You may have read about the rave reviews of the original Scythe Kamakaze as one of the best performing low-noise HSFs available. I read a review where a guy put a Thermaltake Smartfan II on one of the original Kamakaze heatsinks and got #s that rivaled what Thermalright and Switftech produced.
In any event, the Kamakaze2 was released less than a month ago and I have yet to see any reviews of it. One of the drawbacks about the original Kamakaze is that it's installation mechanism was a bit difficult to use and if installed incorrectly (screwing it in too tightly) it could damage the CPU. This obviously was concerning. Once of the improvements to the new Kamakaze2 is a new and improved installation mechanism, but since I've never used the Kamakaze1's mechanism I really have no basis for comparison.
I just installed the Kamakaze2 about 10 minutes ago using AC5 and currently it is running at 43C with a room temperature of 30C. Not bad, not bad at all, I hope those numbers will drop a little bit as the AC5 has a chance to burn in but thats a good start. I didn't have any 95% isopropyl alcohol, but I did have some 70% isopropyl and I used that to clean my chip -- is that an acceptable substitute?
As for the installation. One of the other complaints about the original Kamazake was that the manual was in Japanese (Scythe is a Japanese company) and people had to figure out how to install the HSF based on the illutrations alone. The Kamakaze2 now has instructions in English, but they don't go into much detail, it's basically one sheet with Japanese on one side and English on the other. There's no mention on how tightly to screw the HSF in, just a mention not to do it "too tightly". So I did my best, I screwed each side evenly until the HSF felt secure. I was a little nervous as I started to get some resistance on the screw and I thought I might have been going too far but thank goodness the CPU is fine.
The installation mechanism is designed to make it easy to install, but it actually somewhat complicates the installation compared with the standard clamp system. It has a base bracket that you clip into the socket, then you attach a retention bracket to the HSF and then align the holes between the base and retention bracket and you screw in two holes on opposing sides of the HSF. As the HSF pushes against the CPU it creates a kind of bow-like tension Takes a little getting used to, but it does the job. (though I am not totally convinced that I have tightened it as much as I should)
I got a new case too, one of the Thermaltake Series V Damier models. Took me forever to get it wired up, very complicated rats nest of wires -- but once I got it together it runs pretty well. Only problem is that one of the nobs on the front broke off in shipping so I have to figure out a way to super glue it back on. Hopefully I can get it back on, it would suck to not be able to control my #4 fan directly (currently it's sharing #1's connector.
If anyone sees a review for the Kamakaze2 please post a link. It would be nice to see what an expert thinks about the installation mechanism and whether they have any tips on how to tell if its a secure as it can be (without cracking my chip).
In any event, I'm a happy camper. Going to install my other Kamakaze2 on my second processor tomorrow (running a dual proc machine) and hopefully I get similiar results.
Here's a link if you're wondering what it looks like or what it's specs are:
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=35-185-108&depa=0
(not a plug)
In any event, the Kamakaze2 was released less than a month ago and I have yet to see any reviews of it. One of the drawbacks about the original Kamakaze is that it's installation mechanism was a bit difficult to use and if installed incorrectly (screwing it in too tightly) it could damage the CPU. This obviously was concerning. Once of the improvements to the new Kamakaze2 is a new and improved installation mechanism, but since I've never used the Kamakaze1's mechanism I really have no basis for comparison.
I just installed the Kamakaze2 about 10 minutes ago using AC5 and currently it is running at 43C with a room temperature of 30C. Not bad, not bad at all, I hope those numbers will drop a little bit as the AC5 has a chance to burn in but thats a good start. I didn't have any 95% isopropyl alcohol, but I did have some 70% isopropyl and I used that to clean my chip -- is that an acceptable substitute?
As for the installation. One of the other complaints about the original Kamazake was that the manual was in Japanese (Scythe is a Japanese company) and people had to figure out how to install the HSF based on the illutrations alone. The Kamakaze2 now has instructions in English, but they don't go into much detail, it's basically one sheet with Japanese on one side and English on the other. There's no mention on how tightly to screw the HSF in, just a mention not to do it "too tightly". So I did my best, I screwed each side evenly until the HSF felt secure. I was a little nervous as I started to get some resistance on the screw and I thought I might have been going too far but thank goodness the CPU is fine.
The installation mechanism is designed to make it easy to install, but it actually somewhat complicates the installation compared with the standard clamp system. It has a base bracket that you clip into the socket, then you attach a retention bracket to the HSF and then align the holes between the base and retention bracket and you screw in two holes on opposing sides of the HSF. As the HSF pushes against the CPU it creates a kind of bow-like tension Takes a little getting used to, but it does the job. (though I am not totally convinced that I have tightened it as much as I should)
I got a new case too, one of the Thermaltake Series V Damier models. Took me forever to get it wired up, very complicated rats nest of wires -- but once I got it together it runs pretty well. Only problem is that one of the nobs on the front broke off in shipping so I have to figure out a way to super glue it back on. Hopefully I can get it back on, it would suck to not be able to control my #4 fan directly (currently it's sharing #1's connector.
If anyone sees a review for the Kamakaze2 please post a link. It would be nice to see what an expert thinks about the installation mechanism and whether they have any tips on how to tell if its a secure as it can be (without cracking my chip).
In any event, I'm a happy camper. Going to install my other Kamakaze2 on my second processor tomorrow (running a dual proc machine) and hopefully I get similiar results.
Here's a link if you're wondering what it looks like or what it's specs are:
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=35-185-108&depa=0
(not a plug)
