I Don't Recommend The 2011 Hyper 212 EVO

[jiyeon]

 

Hi, I'm seoz, and I've had first-hand experience with this cooler, and it's disgusting how underpowered this cooler is for the £25 I paid for it.

 

I am telling you all right now, new builder or not, to not buy the Hyper 212, and here's why.

 

 

First things first, before you're able to use the cooler, you have to install it. With the Hyper 212, things are particularly different.

 

Here's the installation method:
1. Apply thermal compound

2. Install backplate onto back of motherboard

3. Place heatsink onto CPU IHS
4. ... attempt to try and work out how on Earth to get the X-bracket aligned with both the heatsink's base and the mounting screws from the backplate

 

image courtesy of Tom's Hardware

 

This problematic mounting method alone points a red flag towards particularly novice and first-time builders. I myself actually spent 45 minutes to install the whole tower cooler in my first build and even had to Discord videocall a friend to help me out. The mounting's difficulty is so immense that because of this alone, I advise against the Hyper 212, even if you can secure one of these for £25.

 

Once you manage to install it with great difficulty, next comes the cooler's actual performance, yet another reason as to why nobody should ever consider the Hyper 212 as a CPU cooler.

 

 

I've used this cooler and taken it through a lot of overclock runs on Cinebench, I was thoroughly surprised when I found it only ever reached 70°C on a 5GHz overclock on my 8600K. But that's not impressive, let me talk about why.

 

Here's a quote from myself about how the Hyper 212 performed on a 4.4GHz run, and achieving 65°C.

Quote

Cold boot, 4.4GHz, MCE off = 1059 CB, 65C max temps

 

But here's another quote from my 4.6GHz run with an Arctic Freezer 33 eSports, and this time, achieving a little under 60°C.

Quote

I just bumped my 8600K up to 4.6GHz and under stress, it went to 58°C. Nicely done, Arctic Freezer 33 eSports.

 

Here is proof of that 4.6GHZ run. You cannot deny the power of the Arctic Freezer 33 eSports. You can accept the weakness of the Hyper 212. Moving on.

 

 

Now here's a quote from me that mentions how a 5GHz run on an 8600K with an Arctic Freezer 33 eSports only reaches 68°C max. Let me explain why this is impressive.

Quote

8600K 5GHz 1.3V run with my Arctic Freezer 33 eSports One - 68°C max

 

Here is a graph of what I see is happening between the two coolers on a 5GHz Cinebench run on my 8600K; The Hyper 212 is immediately saturated with heat and to its credit, is able to retain a 68-70°C temperature reading, while the Arctic 33 eSports is able to hold its lower temperatures for longer before eventually meeting the Hyper 212 at just under 70°C.

A cooler should be holding the colder temperatures longer and be fully capable of maintaining these low temperatures, and the Hyper 212 fails here by getting filled with heat the minute the Cinebench run begins.

 

 

Okay, so this section is up to personal preference, but even if you are making a silver/chrome-themed build, please still do not consider this just for the looks because the performance is just downright embarrassing.

 

This is the ugliest cooler I have ever seen on the market.

 

 

I feel as if Cooler Master slapped some materials together and called it a day, this is a disgrace of an air cooler design. But again, this is up to personal preference.

 

 

As a result of advising against the Hyper 212, I offer the alternative of the Arctic Freezer 33 eSports One*, mine set me back £32, a mere £7 more than the digusting junk mentioned above. I cover the bulk of why I recommend the Arctic 33 eSports One inside my review, so I direct you to that article to read up on it at your own leisure.

 

You can also consult the CPU cooler performance tier list for alternatives to the Hyper 212, where Tier 6 options are the most budget-friendly.

 

 

I just want to clarify that I have nothing against Cooler Master as a company, but this particular 2011 model Hyper 212 is a disgrace of the budget air cooler market and should never be considered when there are a nation of other options to go for, and for nearly identical if not cheaper prices for better performance.

