Cooler Master Hyper N520 CPU Cooler Review

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Cooler Master Hyper N520 CPU Cooler Review

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Manufacturer Product Page:Hyper N520 - Cooler Master
Part Number: RR-920-N520-GP
TechWiki Info: Hyper N520
Availability: Now
Click Here to Check Prices:N520



While the Cooler Master “V” series of CPU coolers have been in the limelight recently, this does not mean that they are the only air based CPU cooling solutions to spring forth from the minds of the engineers over at Cooler Master HQ. In fact today’s review will be only the second time in HWC history that we get to torture test a solid copper base cooler.

To be more specific we will be putting the Cooler Master Hyper N520 through its paces to see if this cooler is worth YOUR time, money and investment. As we all know, copper is expensive and does have a lot of draw backs when it comes to being used as the base of any CPU cooling solution. Tarnishing, tougher polishing, increased mass and most importantly increased cost must all be factored into the equation. Balancing out these potential negatives is the fact that copper has increased thermal mass, better thermal conductivity than aluminum and has that ever elusive “wow factor”. The Hyper N520 is available in retailers and e-tailers through out the country and goes for about $50 which isn't all that bad considering the amount of engineering that has gone into it.

The only other time we have had the privilege of reviewing one of these rare copper birds is when we looked at the Scythe Ninja Copper. Unlike that behemoth of a cooler with capabilities of running dual 120mm fans, today’s item (and Cooler Master itself) takes a different engineering tack and goes for a more svelte approach with a 92mm fan sized cooler. Also, unlike the Scythe Copper Ninja which only came with one fan the N520 comes complete with two fans right out of the box.

They say two heads are better than one, but are two 92mm fans better than one 120mm fan? This and many other questions come bubbling to the surface when you look at the Hyper N520 and in this review we will endeavour to supply as many answers as humanly possible. Be warned, our priorities may differ from yours so when it comes down to buying your new CPU air cooler it will be up to YOU to decide if this copper clad bad boy is right for you. With questions a-buzzing about lets dig in and start looking for answers.

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Specifications

Specifications

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Packaging and Accessories

Packaging and Accessories

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The box the N520 comes in is a startling contrast to the V line of coolers we have reviewed. Where the V8 and V10 came in a black and red motif, the N520 has taken a different yet just as noticeable approach to its box art. As you can see Cooler Master elected to use a very simple purple and white motif which may be simple in execution yet still conveys a serious, professional aura.

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When you open up the box you are greeted to the exact same inner protection scheme as the V8. In a nut shell you have the exterior cardboard box and inside this box is another plastic “clamshell” box which further protects the cooler while it’s in transit. It’s good, elegant, light weight and a proven design; what more could ask for in a packaging scheme?

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In what seems to becoming a very nice trend with CM coolers, the list of accessories is darn near identical to the ones which grace the V-series of air base CPU cooling solutions. You have your usual super sturdy backplate and retention mechanisms for i7, 775 and AMD systems, a good user manual and instruction pamphlet and a tube of TIM.

However, the thermal compound found with the V-series is different than the one which the N520 has. If we had to guess it is due to the all copper base design of this cooler, and this TIM has been specifically formulated to resist tarnishing the copper. This is only a guess but we can not think of another reasonable explanation why they would have swapped out the normal TIM. In either case we will be throwing it back in the box and going with our tried and true MX-2.

 

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Heatsink Construction & Design

Heatsink Construction & Design

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Upon the first superficial glance, the N520 looks a lot like many, many other coolers out there. It’s a fairly typical U or Tower shaped heatsink and while it’s a bit wider and shorter than some, its general layout will definately be familiar to many of you.

All told it is 122.35 x 102.5 x 141 mm and weights in at a fairly heavy 1.52 pounds (689.5 grams), albeit that is with both 92mm fans included.

The reason for the short yet wide appearance may be the first thing you notice. The reason for the squat, almost dwarven appearance is this cooler is as wide as a typical 120mm fan based tower cooler but the fin arrays are “only” a bit wider than a 92mm fan. Then you notice that there are not only TWO fans mounted to the fin-array in its stock configuration but they are in fact offset from one another. The reason they are offset is because the right side of each of the two faces of the fin array sticks out to cover the additional width of area NOT covered by the other 92mm fan.

