360° View - Scythe Grand Kama Cross (SCSK-2000) Heatsink Information on Frostytech's test methodology is available here.
The 140x140x25mm PWM fan on the Scythe Grand Kama Cross spins at 1300RPM by default, and as slow as 900RPM. The fan connects via a 4-pin PWM motherboard fan header. There is no fan grill to protect the slow moving impeller from errant wires. The fan holes are such that it will accept a standard 120mm fan if you wish to swap. With the fan removed we get a better view of how air moves through the fins of the Grand Kama Cross heatsink. Each aluminum fin is 0.25mm thick and spaced 1.75mm apart. The leading edge of the fin is bent 30 degrees so airflow from the fan is captured and moved through the fins.
The Scythe Grand Kama Cross stands 130mm tall. Cooling fins are elevated at least 50mm above the surface of the motherboard, providing excellent clearance for adjacent capacitors and board mounted devices. Furthermore, one the exhaust air leaves the Grand Kama Cross it is directed right at components around the CPU socket. Four 6mm diameter heatpipes are soldered to the copper so thermal resistance is minimized.
The highly polished nickel plated copper base of the Grand Kama Cross measures 38x38mm in size and is 4mm thick. All heatpipes are soldered in place. Four screw holes allow CPU socket mounting hardware to be attached in any orientation, which is a nice touch.

Base Finish and Flatness

Flipping a heatsink over to inspect the business end is often a simple indicator of overall cooler quality. More practically speaking, a heatsink is in many ways only as effective as the contact it makes with the processor - the flatter and smoother the better. Base finish is one of the criteria that Frostytech measure in the course of evaluating heatsinks, and it involves two distinct aspects. Surface Finish is the first; calculated with the aid of Surface Roughness Comparator that has a cross section of common machine surface finishes and their numerical surface roughness equivalents in microinches. The second is Surface Flatness. This is tested with an engineers straight edge or proven flat surface, in two axis.

The copper base of the Scythe Grand Kama Cross heatsink is very slightly convex in both axis - in other words it's very slightly domed. The copper has been nickel plated to a glossy surface finish which is very smooth. Surface roughness is at or better than ~8 microinches, which is considered excellent.

Next up, sound level measurements and then AMD and Intel thermal test results!