Scythe Grand Kama Cross 3 CPU Cooler Review

Admin Cooling 3215

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 NumberSCGKC-3000
Socket compatibilityINTEL: 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 MaterialNickel-plated copper
Heat pipes4 (2x 6 mm and 2x 8 mm)
FanGlideStream 140mm PWM
Fan Dimension140 x 140 x 25mm
Fan Rated Speed400 (±300 upm) ~ 1.300 upm (±10%) (PWM)
Fan Noise Level12.5 ~ 30.7 dBA
Fan Air Flow29.90 ~ 97.18 CFM - 50.79 ~ 165.08 m³/h
Fan Air Pressure0.98 ~ 10.0 Pa / 0.10 ~ 1.02 mmH²O

Product Gallery

Scythe Grand Kama Cross 3

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.