Anyone use the Scythe Mine on A8N32 SLI-Deluxe??

flartacus

Junior Member
Jun 17, 2006
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Just curious, I have both and it was extremely difficult to secure the cpu heatsink onto this motherboard. None of the reviews I read mentioned any mounting difficulties but I didn't find one using the Asus A8n32 either. I picked this cpu cooler/heatsink because I read so many good reviews, it was cheaper than Zalman's 9500 and it fit on the Asus board I purchased.

For 754,939 and 940 socket motherboards there are 2 brackets that attach to the North and South sides of the cpu heatsink (top and bottom when motherboard is mounted in atx case and you are facing it). Each bracket has 3 slots to hook onto the outside of the motherboard socket. Each bracket has a lever similar to a lightswitch that is mounted horizontally and must be pushed to the opposite side (either left to right or right to left depending on whether it is the top or bottom bracket) to fasten the cpu heatsink.

First, the northbridge heatsink just south of the socket location is almost too tall for the south side lever on the cpu heatsink to be fastened. The northbridge heatsink has a decorative piece of aluminum (basically a name plate as it says "Asus" on it) that is about 1mm thick which needed to be removed before fastening could take place. I tried without removing it and gouged the nameplate. After removal, I still scraped the northbridge heatsink when pushing the lever to the other side. It was extremely difficult to fasten and I had attributed this to the fact that the Northbridge heatsink was in the way. Well, when I fastened the other side, (they were fastened together but for it was easier to describe this way) it was just as difficult. I realize I sound like a complete wuss but I have worked out regularly for the past 8 years (I am not in high school) and those levers were hard to fasten. I checked and rechecked that I was installing properly because I thought I was going to break something.

Unfortunately after install, I was not getting any video output and after troubleshooting I had to RMA the board. I did get excellent dispersion of the Artic Silver 5. I should get my new one next week and have the pleasure of remounting this heatsink.
So I was wondering if anyone else has used this heatsink on this motherboard or another. If you have, was it difficult to fasten?

*Note for all who were considering this combo: The Scythe Mine fit perfectly without contacting anything. It was only turning/pushing the lever to the other side for fastening did it make contact with the Northbridge heatsink. Once the lever was fully to the other side it was free and clear, no longer making contact with the Northbridge heatsink.
 

krotchy

Golden Member
Mar 29, 2006
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I have always had problem with the clip/latch based heatsinks. They just dont attach in a way that works easily to me. So your not the only one who has had issues with these type of design. Screw on fans are 1000x better and easier IMO. Also there isa no components zone around the socket and its a standard size that the A8N32 and every motherboard uses, so maybe the latch is being pushed in the wrong direction or you have it flipped 180 degrees?
 

flartacus

Junior Member
Jun 17, 2006
14
0
0
Krotchy,
Because of the design of the mine brackets and the way they fasten to the heatsink, they only fit on one way so they can't be on wrong. (only upside down and that would be pretty obvious) I realize it is difficult to form a mental picture from someone else's words but if you think of the lever like a lightswitch (mounted horizontally instead of vertically) you will understand that it does not matter whether I am going from right to left or from left to right with the lever. It will strike the top of the heatsink when it is extended. (not pushed all the way to one side or the other) As I mentioned in the first post, the cooler doesn't contact anything when placed in position.
Thanks for the confirmation on the level of effort required to move the levers though. I realize you haven't worked with this cpu cooler in particular but I was just looking for a general opinion.

On a side note, How come no one owns or has used the Scythe Mine??
 

JEDIYoda

Lifer
Jul 13, 2005
33,986
3,321
126
Its a new product!
Here you will find more reviews of this product -- http://www.scytheusa.com/product/cpu/023/scmn1000_detail.html
Also the Ninja as well as the Zalman 9500 and the Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 64 as well as the Thermaltake XP120 and SI120 and a few other heatsink clearly (using just this one review mind you) appear to get better temps!
Because I have used the XP and SI 120 along with my Zalman9500 I can tell you almost temp for temp these are all within 1c of each other. At least on both my riggs.

http://techgage.com/review.php?id=4997

On most of those review sites - My thoughts have been backed up concerning the Scythe Mine!
 

flartacus

Junior Member
Jun 17, 2006
14
0
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the above 2 posts have nothing to do with my post or question. I know it is a new product and I did say that all of the reviews I read did not mention anything about the difficulty of fastening or whether there were any complications when mating with an A8N32 SLI-Deluxe.

I did search google and read everything on the manufacturer's site including the reviews as I would expect anyone who posts here to try to find the solution on their own before wasting others time with an obvious question.

There is a post that is stickied with heatsink reviews and I believe that there are even a few Mine reviews. As I mentioned, my questions had nothing to do whether the Mine was a good cooler or not but I guess people curious about the Mine will now know that it does its job well.

Jedi, please do not take offense to this post, it is not meant as an attack but to remind all viewers of the purpose of this topic.
 

JEDIYoda

Lifer
Jul 13, 2005
33,986
3,321
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I have used a miriad of heatsink even with the most troublesome I found that by taking my time and going through the mounting procedure in my head and not being in a hurry I always had an easier install than if I just unboxed the heatsink and mounted it without going through the above steps!

Also you asked about the Scythe Mine.
What I posted was for the many many people who have never used the Mine or heard of it. Due to the newness of the heatsink!

Have a good day!