If you are a fan of old Ninja movies then you might know what a Shuriken actually is. If not, it is a metal star-shaped object more commonly known as a "death star", "ninja star" or even "throwing star". Ninjas use them as a weapon that they can conceal in their clothing and then throw toward their enemies to inflict as much pain as possible! In the movies, the goodies always seem to hit the baddies directly between the eyes: at least it was a quick death!

As to why Scythe have decided to name their latest CPU cooler Shuriken is anyone's guess! It might be because of the cutting-edge performance it provides, or perhaps because Scythe are running out of Japanese names to call their products. Whatever the reasons are, no doubt Scythe will continue to provide us with some of the strangest names for CPU coolers ever conceived!

The Scythe Shuriken is essentially a smaller version of the Zipang. Measuring only 64mm in height, this cooler should have no problems fitting inside a low profile or media centre chassis. It uses three heatpipes which have been bent into an oval shape. The heat generated by the CPU feeds through both sides of the heatpipes and is transferred into the large aluminium fins. The heatpipes are soldered to the underside of the large heatsink which helps to reduce the cooler's overall height.

Mounted on the top of the large aluminium heatsink is an oddly-sized 100mm PWM fan. The PWM function allows the motherboard to control the fan's RPM based on the temperature of the CPU. This means that if things start to heat up then the fan speed will increase to compensate for the additional heat. Another odd feature about the fan is that it is only 12mm thick: another height-saving feature.

The Shuriken has been designed to provide compatibility with the most common desktop motherboards. Intel's socket 478, LGA775 and AMD's socket 754, 939, 940 and AM2 platforms are all supported. The new RevB version increases compatibility even further, Intel's LGA1366, LGA1156 and AMD's AM2+ and AM3 sockets are now all covered!

In summary, if you require a CPU cooler that has the credentials to perform but your choices are restricted from a space point of view then the Scythe Shuriken could be just what you are looking for.

This product has a 2 year warranty