Cooler Master Hyper 103 Review
Category : Aircooling
Published by Christian Ney on 16.12.13
Today, we have a chance to check out Cooler Master's latest Hyper series CPU cooler aimed solely as a budget mainstream solution that should replace Intel's and AMD's stock cooler. Cooler Master always had some impressive entry-level coolers and Hyper series is quite well known in the cooling world. We are quite keen to check out if the Cooler Master Hyper 103 lives up to standards that we expect from Cooler Master and how much better it actually is when compared to stock coolers it is meant to replace.
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Recently Cooler Master has released its newest member of the Hyper CPU cooler series, the Hyper 103, which is a quite affordable CPU cooler that should be a much better alternative to Intel and AMD stock coolers by providing much better cooling performance at lower noise. The Cooler Master Hyper 103 features a tower design with three 6mm heatpipes and a 92mm fan.
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The base as well as the heatsink of the Cooler Master Hyper 103 are both made from aluminum as this is after all a budget alternative to the Intel and AMD stock coolers. The three aforementioned 6mm copper heatpipes are in direct contact with the CPU. Cooler Master decided to go with its own 92x92x25mm PWM fan that comes pre-attached to the heatsink but in order to mount the cooler on the motherboard, you will actually have to remove the fan which is attached via fan clips. The fan clips are quite heavy-duty, made out of plastic and quite easy to plug and remove, which is definitely a good thing as it allow future cleaning and maintenance.
The Cooler Master Hyper 103 looks quite cheap but it does not come as a surprise considering that this one is a budget solution with a very aggressive price and with sole purpose of being cheap but better than Intel and AMD stock coolers. The design is old school and although not very attractive, it does the job right, especially considering the price.
Specifications |
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| Model | RR-H103-22PB-R1 |
| Type | Low profile tower |
| Provided Fan(s) | 1x 92x92x25mm PWM |
| Supported Fan(s) | 1x 92x92x25mm |
| Base Material | Copper Direct
Contact Heatpipes Aluminum |
| Fins Material | Aluminum |
| Socket Support | AMD AM2(+), AM3(+), FM1,
FM2 Intel LGA 1150, 1155, 1156, 2011, 1366, 775 |
| Thermal compound | Cooler Master (Tube) |
| Product Page | Hyper 103 |
The Cooler Master Hyper 103 ships in a rather simple box and is quite well protected inside with foam made mold. The rest of the components, or to be precise, the mounting mechanism comes in a separate small box.
The bundle includes an installation manual, Cooler Master thermal paste, mounting components, and, of course, the cooler with pre-mounted fan.
The warranty is set at two years which is quite standard for a product in this budget market segment.
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
Photo Gallery
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
Installation
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The installation is quite standard, practical and very straightforward. The bundle includes a single mounting backplate which is compatible with all current sockets as well as Intel's older LGA775 and 1366 sockets. The provided Cooler Master thermal paste is very liquid and we had some issues where we had to get rid of the first part of it and re-apply it again but it does spread well over the CPU. The pressure on the CPU was quite good and the fan clips are handy. Also, the cooler does not block any memory slots.
Test Setup |
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| Mainboard | ASUS Z87-Deluxe (BIOS 1602) |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-4770K Stock (Turbo On / HT On) |
| Memory | ADATA XPG V2 2x4GB DDR3-2800 CL12 1.65V |
| Video | Intel HD Graphics 4600 |
| Software |
Windows 7 x64 wPrime Benchmark v2.10 CPUID HWMonitor 1.24.0 |
| PSU | Seasonic Platinum SS-660XP2 |
| Fan Controller | Lamptron FC5 V3 |
| Thermal Compound |
Pre-applied or bundled GELID GC-Extreme else |
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
Absolute Performance
Temperatures
7 V
To measure cooling capacity we took temperatures in idle and load with the fans at 7 and 12 V. The idle temperature represents the lowest temperature hit by the processor package after 10 minutes in idle. The load temperature is the highest temperature hit by the processor package after one pass of wPrime v2.10. The wPrime test takes 4 minutes and puts load on all 8 threads. Room temperature is 25°C.
12 V
Fan Speeds
Fan speeds (RPM) at 7 and 12 V.
Noise Levels
Decibel meter (Voltcraft SL-200) has been placed 1 meter away from the cooler. Measurements are conducted in a quiet room, where there are no other noise source. 32 dBA is the lowest we can get in our room. Also here the measurements are conducted at 7 and 12 V.
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
PWM Performance
Temperatures
At this point we plugged the fan(s) to the motherboard CPU fan header and let the motherboard take care of fan speeds. In other words the motherboard will ajust the fan speed via PWM signal according to CPU temperature. The idle temperature is the lowest temperature hit by the processor package after 10 minutes idle. The load temperature is the highest temperature hit by the processor package after one pass of wPrime v2.10. The wPrime test takes 4 minutes puts load on all 8 threads. Room temperature is 25°C.
Fan Speeds
Values are in RPM, we took the lowest speed hit by the fan(s) in idle and the highest under load.
Noise Levels
Decibel meter (Voltcraft SL-200) has been placed 1 meter away from the cooler. Measurements are conducted in a quiet room, where there are no other noise source. 32 dBA is the lowest we can get in our room. Also here the measurements are conducted at lowest and highest fan speeds in idle and under load respectively.
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
Conclusion
| General | + | - | |
| Although it does look cheap, Cooler Master did a pretty good job with its new Hyper 103 affordable mainstream cooler. It definitely offers better cooling performance, and most importantly, it is less noisy than Intel's stock cooler without breaking the bank. It costs less than 20 Euros and despite the overall cheap look, it simply does the job so we are quite glad that Cooler Master did not overcomplicate things with Hyper 103. |
- Performance
- Mouting - Price |
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| Installation | + | - | |
| The installation was quite easy and practical and features a single installation kit that is compatible with both AMD and Intel sockets which certainly makes things a bit more simple. It features a wide compatibility and supports most Intel and AMD sockets, including now quite old Intel LGA 775 and 1366 sockets. The included thermal compound is not pre-applied but comes in a syringe. The included screws are solid and we simply have no complaints regarding the entire mounting system or its overall quality. |
- Easy and practical
- Compatible Intel and AMD - Thermal compound (Tube) |
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| Performance | + | - | |
| When it comes to performance, the Cooler Master Hyper 103 has quite good absolute and PWM performance. It is definitely better than Intel's stock cooler and even does a better job than some bigger and more expensive coolers. | - Cooling performances | ||
| Noise Levels | + | - | |
| The noise levels are quite good as well as you do not hear the cooler in PWM operation in idle, while under load it still remains quite silent. Unfortunately, at 12V the fan is quite noisy but below 7V it stays very silent. In any case, the noise levels are way better than Intel's stock cooler and that is the sole purpose of this cooler. | - Silent | ||
| Recommendation / Price | + | - | |
| Cooler Master has always been quite good with affordable mainstream coolers and both Intel and AMD can certainly take a look at Cooler Master in order to improve their stock coolers as this one is not only cheap but ends up quite better than those stock coolers with both performance as well as noise levels. With a starting price of mere 17 Euros, the Hyper 103 is a very good alternative to cheap and usually quite lousy stock coolers. |
- Price
- Office PC - Mainstream |
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Overclocking - Gaming |
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| Rating | |||
| We gave the Hyper 103 from Cooler Master 4.5 out of 5 stars. | |||
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |