The Mugen 4 from Scythe is an interesting choice. It may not offer class-leading performance, but does perform well, though it fails to stand out in that metric. Yet its overall performance level is nothing but exceptional once you start taking into account its attractive price and extremely low noise levels. It is, in fact, the quietest cooler I have tested to date. At just 41 dBA with 100% fan speed, it manages to outperform Noctua's exceptional NH-U12S while being quieter. The fact that you can pick the Scythe Mugen 4 up for $45.99 makes it even more attractive for budget-conscious users. When it comes to installing this cooler, Scythe made sure to give users a simple, universal mounting system with a set of clear, concise, and easy-to-follow instructions. The nearly mirror-finished base and its heatpipe caps also add a clean, finished look, and it is definitely nice to see a second set of fan clips included; this will allow users to improve cooling performance with a second fan it they so choose.

Still, there is room for improvement. Overall memory clearance is average at best as two DIMMs are open while the other two are blocked. Clearance won't matter with standard-height memory; however, the likes of Corsair's Dominator Platinums will run into issues. The fan clips holding the fan to the heatsink are chintzy and fiddly to work with. They do the job well enough, but the bit holding onto the fan could be longer to make using clips easier. Another issue is the lack of protective packaging. The box and a thin piece of foam at the bottom are all that protect the heatsink, which will have the somewhat thin fins bend if the heatsink is jostled around too much in the box. While bent fins won't impact performance, it's something that is easily avoided with slightly better packaging. That said, the fan has kept noise levels down, but such low noise levels also result in less performance.

The only other thoughts I have are that the cooler just fails to stand out in a crowded market. Noctua has their much loved/hated color scheme and extreme attention to quality, and Silverstone and their Argon series stand out with bright blue and white fans. The Scythe cooler excels at keeping noise levels down, much like Noctua, but the Mugen 4 is missing that X factor to set itself apart. Regardless, it definitely is an exceptional cooler for the price.

If you are in the market for a CPU cooler that offers good cooling performance and best-in-class noise levels, all without breaking the bank, then look no further than Scythe's Mugen 4.