Scythe FCS-50:

This is Scythe’s first heatpipe equipped heatsink aimed at the high end aircooling market, featuring a rather unique design it will be interesting to see how it performs

Specifications:

This heatsink can be installed on:



* Copper base with Heatlane heatpipe going in a circle around the whole design
* 2*80mm fan support
* 1*80mm fan included with rheobus
* 625gr without fan


Construction:





A smooth copper base is the building block on which a rather uniquely formed heatpipe is placed. SilentPCReview has a nice write-up on how this heatpipe works; in short: the wraparound Heatlane heatpipe transfers the heat from the copper base to the fins which in turn are cooled down by the installed fan(s). In the bottom three pictures you can see the heatpipe from up close. Depending on the orientation of the heatsink and setup within your case changing the direction of the fan will give better/worse performance. This flexible design allows you to find the best performance in your case (no pun intended).


Installation:



The installation is identical to previous Scythe products, it’s not completely plug and play and requires the use of a lengthy Philips screwdriver. You place the mounting bracket over the Intel retention bracket clips, then place the heatsink in the middle, align the holes and screw the heatsink down. Everything is clearly explained in the included manual.

Problems and issues:



Installation with only one fan will not present serious troubles as you can chose which side of the heatsink the fan will fit best. On the Asus P4C800 it cleared the north bridge heatsink by a few millimeters, but at the other side no objects could obstruct the installation. Golden rule: when selecting a larger heatsink for your system do some research before making a buying decision.

Performance:



The default fan equals the performance of the Coolink at high settings, but its lowest setting is considerably slower then our Coolink fan, causing the P4 to overheat. The performance of the FCS-50 is impressive and sits next to the Hyper6 and SP-94 at the top!