Setsugen 2: first contact

The dissipating body of the Setsugen 2 has a nearly square shape, but thin, which develops around the 120 mm fan.A bold choice indeed by Scythe that differs from the typical rectangular coolers, with two or more fans. As we shall see, the reduced thickness of the heat sink will be a key feature, facilitating use in CrossFire or SLI configurations.

To this end, the installed fan is a Kaze Jyuni Slip Stream Slim characterized by a thickness of only 12 mm, just to reduce the final size of the heatsink.

Let's analyze the dissipating body from the base, in nickel-plated copper. The surface is protected by a transparent film; removing it we can see the decent quality lapping. The base thickness is quite high, the heat pipes are in fact at some distance from the surface of contact with the GPU, to avoid compatibility problems with any components on the surface of the video card. The 4 heat pipes that cross the base are bend in U shape and after a wide curve fall outside of the heat sink and return on the opposite side of the aluminum fins. This allows you to make better use of each heat pipe, which in this way is capable of carrying the heat to two distinct areas of the heat sink. Those in the low side of the sink are in fairly close distance, partially obstructing the flow of air from the fan.

The dissipating body is composed of well 68 aluminum fins, positioned about 1 mm apart. The fan is attached to it by two clips, without the use of rubber grommets to dampen vibrations. The care in the assembly of the Scythe Setsugen 2 still allows you to reduce possible vibrations. The Kaze Jyuni Slim is equipped with well 15 blades, which allow you to get a good flow in spite of the reduced thickness. A directly connected potentiometer allows to adjust the fan speed between 800 and 2000 RPM, allowing you to balance performance and noise level at will. The potentiometer is gauntlet type and can be installed on a PCI Express slot of the case. The fan connector is a standard 3-pin, connected with a classic cable without special coating.

Overall, despite not having special aesthetic devices, the Setsugen 2 has an attractive appearance, mainly due to the excellent workmanship and assembly of its parts.