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Cooler Master Hyper N520
Author: Andrew Published: June 29th, 2009 12:56 PM Category: CPU Coolers, Reviews
Installation and Testing
Test Rig
| CPU | AMD Phenom II 955 Black Edition |
|---|---|
| Motherboard | Foxconn A79A-S |
| Memory | 4GB Kingston Hyper X DDR2 1066 |
| PSU | Tuniq Miniplant 950w |
| Case | NZXT Hush |
I am not particularly a fan of coolers which require the removal of the motherboard but when they do it is usually a good sign that it will perform well. This method of installation isn’t particularly difficult nor does it need to be an arduous job as once everything is lined up correctly it is mainly just a case of tightening a few screws.
Once the cooler is installed it is the beginning of the testing stage, this is a fairly simple process.
To test CPU Coolers we simply boot the PC up into Windows Vista and measure temperatures under idle and load states. The temperature is recorded from the CPU’s own diode using SpeedFan.
For idle testing, we leave the PC doing nothing for half an hour and take 3 temperature readings at 10 second intervals after 30mins. We then use the average score from these as the result.
When testing at load temperatures, we use a similar method but load all 4 cores of our CPU right to 100% by loading Prime 95 on its harshest settings which generate maximum heat output.
Ambient (testing environment) temperature was 23 degrees Celsius.
We’ll be comparing the Hyper H520 to the stock AMD cooler and the Gelid Solutions Silent Spirit.
The processor will be tested at stock clock and overclocked speeds (3.7GHz).
Stock
| Stock Cooler | Silent Spirit | Hyper N520 |
|---|---|---|
| 68c | 56c | 43c |
Overclocked
| Stock Cooler | Silent Spirit | Hyper N520 |
|---|---|---|
| Test ended due to high temp (83c) | 69c | 54c |
As you can probably see from these results the N520 easily trounces the other aftermarket CPU cooler and totally annihilates the stock cooler.




