Scythe Mugen 4 Tower CPU Cooler Review

Introduction

Somewhere back some six to six and a half years ago, the original Scythe Mugen was introduced with the SCINF-1000 name, denoting at the time it was based off an Infinity series design back then. What Scythe didn't know back then, was that taking this original concept that could hold fans on every side of the cooler was going to be such a success, enough even to make the Mugen a standalone series. Since the original release, there was the Mugen 2, Mugen 2 Rev. B, Mugen 3, and the Mugen 3 Rev. B as well. After five chances to get it right, Scythe decided to give the Mugen another go.

Along all of these incarnations of the Mugen, various things were tried. Five heat pipes, six heat pipes, a dog bone fin design, completely square, separated individual towers and even various bases. While the bases were two pieces surrounding soldered in copper heat pipes, Scythe toyed around with skived heat sinks on the top of the base, as well as some without. Another thing that has evolved is the hardware. While obvious changes have needed to be made to allow the cooler to fit on new sockets, things weren't just updated with new holes; there is a whole new way of mounting the Mugen with the latest release.

Today with the sixth go at the Mugen series of coolers, Scythe has delivered the Mugen 4 for testing. Not only has the hardware changed, but the styling, fin stacking, and the overall size is much more accommodating and will allow users access to most of the components near it, unlike some of the previous models. With as many releases of the Mugen, there is a lot of what people will expect to see, and the Mugen 4 does hark back to the designs of the earlier coolers; you can definitely see the Mugen in it right out of the box.

The thing is though, the latest version is something that is definitely a one off design as well, and while having some hints of the older coolers, just at a quick glance, you can see Scythe it trying a mix of a lot of new ideas with the Mugen 4, and I believe it will be well worth your time to continue on and see what the Scythe Mugen 4 has to offer in today's market.