Scythe Big Shuriken 4 Review: Compact SFF cooling for Mini-ITX

Blade-themed PC accessory company, Scythe, has been delivering cooling products mainly aimed at low noise and quiet performance for over 20 years. The company’s Fuma series of coolers, including the Scythe Fuma 3 we reviewed in 2023, is a community favorite. Unlike some of its competitors, Scythe is a fabless company that partners with factories in China and Taiwan for the manufacturing of its air coolers, fans, and other PC hardware.

And despite some recent troubles in Europe, the company is still prodicing new products, like the Big Shuriken 4 we’re looking at today. Despite the name, this cooler has a petite profile designed to be compatible with SFF Mini-ITX builds. The diminutive design packs six heatpipes and features the new Kaze Flex II 120AH fan to move heat away from the processor below.

Will this low-profile cooler limbo its way onto our best CPU cooler list? We’ll cover the features and benchmark results, then you can decide for yourself if it is worth purchasing.

Cooler specifications

Packing and included contents

Both Scythe’s Big Shuriken 4 and the smaller Shuriken 3 arrive in small blue and white packages, just large enough to protect and house the cooler.

The CPU cooler and fan are protected with molded foam, and the accessories are housed in a small brown box.

Included with the product are the following:

• CPU heatsink
• Kaze Flex 120 II Slim AH PWM fan
• Small tube of thermal paste
• Mounting for AMD and Intel platforms
• Installation manual

Features of Scythe Big Shuriken 4

▶️ Slim 67mm height for SFF builds

This cooler is designed for the smallest Mini-ITX SFF systems on the market, with a height of just 67mm.

▶️ Six copper heatpipes

To transfer heat from the CPU to the heatsink’s fins, the Big Shuriken 4 incorporates six standard-sized copper heatpipes.

▶️ Full RAM compatibility

The cooler does not interfere with or overhang DIMM slots. All sizes of RAM, regardless of height, are compatible with this cooler.

▶️ Kaze Flex 120 II Slim AH PWM

Scythe includes its newest 15mm (height) fan, the Kaze Flex 120 II Slim AH, with the Big Shuriken 4.

AM5 installation

1. AMD users will first have to remove the default mounting mechanism and then place the grey standoffs around the CPU.

2. Take the mounting brackets and place them on top of the standoffs, using the included screws to secure the brackets.

3. Apply thermal paste to the CPU. If you’re unsure of the best way to do this, you can follow our thermal paste application guide.

4. Press the heatsink against the mounting bars and use a screwdriver to secure it through the holes on top of the heatsink (in red below). You’ll want a thin screwdriver for this purpose, as larger ones may not fit.

5. The last step is to attach the fan’s PWM cord to the corresponding motherboard header.

Real-world testing configuration – AMD AM5 platform

My results may differ from others because I focus on outcomes that are comparable to real-world use. This means I test CPU coolers inside a closed desktop case, which increases cooling difficulty compared to other testing methods. Many test CPU coolers outside of a case on an open test bench. Open benches have lowered ambient temperatures, which in turn makes weak coolers appear stronger than they really are. Some publications have used generic thermal plates to test cooling solutions.

That being said, I am using my standardized testing setup for this review, which features a full-size case and motherboard. As with every review, your mileage may vary, as every case and its airflow are different. However, you may notice larger differences here, as I’m not testing in a Mini-ITX case.

Today’s test bench has yielded more limited results than normal, as our 9950X3D system has suffered an unfortunate failure. As such, we’ve begun testing coolers on a system with AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X.

There are some differences in how thermal events impact the 9950X and 9950X3D CPUs. While the heat output of the CCDs in AMD’s 9950X3D is relatively balanced, the 9950X I’m using has one CCD that runs much hotter than the other, with a difference of over 10 degrees Celsius in some scenarios.

One of the purposes of today’s review is to establish how well, or poorly, a smaller SFF CPU coolers handle AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X processor. While this review will focus on the Big Shuriken 4, we’ve tested and will also go over the results of the smaller Scythe Shuriken 3 CPU cooler.