Cooler Master Hyper N520 CPU Cooler Review

Conclusion

When it was all said and done and the fat lady had not only sung but left the building we were left with one heck of a good opinion of the Cooler Master N520. Actually, “good opinion” doesn't cover it, we LIKE this thing...we like it a LOT. We love the idea of a moderate size, dual fan cooler and to us the N520 is the embodiment of this philosophy. It’s big enough to handle most people's needs, it is also quiet enough to meet all but a true Silent PC enthusiast's needs and it’s small enough that most users will not have to worry about getting a side door closed…maybe even a side door with 25mm thick 120x120mm fan. This combination of skills is not something most tower coolers can boast to having.

With all that being said, is this cooler perfect? NO, buts it’s awfully darn close. If the N520 designers had gone for a triple HDT base instead of a solid copper one this cooler would probably be giving the OCZ Vendetta 2 and Xigmatek coolers a run for their money in the performance arena...and maybe even the Prolimatech Megahalems. If they had also gone for a more multi-faceted face design the numbers would probably also be better than what you see now. Indeed, had had those same engineers gone for slightly higher performance fans and included a pentameter (like the V8 needlessly has) this cooler would not only performed better but also have had the ability to fine tune its noise envelope which is better than voltage control only.

In the grand scheme of things the above complaints are more nit-picking than anything and the N520 is now our new favourite “go to cooler” when monster overclocking is not a priority. While it may not win any awards from us this cooler IS a very, very good product and should be on your list of coolers to take a second (and third…and fourth.) look at. IF you understand the limitations of it and work within this well delineated performance envelope you will end up with one heck of a reliable cooler; one which will give you years of quiet performance.

Pros
- Dual fan design
- Good performance from a 92mm size cooler
- Copper base
- Same installation and parts as the V series of CM coolers
- Top Quality material and construction
- Good size

Cons
- only 92mm fans
- not really designed for high end OC’ing
- While smaller than some still won’t fit in all HTPCs