Cooler Master Hyper 6 KHC-V81 Heatpipe
May 12, 2004
Manufactured by: Cooler Master
Introduction
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?
| Socket Type | AMD K8 (socket 754/940) and Intel P4 (socket 478) |
| Heat Sink Dimension | 96x82x120 mm |
| Heat Sink Material | 6 heat pipes + 100% Copper stacked fin with copper base |
| Fan Dimension | 80x80x25 mm |
| Fan Speed | 1800 ~ 3000 rpm |
| Fan Life Expectance | 40,000 hrs |
| Bearing Type | Rifle bearing |
| Voltage Rating | 6 ~ 12V |
| Noise Level | 21 ~ 34 dB(A) |
| Connector | 4 Pin (Power Input), 3 Pin (Speed Detection) |
| Application | P4 all frequencies and K8 |
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.
The Hyper 6 has the flexibility run without a fan or with one or two fans. A single clear fan is provided in the package but you can always add a second 80mm fan on the other side for maximum cooling power. The 80mm fan has a noise level of 21-34dBA and can run from 1800-300rpm. There is no mention of the airflow but I would guess this to be around 20-34CFM depending on the speed. Even though Cooler Master says that the fan is optional, I would have to say that cooling by the heatsink itself will be limited. This might be good for those who prefer ultra silent cooling but this is definitely unacceptable to enthusiasts and to those who plan on using this for some overclocking. I even doubt that with a K8 system that this would be safe especially when running it at full load. For the Pentium 4 perhaps. But should you decide to use the included fan though, you will be pleased that you can also control the speed of the fan. This will definitely provide you the best of both worlds as you can have it cool and quiet.
An included fan controller can be positioned in front of the case via a 3 ½ bay adapter. You can also elect to have this controller placed at the back via one of the PCI backplate. At the lowest speed, I could barely hear the fan running on top of my other system fans. Very quiet indeed. But at its maximum speed, you can definitely notice a humm rising over the other fans. Some might find this a bit loud for their taste. But because it is variable, you can always choose the level of noise that is acceptable to you.
This heatsink is semi-versatile that it can be used for both Pentium 4 and K8 processor. I said semi coz you cannot use this on socket A processors which would have been nice. But, hey, two is still better than one, right? The only downside and obvious turnoff for most upgraders is that you need to remove your motherboard to install this huge monster. Due to its massive size and weight, an included backplate is necessary to maintain stability of the heatsink. You will need to remove the retention mechanism of your P4 or K8 board and install the backplate behind the board. The backplate is made so that you can just turn it on the other side for compatibility with both platforms. One side has 2 holes (K8) while the other has 4 holes (P4). A supplied universal retention mechanism is also supplied in place of the original to allow easy installation.