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This design may seem odd at first, but it does make sense in a quirky and odd way. By downsizing the cooler's fin array to 102.5mm means it will fit in cases where your typical cooling fin array (i.e. 120mm x 120mm) will not fit. However, in the grand scheme of things the N520 has a heck of lot of surface area because it remains the more typical width. The easiest way to think about this is to take a heavy weight prize fighter….starve him for a month before weigh-in so he can fight in a lighter class and then let him bulk up a bit for the fight. 9 times out of 10 the bigger fighter will beat an equally skilled smaller opponent and the same holds true for CPU cooling solutions. In that same vein, at its heart this is a full-size cooler which just happens to be downsized enough to compete in the mid-size market. Add in a second fan as standard equipment and you have on paper a very, very potent combination.

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By offsetting the fans so they do not in fact line-up, Cooler Master has in fact allowed the FULL width of the N520 to be actively cooled. Sure, the overlap will have a push-pull setup but there will be no dead zones or hot spots by doing it this way. This is a very smart and elegant solution, one that we are sure many other manufacturers who look at the N520 beating the tar out of their mid-size coolers will be smacking their head and going “Why didn’t WE think of that!”.

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The unique fin array and fan setup may be interesting and should certainly have a positive impact on the thermal efficiency of this cooler. When you look at the N520 from the top down it looks like your fairly typical cooler (albeit with the caveats listed above) with 5 main heatpipes. The odd number may seem unusual and if you only look at the top of this cooler you would only count 4 heatpipes. The number itself is not what makes this cooler that unique; though having three large U shaped heatpipes and one smaller L shaped heatpipe per side is different. The fact the heatpipes are copper and not nickel plated, is also not that noteworthy; what IS noteworthy is the base of this cooler.

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When you take the time to flip it over you are greet by a very interesting sight. The base of this cooler is solid copper (with metal wings for the mounting brackets). This may not make this cooler unique as a couple others have gone this route before BUT this cooler's cooper base is simply the best example of one we have ever seen. It’s not only perfectly flat but is so well polished as to be a freakin mirror! Saying the N520's base is above average is such an understatement of epic proportions.

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If there is any area which can be considered less than exceptional in the engineering department it is the face of the fin assembly. When you do take the time to remove the fans from the fin array you are greeted to an old school darn near flat face. There are no complex cuts in the fins to help reduce static air pressure (in fact it resembles a wall). The fact that there are two fans working in a push / pull setup will help alleviate this issue, but we really have to wonder how much better it would have done if the faces of the N520 had a top notch multi-faceted design along the lines of the Noctua coolers.

 

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Fan design

Fan Design

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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.

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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.

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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.

 

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Installation

Installation

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It seems that Cooler Master has indeed streamlined their installation procedure and equipment for the N series as well as the V series of coolers. We feel safe in making this statement as this cooler has the exact same installation procedure as the V8; which in turn is the same as the monster V10 cooler!.Needless to say, if you have read the V10 or V8 reviews (or worked with either one) you already know how to install the N520 and can skip it. For everyone else….go back and read ‘em! The rest of us will wait….no? Ok for those unwilling to go back and read those reviews here is how to install this little feller.

As with the other coolers mentioned, we recommend you remove the motherboard from your case, even if you have a case which has a backplate cutout.

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To start the installation procedure you first have to prep the N520 and install the proper brackets for the right system. If you are using a 775 system: use the 775 brackets, if you have an i7….you guess it: use the i7 brackets. After you have selected the proper brackets you then install the double threaded screws. As with the V-series, the part which attached the screws to the bracket is a Bastard Thread and thus screws in backwards. In other words you tighten it down just like you would to remove a normal thread.

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When this task is completed, you then mount the brackets to the base of the N520. Each bracket uses two small screws to hold it in place and it should only take a second or two per screw to tighten them into place. When this is accomplished and all four screws are tightened down and the mounting brackets are secure, you then peel the paper off four of the rubber bumper pads included and stick one per screw unto the N520. These bumpers slip over the shaft of each screw and stick to the bracket itself. It may take a little coaxing to get them properly positioned as the ends of the bracket are properly sized to help keep the pads in place via friction as well as the glue.

