Cooler Master Hyper N520 CPU Cooler Review

Fan Design

The two fans which accompany this cooler are the exact same model. To be specific they are Power Logic PLA09225S12Ms. These fans 9 bladed variable speed, sleeve bearing fans which at their top rated speed of 1800rpm move about 43.8CFM in total (i.e. BOTH fans) at a very nice 3.42mm H20 Static pressure.


Whether they are FDB or the older sleeve bearing style is immaterial as these fans are tight, well balanced and exhibit very little shaft slop. They are also fairly quiet for the speed at which they move and the noise they do make is very easily lost in background noise. One thing which certainly helps improve their noise envelope is the fact that the fan frame is semi-frameless. In a true “frameless” fan (think Intel stock heatsink fan) there is no frame beside four support bars; in this instance these bars are a thickened and doubled in number (i.e. two bars per corner). For all intents and purposes, this frame will reduce air turbulence just like any other semi-framless or frameless desing.


While there may be two of the fans, you will not have to worry about plugging in two fan plugs as Cooler Master has included a 2-to-1 fan adapter up close to the N520's base. This allows for a much neater appearance as the cable is fully sheathed and fairly long. This may not seem like a big deal but this combination does make for a both a cleaner, yet easier install and helps keep air flow restrictions to a minimum.

All in all we really, really like these fans and Cooler Master appears to have gotten the delicate balancing act of noise vs. performance right. Even though they only use the older 3 pin adapter head, voltage control of these fans should be more than enough to keep the moderate noise they do create to a minimum, yet ensure proper cooling to the fin array.