Packaging and Accessories


When you first look at the box, you instinctively know this not a domestic North American made cooler. Maybe it is the ninja’s on the cover or the copious amounts of kanji plastered over all four sides of the box. What ever it is, you just instantly know this is an import and a fancy one at that. The copper colour scheme and the exotic looking font make this box look like a 3D poster advertising a Japanese Manga or even a block buster anime movie. What ever you call it, this scheme certainly grabs a consumer's attention and forces you to take a closer look.


When you take a closer look at the box the very first thing that jumps out is the sheer number of pictures of the Ninja Copper this box has plastered all over it. The front alone has a huge scale model of it in fanless mode and the sides contain not only pictures of the various mounting options included, but even a picture of the fan that comes with it. This easy to understand picture montage makes it clear that this unit is a full meal deal and regardless of what socket style one has it more than likely supported out of the box by this cooler. Also equally eye catching is the number of non sticker, stickers plastered all over it, loudly proclaiming the virtues of the cooler. When I say “non sticker sticker” what I mean is that there are small colourful text boxes printed all over the box that look a lot like old fashioned sticker except for the fact that they can not be peeled off as they are part of the box.


When you actually open the box you are greeted to a very simple and moderately effective packaging scheme. Instead of having foam or even plastic protection container the Ninja Cooler is loosely sandwiched in between the fan and the accessory box, with the accessory box on the bottom of the tall case. There is a small cardboard separator between the fan and the cooler to help protect each from the other. While this does make removing the Scythe Ninja Copper a snap it does leave the protective abilities of this packaging scheme wanting.

The cooler is literally just placed in the box and it does bounce around inside quite a bit and while this cooler is very sturdy, this is a not an overly effective nor robust packaging scheme. When one considers the price of the Ninja Copper, a secondary box (preferably filled with Styrofoam chips) is not only recommended but should be considered mandatory for long distance shipping.


The accessories that accompany this cooler are study in contrasts. On the one hand you get all the possible mounting options you will ever need. These mounting brackets make it compatible for both Intel 775 and 478 and AM 754/939/AM2 and are all of high quality construction. The same can be said of the fan that is included; it is an ultra quiet Scythe Kaze Jyuni 120mm fan. The included instruction pamphlet is concise and is a fairly decent.

However, the fan brackets and included TIM look to be a bit out of place and are in stark contrast to the high quality cooler. While one can understand why ultra thin fan mounting brackets are used (as they are the same that are used on the original Ninja), there is no excuse for not including enough TIM for multiple reapplications. Instead of a tube of thermal compound, you get a small clear plastic packet which looks like a see through version of a fast food ketchup packet. While technically Scythe does include enough for a few applications of TIM, in reality this is a use once and dispose of the rest setup. Have you ever seen a child use half a ketchup packet and then roll up the rest for later (or heck done this yourself when you were a little hellion)? Yeah the ensuing mess is as about as nasty and unlike ketchup, TIM does not taste great. Unless you plan on installing this cooler, doing a few tests and then swapping out the CPU for another one (say….a e4600 for q6600 for example) the best thing you can do with any left over TIM is throw it away. This was very disappointing and honestly at this price range would a 1/2 gram tube of Shin-Etsu, AS5 or Ceramique been too much to ask for?