Introduction

This time we tested Cooler Master Hyper N620 CPU cooler. This model has a tower design, six heatpipes and it is one of the few coolers on market that comes already with two fans. But does it have a good performance? Let's see.

Hyper N620 box isn't facy, with a sober looks.

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Figure 1: Box.

Inside the box we found the cooler, user manual, installation hardware and a small tube of gray thermal compound.

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Figure 2: Box contents.

In Figure 3 you can take a look at Hyper N620. In the next pages we will see the cooler in detail.

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Figure 3: Hyper N620.

Cooler Master Hyper N620

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Figure 4: Front view.

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Figure 5: Rear view.

In Figure 6 we have a side view of the cooler. It is not too deep since with two fans it would take a lot of room on the motherboard. Fan attachment is made using screws on the top and with rubber holders on the bottom.

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Figure 6: Side view.

Cooler Master Hyper N620 (Cont’d)

In Figure 7 we can see N620 from above, where you can better understand the positioning of the fans. Note how they are not exactly in front of each other, so this cooler is wider than other tower coolers with 120 mm fans.

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Figure 7: Top view.

In Figure 8 we can see the base of the cooler, with a near-mirrored finishing. We also can see the small thermal compound syringe that comes with the cooler.

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Figure 8: Cooler base.

In Figure 9 we see the cooler heatpipes. Four of them are "U" shaped, with both sides connected to the heatsink. Two heatpipes (located on the extremities of the base), however, have only one of their sides connected to the heatsink.

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Figure 9: Heatpipes.

Installation

In Figure 10 we can see the installation hardware for AMD socket AM3, AM2+, AM2, 939 and 754 CPUs. The rectangular plate goes on the solder side of the motherboard, while the frame is attached to the base of the cooler.

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Figure 10: Installation hardware for AMD CPUs.

In Figure 11 we can see the clip for use with socket 1366. In the sample we received there was no support for socket 1156, but probably this clip will be included in the next revision from this cooler, since socket 1156 seems to be here to stay.

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Figure 11: Socket 1366 clip.

In Figure 12, you can see the socket 775 clip. You can install Hyper N620 on this socket with or without the backplate, but it is recommended to install it, since it prevents the motherboard from bending.

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Figure 12: Clips for socket 775.

In Figure 13 we can see the socket 775 clips installed on the base of the cooler.

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Figure 13: Socket 775 clips installed.

Installation (Cont'd)

In Figure 14 we see Cooler Master Hyper N620 installed on our motherboard.

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Figure 14: Installed on the motherboard.

Inside our case it fit tightly. Its wide heatsink did not interfered with any motherboard component and although it was very close to the power supply it didn't touch it.

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Figure 15: Installed in the case.

In Figure 16 we can see the fans glowing, both of them with blue LEDs.

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Figure 16: Fans glowing.

How We Tested

We are adopting the following methodology for our CPU cooler reviews.

First, we chose the CPU with the highest TDP (Thermal Design Power) we had available, a Core 2 Extreme QX6850, which has a 130 W TDP. The choice for a CPU with a high TDP is obvious. To measure the efficiency of the tested cooler, we need a processor that gets very hot. This CPU works by default at 3.0 GHz, but we overclocked it to 3.33 GHz, in order to heat it as much as possible.

We took noise and temperature measurements with the CPU idle and under full load. In order to achieve 100% CPU load on the four processing cores we ran Prime95 with the "In-place Large FFTs" option, and three instances of the StressCPU program, all at the same time.

We also compared the reviewed cooler to the Intel stock cooler (with copper base), which comes with the processor we used, and also with some other coolers we have tested using the same methodology.

Temperature measurements were taken with a digital thermometer, with the sensor touching the base of the cooler, and also with the core temperature reading (given by the CPU thermal sensor) from the from the SpeedFan program, using an arithmetic average of the four core temperature readings.

The sound pressure level (SPL) was measured with a digital noise meter, with its sensor placed 4" (10 cm) from the fan. We turned off the video board cooler so it wouldn't interfere with the results, but this measurement is only for comparative purposes, because a precise SPL measurement needs to be made inside an acoustically insulated room with no other noise sources, which is not the case here.

Hardware Configuration

• Processor: Core 2 Extreme QX6850
• Motherboard: Gigabyte EP45-UD3L
• Memory: 2 GB Corsair XMS2 DHX TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX G (DDR2-800/PC2-6400 with timings 4-4-4-12), running at 800 MHz
• Hard drive: 500 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 (ST3500320AS, SATA-300, 7200 rpm, 32 MB buffer)
• Video card: PNY Verto Geforce 9600 GT
• Video resolution: 1680x1050
• Video monitor: Samsung Syncmaster 2232BW Plus
• Power supply required: Seventeam ST-550P-AM
• Case: 3RSystem K100
  

Software Configuration

• Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
  

Software Used

• Prime95
• StressCPU
• SpeedFan

Error Margin

We adopted a 2 ^oC error margin, i.e., temperature differences below 2 ^oC are considered irrelevant.

Our Tests

On the tables below you can see our results. We ran the same tests with the coolers shown on below tables. Each test ran with the CPU idle and the with the CPU fully loaded. On BigTyp 14Pro, TMG IA1, NH-U12P and ISGC-300 the tests were done with the fan at full speed and at minimum speed. The other coolers were connected directly to the motherboard and it controls the fan speed based on CPU load level and temperature on PWM models. ISGC-400, iCEAGE Prima Boss and Megahalems Rev. B were tested at minimum speed on idle test and at maximum speed on full load test.

The next graph shows how many degrees Celsius the CPU core was hotter than room temperature during our idle tests.

The next graph gives you an idea on how many degrees Celsius the CPU core was hotter than room temperature during our full load tests.

 

Main Specifications

Cooler Master Hyper N620 main features are:

• Application: Sockets 1366, 775, AM3, AM2+, AM2, 939 and 754 processors.
• Fins: Aluminum.
• Base: Copper.
• Heat-pipes: Six 6-mm copper heat-pipes (four U-shaped).
• Fan: two 120 mm fans with blue LEDs.
• Nominal fan speed: 2,000 rpm.
• Fan air flow: 83.6 cfm.
• Maximum power consumption: not informed.
• Nominal noise level: 28 dBA.
• Weight: 1.87 lbs (847 g).
• More information: http://www.coolermaster-usa.com
• Average price in the US*: USD 55.00

* Researched on www.newegg.com on the day this review was published.

Conclusions

Cooler Master Hyper N620 is a unique cooler, mostly by the fact that it comes with two fans already installed. We were afraid it could be very noisy because of this feature, but it showed to be comparable to its competitors in this aspect.

It achieved a performance similar to the best coolers we've already tested, performing better than some really good coolers. Probably this is due to its design, with two unaligned fans, which helps to achieve a good airflow.

Regarding its looks, Cooler Master did also a good job, with both the fans glowing in blue. You can say it is a good performance cooler by just looking at it.

It is a beautiful high-performance cooler reasonably priced, so it deserves the Hardware Secrets Golden Award seal.