Finished Looks

At this point, you can appreciate just how large the Scythe Ninja 5 is. It literally takes up the top half of the motherboard, covering all four DIMM slots and part of the VRM heatsink with ease. That said, the black top plate does let it blend in perfectly when being looked at straight on, while the dual fans in black and gray fit perfectly as well.


While memory clearance on the Ninja 5 is improved, it still isn't all that great. While standard memory will fit with no problems, as will taller offerings due to the cutaway fins, the front fan destroys that clearance. Sure, the fan can be moved upward, but then the cooler's height increases as well. As such, even with the improvements, I would recommend sticking with standard-height memory or those with only slightly taller heatsinks, like G.Skill's Trident Z. Clearance for the graphics card, on the other hand, was surprisingly good. I found no problems to speak of. The fan clips get a little close, but overall, there is still more than enough space to avoid any issues.