Final Words & Conclusion
Conclusion
The reviewed Scythe Mugen 5 Black Edition, a (single tower) air cooler, performed reasonably well and handled both tested processors, including the Core i9 10850K at 5.1 GHz. Thanks to the one 120 mm fan, even at the maximum of 1500 rpm, the cooler is still relatively quiet. It’s possible to set an even less noisy fan curve– silence is always desired, especially if your CPU is not a high-end model. There’s also an option of installing a second fan, but it probably won’t bring so much difference (maybe 2 degrees Celsius max).
Aesthetics & Design
Starting with the aesthetics, the Scythe Mugen 5 Black Edition looks elegant. You won’t find any LEDs here, but that is the purpose of this version (there’s also Mugen 5 with ARGB). The black colour scheme makes the blending of this cooler into the system easy. There’s a Scythe logo at the heatsink’s top cover, but that is relatively subtle, and it’s not intrusive to the eyes. The installation process is relatively easy (especially for the AM4 system), not really standing out of the crowd; let’s say it’s an average Joe. The Scythe Mugen 5 Black Edition size is not so great; the weight is under 1 kg, so you don’t have to worry as much about the motherboard flex. The fan won’t conceal your memory modules, so that’s a good thing.
The Verdict
The Scythe MUGEN 5 BLACK EDITION costs roughly 60 USD. It’s not a bargain for a single-tower cooler. The performance is good (if you need more of it – you can add a second fan); still, the noise level is a bit too loud. The looks are great (and it’s the biggest advantage of this cooler); it’s a subtle (yeah, for almost 1 kg cooler, that can sound weird) addition to a system, preferable without the (a)RGB functionality. Scythe Mugen 5 Black Edition brings a nice combination of the performance/features/looks (especially the last one), so that’s why we think it deserves an “Approved” award (mainly due to the Aesthetics). If it were ~15 USD cheaper – then the price would be adequate to the provided performance. Probably the black paint made it cool worse than it would without it. So, the idea was good, but the execution is not perfect.
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