In the recent past, we have looked at Cooler Master’s take on small(ish) CPU coolers (Hyper 212 Halo Black). We have looked at their version of a medium-sized air cooler (Hyper 622 Halo Black), and today we are going to round on the Cooler Master Trifecta by paying close attention to their take on large air-based cooling solutions. To be precise we will be putting the recently released Cooler Master Master Air MA824 Stealth under the microscope.
As part of their Master(of)Air(Cooling) line-up the MA824 distills the very best of what Cooler Master’s engineering department have learned over the decades. With all focus knowledge and skill focused on one thing: domination in the rarefied corner of the marketplace that we call ‘enthusiast air cooling’. In this rather niche corner, price is of secondary concern. Instead of value being king it is all about pure performance. After all, a cool 100 USD may sound expensive (and it is) but like most things in life that price is relative. Buyers of these types of cooling devices want the best and are willing to pay for the best. So if spending $40 more than a Chinese clone of the Noctua NH-D15 will net them better performance or a higher stable overclock, or even a quieter system … well that is money well spent. All of which is what the Stealth variant of the MA824 series intends to offer buyers.
With that said, Cooler Master does not just have their sights set on DeepCool and their Assassin III, or Thermalright and their excellent value Frost Commander 140. No. Cooler master also wanted to defeat what many enthusiasts consider to be the pinnacle of air performance: the Big Brown Black Edition (Aka Noctua NH-D15 Chromax.Black Edition). In order to do this Cooler Master did take a two-prong approach. The first is improving the overall efficiency of the dual 140mm tower blueprint via better heat pipe placement, better fin design, and even better heat pipes. Yes. Finally, after all these years, we are seeing tangible advancements being made in the heat pipes being used in air coolers! These improvements promise to make the MasterAir MA824 the most efficient, effective, and useable dual tower available today.
Backstopping these technological improvements is the fact that while the MA824 may be relatively expensive when compared against their Hyper 622 series, it is actually a good $30 less than what Noctua is demanding for their decade(s) old design. Needless to say, this combination promises to offer the best of both worlds: (relative) value without compromising on performance. That is indeed a tall order so without further ado lets dive in and see what the MA824 offers over both the coemption and Cooler Master’s other offerings.