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What we recommend is to lay the cooler on its head and for all intents and purposes mount the motherboard to it. In other words, right before you remove the motherboard from the loving embrace of the case you will need to prep the CPU area and then apply a small amount of TIM to it. When it is in place and all four screws are sticking up through their proper holes, you quickly place the appropriate bracket over them (once again use the i7 bracket for i7 systems…etc etc) and spin the four little nuts into place. When they are all hand tightened you then dig out the small socket which Cooler Master includes and crank all the nuts down.

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The above photo is the "worst case scenario" when it comes to mounting options and motherboard/RAM compatibility. Even at its worst, the moderate size of this cooler, combined with the fact the fin array starts up nice and high, makes for a fairly worry free installation. At no time were ever worried about this cooler bumping, rubbing or anyways touching either our normal height ram, nor our motherboard heatsinks. We truly doubt anyone with a rationally laid out motherboard will have any problems with this little powerhouse. With that being said if you do have a motherboard with extremely tall heatsinks or an aftermarket one your installation orientation options may be more limited but we truly doubt anyone will be no be able to install it in at least one direction!

As we have said before: this is a quirky, yet fairly easy installation. Overall, it will take you longer than it would to install a pushpin cooler, but we think the effort is worth as it does make for a very good and secure mounting. It will be interesting to see how effective the proper mounting pressure will help during the performance phase….and whether it can overcome the limitations of this cooler’s design and underpowered fan.

 

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Testing Methodology

Testing Methodology

To ensure that the results from one review to another are not only reproducible but actually pertinent to this review, the Testing Methodology will be the same throughout all reviews used. If something does change we will be sure to make a special note of it and explain why this change was done and more importantly why it had to be changed or altered.

Any all CPU Cooling Solutions which do not come with their own fan, a Noctua NF-P12-1300 will be used if it accepts 120mm fans, if it only accepts 92mm a Noctua NF-B9-1600 will be used.

Except where noted all comparison testing was done on an open bench with an ambient temperature of 20c. Recorded temps were as reported via CoreTemp's "Temp Log". Average load temps were taken after 15 minutes of running Prime95 “small fft” and are taken directly from CoreTemp’s temperature text file. Excel was used to average the results of all cores. Idle temps were taken 15 minutes after Load testing ceased. Motherboard temperatures were recorded using SpeedFan. All CPU throttling technology was disabled in the BIOS; as was all CPU fan speed control. More importantly, the CM fan’s built in fan speed control was set to full speed.

Arctic Cooling MX-2 thermal paste was used for all coolers during these tests unless otherwise noted. Application of thermal paste was in accordance with TIM manufacturer’s instructions; and while not necessary, the TIM was allowed to cure for 24 hours under moderate to high loads (with periods of low loads) prior to testing.

All tests were run a minimum of 4 times and only best results are represented.


Please Note: To keep the motherboard chipsets from overheating a single 40mm Scythe Ultra Kaze was used, but was orientated in such a way as to not interfere with nor help the CPU cooler (i.e. it was basically on top of the South Bridge and pointed down). The 120mm Scythe E on the side of the open test bench was unplugged during temperature testing.


Notes about Overclocking:

For Q6600’s I consider 1.45 volts to be the most that I would seriously consider for a moderate-to-long term overclock.

For i7’s I consider 1.45 VCore and VTT to be the most that I would seriously consider for a moderate-to-long term overclock. As luck would have it this particular 920 would not overclock any better that 3.8 irregardless of how much voltage we pushed (we literally maxed out the Vcore and VTT/PLL available in the BIOS options and it still wouldn’t be stable).

Yes you can go much higher but the longevity of the CPU is then called into question. Just as importantly the CPU should average out at LESS than 65c for the Q6600 and 75° C for the i7 as this is also what I consider the safest, maximum long term overclocking temp for each of those CPUs. For the purposes of these tests I was willing to overlook higher temperatures as long as they averaged below 65c/80c (775 and i7 respectively) and did not peak over 75/80c. If 75/80c was displayed for more than 10seconds in CoreTemp all testing was stopped and that test run was considered a fail.

With these two general guidelines I overclocked both systems until either one (or both) of these "rules" was needed to be broken to continue.

Overclocking was accomplished by increasing FSB/Bclk speed and then Vcore/VTT (only if necessary).

