Cooler Master Hyper N520 dual 92mm fan cooler

Post by **MikeC** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 3:39 pm

walle · Post by **walle** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 4:45 pm

I like the coolers mounting system too and that theyâ€™ve been playing around with how to move the air between the fans thru the heatsink by having the fans slightly offset, yes, I know, but at least it shows on some creative thinking. Itâ€™s a shame though that its price performance ratio turned out to take such a beating compared to its competitors propelling it straight to the footnotesâ€¦

Nice review Mike, as always well written and a sheer joy to read.

psiu · Post by **psiu** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 6:39 pm

One little spelling catch on page 5:
The two fans together sounded worse than one, despite the bansce of change in the measured SPL.
My first thought was, "banshee?"
Absence.

Nice review. Fins farther apart and fans specced for low noise and speed might improve that thing.
Of course the mounting system needs to be rethought it seems. I wouldn't want to mess with that, especially with limits on AMD platforms.

Post by **MikeC** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 7:12 pm

walle wrote:Nice review Mike, as always well written and a sheer joy to read.

Words to warm a writer's cheeks.

psiu wrote:One little spelling catch on page 5:
The two fans together sounded worse than one, despite the bansce of change in the measured SPL.
My first thought was, "banshee?"
Absence.

How the h...? Bizarre, and good for you to figure it out!

Post by **MikeC** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 12:05 am

ERRATA --

Originally, I wrote that on AMD boards, the fan airflow direction cannot not be controlled. This is not correct. It can be controlled by the orientation of the mounting clip/bracket on the bottom of the square base. The article has been changed at various points to reflect this.

ACook · Post by **ACook** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 12:38 am

the table with the fixed voltage comparison of the big 120mm heatsinks took me a couple of rechecks to figure out the numbers were rise in C

at first thought they were dba, cause the ninja at 12v was +1 from the 16dba right above it, thought perhaps it added 1dba to the nexus in free air. but then the rest of the table didn't make much sense.

perhaps it's me though.

xafier · Post by **xafier** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 2:20 am

I'm confused... surely they know that this thing is going to be loud... why send a sample to SPCR unless they're just being lazy and letting you do a full test so they can get some accurate figures for the sound levels??

wayner · Post by **wayner** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 8:18 am

Did you try replacing the fans with better/quieter fans?

Post by **MikeC** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 8:36 am

wayner wrote:Did you try replacing the fans with better/quieter fans?

You can do that with any heatsink which uses std size fans, but the issue here is price. You pay $45 -- and then another $15 or more for 2 higher quality fans? There's no point. Also, while the noise might improve, the cooling won't, very little anyway. imo, the 92mm fan xigmatek is a much better choice -- considerably cheaper, smaller, at least as effective in cooling, and certainly not louder at the same cooling performance airflow. The main upside in comparison is the d520's ability to rotate in its AMD mounting bracket, and the bolt-through mounting. But the former only applies to AMD users, and the latter didn't help the cooling appreciably.

Actually, looking through all the comparison data, the 120mm fan xigmatek at $32-37 is a really sweet deal for the performance. The mounting system isn't as good, but...

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 8:37 am

Hi,

It is odd that the two 'L' shaped heatpipes (on the edges) are placed into the fins away from the fans; leaving them to help out only with indirect air flow?

Isn't the Xigmatek bolt-through kit available for ~$6? That along with the HDT-S1283 is still the value to beat, I think. The new Scythe Mungen 2 may well be a contender?

Post by **MikeC** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 9:11 am

NeilBlanchard wrote:Hi,

It is odd that the two 'L' shaped heatpipes (on the edges) are placed into the fins away from the fans; leaving them to help out only with indirect air flow?

Isn't the Xigmatek bolt-through kit available for ~$6? That along with the HDT-S1283 is still the value to beat, I think. The new Scythe Mungen 2 may well be a contender?

It looks like they staggered the pipes so they're not all in a row to either fan's flow. Not sure if that actually helps anything. After seeing all these heatpipe heatsinks over the years, I'm coming to the conclusion that exactly where the heatipe meets the fin isn't as important as how well they meet -- ie, very tight or soldered connections are more important. afaik, the fins are press fitted as usual. The copper base also looks quite thick -- which might not be a good thing if you consider the direct touch heatpipe setup of the xigmateks.

I've seen that Xigmatek bolt-through kit for $7~10. Also seen $10 rebates on the 1283 -- check store links in my last post.

kittle · Post by **kittle** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 11:38 am

nice review of an "interesting" looking cooler.
I have a pair of the older "hyper" models from CM and aside from the nasty fan noise, it worked pretty good (and said noise found me this site). but it was rather expensive.
It does look like they are improving things considerably.

the xigmatek bolt-through kits are $8.50 at newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835233019

Ikshaar · Post by **Ikshaar** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 1:36 pm

Seems like the only choice for i7/LGA1366... that was review by SPCR.

Any better rated alternative ?

Post by **MikeC** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 2:02 pm

Ikshaar wrote:Seems like the only choice for i7/LGA1366... that was review by SPCR.

Any better rated alternative ?

Most aftermarket enthusiast heatsink makers are offering i7/LGA1366 mounting -- if not already included, then as a modestly priced kit.

http://www.scythe-usa.com/product/acc/0 ... etail.html#
http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=prod ... =23&lng=en
http://www.xigmatek.com/product/accesso ... -i7361.php
http://www.thermalright.com/new_a_page/ ... 366boltnew