Introduction
We welcome back Scythe to the Hardwareslave office with the Grand Kama Cross 3, a cooler with a bit of a difference to it. We haven’t tested a Scythe product since the Scythe Mugen MAX CPU cooler review last year and we gave that a good score, 4.4 out of 5 to be exact. So we were happy to get another one on the test bench and give it a good going over.
The difference with this cooler is the shape, as you have probably guessed by now, it’s not the usual one or two fan block heatsink, but instead the fins are in a V shape. Whether or not it makes a difference we’ll hopefully find out in testing, but for now, it is definitely one of the more eye-catching coolers.
The V shape is designed this way for one main reason, other than looks. The V shape, or X-Struktur, or X-Structure Design, supports mounting of large heatsink memory modules or large VRM / chipset-heatsinks without interference. It also helps with cooling for these CPU surrounding components.
Specifications
| Model Number | SCGKC-3000 |
| Socket compatibility | INTEL: LGA 1150 / 1151 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / 2011-v3 (Square ILM) AMD: AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / AM3+ / FM1 / FM2 / FM2+ |
| Dimension ( with fan ) | (W)171 x (H)147 x (D)140mm |
| Weight ( with fan ) | 790g |
| Baseplate Material | Nickel-plated copper |
| Heat pipes | 4 (2x 6 mm and 2x 8 mm) |
| Fan | GlideStream 140mm PWM |
| Fan Dimension | 140 x 140 x 25mm |
| Fan Rated Speed | 400 (±300 upm) ~ 1.300 upm (±10%) (PWM) |
| Fan Noise Level | 12.5 ~ 30.7 dBA |
| Fan Air Flow | 29.90 ~ 97.18 CFM - 50.79 ~ 165.08 m³/h |
| Fan Air Pressure | 0.98 ~ 10.0 Pa / 0.10 ~ 1.02 mmH²O |
Product Gallery
First off, you get a very nice Phillips head screwdriver included. Second of all, what a strange looking cooler. The best way to look at this cooler is to imagine a normal two fan tower CPU cooler separated out in the middle. It is a unique design, and is impressive in the flesh. Mounting parts for Intel and AMD sockets, wrench, thermal grease, installation manual are included.
Scythe Grand Kama Cross 3 CPU Cooler Review
Package - 8
Performance - 7.4
Price - 8
Consumer Experience - 7.5
7.7
The Kama Cross 3 is a competent cooler, and looks really good too. With memory and CPU area clearance sorted too, the Kama Cross 3 gives you an extra couple of reasons to buy one over the other standard looking single and dual fan tower coolers.