Cooler Master Hyper N520 Review

My most recent computer build was with a Phenom II Quad Core 3.3 Ghz cpu, with the stock retail CPU cooler, until I discovered a need to upgrade the cooler, which I found in the Cooler Master Hyper N520 CPU cooler. One of my uses for the computer is editing video I've taken and then rendering it to DVD and several other formats, (avi, divx, wmv, etc). Doing so peaks all four cores to 98-100% continuously for sometimes more than 1 hour. The stock cooler was insufficient, and often times heat was surpassing the recommended threshold temperature of the cpu die. My CPU was reaching 64 degrees C rather quickly, and idling at temps around 45 degrees C.

After some research I decided on the Cooler Master Hyper N520 as an option. My Idle temperatures have dropped from 45 to 32 degrees C, and when maxing out the CPU at 98-100% constant usage, I've not surpassed 56 degrees, with indoor ambient temps of nearly 80 degrees F, (26.67 C). This is well within the safety and recommended limits of the AMD Phenom II processor.

The fan is both large and impressive, with two 92mm fans. I decided on this cooler over some even more efficient coolers as those with 120mm fans would not fit in my mid-tower case. The aluminum fin radiator stands tall above the motherboard with the fans placed perpendicular to the motherboard, and both fans moving air through the radiator toward the back of my case where my 90mm case fan extracts the heat from the case.

Hyper N520 specifications include, dual fans at a combined 43+ cfpm, one blowing in to the radiator, the other drawing it out from the other side, measurements are 141mm tall, 102.5mm thick and 122.35mm wide. A mirror finished copper base ensures solid contact with the CPU and 5 heat pipes extracting heat to the radiator ensure efficient and even heat dissipation.

CPU Socket support for the Cooler Master N520 includes: Intel 775 / 1156 / 1366, and AMD AM2 / AM2+ and AM3 sockets.

Cpu's supported include:

Intel core i7 extreme / i7 / i5 / i3 / Core 2 extreme / core 2 duo and core 2 quad / Pentium and Celeron.

AMD Phenom II x4 / Phenom II x3 / Phenom II x2 / Phenom x4 / Phenom x3 / Athlon II x4 / x3 / x2 / Athlon x2 / Athlon / and Sempron.

The fan life expectancy of the Cooler Master Hyper N520 is 70,000 hours, noise level of 19 dBA is very quiet, and it has a single three pin connector for temperature controlled fan speeds.

In summary, I am very pleased with my choice of CPU coolers, it is quiet and efficient. The worst part of the entire purchase was the installation which required removal of the motherboard so the mounting plate could be installed and the cooler bolted to the motherboard. The Cooler Master Hyper N520 is not a clip on cooler, nor should it be. However if ou build our own computers, this should not be a drawback.