Cooler Master Hyper 212: Looking for a Winner
by Wesley Fink on October 31, 2007 2:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Conclusion
Those who want the very best in air cooling will not be completely satisfied with performance of the Cooler Master Hyper 212. However, those who want the best performance they can get for an investment of around $40 will have a smile on their face when they buy the Hyper 212. This Cooler Master represents excellent value for your cooling dollar and will deliver performance approaching the best we have tested, especially when mounted with two 120mm fans in a push-pull configuration.
Those who will never overclock but who want a cooler that can provide low processor temperatures for an extended CPU lifespan will be ecstatic with the Hyper 212. It matches, at both idle and load conditions, the best performance we have measured in cooler testing at AnandTech. Cooling performance at stock speeds is all but identical to stock results with the superb Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme. If you never plan to overclock there is no reason to spend more money. Buy a Cooler Master Hyper 212 and be assured that your stock CPU is running as cool as it can at stock speeds. This assurance now has a price tag of just $40 instead of the $50 to $70 for a top performing air cooler.
Readers who value low noise above all else will find the Hyper 212 a quiet but not silent cooler. The attached fan on the Cooler Master is louder than a high-output Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F, but it is still very quiet. You can reach near silence by turning down the speed (voltage) slightly. If noise is very bothersome to you, or you sleep next to your computer, you can always replace the stock fan with a super-quiet 120mm fan of your choice. The Hyper 212 can mount virtually any 120 fan you fancy - in either single or dual configurations. Lower RPM fans may of course reduce the overall cooling performance somewhat.
For those going midrange to reduce size and weight of the cooler, the Hyper 212 is not really a good choice. It is large and heavy and not really any smaller than the group of slightly more expensive top-performing coolers tested at AnandTech. Those who want small and light units with decent performance will be more satisfied with the OCZ Vendetta or the Zerotherm BTF90. Those who want both top performance and a smaller size can choose the Thermalright Ultima-90 with a 120mm fan.
Finally there is the overclocker. The Hyper 212 will not take you to the top of the overclocking charts for an air cooler, but it will get you near the top if you use two push-pull fans. There are several coolers that are better overclockers than the Cooler Master Hyper 212, but they all cost $50 to $70. The Hyper 212 does provide the best overclocking you can get in the market today for an investment of $40.
All in all Cooler Master has produced an excellent cooler in the Hyper 212. At a selling price of around $40 it provides excellent value for what you pay for it. The Hyper 212 won't satisfy everyone, but many readers will find it the best buy in this price range for a new CPU cooler.
Those who want the very best in air cooling will not be completely satisfied with performance of the Cooler Master Hyper 212. However, those who want the best performance they can get for an investment of around $40 will have a smile on their face when they buy the Hyper 212. This Cooler Master represents excellent value for your cooling dollar and will deliver performance approaching the best we have tested, especially when mounted with two 120mm fans in a push-pull configuration.
Those who will never overclock but who want a cooler that can provide low processor temperatures for an extended CPU lifespan will be ecstatic with the Hyper 212. It matches, at both idle and load conditions, the best performance we have measured in cooler testing at AnandTech. Cooling performance at stock speeds is all but identical to stock results with the superb Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme. If you never plan to overclock there is no reason to spend more money. Buy a Cooler Master Hyper 212 and be assured that your stock CPU is running as cool as it can at stock speeds. This assurance now has a price tag of just $40 instead of the $50 to $70 for a top performing air cooler.
Readers who value low noise above all else will find the Hyper 212 a quiet but not silent cooler. The attached fan on the Cooler Master is louder than a high-output Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F, but it is still very quiet. You can reach near silence by turning down the speed (voltage) slightly. If noise is very bothersome to you, or you sleep next to your computer, you can always replace the stock fan with a super-quiet 120mm fan of your choice. The Hyper 212 can mount virtually any 120 fan you fancy - in either single or dual configurations. Lower RPM fans may of course reduce the overall cooling performance somewhat.
For those going midrange to reduce size and weight of the cooler, the Hyper 212 is not really a good choice. It is large and heavy and not really any smaller than the group of slightly more expensive top-performing coolers tested at AnandTech. Those who want small and light units with decent performance will be more satisfied with the OCZ Vendetta or the Zerotherm BTF90. Those who want both top performance and a smaller size can choose the Thermalright Ultima-90 with a 120mm fan.
Finally there is the overclocker. The Hyper 212 will not take you to the top of the overclocking charts for an air cooler, but it will get you near the top if you use two push-pull fans. There are several coolers that are better overclockers than the Cooler Master Hyper 212, but they all cost $50 to $70. The Hyper 212 does provide the best overclocking you can get in the market today for an investment of $40.
All in all Cooler Master has produced an excellent cooler in the Hyper 212. At a selling price of around $40 it provides excellent value for what you pay for it. The Hyper 212 won't satisfy everyone, but many readers will find it the best buy in this price range for a new CPU cooler.
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thoth@cheerful.com - Saturday, September 25, 2010 - link
choppergirl;There is one fatal flaw in your example above. In your suction building you are venting the heat outside the building. and in the blower building you are not. otherwise your examples are correct. In theory the amount of heat transfer is the same for blowing or sucking the air across a heat source with all variables being equal. As one of the previous posters stated to get the variables equal IE the exact amount of air flow.It cost more on the suction set up. Needing a shroud to focus the air flow. This added cost is why manufactures blow the air instead of sucking the air. After all if cost was not one of the driving factors in your system build we would all have decked out Intel hexacore overclocked beast with liquid nitrogen cooling.