Performance: 38 out of 40
The Hyper 622 Halo Black (and White for that matter) Edition(s) have breathed new life into the once best in class ‘Hyper’ series and will help introduce this one vaunted series to an entirely new generation of enthusiasts. Simply stated this is the highest performance Hyper branded air-cooler Cooler Master has ever released. Which should come as no surprise as it is “just” a refined, and arguably repurposed, MasterAir series cooler. A series that used to be Cooler Master’s premium line that offered more performance (than the Hyper series)… but for a lot more money. Mix in RGB lighting performance that dunks on the MA620 series and the only reason we are docking it two points is the fact that Cooler Master does not include 6 fan mounting wire brackets, thus making ‘native’ 3-fan configurations a non-starter.
Ease of Use: 19 out of 20
Forget about caveats like “for its class”, or “for its size” this big boi is an out and out joy to work with. Great mounting hardware. Sensible, and highly refined, installation process. Great case compatibility. Excellent RAM compatibility. RGB controller agnostic design. This cooler basically has it all. So much so we think it is an easier to work with cooler than the Hyper 212 Halo. The only reason we are not giving it a perfect score is because buyers will have to source out a couple wire brackets in order to get true beast mode 3-fan cooling goodness.
Build Quality & Warranty: 17 out 20
On the one hand this is an extremely well built and precision engineered cooling solution. Nearly everything about it screams quality. With that said there are two issues that do mar an otherwise excellent execution (of the competition… and MasterAir series alike). First. While the fans are indeed noticeably improved over previous MasterAir… err… Hyper designs, they are still Rifle Bearing and not FDB based. Yes, they are going to outlive the Chinese competition. They however will not outlive Arctic P12s, Noctua NF 120mm’ers, or other premium fans that do make use of Fluid Dynamic Bearings. This knocks a point off the final score. The other issue is a… lackluster warranty. Cooler Master really need to step up their game and offer at least a three-year warranty period instead of just two. Honestly, if DeepCool can offer a three year, Thermalright a six year… and Arctic a frickin’ ten year warranty period Cooler Master needs to step up their game ASAP as this is just embarrassing.
Value: 19 out of 20
Is the Hyper 622 Halo Black the cheapest dual 120mm cooling solution going? No. One can easily find Chinese options that are a good twenty USD cheaper. Is it the absolute best performing dual tower cooling solution? No. Noctua’s D15. Be Quiet!’s Dark Rock Pro… and a whole host of massive 140mm best dualies will outperform it. With all that said, the Cooler Master Hyper 622 Halo Black easily justifies its asking price and redefines what it means to be a great value. On the performance front it is better than “Peerless” Assassin 120. It is also going to be slightly better than DarkRock AK620. It is even going to be more than ‘good enough’ for most buyers. So good that spending nearly twice as much as its MSRP for the ‘best of the best of the best’ (140mm) Dual Towers will be rather hard to justify. Equally impressive is, regardless of asking price, the Hyper 622 Halo is downright better looking than nearly any other cooling solution available today. We are, however, dinging a point off the final score, because Cooler Master only includes four of the wire mounting brackets and sourcing out black wire brackets is a PITA. Yes, we are salty about this “minor” misstep. You may feel differently.
Final Score: 93 out 100
With its combination of excellent performance, outstanding ease of use, and incredibly versatility the Cooler Master Hyper 622 Halo Black edition is not just arguably a best-in-class contender but arguably the best Hyper branded air cooling solution Cooler Master has ever unleashed on to the marketplace. Even when one takes into consideration the couple minor missteps Cooler Master has made with the Hyper 622, the price to performance ratio, the overall aesthetics, and even the overall value are all just too high for it to be considered nothing less than best in class. Yes, this is a cult classic in the making.
