On an aside, the Scythe Kazeflex series of fans performed admirably and are worth considering —I would even take the 1 degree hit in performance just to drop the color beige from my builds and I think I just might.

It should come as no surprise that the Big Shuriken 3 uses Scythe’s HPMS III mounting hardware and that the top mounting bar has been preinstalled for you. Once the paste is applied, we can mount the Big Shuriken 3 by using a screwdriver and alternating between screws on the crossbar every few turns to apply pressure as evenly as possible until the heatsink is securely mounted. After plotting the data, I was honestly surprised by how well it performed compared to the other heatsinks.Looking at it as if in a standard chassis, the view is of the fan with all of the aluminum fins showing through it. Scythe is sure to include a large tube of thermal grease, but there is only enough paste for three, maybe four applications in it. In the X Axis it is a 76-46mm split with the 76mm meant to be oriented towards the top edge of the motherboard and the 46mm to be towards the PCIe slot(s). In combination with an updated backplate and rubber / plastic spacers, the system is able to offer a convenient installation process and compatibility to all current sockets including socket AM4 from AMD™ and the socket LGA 2066 from Intel™.

Because of its size however (not the largest low-profile CPU cooler in the market but also far from the smallest one also) and the high-speed 120mm fan used the Big Shuriken 3 produces cooling efficiency levels not many low-profile models can. With CPUs rated at more than 100W of heat output, single graphics boards carrying similar ratings (and people want to run two!

The installation guide is generic in its imagery, and the text offered is not the best if you have never installed a cooler before.