Scythe Andy Samurai Master vs. Thermaltake MaxOrb
by Wesley Fink on June 4, 2007 5:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Scaling of Cooling Performance
The Andy Samurai and MaxOrb were excellent at stock idle and average among top coolers at stock load. However, as overclocks were raised, neither cooler was particularly outstanding in the ability to cool the CPU under stress conditions. To be as fair as possible all overclocking tests were run with the MaxOrb fan at the highest speed. The Scythe Andy Samurai has a fixed speed fan.
At 2.93GHz the retail HSF is running at 41C, compared to 29C with the MaxOrb and Andy Samurai at 29C. This is not the best performance seen in our tests at idle, but it is competitive with the top coolers tested so far. This is a delta of 12C. The delta becomes greater as the overclock increases. At 3.73GHz when idle the retail fan is 56C compared to the MaxOrb at 40 and the Scythe Andy Samurai Master at 41C - a delta of 15C to 16C. The cooling performance of MaxOrb and Andy Samurai are much better than the Intel Retail cooler at idle, but they do not reach the same cooling levels seen in the Thermalright coolers or Tuniq 120. The top Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme, for example is at 33C at the same 3.73GHz, and it is still cooler at 36C at the much higher overclock of 3.94GHz.
Cooling efficiency of the Scythe Andy Samurai Master and Thermalright MaxOrb were compared under load conditions to the retail HSF and other recently tested CPU coolers. Load testing can be very revealing of a cooler's efficiency. A basically flat line, particularly form 3.73GHz upward, indicates the cooler is still in its best cooling range. A line that is increasing rapidly indicates a cooler nearing the end of its ability to cool efficiently. Lines which parallel the best coolers over a range of values are showing similar efficiency slopes.
The MaxOrb and Andy Samurai are both very efficient in cooling in the 2.93GHz to 3.73GHz overclock range. The MaxOrb continues on to a highest overclock of only 3.83GHz, which is well short of the 3.90GHz to 3.94GHz most of the top coolers in our testing have achieved. The Scythe Andy Samurai fares even worse, topping out at just 3.81GHz. Both these coolers cost around $50, which is definitely in the range of the top-of-the-line coolers we have tested. However, neither cooler is really performing any better than some of the $20 to $30 coolers we have tested.
As stated many times, the overclocking abilities of the CPU will vary at the top, depending on the CPU. This particular CPU does higher FSB speeds than any X6800 we have tested, but the 3.9GHz top speed with the Tuniq is pretty average among the X6800 processors we have tested with Tuniq cooling. A few of the other processors tested with the best air coolers reach just over 4 GHz, but the range has been 3.8 to 4.0GHz. Stock cooling generally tops out 200 to 400 MHz lower, depending on the CPU, on the processors tested in our lab. The 3.83 GHz with the Thermalright MaxOrb and 3.81 GHz with the Scythe Andy Samurai Master - both achieved with the cooler fans at their highest levels - are average at best. We would expect premium-priced CPU coolers to perform better.
The Andy Samurai and MaxOrb were excellent at stock idle and average among top coolers at stock load. However, as overclocks were raised, neither cooler was particularly outstanding in the ability to cool the CPU under stress conditions. To be as fair as possible all overclocking tests were run with the MaxOrb fan at the highest speed. The Scythe Andy Samurai has a fixed speed fan.
At 2.93GHz the retail HSF is running at 41C, compared to 29C with the MaxOrb and Andy Samurai at 29C. This is not the best performance seen in our tests at idle, but it is competitive with the top coolers tested so far. This is a delta of 12C. The delta becomes greater as the overclock increases. At 3.73GHz when idle the retail fan is 56C compared to the MaxOrb at 40 and the Scythe Andy Samurai Master at 41C - a delta of 15C to 16C. The cooling performance of MaxOrb and Andy Samurai are much better than the Intel Retail cooler at idle, but they do not reach the same cooling levels seen in the Thermalright coolers or Tuniq 120. The top Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme, for example is at 33C at the same 3.73GHz, and it is still cooler at 36C at the much higher overclock of 3.94GHz.
Cooling efficiency of the Scythe Andy Samurai Master and Thermalright MaxOrb were compared under load conditions to the retail HSF and other recently tested CPU coolers. Load testing can be very revealing of a cooler's efficiency. A basically flat line, particularly form 3.73GHz upward, indicates the cooler is still in its best cooling range. A line that is increasing rapidly indicates a cooler nearing the end of its ability to cool efficiently. Lines which parallel the best coolers over a range of values are showing similar efficiency slopes.
