Thread: Cooler Master Hyper 212 CPU Cooler

The efficiency of a CPU cooler depends on the design of the heat sink, type of fan and materials used. We got our hands on the Cooler Master Hyper 212 and slapped it on an Intel Core 2 Extreme OX9650 to find out how effective this colossal cooler is.

FEATURES: The Hyper 212 is designed like a tower and stands a whopping 160 mm tall. The heat sink has two stacks of aluminum fins with four copper heat pipes running through each of them. The heat pipes transfer heat from the copper base to the fins. The stacks of fins aren't rectangular and have their inner corners curved to facilitate airflow. The heat sink is exactly as wide as the nine-bladed 120 mm LED fan that is fitted over it. This high-airflow fan has a fixed speed of 2000 rpm, which ensures excellent cooling when combined with ample surface area provided by the fins. Mounting brackets for an additional fan are bundled in the kit. if you need even more cooling.

The Hyper 212 comes with a tube of high-viscosity thermal paste and mounting hardware for both Intel LGA 775 and AMD socket 754/939/940/AM2+ motherboards. Installing the cooler is very simple and doesn't require much effort. However, if you want to fit it in an existing PC, it might be a messy, since the cooler doesn't have a screwless design and you need to remove the motherboard to fit the back plate.



PERFORMANCE:
With the Hyper 212 bolted onto the OX9650 we were able to push it from 3.0 GHz to 4.22 GHz. The temperature of the cooler didn't go beyond 40 degrees C throughout the test. In comparsion, the CPU's stock cooler didn't allow us to push speeds beyond 3.80 GHz, and even then heated up to 44 degrees C. This clearly indicates the difference better cooling brings about.

VERDICT: Buy this cooler only if you have a high-end PC or if you need a good high airflow cooler for overclocking. We don't suggest this mammoth as an everyday replacement for your stock cooler. FOR: Silent, excellent cooling, easy to install, light for its size. AGAINST: Bulky.