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Scythe Mugen 2 Information Center and Club Update 7/3/2009

326K views 2K replies 281 participants last post by  ehume 
#1 ·
The Club
Under New Co-management!

Additional photos here
This thread is to be used as both the club for the Scythe Mugen 2 and as an information and question repository.


DARK KNIGHT vs MUGEN 2
MUGEN 2 WINS
FAQ
If you want to have information added, please PM me
Note: Please tag all Mugen 2 related PMs as [Mugen] in the title.
Overclock.net Reviews of the Mugen 2 can be found Here.
More Reviews:
XbitLabs
Tweaktown

Pro-Clockers

Tech-Reviews


Which cooler is better, the Xigmatek Dark Knight or the Scythe Mugen 2?

The Scythe Mugen 2 consistently receives better temperatures than the Dark Knight. The Mugen 2 also comes with mounting for the LGA 775, LGA 1366, LGA 478, AM2, AM2+, AM3, 940, 939 and 754. In addition, up to 4 fans can be attached opposed to only 2 on the Dark Knight. The included fan, a Scythe Slipstream, is considered to be quite silent aswell. The Scythe Mugen 2 also does not need to be lapped. The Scythe Mugen 2 can also be mounted up/down and left/right, while the Dark Knight only works up/down*, which may not be optimal if you have a top-mounted PSU or weak/no top fans. However, some drawbacks are that the Scythe Mugen 2 is not as easy to mount, and the Scythe Mugen 2 can block RAM slots if you have tall RAM heatsinks, such as OCZ reapers or Corsair Dominators. The Mugen 2 is priced $5 to $10 cheaper than the dark knight.

*on certain AMD sockets

How does it compare to a Thermalright Ultra Extreme (TRUE)?
The Scythe Mugen 2 can compete with an unlapped TRUE, however, when the TRUE is lapped, it will perform better than the Mugen 2. Since the Mugen 2 is already very flat, it will not see much performance gain when lapped, so a lapped Mugen 2 will still be out performed by a lapped TRUE.

How does it compare to a Megahalems/SuperMega?New!
Megahalems & Super Mega beat it, hands down. However, the Megahalems are more expensive.

Do I need to lap my Scythe Mugen 2?
No, you do not, since it already has a very, very flat base. However, you can if you want to.

What thermal paste comes with the Mugen 2?
Scythe-rebranded generic stuff. Its acceptable, but you are far better off using a different paste

What fan comes with the Mugen 2?
Scythe Slipstream 1200RPM

Isn't the Mugen 2 gigantic?
It is a large cooler, but unless you have very tall RAM, your Mugen 2 will NOT block any RAM slots. At worst, it will hover over your RAM, but still allow for 'normal' sized RAM sticks to fit under. In some cases, the fan may have to directly rest on a RAM stick.

How should I mount my Mugen 2
You should mount it so that the ridges go with the airflow. You also want to mount the fan on the longer broader sides. This typically means the Mugen 2 will be mounted Up/Down, as seen in this picture. The reason why is the ridges will create turbulence if the air flow goes against the ridges, and the ridges were created to move more air through.

What is the best thermal compound for the Mugen 2? New!
The usual good thermal compound works great with the Mugen 2. These include OCZ Freeze, Arctic Silver 5, Indigo Extreme, IC Diamond, and a few others. The stuff that comes with the Mugen 2 isn't very good at all. Both the Rice Grain and the Pea methods are successful and recommended around here.

What is the difference between the original Mugen 2 and the 'Rev B.' Mugen 2? New!
Although the heatsink itself is identical to the 'original', the Rev. B has a new mounting bracket, and adds compatibility with the LGA 1156 socket. You no longer need to change the backplate out either, as the new backplate goes around the installed backplate. Installation of the Mugen 2 Rev. B, however, is still a bit of a tricky effort.

The Rev. B box will have yellow/green highlights near the top of the box. The Original Mugen 2 will have blue/purple highlights near the top of the box.




What fans should I put on my Mugen 2?New!
Although the stock fan that comes with the Mugen 2 performs decently, you might want to have a look at this thread. Its for the Megahalems (Another very fine Air cooler), but it should give you a good idea of what works for the Mugen 2. Expect more information coming soon.

How should I mount my 2nd fanNew!
Scythe has fan clips available for purchase, however, you can find many home made solutions for mounting your Mugen 2.
Paperclip Mount
Paperclip Mount 2
Zipties
VERY BEAUTIFUL Zipties
Twistties

Mugen 2 Installation video:



Benchmarks and Temperatures:
_Marvin_
PowerTrip


If you have anymore information you would like in the FAQ, please PM me.
Note: Please tag all Mugen 2 related PMs as [Mugen] in the title.

