Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - Updated

C0RR0SIVE

Golden Master
Messages
9,213
Location
Lexington, KY
This will be my first review of a product that I am publically posting, if anyone would like to ask questions, or point out mistakes in my review, please do so.


I recently found my self browsing newegg as most everyone does, just window shopping. I knew I needed to get off my stock heatsink for my AMD Phenom II X4 965BE, as a stock fan spun at 7800RPM (faster than the engine on my car o.0) it was loud, and had minimal performance.

I found a heatsink, the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO, it was on sale, and VERY cheap for me in the end, so I grabbed it up.

Product Details for the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
CPU Sockets Supported:
Intel LGA 2011/1366/1156/1155/775
AMD FM1/AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2 (AMD hasn't really redesigned the mounting for the motherboards for AMD over the years, that's a good thing)
Heatsink Weight: 465g (1.03 pounds)
Heatsink Pipe Diameter: 6mm
Pipe Count: 4
Fan: 120mm 600-2000RPM PWM, @ 24.9CFM to 82.9CFM
Noise Level: 9-36DB
Fan Weight: 104g (The Heatsink weight is separate, so it gets a bit heavy, and even heavier with my second fan)
Overall Height from base to tip of pipes: 159mm
Overall Height from base to the first fin layer: 37mm

System used in review.
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965BE
Mobo: MSI 880G-E45
RAM: G.Skill 2*2GB DDR3 1333 Value Ram + Ballistix Tracers 2*2GB DDR3 1333
PSU: OCZ ZS 650
GPU: ATI 3850 512MB GDDR5
HDD: OCZ Vertex 2 64GB

Please forgive me for the low quality pictures, and the time stamp.
Below you will see the box the cooler came in, rather flimsy box, but the contents it held are amazing.
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Below in pic #2 you can see the packaging, packed nicely, but I wouldn't want to drop this in the store, as it doesn't seem the packaging would prevent damage to the fan or heatsink it self.
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Below in pic #3 we have everything laid out. To the far right are the mount brackets, below those are the foam pads for the secondary fan, screws for a second fan, and mount nuts for the fan. Please use a word of caution, I noticed on 3 of mine, it had a little thick sticker, but on the fourth, it did not, and had a semi-rough surface. I would not like my motherboard being scratched up. I ended up getting a paper gasket from my garage and used to make up for that. The two black pieces are the fan brackets, and to the left, you will see the thermal paste included. It just says Cooler Master on it, not sure of the exact type/brand, but, I decided to see the consistency of it. Came out like WATER onto the base of the heatsink, literally, WATER like thickness. Then you have the instructions, and warranty information. Instructions lacked detail, small pictures, but covered every language known to man I think.
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In this picture, look closely at the base. Cooler Master advertises that the four heat pipes, side by side, and machined flat like this offer a superior cooling interface. But if you look close, it is VERY rough, and between each heat pipe, there is a rather significant gap. I actually used some Tuniq TX-2, put a large gob on, put a clean plastic glove on, and spread the paste out, pushing it into the heatsink to help fill those gaps. They are just too large for me personally, and I am not into lapping a heatsink this early in its life. I will probably lap it later on and give an update on any performance changes.
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Here is the Hyper 212 EVO compared to the stock HSF for my CPU, it's just as thick, as the stock HSF is high. So yes, it's somewhat of a monster for me.
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(Don't mind the foot and trash plz…)
The HSF in this picture is mounted so that air will blow from the front of the case, to the rear, perfect clearance all the way around, as long as you don't use RAM with very large heat spreaders, or add-on fans.
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Due to my case design though, I can't do from front to back, as I don't have a REAR exhaust in that general area of my case. I rotated the heatsink so it will blow straight up, towards the top of my case. As you can see, it clears the RAM, but only slightly. If I want to ever change RAM or have to swap it around, the HSF must be removed. Might make for a good reason to get low profile modules.
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Mounted with a single fan that the HSF came with, much larger than the stock one. MUCH heavier, and scarier to move around in all honesty.
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Well, my math SUCKS. I measured, and did everything to make sure she would fit, but apparently I forgot 1cm somewhere…
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Just a random picture, as you can see, this case is narrow, yet tall. Was made when the ATX/EATX standards first started to come up, actually had some old P2 CPU/Mobo in it when I got it for $3.00 from work. No rear exhaust, I originally had a 120mm, 130CFM fan installed on the side panel, to force cool air in at the bottom, and another one at the top to draw it out. But, well, crap happens.
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Both fans mounted, the second one is actually the old one from the side panel, I really don't want to imagine the weight on my motherboard, it has me scared.
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I don't have any images of my temps, and my temps may be a bit off when comparing due to the fact I thought I would have a side panel in both setups.

Stock: (Side panel is installed, forcing cool air through the entire system)
Ambient: 24C
Idle: 30C
Load: 63C (Prime95 for 1 hour)

Hyper 212 EVO: (NO side panel installed, no forced air, it is semi-stagnent, only air flow created is from HSF and PSU above it sadly)
Ambient: 23C
Idle: 28C
Load: 47C (Prime95 for 1 hour)


As you can see, temps are down, I suspect with a good lapping, and a proper case/airflow, and this HSF would exceed what it is doing as is.

