Thanks to the fact that even Core-i5’s and Ryzen-5’s can, will, and do suck down over 120watts of power the days of tiny cooling solutions in mid-range builds are pretty much over. Sadly, not every budget can justify dropping north of $100 on a 240 or 360mm AIO. Conversely, not every build has room for a big, beastly air cooler like the Noctua D15 or Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 (or their cheaper Chinese clones). Thus, the renewal in interest in dual 120mm tower cooling solutions over the past couple years. This new take on an old Zalman blueprint sacrifices a bit of cooling potential in order to gain a lot of user-friendliness… for if a 120mm tower cooler is not going to fit inside the case the system build as done f… err… done messed up. This is where Cooler Master enters the fray. Specifically, with a new addition to their value orientated Hyper series: the $65 (USD) Hyper 622 Halo Black and Halo White Edition(s).
Let us be clear. The Cooler Master 622 Halo Black is not an overly innovative cooling solution. Everyone from DeepCool and their $63 AK620 (and ~70 AK620 Zero Dark edition) to Thermalright and their $40-45 Peerless Assassin 120 (and S.E.) series have jumped on this new gold rush of interest in moderately priced dual 120mm coolers. Even Cooler Master and their MasterAir M620 series was already available in the market. So instead of pure innovation, what made us stand up and take notice of the Hyper 622 Halo series is the fact that this is a Hyper and not MasterAir branded cooling solution.
Cooler Master’s Hyper series main focus has always been offering the best bang for your buck solutions and that is what the Hyper 622 is all about. On the performance front, we have little doubts about what this cooler should do. A combination of two 125x120x40 fin arrays with two high performance (2050RPM) fans mean this cooler should be more than up to the task of handling the likes of Ryzen 7s and Intel Core i7s (let alone R5 and i5s). On the ease-of-use front, the combination of the Hyper 622 Halo being only 157mm tall and yet come with massive cut outs in the bottom of its fin arrays means concerns over cases, motherboard, or even RAM selection is neatly minimized.
On the value front, at 65 USD the Hyper 622 Halo series is within two dollars of the ‘premium’ Chinse clones; is a mere $15 more than a Hyper 212; is $30 less than what the MasterAir M620 series… and is a good $15 less than what a Scythe Mugen 5 rev.C costs. That is a great place to be on the pricing front, especially when a (2gram) tube of CryoFuze TIM is thrown in ‘for free’. Last but certainly not least, thanks to a rich paintjob and cutting edge RGB LED fans, Cooler Master has upped the ante on the typical 120 dual tower blueprint and made the Hyper 622 Halo one of the most aesthetically pleasing coolers available today.
Yes. On paper Cooler Master may just have the makings of another cult classic on their hands. One that may even surpass the OG Hyper 212 series in the hearts and minds of experienced system builders. Of course, with such stiff competition the Hyper 622 Halo has to be more than just a paper tiger if it hopes to overcome a full twenty dollar (US) handicap… as the Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 is one heck of a budget cooling solution. One that we have used in many builds whose budget could not stretch far enough for an AIO. So let’s see if Cooler Master does indeed have a cult classic on their hands.
