Cooler Master Hyper 6 KHC-V81 Heatpipe
When Cooler Master first introduced heatpipe cooling as a desktop solution, it became an instant hit. We were witness to their very first dual heatpipe cooler introduced to the market, the HHC-001 Heatpipe. The performance we got from it was very impressive. Not only did it exceed the expectation for conventional cooling but also made waves as an excellent choice for extreme air cooling. Finally a new innovative product that does what its suppose to do. Not just hype.
You would think that after its success, there would be more HSFs based on this technology. Well, nah. There were quite a few companies that tried to market their own heatpipe coolers but all proved to be just enough for normal cooling. It wasn’t what the doctor ordered. Meaning wasn’t good enough for the enthusiast or overclocking crowd. You probably also expected to see more heatpipe coolers from Cooler Master after the HHC-001, IHC-H71 and the HHC-L61. Well, that never happened. For reasons we don’t know, somehow the heatpipe design for desktop cooling just died down with Cooler Master being the only player to capitalize on it.
Now 2 years forward, they are back with yet another heatpipe cooler. This time it sports not just 2 heatpipes but 6 heatpipes that are embedded into a 100% pure copper heatsink. Designed for extreme performance and ultra silence, Cooler Master picks up from where it left off a couple of years ago. Introducing, the newest high-end heat pipe CPU cooler to hit the market, the Cooler Master Hyper 6 KHC-V81.
The Cooler Master Hyper 6 KHC-V81 Heatpipe
The most obvious attribute of this new heatpipe cooler is its implementation of a 6 heatpipe cooling system. More always means better and in this case, that is what they are hoping for. If their previous dual heatpipe cooler accomplished such cooling feat, what more would a 6 heatpipe design do? That I guess is what we are here to find out. Promising hyper silence to go with ultra performance is indeed a very hard task to do in this day and age of super fast and super hot processor. Can the Hyper 6 achieve all of this?
Cooler Master Heatpipe Layout
The Hyper 6 is made up of 6 embedded heatpipes welded to an all copper stacked fin heatsink and base. Using the heatpipe principle, this equates to superb heat dissipation. The working fluid in the heatpipes draw heat directly from the copper base where it is connected and is cooled by condensation at the other end. You will see the ends of the heatpipe extruding at the top of the heatsink. The 27 copper-stacked fins with high density pin-rate helps by dissipating some of the heat load away from the heatpipe. Its large surface area makes airflow pass easily through its shark-teeth like design. This is quite obvious as evidenced by the Hyper 6’s massive appearance. You will see in the last pic below how big it is compared to a standard K8 cooler.
The copper base design is quite unique that it is elevated to avoid interfering with components surrounding the CPU such as capacitors. The heatsink design also allows for maintained cooling performance at any angle of declination. The base is flat, smooth and free from machining marks on close inspection.
Installation
We decided to use an Athlon64 rather than a P4 system to see how well the Hyper 6 can handle heat. As previously mentioned, you need to remove your motherboard in order to install this cooler. To upgraders this can be a nuisance but for new systems, it doesn’t really matter. First step is the removal of the board’s original retention mechanism and backplate. This is really straightforward. Its as easy as lining up the holes on the supplied backplate and placing the screws over the retention mechanism. Once this is done, you can now install the Hyper 6 heatpipe over the socket. You will then need to use the 2 supplied clips to lock the Hyper 6 in place. Once locked in, the clear fan can be installed. Nothing rocket science with regards to installation. One thing that I didn’t find helpful was the illustrations on the instruction sheet as they were not only too small but they’re in black and white as well.
Conclusion
Once again, Cooler Master has proven that the heatpipe design is an excellent means of cooling your processor. The power of 6 heatpipes has definitely been the force behind this achievement. That plus the integration of all copper-stacked fins contributed to the overall performance of this heatsink. The Hyper 6′s performance both at high and low settings were very impressive. Add another fan and you get more cooling power for your system.
Noise factor like I said before is at the control. Though not as silent as I pictured an “ultra silent” is, the Hyper 6 best attribute is providing solid performance even at its lquietest setting. Ultra silence can be achieved though if the heatpipes were ran passively without a fan. We tried this on our Athlon64 system but at 70°C, we immedietely returned the fan as we know running at this temp is not good in the long or even short term.
As the Hyper is HUGE when it comes top size and weight, the need to remove the board and fit the supplied backplate adn retention mechanism might be a turnoff to some. This process involves quite a good amount of time and effort. And for what? Just a heatsink upgrade? New systems though won’t suffer the same fate. However, for those who really want excellent cooling with less amount of noise, then the Hyper 6 will easily fit the bill. We applaud Cooler Master for being innovative and creative in their heatpipe designs. A lot has tried to travel this path but so far only Cooler Master has showed true success in this field.