Testing:
To test the thermal performance of the Cooler Master Hyper N520 CPU cooler, the idle and load temperatures were monitored while running OCCT. The idle condition was established with the system sitting at the Windows desktop with only OCCT open (but not running a stress test) for a period of one hour. The load condition was established by running the stress test portion of OCCT for a period of one hour. The recent releases of OCCT monitor individual CPU core temperatures, and these readings were used for both idle and load testing.
For comparison purposes, the Hyper N520 was tested against four other coolers.
» The ThermoLab Baram with a single 1400RPM, 120mm fan
» The Cooler Master Hyper Z600 with a single 1400RPM, 120mm fan
» The Zalman CNPS9900 LED with a 2100RPM fan
» The stock Intel cooler with a 1050RPM fan
All of the coolers used Thermalright Chill Factor thermal paste during testing.
The chart below details the results from all of the coolers achieved while maintaining an ambient temperature of 20 degrees Celsius.
As you can see, the thermal results provide an upgrade over the stock cooler, but they can not beat some of the other coolers on hand. Even without a huge boost in cooling performance, the cooler might still be appealing if it was nearly silent. Unfortunately that isn't case, either. The stock cooler is quieter than the Hyper N520, and the only cooler which was louder was the Zalman CNPS9900. But, the CNPS9900 can be run at a fraction of its full speed and still cool effectively.
While the size and interesting design are appealing, the lackluster cooling and above average noise make it hard to get too excited about this cooler.
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