For starters, the rig was ear splitting loud: 87.4dBA. Temperatures fell dramatically, but it quickly became clear the Scythe Orochi heatsink is designed for substantially less airflow. In spite of the volume of air the IMC Magnetics fan was dumping into the aluminum fins of the Orochi every minute, it didn't linearly improve temperatures to par with ambient.

On the 150W Intel test, we saw a rise above ambient of 16.3°C, the 125W AMD test held firm at 14.5°C over ambient. Both desirable results, and both evenly matched by the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 which runs 36.7 dBA quieter! The AMD and Intel synthetic thermal test results charts are shown below, limited to the current 10 best heatsinks. For reference, the stock Scythe Orochi heatsink test results are also included (noted by 'stock fan').

FrostyTech Mk.II Synthetic Thermal Heatsink Test Results AMD Athlon64 / FX / X2 & Sempron class heatsinks Results based on readings from a 38x38mm copper interface die with 125W heat load on the K8 version of the Mk.II Test Platform. Temperature results listed for each heatsink were calculated by determining the rise over ambient temperatures at time of test. Information on Frostytech's test methodology is available here. Socket 939/940/754 & AM2 compatible CPU heatsinks
manufacturer:	model no.:	*fan speed:	125w thermal test (°c)	noise level (dba)
Thermalright	Ultra-120		12.4	53.7
Xigmatek	HDT-S1283	high	14.2	50.7
Scythe	Orochi SCORC-1000	IMC Magnetics FAN	14.5	87.4
Coolink	Silentator	high	15.2	41.2
Scythe	Mugen		15.3	46.0
Thermalright	Ultra 120 Extreme		15.5	44.5
Xigmatek	HDT-S1283	low	15.6	35.0
Xigmatek	HDT-S983	high	15.9	52.7
3Rsystem	Iceage 120	high	16.1	47.9
Zalman	CNPS9700 LED	high	16.5	56.5
Scythe	Orochi SCORC-1000	Stock FAN	26.2	27.8
			125w thermal test (°c)	noise level (dba)
*heatsinks are ranked according to the 125w thermal test results column (rise over ambient temp.). low temperatures with low noise levels are considered best. for reference heatsinks with variable-speed fans, only the high speed (12v) fan test result is included in the comparison sheet; more detailed results reside in each specific heatsink review.

third best temperature result, highest noise output!

FrostyTech Mk.II Synthetic Thermal Heatsink Test Results Intel Pentium D / Extreme Edition & Quad Core class heatsinks tested at 150W Intel Core 2 Duo / Pentium 4 / Celeron class heatsinks tested at 85W Results based on readings from a 30x30mm copper interface die with 150W and 85W heat loads applied on the LGA775 version of the Mk.II Test Platform. Temperature results listed for each heatsink were calculated by determining the rise over ambient temperatures at time of test. Information on Frostytech's test methodology is available here. Socket 775 compatible CPU heatsinks
manufacturer:	model no.:	fan speed:	150w thermal test* (°c)	85w thermal test (°c)	noise level (dba)
Scythe	Orochi SCORC-1000	IMC Magnetics FAN	16.3	9.0	87.4
Xigmatek	HDT-S1283	high	16.8	10.7	50.7
Thermalright	Ultra 120		17.8	10.6	53.7
3Rsystem	Iceage 120	high	18.2	12.1	47.9
Thermalright	Ultra 120 Extreme		18.4	11.4	44.5
Coolermaster	Hyper 212		19.0	11.8	45.9
Apack	Zerotherm BTF92 OC Ed	high	19.0	11.2	53.6
Zalman	CNPS9700 LED	high	19.0	10.4	56.5
Xigmatek	HDT-S983	high	19.5	11.8	52.7
Scythe	Mugen		19.5	11.4	46.0
Scythe	Orochi SCORC-1000	Stock FAN	34.0	20.8	27.8
			150w thermal test (°c)	85w thermal test (°c)	noise level (dba)
*heatsinks are ranked according to the 150w thermal test results column (rise over ambient temp.). low temperatures with low noise levels are considered best. for reference heatsinks with variable-speed fans, only the high speed (12v) fan test result is included in the comparison sheet; more detailed results reside in each specific heatsink review.

best temperature result, highest noise output!

so there you have it, bigger doesn't always mean better. We were hoping to get a little closer to ambient temperatures with this massive fan on the Orochi, but that clearly didn't happen. The temperature fell very low, sure, but the noise output was pretty deafening.

Don't worry, we'll pull the IMC Magnetics 6000RPM blower out for another heatsink test in the future... In the mean time, check out Frostytech's full review of the Scythe Orochi heatsink .

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