For membership inquiries, PM Powertrip (The Co-Owner, his post is underneath)
 
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1 5
#2 ·
I will be taking over the Club Membership duties, send me a PM to be added to the club list


Newegg Link to the Mugen 2 Rev B.

I would also like to point out that one of our members, skugpezz, has switched over from a Xigmatek Dark Knight to a Mugen 2 and saw a drop of ~10*C on his AMD Setup!
http://www.overclock.net/air-cooling...ml#post6916111

Another test comparison from one of our newer members, Mark the Bold, bought a Corsair H50 and compared it to his Mugen 2, the results were surprisingly in favor of our cooling champ
http://www.overclock.net/air-cooling...ml#post8256838

1nn3run1v3rs3's Simplified Installation of the Mugen 2:



Member List:

  1. Mushrooshi
  2. PowerTrip
  3. 1nn3run1v3rs3
  4. ehume
  5. Laurie
  6. _Marvin_
  7. luminous light
  8. vdek
  9. xxDarkenSoulxx
  10. anevsky
  11. broodman
  12. simca
  13. danylu
  14. hollywood406
  15. test tube
  16. mjl4878
  17. crashnburn_819
  18. grey.clock
  19. michaeljr1186
  20. Gmt
  21. btxmonty
  22. Distemper
  23. llama16
  24. dopamin3
  25. M3N-HT
  26. I_dalder_I
  27. richierich1212
  28. StarMick
  29. MCBrown.CA
  30. houseunit
  31. skugpezz
  32. Contagion
  33. vinzend
  34. computeruler
  35. Laforet
  36. Andy!
  37. jason93
  38. roanie25
  39. rasa123
  40. hitman1985
  41. Advil
  42. Cwix
  43. chatch15117
  44. lozanoa11
  45. 4x64
  46. chickenricesoup
  47. IEATFISH
  48. rchads89
  49. scottsee
  50. Nubster
  51. SoL_717
  52. shaolin95
  53. Formula7
  54. Starman27
  55. Win == True
  56. martin_nj
  57. qTAP
  58. yann3804
  59. Mariusz803
  60. Canon624
  61. spiceditup
  62. Jaeflash
  63. Bleep
  64. Afrodisiac
  65. Auld
  66. bigboistatus
  67. Loosenut
  68. Frosty88
  69. Mark the Bold
  70. genuine555
  71. sublime-1
  72. Freaxy
  73. Imglidinhere
  74. jemping
  75. Matrixvibe
  76. SgtHop
  77. Behemoth777
  78. Hans2K
  79. sotorious
  80. AgentHydra
  81. SeraphIsaiah
  82. CramComplex
  83. Tehwall
  84. dude3223
  85. The_Viper
  86. tonyptony
  87. Maelthras
  88. gunsmoney
  89. uturn68
  90. yakub0
  91. techheadtrevor
  92. F-U-B-A-R
  93. returned4good
  94. audioxbliss
  95. iamtwan
  96. RusAngel
  97. vesley
  98. Lucky 23

 
#3 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by mushrooshi View Post
The Scythe Mugen 2 can also be mounted up/down and left/right, while the Dark Knight only works up/down, which may not be optimal if you have a top-mounted PSU or weak/no top fans.
Please remove this as it's completely false.

 
#4 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by nathris View Post
Please remove this as it's completely false.


Hmm... I read that several times in threads... but pictures are proof. Alright, fixed.
 
#5 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by PowerTrip View Post
Count me in!



Scythe Mugen 2 FTW!

4.1Ghz Overclock @1.325 vCore, 49*C under Prime95 full load


At first, it looks tough to install, but then you figure out that you have to install differently than other coolers. Here's a video on how to install it in 5 minutes.
YouTube - eiskaltmacher.de Montage Scythe Mugen 2
you should use small fft, it gives off more heat from the cpu from what i have found personally
 
#8 ·
Man what's with the Dark Knight hate LOL

It's just a heatsink.

I'm using Mushkin Redline RAM, the cpu fan is raised ever so slightly, about .25", but it clears.

This is about the hottest I see the cpu get in my current configuration, 3.8ghz 1.2V with ram at 1451mhz 7-7-7-18 This is running Linx and Blend at the same time.

New fans incoming later this week from newegg and the mugen2 will be set for push-pull, and some more cable management inside the case

LL
LL
LL
 
#12 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by qaz393 View Post
you should use small fft, it gives off more heat from the cpu from what i have found personally
Well the default test is 49*C.

