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Review: Cooler Master Hyper N520 vs. Scythe Mugen 2 vs. Xigmatek Achilles S1284C

by Parm Mann on 15 July 2009, 16:51 3.75

Tags: Mugen 2, Achilles S1284C, Hyper N520, Cooler Master, Scythe, Xigmatek

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Cooler Master Hyper N520 - installation and performance

Installation

The Cooler Master Hyper N520 employs an installation procedure similar to that of its V-series coolers. As mentioned previously, you'll need to remove the motherboard - unless your chassis features a cutout in the motherboard tray - but installation is otherwise straight forward.

Furthermore, Cooler Master's included instructions are clear and concise. With both of the cooler's fans pre-attached, it's just a matter of applying the thermal paste and putting the cooler into place.

Performance

Cooler Master Hyper N520 - Thermal Performance
System state Idle Load
Ambient temperature 22.2°C 24.0°C
Case temperature 23.5°C 25.7°C
Ambient/Case delta 1.3°C 1.7°C
CPU temperature 37.0°C 55.0°C
CPU/Case delta 13.5°C 29.3°C
CPU/Ambient delta 14.8°C 31.0°C

On its own, the Cooler Master Hyper N520 shows decent performance. We did, however, find it to be fairly noisy with both fans operating at 100 per cent, but both idle-and-load CPU temperatures are acceptable - did we expect anything less?

Question is, how does it compare to something a little more expensive? Spend say another £10 and you'll be in Scythe Mugen 2 territory.