Key features
I give Scythe coolers less attention here than they really deserve. Today I’d like to remedy that, so I’m bringing you a double dose of Mugen 6 and Mugen 6 Black Edition cooler tests. The only difference between these coolers other than the color scheme is the presence of a second fan in the case of the black version. Given their design, I have high expectations for efficiency and hopefully I will be satisfied with the acoustic performance as well.
Build, design and key features
The Scythe Mugen 6/Mugen 6 Black Edition (hereafter BE) coolers come with major changes from previous versions, but the core design elements of the Mugen series remain. They are still single-tower coolers with one or two fans (in the case of the BE version), whose heatsink is a very dense bundle of aluminum fins. Compared to the previous version, the total surface area of the fins has been increased by 45%, which is a significant increase, but this must also go hand in hand with appropriate fan optimization. That’s why the Mugen 6/Mugen 6 BE coolers are equipped with new Scythe Wonder Tornado fans, which have a redesigned geometry and increased blade surface area.
In addition, the heatsink design is now slightly asymmetrical in two axes, as can be seen in the photos above. So not only the traditional direction away from the DIMM slots for maximum compatibility with taller RAM coolers, but newly also away from the PCI Express slots on a motherboard, so that there is no conflict between the cooler and a graphics card.
The bundle of aluminum fins is intersected by six copper heatpipes that meet in a copper base with a nickel-plated coldplate. The top surfaces of the coolers are formed by a thicker fin that covers the ends of the heatpipes and in the center of which is molded the manufacturer’s logo. You will also find a hole through the entire cooler that allows access to the rear mounting screw, which is covered by the heatsink overhang.
Virtually the only difference in accessories between these two coolers is the color of the mounting system, which has the “modest” name Hyper Precision Mounting System (H.P.M.S.) and the color of the metal clips for mounting the fans to the heatsink of the cooler. In the black version of the cooler you will also find a splitter for connecting two fans to one motherboard header, but otherwise the accessory content is identical between the two versions of the cooler.
I was pleased with the presence of a well-crafted Phillips screwdriver with a long shank, which is practically a necessity for easy installation of the cooler, because as I mentioned in the previous text, one of the screws is located under the rear of the cooler and you can only get to it through the hole in the heatsink. The package then closes with a small tube of thermal paste including a plastic applicator and a clear user manual.
Cooler and fan parameters
The Scythe Mugen 6/Mugen 6 BE coolers represent the optimal balance between maximizing size while ensuring a very high level of compatibility. With a height of under 160mm you should have no problem in any current midtower case, and thanks to the double offset design you don’t have to worry about the height of RAM coolers or a larger graphics card cooler.
I only ran into a minor physical conflict when I fitted the cooler with the rear fan. Its bottom edge was slightly resting on the rear VRM heatsink on the motherboard, so I had to slide the fan up about 1-2 mm above the top edge of the cooler. But of course this will always depend on the specific motherboard and will be slightly different for each user. There is also a slight catch, which concerns the pricing in our market. In the table below you can see the MSRP prices converted to EUR including VAT, but the reality on the CZ/SK market is quite different, which we will discuss at the end of the review.
| Cooler | Scythe Mugen 6 | Scythe Mugen 6 Black Edition | DeepCool AK400 ZDP | |
| Supported sockets | Intel LGA 115x, 1200, 1700, 20xx; AMD AM4/AM5 | |||
| Height | 154 mm | 154 mm | 155 mm | |
| Width | 132 mm | 132 mm | 127 mm | |
| Depth with fan | 106 mm | 132 mm | 123 mm | |
| Weight | 1013 g | 1197 g | 802 g | |
| Maximum RAM height | no restrictions | |||
| MSRP | 50 € | 60 € | 50 € |
As mentioned, the Mugen 6/Mugen 6 BE coolers come with a new fan. You will now find one or two Wonder Tornado series fans in the package (depending on the edition of the cooler). These fans have a redesigned blade geometry and their shape is somewhat reminiscent of Noctua’s top of the line A12x25 fans, so you can expect them to provide an interesting ratio of static pressure and overall airflow to (hopefully) a reasonable noise level. The reinforced frame and integrated anti-vibration pads will certainly help with this as well.
| Fan | Scythe Wonder Tornado 120 PWM | Scythe Wonder Tornado 120 PWM | DeepCool FC120P | |
| Bearing | FDB | |||
| Speed range | 300–2000 rpm | 300–2000 rpm | 500–1650 rpm | |
| Max. airflow | 102.4 m3/h | 102.4 m3/h | 101.0 m3/h | |
| Max. static pressure | 2.45 mm H2O | 2.45 mm H2O | 1.62 mm H2O |
- Contents
- Key features
- Measurement methodology
- Results – 39 dBA
- Results – 42 dBA
- Results – 45 dBA
- Results – 48 dBA
- Results – maximum speed
- Spectral analysis of noise
- Conclusion and evaluation
None of the Assassin coolers from Thermalright in the chart?
Unfortunately not yet, with Thermalright there is weaker communication in this direction and similarly weak (or even none) is the availability of their coolers on our market. In short, getting one’s hands on Thermalright samples is more difficult, but we would like to have them in the results database, of course.