I just did a few minutes of small FFT's out of curiousity, Load temps went up to 53*C. Still pretty good in my opinion.

 
#13 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by sLowEnd View Post
Not completely false.

Half false.

It doesn't mount that way on AM2/AM2+/AM3
I'm pretty sure that if you get the Thermalright AM2 bolt through kit it will work front-back.

Quarter false.
 
#19 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Tohdman View Post
But the Dark Knight is so pretty! Haha but seriously the Mugen 2 looks beast and if I didn't get 26 idle with my cooler I would be all over one.
I find 26c idle with your cooler and those volts very hard to believe, unless you have a very low ambient.
 
#21 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by mushrooshi View Post
Lol, more people should join
I'm trying to get my Mugen 2 but it's difficult to get here in Argentina...the only place that I found is out of stock and told me to call back in 20 days....
 
#22 ·
Have any of you tried out running with Ultra Kaze fans yet? I was looking into upgrading the fan, dunno how loud the Ultra Kaze would be though...

And what are you guys doing about mounting a push-pull, I can only find the retention clips on crazypc.com...
 
#25 ·
I decided to do a thorough benchmark/review of this cooler that everyone seems so interested in.
I began by testing a cooler we all know thus we can all relate => the stock Intel cooler, so may observe how much better this aftermarket solution is.
This review being overclockers oriented I overclocked the daylights out of my high vid, high voltage, high heat generating Q6600 which is one of the most popular quad core chips around here.

Test System:

CPU
Q6600 G0

Motherboard
Asus Striker II Extreme

Memory
4xKingston HyperX PC3-11000

Graphics Card
GTX280

Hard Drive
Samsung SpinPoint F1

Sound Card
SupremeFX II

Power Supply
Asus U-75HA 750W

OS
Windows 7 RC 64bit

Let's see what we can do with the stock HSF.

Benchmarking the Stock Intel Cooler

Test rig:
Signature Rig (stock Intel Cooler + Stock Thermal Grease)
Open Chassis (mobo exposed, no side panels)
No Extra Fans (only fans present were the one from the cooler and the one from the PSU)
Normal room temperature, still air (windows and doors closed => no drafts)

Method of Testing:
I used Intel Burn Test to generate my load temp. All my overclocks passed the test so we must assume that they are stable. I could have used lower voltages but I didn't have the patience to tweak around BIOS, but I think they are pretty good. The Intel Burn Test is a synthetic test, especially designed to heat up the CPU, therefore no real life app will generate such high temps, nor other stability test.
Idle temp was measured whilst surfing the net and using MS Word after I started the rig.
The variations you see in those temps represent the difference between the cores, as one may run hotter than another.

This is what I came up with:

Frequency Voltage Idle Temps Load Temps
2.4 1.120V 30C 44C
3.0 1.232V 36-38C 58-62C
3.2 1.376V 38-40C 78-80C
3.4 1.440V 40-42C 87-96C

Update 2:

I have also modified the fan clips than came with my Mugen to fit the Ultra Kaze.
It was a matter of bending the clips, really easy stuff, no need to buy special 38mm clips, or use zip ties and other silly workarounds.

This is before the bending, notice how the clips are attached to the front of the fan.




This is after, notice how they attach to the rear part of the fan.





Some pictures from the benchmarks themselves.

@2.4



@3.0



@3.2



@3.4



I installed the Mugen 2 with an Ultra Kaze 3000, and used the fan that came with the cooler as an exhaust/pull fan.

Here are the results:

Benchmarking the Scythe Mugen 2

Frequency Voltage Idle Temps Load Temps
2.4 1.120V 25C 39C
3.0 1.232V 27C 50C
3.2 1.376V 30C 60C
3.4 1.440V 32C 70C

As you may notice the temps are around 20 degrees lower than the stock HSF, thanks to this cooler right now I'm at 3.6 1.536v 33idle 78load, if I had used the stock cooler, right now I would have smelled some Kentucky Fried Kentsfield.

Conclusion:

I warmly recommend any overclocker to get this cooler, the base is perfectly flat (did the razor blade test) and perfectly finished, even the thermal paste that came with it is good.

It was easy to mount and it feels really well secured to the motherboard.

It may not beat a lapped TRUE, but It will dominate any other air cooler out there and it will do it at a bargain price, and it will fit on any platform.

Coupled with an Ultra Kaze 3000 it is truly unstoppable, it really moves a lot of air, and it's not as loud as I feared; now I can barely notice it (I haven't gone deaf).

Pics:



















Hope this was useful
 
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