The Verdict
The Cooler Master Hyper N520 is an interesting CPU cooler for the average PC consumer. It's not priced too high at 30 EUR. Though in USD the price could be a little lower as right now it starts at 40 USD.
The performance of the cooler is very adequate and as such it is competing with the OCZ Vendetta 2, a cooler that is exactly in the same price range. The design is great, and esthetically the Hyper N520 is a very pleasing cooler. With two fans and lack of proper PWM control; however, we do feel it's a tiny little bit on the noisy side. You will hear this fan, it won't be loud .. but it's there alright. Some of you guys hate that, some just do not bother. I like my cooler quiet though.
Installation wise I can not recommend Cooler Master enough to start seeking a new mounting solution for the CPU cooler products. You literally need to remove your motherboard, place the cooler upside down, then place the motherboard over the cooler struts (on top of the cooler) and then mount the cooler secure with nuts on the backside. You figuratively need three hands to manage that as you are engaging in some serious acrobatic skills. Try imagining doing that with your spanking new X58 250 USD motherboard. Yes, there is risk involved, We've said this before when we reviewed the Z600, it is just not a proper user friendly mounting system. On the other side of the scope, once secured, it is a sturdy mounting system alright.
That nag aside, the cooler is priced really fair in the EU alright, we spotted it for 30 EUR already, and that sounds just about right in our ears.
Next to that it looks good and it performs pretty good as well. And sure, once mounted in your PC and you leave the installation behind you, there is very little to dislike about this product. You get really good cooling performance at a decent priced product. As such we would surely recommend it.
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