Hyper 212 EVO - Aligning retention plate

[Just Monika]

Hi everyone. Today I went and and bought myself a Hyper 212 EVO to replace my stock Intel cooler. This was the first time I've bought and installed an aftermarket CPU cooler, so I had no idea what to expect. Watching several Youtube videos did help but when it came to put on the heatsink and retention plate, I had no idea what I was doing.

 

Note: I was installing the EVO into an already-built system, meaning the motherboard is already installed inside the case along with the other components.

 

The most difficult step was Step 4 of the installation, where I've applied thermal paste to the CPU, made contact between the heatsink and the CPU, and now I'm supposed to align the screws of the retention plate to the standoffs on the motherboard. I was able to make contact between the 4 screws and the 4 standoffs, but I had a tremendous amount of difficulty making the alignment highlighted in red in the diagram below:

 

 

Before lowering the heatsink onto the CPU, I had made sure that the retention plate and the heatsink were properly aligned as shown in the diagram. However, little did I know was that the retention plate would be pushed up by its screws as it was lowered with the heatsink onto the CPU, thus separating the heatsink/retention plate and ruining the alignment.

 

Try as I might, I could either align all 4 retention plate screws to the 4 standoffs or make the alignment highlighted in red, not both. If I tried to align the screws to the standoffs, the little metal "nub" on the heatsink would have no contact with the retention plate. So, I had to push/slide the heatsink around the CPU (spreading paste everywhere in the process) until it looked like contact had been made. Having struggled with this alignment process for almost an hour, I considered this "good enough" and proceeded to put on the fan and call it a day.

 

That said, I would like to know if there are any negative consequences as a result of failing to make the alignment highlighted in red above. After screwing in the heatsink to the standoffs, I did give the heatsink several strong pushes/nudges and made sure it was perfectly secured. Temperatures haven't passed 60C after stress-testing with Intel Burn Test.

 

Thanks.

 

 

[Xaring]

I did exactly the same thing hahahahahaha lol.

 

Nope, its been working fime for months in my PC.

[Just Monika]

@Xaring That's great to hear. Though I'm not sure pushing the heatsink side-to-side by half an inch in several directions is good for the thermal paste underneath. Idle temperatures are about 2-3C higher than they were with the stock cooler so I'm still somewhat uncomfortable, although I do understand that new thermal paste does take time to "burn in" and idle temperatures are meaningless unless temperatures reach unsafe levels.

[ChipWoodChainSaw]

did you move the screws according to your socket tpye?

 

i installed a hyper 212 evo today and im getting 10C cooler then normal...
 

[Xaring]

In my case they where lower than stock... I did try not to move it at all after I realised my failure at installing it... I think you should reaply the paste and try to install properly. good luck

[Just Monika]

@ChipWoodChainSaw Yes, I adjusted all 4 screws to the middle position for LGA1150.

 

@Xaring I'm considering doing that. I just have Firefox open with several tabs doing nothing and the CPU is bouncing around 30-37C idle.

[Jeroendedoem]

I've had the same issue installation sucked but it works now for a month or 6.

[KamiKatze]

This is why the 212 EVO sucks and should be abandoned! But nobody ever listens to me.

[TW1ST3R]

This is why the 212 EVO sucks and should be abandoned! But nobody ever listens to me.

It is an excellent cooler, but the installation instructions are complete garbage and the mounting is very fiddly, speaking from experience.  I'd still recommend it in a heartbeat to anyone on a tight budget, but with the caveat that it does require time and patience to install. 

 

 

Try as I might, I could either align all 4 retention plate screws to the 4 standoffs or make the alignment highlighted in red, not both. If I tried to align the screws to the standoffs, the little metal "nub" on the heatsink would have no contact with the retention plate. So, I had to push/slide the heatsink around the CPU (spreading paste everywhere in the process) until it looked like contact had been made. Having struggled with this alignment process for almost an hour, I considered this "good enough" and proceeded to put on the fan and call it a day.

Had similar issues.  Realised I goofed it up the first time I tried attaching it and had to clean off all my thermal compound and do it again.  Thankfully looking up how to install it on YouTube saved me from the terrible included instructions.

[Just Monika]

@TW1ST3R The funny (or not so funny) thing is, I did watch a bunch of installation videos on Youtube before I attempted to install the cooler myself. The problem is that every guide glosses over the part where the cooler is supposed to be aligned with the retention plate - it's just "put the retention plate on the cooler and lower it onto the CPU" and they slap on the cooler+retention plate onto the CPU like it was nothing. It's probably because the guide makers are all already experienced with installing CPU coolers so they didn't think to go over every minute detail. This being my first attempt at installing an aftermarket CPU cooler, I was as careful as a newbie brain surgeon.

 

Fortunately, my idle temperatures have noticeably settled down after a night's sleep. Instead of bouncing between 30-37C it's sitting at a comfortable 25-30C. I may have been panicking over nothing, just had to wait for the paste to settle in or something.

[TW1ST3R]

@TW1ST3R The funny (or not so funny) thing is, I did watch a bunch of installation videos on Youtube before I attempted to install the cooler myself. The problem is that every guide glosses over the part where the cooler is supposed to be aligned with the retention plate - it's just "put the retention plate on the cooler and lower it onto the CPU" and they slap on the cooler+retention plate onto the CPU like it was nothing. It's probably because the guide makers are all already experienced with installing CPU coolers so they didn't think to go over every minute detail. This being my first attempt at installing an aftermarket CPU cooler, I was as careful as a newbie brain surgeon.

 

Fortunately, my idle temperatures have noticeably settled down after a night's sleep. Instead of bouncing between 30-37C it's sitting at a comfortable 25-30C. I may have been panicking over nothing, just had to wait for the paste to settle in or something.

True, true.  I may make an installation tutorial some day if I bother to replace it with an AIO in future.

 

Good to hear your temps have stabilised, just keep an eye on them for the next week or so whilst idling and in game to be sure.  Mine's currently running between 30-35C as I write this and usually doesn't go above 70C in game, although I should mention my fan curves are weighted towards the quieter side of things.  If things start getting erratic you might want to reapply the paste or think about investing in an AIO in future if you don't fancy trying to reinstall it.