updated my BIOS to 614 and emediately started to OC. Ran 2 hours of Orthos and it never topped 58c with my Scythe Infinity. Love the heatsink, hate the installation!

There's a guy I work with with scythe'd fingers too. You aren't alone.

I escaped unscathed. But I'm not touching that heatsink again.