When we reviewed the Scythe Mugen 2 in the December issue, we praised its performance and ease of installation but bemoaned its enormous size. But now that we’ve tested its cousin, the Scythe Kabuto cooler, we’ve learned to be careful what we wish for. The good news is that the Kabuto mostly forgoes the Mugen 2’s ample proportions. The bad news is that it also forgoes the easy installation and excellent cooling.The Kabuto’s heat-dissipation system looks like someone took a standard skyscraper-style air-cooler’s fin stack and bent it 90 degrees, so the heat pipes run parallel to the motherboard instead of up into the air. A 12cm 1,300rpm Scythe PWM fan sits atop the fin stack and blows air downward. At the base, the six heat pipes are sandwiched between the CPU heat exchanger and a solid heatsink, but aren’t integrated into either, thus reducing the Kabuto’s cooling power.