Recently Scythe released their first ever VGA cooler designed to replace reference coolers found on many ATI and Nvidia graphics cards. By developing what Scythe call the Musashi, they have created one of the biggest VGA coolers to date, featuring dual 100mm fans...
Enthusiasts everywhere have been adopting Scythe cooling products for years now, and many of them are very passionate about their products. The Ninja CPU cooler for example developed a serious cult following, and while most just thought the name sounded cool, others simply loved the performance. Since then Scythe has gone on to release a number of other highly successful CPU coolers, allowing them to really establish their position in the market.
Recently Scythe briefly ventured out of their comfort zone to create what they call the “Musashi”, which means … well we have no idea really. Wikipedia brings back “Musashi Gundoh” when searching for Musashi, so perhaps the designer was a fan of the Japanese anime television series which made its début in 2006. Either way, this is an original name for a VGA cooler, and there will be no confusing the Musashi with the Thermalright T-Rad˛ or Arctic-Cooling Accelero Twin Turbo.
Edit: It turns out the name “Musashi” comes from a Japanese swordsman called Miyamoto Musashi who became legendary through his excellent swordsmanship in numerous duels. So there you go, perhaps the Scythe Musashi will to become legendary, if it can slay the existing competition.
However the Musashi is more than just an obscure name, it is a seriously high-end VGA air-cooled heatsink designed to take on some of the most extreme ATI and Nvidia based graphics cards. Compatibility lists the Radeon HD 4870 for example, while the specifications also suggest that this product is designed for serious performance with dual 10cm fans listed.
Interestingly, despite featuring two high quality 10cm fans and a dual fan speed controller, the Scythe Musashi is listed at a modest $50 US. Although this price tag places the Musashi right up there with the other high-performance VGA coolers, such as the Thermalright T-Rad˛ which costs $55 US, there are a few things to consider. First and foremost the T-Rad˛ does not include a fan for this price, which means there is certainly no fan speed controller included. The Musashi appears to be a complete package, but how does it perform?
