Also, if it doesn't work well, there are things you could do, like reducing the PPT, TDC, EDC settings, to make the 5800X consume less power without losing much performance, and in typical gaming workloads, it's not going to consume much more power than your current CPU anyway. I've tried daily driving my 5900X at "65W TDP" values (88 PPT, 60 TDC, 90 EDC) just to see how it does and I get about 85% of the multicore performance with no loss in single core performance. I don't even notice a difference in games. All testing was performed on an open test bench, which minimizes ambient temperature and gives a “worst case” scenario for sound level. Would I reduce the PPT, TDC, and EDC in BIOs? I've never done this before. Could you link me a guide that you find helpful? Scythe has equipped the Big Shuriken 3 with a Kaze Flex Slim 120 PWM fluid dynamic bearing fan that can hit speeds of up to 1800RPM to produce up to 50.79CFM of airflow and 1.35mmH2O of air-pressure with 30.4dBA of noise.

Finally, low-profile coolers have lesser cooling performance compared to regular air and water CPU coolers, which is expected regarding their size. This means your CPU will run hotter than if it were part of a regular-sized PC. This also means that you have to be extra careful if you own a high-end CPU. Why estimate sound level instead of measuring at further distances? It’s because the meter I’m using is most accurate between 40-130 dBA, so I needed to measure really close to the source to make sure my readings were within that range to get the most accurate measurements. Results Cooling Performance Next, I fired up the 3D Mark CPU profile and compared it to my previous run with a 280mm AIO. The worst bench score had the Big Shuriken 3 only 4.7% behind a 280MM AIO and the peak speed was only 25MHz behind the peak speed on the AIO. In heavy threaded workloads the Big Shuriken 3 will reduce performance a bit but still stay easily withing a reasonable temp range at a noise level that is not terrible. At gaming load with headsets, there is no noise worth mentioning and the performance and temps are awfully close to that of the 280mm AIO. A large product picture along with the company logo, the fan used and the mainboard/CPU compatibility are placed at the front of the box.Cramped space inside SFF cases means less airflow which leads to fans having to work harder to ensure components are running at acceptable temperatures. Higher RPM numbers mean more noise. And some low-profile CPU coolers can be rather noisy when near or at their peak RPM.

The noise of the Big Shuriken 3 paired with the slim Kaze Flex fan wasn’t the best and was basically identical to the Fuma with a standard Kaze Flex fan. The Big Shuriken 3 is a relatively dense heatsink and it’s paired with a higher RPM fan, so more noise is expected. However, these readings were done on an open test bench with the fans at max speed, so this is the worst-case scenario. So, having a typical enclosed PC at an average distance away would result in almost all the heatsinks in the chart below being reasonable, even at max fan speed. Nothing out of the ordinary to cause alarm about the noise levels here. Scythe remains a household name in the air cooling segment of PC hardware due to its well-received heatsinks and fans over the years. Today, we have Scythe’s Big Shuriken 3 which is a low profile cooler aimed at small form factor (SFF) builds and touts a “zero interference” claim for motherboard and RAM. Let’s see how well it holds up against a testbed full of tower heatsinks and all-in-one liquid coolers. Specifications & FeaturesThermalright can easily improve this cooler compatibility if they provide a way for users to install the cooler in Up/Down orientation, which you can't on AM4. These issues, if you want to call them like that, can affect even the best low-profile CPU coolers. Let’s explain how they affect coolers and at the same time, what to look for when in the market for a low-profile CPU cooler. Clearance and CPU Support The sound level in dBA was measured 10 cm from the intake fan with the fan speed set to 100%. Then, the sound level was estimated for other distances using the following formula: Scythe Co., Ltd., (Registered and incorporated in Tokyo Japan) originally started its business operation in Japan's famous "Akihabara Electric Town" located in the metropolitan Tokyo, where visitors can find a variety of products from the latest computer parts to the world's most advanced high-tech electric devices. Scythe Co., Ltd., began its operation and business since November, 2002 as a distributor and the manufacturer of passive and low-noise PC parts. Since then, the company has established the R&D facility in Taiwan & China for production and quality control, and the USA office (in Los Angeles, California) & European office (in Hamburg, Germany) for customer care and sales support. At Scythe, we believe that the best ideas for product come simply from knowing customers' needs and their expectations. Based on this philosophy, the PC enthusiasts working at Scythe know what to develop because that is exactly what we would like to have for ourselves too! We offer products with 100% quality assurance and total pride, and if the product has the Scythe name on it, you can rest assure that its quality will be up to the "Zero Tolerance" standards! Also in confined spaces, airflow is a premium, and not just in how the chassis provides the influx of ambient airflow, but what in the system can be actively cooled. With the C-Style design, you almost get three coolers in one. Many cover some if not all of the memory, of course, they cool the CPU, but they also add direct airflow to the PWM of the motherboard. How many towers or AIOs can say that? Even more importantly, can they fit in an SFF chassis or Mini-ITX system?

Varied Vcore (in BIOS) from 1.125 V to 1.375 V in 0.050 V increments to increase heat. Stopped increasing Vcore once a core reached ~100 °C. Smaller height usually means limited cooling capability. The smaller the cooler the less performance you can expect. There are some low-profile CPU coolers out there that punch above their weight (or better to say, height) but in most cases the taller a cooler is the better it is at cooling the CPU. The height shouldn’t be an issue if you need a low-profile cooler for a low power CPU, with TDP up to 65W. This is no different for their SFF offering for mini-ITX builds – the Noctua NH-L9. This is a very small CPU cooler with a total height of 37mm (fan and heatsink together) that allows you to have 100% compatibility with RAM and PCIe cards on mini-ITX motherboards. Today we introduce you to the Scythe Big Shuriken 3 CPU cooler, which strangely is not that big as far as coolers go, but as the namesake, Shuriken, I'm not sure I'd want to be throwing these at trees. The reason we say this cooler is not that big as far as coolers go is that Scythe imposed its restrictions on the latest design.

The cooler has pretty good noise levels, even under high load. Max noise is about 41 decibels, which is quite low and shouldn’t bother anyone sans those users who can’t bear any sound coming from their PC. The cooler comes with a low noise adapter that decreases noise even further but lowers performance a bit.