×

Warning

JUser: :_load: Unable to load user with ID: 83

Published in Reviews

Cooler Master Hyper Z600 dissected

by on29 September 2009

Index


undefined

Review:
Massive and passive


We’ve recently received CoolerMaster’s new CPU cooler dubbed the Hyper Z600 and decided to take it out for a spin. Those who prefer silent operation will be happy to hear that this is a passive cooler but CoolerMaster left an option to turn it into an active one. You can do so by strapping it with one or two 120mm, for that extra edge that some processors might require.

undefined

Packaging

The Hyper Z600 comes in a pretty large box containing all the info on the actual cooler and the types of processors it supports. The box of course also features a couple of photos, which show the cooler with and without the fan.

undefined

undefined

The packaging is basic, but you get the essentials – the cooler, user manual, AMD and Intel socket mounting mechanisms, screws, thermal paste as well as additional fan brackets.

Hyper Z600 is a pretty large piece of metal and is definitely not suited for low-profile cases. The dimensions are 127.28 x 127.28 x 160 mm and it weighs in a tad over a kilo – 1045 grams.

undefined

As you can imagine, a cooler this big has to be attached to the back of the motherboard.

undefined

The Z600’s heatsink is made of aluminum whereas the heatpipe and the base are made of copper. The upper side of the cooler is covered with brushed aluminum, proudly showing the large Cooler Master logo.

undefined

undefined

undefined

In order to fit the design better, the copper heatpipes and the base are coated with a thin layer of nickel.

undefined

This Z600 features 6 heatpipes, starting from the base and going towards the top of the cooler. Two heatpipes pass through 20 large cooling fins, whereas the four remaining heatpipes go through all the 46 fins.

undefined

undefined

Z600 supports Intels LGA775 socket as well as AMD Socket (Socket 940/AM2/AM2+) and the list of processors includes: Intel® Core i7, Core 2 Extreme, Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Duo, Pentium Extreme Ed., Pentium Dual-Core, Pentium D, Pentium 4 Extreme Ed., Pentium 4 HT, Pentium 4, Celeron Dual-Core, Celeron D, as well as AMD Phenom, Athlon 64 X2, Athlon X2 and Sempron CPUs.




Mounting, Tests

After placing the mounting mechanism and applying the thermal paste (Gelid Extreme thermal paste was used on all our today’s tests), we got down to business.

If you own a case with a motherboard tray, mounting the Z600 will be a breeze. If not, then you’ll have to remove the motherboard from the case as heavy cooling solutions must be firmly attached to the motherboard.

Testbed:

Motherboard:
MSI P35 Platinum (Provided by: MSI)

Processor:
Intel Core 2 Extreme x6800, 2x 2.93GHz   (Provided by: Intel)

Memory:
A-Data Extreme DDR2 800 (2x1GB) (Provided by: A-Data)

Graphic Card:
EVGA Geforce 260 GTX  (Provided by: EVGA)

PSU:
OCZ GXS 700, 700 W (Provided by: OCZ)

CPU-Cooler:

OCZ Vendeta 2  (Provided by: OCZ)
Intel Stock Cooler (Provided by: Intel)
Cooler Master Hyper Z600 (Provided by: Cooler Master)

Case:
Cooler Master HAF 922 (Provided by: Cooler Master)

undefined

Our testing included stressing our CPU as much as possible, in order to raise the temperatures. We used Prime 95 to bring the CPU usage to 100% and measured temperatures with Core Temp and Real Temp. Note that all the tests were done with the CPU at default clocks. 

Our default-clocked CPU has a 75 TDP (Thermal Design Power). Furthermore, CoolerMaster advises users not to resort to passive cooling on CPUs with the TDP above 85W.

Image

The Hyper Z600 kept the CPU at constant 40°C in idle mode, whereas the 100% CPU usage, courtesy of Prime 95, resulted in temperatures at about 58°C. As you can see, the Z600 holds its own quite nicely even when compared to other two active cooling solutions, which ran at maximum RPM during our testing. We must say that Hyper Z600 did pretty well considering that it’s a passive cooling solution.

For comparison we also tested OCZ Vendetta 2 as well as Intel’s standard cooling. As you can see, Intel’s standard cooler does a pretty good job, but unfortunately its fan ran at maximum RPM resulting in such loud operation that sitting next to it for more than a couple of minutes was pretty cumbersome.

Note that the Z600 results largely depend on your in-case cooling. In order to prove this, we turned the case fans off and started to “torture” our CPU. The temperatures hit 75°C After only 5 minutes, after which we had to stop in order not to damage the CPU.

undefined

After we completed our testing, we mounted a 120mm fan on the Z600 and pushed the CPU to 100% usage again. This time around however, temperatures didn’t go over 53°C whereas idle temperatures stuck around 40°C.

 

 


Conclusion


CoolerMaster's Hyper Z600 is a pretty massive CPU cooler, one of the largest ones on the market. It’s nicely designed, but its dimensions make it inappropriate for low-profile systems. Since this is a passive cooling solution, it doesn’t come with fans, but CoolerMaster left an option for mounting one or two 120mm fans.

Today’s testing reveals that Z600 is good enough to keep the temperatures on Intel’s X6800 Extreme processor within acceptable limits, but we’re confident it would really shine on mainstream processors and score even better, even when they’re overclocked.

Unfortunately, this cooler is priced at €40, which is a bit steep.

Hyper Z600 is a great choice for all types of users. If you want a quiet computer, Z600 will deliver exactly that since it’s a passive cooling solution. If you’re after performance and are prone to overclocking – don’t worry, as fitting this cooler with two fans will do the trick.

Last modified on 09 October 2009
Rate this item
(0 votes)