The MaxOrb and Andy Samurai are both very efficient in cooling in the 2.93GHz to 3.73GHz overclock range. The MaxOrb continues on to a highest overclock of only 3.83GHz, which is well short of the 3.90GHz to 3.94GHz most of the top coolers in our testing have achieved. The Scythe Andy Samurai fares even worse, topping out at just 3.81GHz. Both these coolers cost around $50, which is definitely in the range of the top-of-the-line coolers we have tested. However, neither cooler is really performing any better than some of the $20 to $30 coolers we have tested.
As stated many times, the overclocking abilities of the CPU will vary at the top, depending on the CPU. This particular CPU does higher FSB speeds than any X6800 we have tested, but the 3.9GHz top speed with the Tuniq is pretty average among the X6800 processors we have tested with Tuniq cooling. A few of the other processors tested with the best air coolers reach just over 4 GHz, but the range has been 3.8 to 4.0GHz. Stock cooling generally tops out 200 to 400 MHz lower, depending on the CPU, on the processors tested in our lab. The 3.83 GHz with the Thermalright MaxOrb and 3.81 GHz with the Scythe Andy Samurai Master - both achieved with the cooler fans at their highest levels - are average at best. We would expect premium-priced CPU coolers to perform better.
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Tuvoc - Monday, June 4, 2007 - link
I'd love to see you guys test this. It is incredibly cheap, yet many claim it to have class-leading performance. Only a proper Anandtech test can reveal the truth... :-)Imnotrichey - Monday, June 4, 2007 - link
I was thinking the same thing. So many sites swear by the Freezer 7 Pro.yacoub - Monday, June 4, 2007 - link
Why does it look like the heatsink is off-center from the base?http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/cooling/2007/s...">http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/coo...ndy-ther...
Is that poor quality manufacturing or by design? I'd be worried about it not evenly drawing the heat away from the CPU core, leaving a hot spot where the heatsink isn't directly over the contact area.
Also curious: Will you guys ever include the numbers for the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro? It's sort of a mainstay HSF for socket 775 boards and I'm curious how it compares to the hsfs you have tested. It would be nice to know if it'd be worth ~$50-60 to upgrade from my Freezer 7 Pro or if it is already relatively effective compared to the rest of the field.
oldhoss - Monday, June 4, 2007 - link
This one's kinda recent:
http://www.pureoverclock.com/article642-2.html">http://www.pureoverclock.com/article642-2.html
insurgent - Monday, June 4, 2007 - link
How come nobody reviews the Thermalright SI-128 (sites that matter anyways)? I'd like to know how it compares to the other "high-end" heatsinks.Ver Greeneyes - Monday, June 4, 2007 - link
I have a Thermalright XP-90C installed in my PC, and recently I got the novel idea of turning the cooler upside down so that it's pulling air away from my mobo.. and got a significantly lower temperature. Logically, I don't think down-blowing fans mounted on top of a heatsink make sense - the heat from CPU and surrounding components goes into the heatsink, and then you blow it back down at your mobo? I've also found this setup to be very dusty. My XP-90C might just be an anomaly, but I do wonder how other setups will fare with a fan that faces away from the motherboard.PS: another small advantage is that you can't get at the fan-blades on accident with this setup, although they had better not be pressed against the heatsink itself!
xsilver - Monday, June 4, 2007 - link
p1"However, the MaxOrb is still large enough to mount an integral 110mm fan. As yo"
should be internal?
sjholmesbrown - Monday, June 4, 2007 - link
No, integral is the word. Internal would imply the fan was completely enclosed by the cooler (a'la Tuniq tower), integral means the fan is integrated (catch the link) into the cooler, not a separate component.xsilver - Monday, June 4, 2007 - link
in·te·gral(nt-grl, n-tgrl)
adj.
1. Essential or necessary for completeness; constituent: The kitchen is an integral part of a house.
im no english teacher, but I think im right.
integral means essential - of course a fan is essential to a HSF but the meaning in the sentence was to imply that the fan is internal and cannot be removed.
yacoub - Monday, June 4, 2007 - link
Integral is more correct. It's necessary for proper functioning of the device but it's not internal - that would be something completely inside the heatsink.