Conclusion

And so the downside of the Hyper 7 cooler is how it is installed on the CPU. You have to take the mainboard out of the system case and show some dexterity to do everything right. This won’t be a problem for PC integrators, though, who only have to do this once. The cooler’s base is flat, but not very thoroughly finished. The noise level is average and you can lower it somewhat by using the automatic fan speed management available on your mainboard. What’s good about this cooler is its performance which is only a little lower than that of the Thermaltake Big Typhoon. The Cooler Master Hyper 7 is also light and compatible with all the modern platforms, including the new Socket AM2.

However, it is the price that is going to determine the market success of the Hyper 7. I guess $30-35 US would be an optimal price for this product because more expensive products are better than the Hyper 7 in terms of performance and noise.

Highs:

• High performance
• Supports all modern platforms
• Light and compact
• Supports PWM technology for fan speed control

Lows:

• Rather complicated installation procedure that also requires that you take the mainboard out of the system case
• Poorly finished base
• Average noise level at max speed
• Can be oriented in one way only on AMD’s K8 platforms