The research and design crew at Scythe put together an idea for an entry into the XL cooler market by taking their popular Mugen Cooler series to a new level, the fruits of their labor being the Mugen MAX cooler. With a 140mm GlideStream fan and PWM controller, you get the cooling power you need to keep your CPU temperatures from reaching thermal shutdown.

Weighing in at only 720 grams without the fan, the Mugen MAX has a shifted heat pipe and cooler plate design. The taller design implements an increased spacing (2.6mm) between the larger dissipation plates, allowing for more airflow across these plates at fan speed settings monitored by the PWM controller. The slightly shifted design also allows for better compatiblity with the tallest of RAM heat sinks.

Using the exclusively designed Hyper Precision Mounting System (H.P.M.S.), this cooler assures precise contact with the system CPU. You can add a second fan using the supplied fan retention wire clips to further enhance the cooling potential. Now we just need to unbox this large but lightweight cooler and get some test results for comparison with ther tested coolers, but first let's take a look at the specifications, packaging and overall construction.