 

The sheer lack of quality and shame that's gone into this cooler is ultimately the biggest disappointment, it's a cooler that looks like it would sell for no more than £10 when you consider the fins are sheets of metal, there's four exposed copper heatpipes, a plastic 120mm glossy fan, and a metal brick at the bottom...

 

Overall, Cooler Master, I'm disappointed in you. This product should not have the popularity it has in this era of computing. It cannot compete with any other budget cooler. It looks like hot garbage, it performs like hot garbage, and it is hot garbage. End of story.

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

// @seoz //

I'm sorry

 

 

[Zando_]

Cryorig makes better and nicer looking coolers anyways...

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

Seriously, though, nice PSA. Might want to talk about the finwalls on the side of the Freezer 33 Extremely Good

 

On 8/8/2018 at 11:58 AM, Zando Bob said:

Cryorig makes better and nicer looking coolers anyways...

wrong. The Freezer 33 is the best performing of the $30 120mm tower coolers

[jiyeon]

Just now, Zando Bob said:

Cryorig makes better and nicer looking coolers anyways...

Cryorig coolers also perform better. They're exceptionally nice coolers. Was close to copping a Cryorig H7 Quad Lumi but it was £67.

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

Just now, seoz said:

Cryorig coolers also perform better. They're exceptionally nice coolers. Was close to copping a Cryorig H7 Quad Lumi but it was £67.

The Freezer 33 and the H7 are about on par when the same fan is used IIRC

[jiyeon]

Just now, OrbitalBuzzsaw said:

Seriously, though, nice PSA. Might want to talk about the finwalls on the side of the Freezer 33 Extremely Good

Thank you. I could add the finwalls thing to my Arctic 33 eSports review later on, it fits that article better to me.  

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

Just now, seoz said:

Thank you. I could add the finwalls thing to my Arctic 33 eSports review later on, it fits that article better to me.  

Yeah, that's what I meant. Might want to condense those two threads together (i.e paste this onto the end of the Freezer 33 thread's OP)

[AlTech]

Yeah, the Hyper 212 and derivatives are annoying to deal with and not worth it imho.

[Mira Yurizaki]

The only criticism I have is when measuring its performance. The period in which the cooler was measured is too short. It needs to be measured for a longer period of time, like tens of minutes. This gives the system time to reach an equilibrium at which we can see how well the cooler can keep up. If the Hyper 212 can retain the temperatures at the end of the graph for 30 minutes or so, then it's likely going to retain that forever. At that point too, it's good to look at how hard the fan is working.

[jiyeon]

13 minutes ago, OrbitalBuzzsaw said:

Might want to talk about the finwalls on the side of the Freezer 33 Extremely Good

Added onto the end of my Arctic 33 eSports review.

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

Just now, seoz said:

Added onto the end of my Arctic 33 eSports review.

Good, glad to see the cyance

[TVwazhere]

12 minutes ago, seoz said:

Overall, Cooler Master, I'm disappointed in you. This product should not exist. It cannot compete with any other budget cooler. It looks like hot garbage, it performs like hot garbage, and it is hot garbage. End of story.

To be fair, the cooler is over 7 years old (September 1st, 2011 from what I can gather) in a time where the newest CPU was an i7-2700. For it's time it was a fantastic opton, but it does need to be retired. Fortunately they're working on the revision already

 

https://www.pcgamer.com/cooler-master-is-working-on-a-successor-to-the-legendary-hyper-212-evo/

Quote

Most importantly, the mounting bracket is getting a revamp. The only downside to the Hyper 212 was how annoying that mounting bracket was to install, and while the new bracket concept wasn't attached on the show floor, Liu told me Cooler Master knows that's a sore spot. You can see the different mount point in the photo below. It's not awkwardly stuck under the center of the radiator anymore!

Still a silver heat fins, but at least theres a nice top plate

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

Oh how the mighty have fallen. Though the "Childish Logo" thing is just being nitpicky. That sticker is way less offensive than the thousands of RGB products currently flooding the market.