Pros:
CHEAP, retail it's $35 on the egg, but when on sale, you can get it as cheap as $5 if you had a promo code, with free shipping.
Stock fan has GREAT air flow, and is virtually silent; I honestly can't hear it above the higher powered fans in the case.
Cools nicely compared to the stock unit, good cheap upgrade.
On AM3/AM3+ it seems it can easily be mounted for front to back, or bottom to top air flow configurations.

Cons:
Base is not smooth enough for GOOD heat exchange. Factory could have lapped it or something to provide a SMOOTH surface.
Retention bracket is thin, seems like it won't hold the stress nicely like the stock back plate bracket would.
Did not come with a second matching fan for a push/pull effect.
Instructions SUCKED, pictures are VERY small, and of crap quality. First aftermarket HSF I have ever installed aside from a few WC setups, took me 30 minutes to get it mounted and secured to the board.

Conclusion: Would I buy this again? YES, but not for $35, $25 sure, but for it to be $35 it NEEDS to have a smoother base, no reason for my finger nail to catch all over the heat pipes like it did. Should be smooth enough that you CAN'T feel the machined surface. This is a good solution to get away from loud stock cooling, but that is about it I feel. I can't give a very good opinion, as I said earlier, the side panel on this case influences temperatures dramatically, hopefully once I get a wide case, that will fit this then I can give a better opinion. My personal rating, 4/5. Update the brackets to be stronger, and fix the rough base surface, and this would easily be a 5/5, and a recommended upgrade from me if you want a decent cheap cooler.

I hope this review meets everyones expectations, first actual review I have ever gave serious thought to, didn't think much about the whole process honestly. xD

Follow up on the Hyper 212 EVO

I finally decided the other night to rip my case apart, and attempt to get a good comparison between the two coolers in terms of cooling performance. I will also note things I severely DISLIKE about the coolers.

Earlier on, I mentioned the base was rough, and seemed somewhat un-even. Well, my thoughts came to bear fruit. Below you can see the CPU IHS, the thermal paste did NOT spread out evenly what so ever with the heatsink base. Spots where the paste are uber thick, then other spots where none spread into. By far the worst I have seen thermal paste spread, ever.
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But, the stock cooler, even though it is stock, has a solid, flat, SMOOTH base compared to the Hyper 212 EVO. Honestly, that is how thermal paste SHOULD look like when being spread out by the heatsink. You will notice some thin and thick spots, but, no bare and uber thick areas of paste that would hinder thermal transfer as significantly.
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Lets look a little closer at the Hyper 212 EVO base it self after it was removed and wiped down. One, you can see the “scratching”. That would not be present in most good heat sinks, you can actually very easily feel the bumps and ridges, and even catch your nail on it! But that's the least of my annoyance. This design is advertised as superior to an indirect base in the fact heat will pass directly into the heat pipes more efficiently.
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Just the crude setup area. Stock fan has been mounted, and it's waiting to be tested.
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Time for a quick stress test!!! Ok, so, this was NOT ran long, AT ALL. This is with the STOCK heatsink, ambient temp is 22C
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I did two tests with the aftermarket unit. The first one is with the fan that the unit came with, no secondary fan. The second test is with the second fan added half way into the testing. The third graph, you can see when the second fan was turned on.
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Honestly, it's not a bad heatsink for the $20-$30 range, if the base was lapped down, or smoother and even, I would probably think it would be acceptable in the $30-$40 range that most sites sell it at. If you can find the Hyper 212 Plus for cheaper, and planned on changing fans, the heatsink is the same, the only difference is it doesn't include LGA2011 mount brackets, and a higher flowing fan like the EVO does.

All pictures taken while working on this review can be seen here: http://www.clantwgb.com/c0rrspics/
All trademarks are property of the respective owners.
 
Re: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

Nice so far corrisive, but 2 things I ask of you for now.
CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting

Also when money is not a issue, pickup a new case with good cooling.
Then I want to see what this heatsink can do fully.
For now, I'll just tell you to close the case and monitor the temps for a day and put your cpu through some normal stuff you usually do.

Later for now corro.
 
Re: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

I don't have an area that I can really work at, besides, I never had issues with carpet and ESD :p
 
Re: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

Time to dig out the Dremel and start making holes in the front for a 120mm fan. Should clear up some issues. I had an AGP 3850 that looked exactly like that but had no cooling issues with it.
 
Re: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

I don't have an area that I can really work at, besides, I never had issues with carpet and ESD :p

you must have really good humidity my house is so dry all the time.... it doesn't rain here enough and I shock things all the time... sucks...
 
Re: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

Wont be getting a SS of the stock cooler temps for a long while, as it's beyond a ROYAL PITA to swap these around, was a pita just installing this heatsink.

Ambient is around 28C, played PORTAL2 for 2 hours, and ran Prime95 for one hour after that. This is done with a mock-up side panel done. I need to invest in a new case and GPU heatsink I think. xD
temps.jpg
 
Re: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

My 212EVO came with a newer style bracket that works on all the socket types that are standard these days, and the four stand-offs for socket 2011, you can see them in the plastic baggy. The only true difference between the two is the fan. The Plus has a quieter fan, but performs slightly worse than the one that comes with the EVO, which in turn is louder as well. Other than that, they appear to be exactly the same heatsink.

Seems the 212 Plus doesn't ship with the newer style bracket design just yet as well.



EDIT: I WILL be re-working this review tonight at some point, to include 1 hour prime runs with the stock vs aftermarket HSF setup, both setups WILL be the same so that the only difference is the HSF.
 
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