"Mine" is an odd name for a high performance heatsink. Mines are hot, airless places of industry — hardly the luxurious, effortless image that is likely to appeal to the enthusiast PC market. The name makes more sense when you realize that the name is in Japanese, is pronounced "mi-né", and means "summit". The imagery on the box makes sense too; the cold, snowy peaks are much more appropriate than a hole in the mountainside.

The Mine is one of many heatsinks from Scythe. It is a large tower heatsink that looks like the child of the ever-popular Ninja and the unconventional Kamakiri. Its voluminous size is definitely reminiscent of the Ninja, but the fan sandwich comes directly from the Kamakiri. Hopefully, the larger size of the Mine will allow it to perform better with low airflow than the Kamakiri did. The universal mounting system comes from another Scythe heatsink. If the Ninja and the Kamakiri are the parents, perhaps the Samurai Z is the Godfather.

With so many family members, Scythe has its work cut out to find a niche for the Mine. Scythe compares the Mine to the Ninja, recommending it in systems where very low noise is less of a priority: "Unlike the Ninja or Ninja Plus, that is designed for fanless or minimal fan requirements, the Mine 3 Cooler is designed with 3 heatpipes and more fins to increase surface area to maximize cooling abilities by utilizing a high performance 100mm fan with high capacity airflow." A more detailed comparison between the two can be found in Scythe’s FAQ, where test results for a 130W TDP processor are listed.