Before testing for idle and max temperatures Orthos was run for 1 hour to make sure that it was stable at a given overclock and voltage. If both finished with no errors SuperPi set to 32m was run twice. After the stability testing was accomplished the given system was allowed to sit idle for 30minutes before starting the official tests. IF both of the above stated guidelines were not broken then testing continued with an increased overclock. These steps were then repeated until 1 or both of the general guidelines were broken.

As they have no bearing on these tests the RAM’s voltage and timings are not recorded. Please do not consider this a full “how to” review on overclocking or “safe guidelines” for overclocking nor even an indicator on how well a given CPU will overclock. IF you are interested in OC’ing your system, and use these guidelines we at HWC take no responsibility for the results. Bad Things can happen if you are not careful.


Complete Test System:

Processor:
Q6600
Intel i7 920

Motherboard:
Gigabyte P35 DS4
Gigabyte X58-UD3R

Memory:
4GB Muskin DDR2-800
6GB Aneon Xtune DDR3-1600

Graphics card: Asus 8800GT TOP
Hard Drive: 1x OCZ Apex 120GB
Power Supply: Topower Powerbird 900W


Special thanks to Direct Canada for their support and supplying the i7 920 CPU.

Special thanks to Gigabyte for their support and supplying the i7 motherboard.

 

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Q6600 Performance Results

Q6600 Performance Results

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While these performance numbers place the N520 firmly in the middle of the pack, what they don’t tell you is that this little guy is standing up and even beating some 120mm size CPU cooling solutions! To call it the best 92mm class air cooler we have ever tested is an understatement and really does show that the “short but fat” design of this cooler is a viable alternative for many people. Let’s see if it can keep this up on the new Crucible of Fire and Pain 2.0!

 

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i7 920 Performance Results

920 Performance Results

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Well there you have it. It may be smaller than the V8 but when all is said and done it is just about as good as the V8. We have a sneaking suspicion that as more and more coolers are tested and added to our i7 charts this little guy is going to hold it’s own for a nice long while and continue to be the best darn mid-size cooler available.

 

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Passive Cooling

Passive Cooling

In certain extreme cases you may have to deal with a dead fan; or alternatively you are interested in using a certain cooler as a passive cooler. While we are hesitant to recommend any Air cooler for passive cooling, unless the manufacturer has designed it to be one, we all know things break and there is a possibility of ending up with a passively cooled device even if you neither meant nor wanted it to be so! To this end we have devised the following torture test to see how a given cooler will perform in a worst case scenario.

The following test will be PASS/FAIL unless a manufacture specifically states a CPU cooling solution is designed for passive cooling as we feel that do to otherwise would be very disingenuous and down right unfair. If it is designed for passive use we will of course provide hard data on its performance. We believe this is a fair and reasonable compromise between providing you our reader the most information possible, while still being fair and unbiased to the manufacturers.

Any one can create a test which has no possibility of success but that would be a waste of any ones time; this test on the other hand is as tough as we can make it and still have to possibility of success. What makes this test so difficult, is the simple reason that we will be testing in an open bench which has absolutely no external air flow. Even in the most under-cooled cases there is always some air movement, even if the air movement is only coming from the PSU it is still a heck of a lot more than will be afforded a cooler on our open bench. As we stated earlier this is a worst case, scenario where the cooler will have to shed all the heat it can by simple passive radiation!

The first and main part of the test is 15 minutes of prime95 small fft being run at stock speed (2.66GHz) on our Quad Core Intel i7 920. If at anytime the temperature of any of the four cores reaches and stays at 75° C for greater than 10 seconds we will consider this test a FAIL. If a given cooler fails this test a second set of tests will be run using out Q6600 at stock speed (2.4GHz). We will then report our findings in the below chart.

Please note: Any Air based CPU cooler which passes the i7 920 test will automatically be given a PASS grade on the cooler running secondary test. To keep things easier to understand the only time we will publish the Q6600 subtest is when a given cooler has failed the main test.

While it was a close call, that copper base can suck up a boat load of heat before being overwhelmed, but it did fail the i7 passive test. On the bright side it passed the Quad test and where this cooler comes with two fans its highly doubtful anyone will suffer a double catastrophic fan failure. If you do lose one, your temps will go up and give you plenty of warning; yet they will never reach the point of being a risk to your expensive CPU.