INTRODUCTION

   AIO Liquid CPU Coolers may be in the spotlight lately due to the fact that many manufacturers have released several new models but judging by your emails and FB messages it seems that normal CPU Air Coolers are not going anywhere anytime soon. Sure the high-end models are larger which may result in clearance issues with other components and no one can deny that in some cases they are harder to mount compared to AIO Liquid CPU Coolers but at least in terms of performance many CPU Air Coolers still hold their ground while being more affordable and for many consumers out there that's what really matters. The Ashura CPU Cooler by Scythe has been in the market for quite a while and since we recently started working with them again we decided to take it for a spin and see if it too can hold its ground.

   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!

   Much like the majority of CPU Air Coolers in the market currently the Scythe Ashura is based on the very popular tower (U-type) design so it basically consists of a single medium-sized heatsink connected to a nickel plated copper base via six all-copper heatpipes. The asymmetrical design of the heatsink allows the use of even tall memory modules while the newly designed mounting system is not only universal and thus can be used with virtually every mainboard out there but it also makes mounting the Ashura a matter of minutes. Scythe also bundles a low-noise GlideStream 140mm PWM fan which you can pair with a second one in push and pull configuration to further improve cooling efficiency. Unfortunately we only have a single GlideStream 140mm PWM fan so we can't test performance in push and pull but most of you will obviously wonder how it performs straight out of the box so let's find out.