Scythe Fuma 2 Rev. B

There is no doubt that we kept bringing up the SE-207-XT Advanced, and that is because, currently, it is the class leader. However, that does not mean that is the end of the discussion. The 207 does not make concessions for anything, really. It is a large dual-tower design with loud fans, and while performance is king, we hope you are cool using low-profile RAM because ID-Cooling felt it wasn't that big of a deal. This is where a cooler like the FUMA 2 Rev.B stands out. It can run close to the competition but also makes concessions to RAM clearance and eases off the noise emitted into your ears. Considering the 207 had the pleasure of taking air from a matched pair of 25mm fans, it is easy to see where the thermal advantage comes from, but all things considered, we feel that the Scythe FUMA 2 Rev.B is the obvious choice of the two. To top it all off, they are nearly identical in cost, so it's down to big and bulky, or big, but pleasant, you make the call. With that out of the way, we can get to the styling, which is the same as before with the FUMA 2, but this time the rubber on the fans was changed to black for the Rev.B. Otherwise, without seeing the additional brackets in the hardware box, they are the same. We liked it then and now, but the adage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" applies. We are always down for a refresh or some added appeal like pipe tip covers, a chrome logo, the Scythe name painted on it, something. To be blunt, we cannot complain much about our use and the results we obtained using it. Installation is simple, and everything you need is in the box makes things that much easier on the customer. The hardware is easy to sort out, and the guidance in the instructions answers all questions that may come up. Once installed, the performance is better than average and is in the top ten air coolers for CPUs in our charts, the top seven actually, and it just gets better as we progress. Even with the amount of thermal performance Scythe was able to turn out, they did not make our ears bleed while doing it. There are CPU coolers out there that make less noise, and there are cooler that perform better thermally, but Scythe found a terrific mix of all things required of a great addition to the CPU cooling market. Because you can take on the big boys of the charts, do it with less noise, and offer it up to the world for a similar cost, it shows how well Scythe thought out what they did. At first glance, it is hard to see all of the magic happen, but all is revealed once in your hands and strapped to a CPU. The major push here is to include the LGA1700 support, but at $65.99, Scythe makes it tough on us, as we cannot see why not to choose this over many of its competitors. That said, if you are into air coolers and not AIOs to cool your power-hungry CPUs, Scythe is worthy of a hard look and is something we can see recommending to many future customers.