 

Just reminded me how I'm also using a mediocre cooler that probably no one remembers.   

[jiyeon]

1 minute ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

Oh how the mighty have fallen. Though the "Childish Logo" thing is just being nitpicky. That sticker is way less offensive than the thousands of RGB products currently flooding the market. 

I know, the logo is only a gripe for me personally. I would still rather have RGB PSU cables than touch a Hyper 212 again.

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

1 minute ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

Oh how the mighty have fallen. Though the "Childish Logo" thing is just being nitpicky. That sticker is way less offensive than the thousands of RGB products currently flooding the market.

How so? At least with those you can turn the lights off, where as you're stuck with it on the Hyper 212 Degrees Celsius

 

2 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

To be fair, the cooler is over 7 years old (September 1st, 2011 from what I can gather) in a time where the newest CPU was an i7-2700. For it's time it was a fantastic opton, but it does need to be retired. Fortunately they're working on the revision already

Arctic 33 eSports review

https://www.pcgamer.com/cooler-master-is-working-on-a-successor-to-the-legendary-hyper-212-evo/

Still a silver heat fins, but at least theres a nice top plate

 

are there any pictures from the sides so we can see if it has fin side-walls?

[jiyeon]

2 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

To be fair, the cooler is over 7 years old (September 1st, 2011 from what I can gather) in a time where the newest CPU was an i7-2700. For it's time it was a fantastic opton, but it does need to be retired. Fortunately they're working on the revision already

 

Still a silver heat fins, but at least theres a nice top plate

That's nice. But remember that there are still people considering buying this old-gen model of the Hyper 212, just trying to steer those clear of this thing.

 

This new iteration however, could very well be a viable option.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

1 minute ago, OrbitalBuzzsaw said:

How so? At least with those you can turn the lights off, where as you're stuck with it on the Hyper 212 Degrees Celsius

That just defeats the purpose of having RGB in the first place. 

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

Also, @TVwazhere didn't they already try that with the 212X that fell flat on its face?

 

On 8/8/2018 at 12:20 PM, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

That just defeats the purpose of having RGB in the first place. 

Still you can if you want but with the 212 you're stuck looking at it

[TVwazhere]

On 8/8/2018 at 12:17 PM, OrbitalBuzzsaw said:

are there any pictures from the sides so we can see if it has fin side-walls?

On 8/8/2018 at 12:18 PM, seoz said:

That's nice. But remember that there are still people considering buying this old-gen model of the Hyper 212, just trying to steer those clear of this thing.

 

This new iteration however, could very well be a viable option.

100% agree. The refresh is needed

 

On 8/8/2018 at 12:21 PM, OrbitalBuzzsaw said:

Also, @TVwazhere didn't they already try that with the 212X that fell flat on its face?

212x wasn't a huge redesign IIRC, it used mostly the same tower and mounting bracket, which is where it really started to be a flawed product since many coolers started becoming much more user friendly

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

On 8/8/2018 at 12:21 PM, TVwazhere said:

100% agree. The refresh is needed

If they paint the heatsink sides black it might not even be hideous. I'd still take the Freezer 33 to avoid the shitty CM fan, but still

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

Just now, OrbitalBuzzsaw said:

Still you can if you want but with the 212 you're stuck looking at it

While it's in a case... not pointing towards the side panel window... of which people who spend that little money on a cooler probably wouldn't have anyways.

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

Just now, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

While it's in a case... not pointing towards the side panel window... of which people who spend that little money on a cooler probably wouldn't have anyways.

https://pcpartpicker.com/b/3HpG3C

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

Just now, OrbitalBuzzsaw said:

https://pcpartpicker.com/b/3HpG3C

It's still pointed towards the side. You have to really try to see that sticker. Unlike this thing.

[TVwazhere]

1 minute ago, OrbitalBuzzsaw said:

https://pcpartpicker.com/b/3HpG3C

The Enermax ETS-T40 looks way better in that case