Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler Review

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Dual Fan & Passive Performance

Dual Fan Performance

Since this is one of the few coolers on the market to come with sufficient fan clips to run a pair of 120mm fans, we decided to make good use of this little extra accessory. Since the extra clips are provided, we think lot of people will want to run dual fans on this unit so we elected to use two Noctua NF-P12-1300 fans for this test.

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These numbers are very, VERY good and we are now seeing the true potential of this amazing cooler. While dual fan setups are not for everyone and they add to the price of the unit, you have to realise that with both P12’s running flat out the noise level was actually less than when we were running the single stock fan. If you can afford to replace the lone fan with duals and don’t mind INCREASED noise we can just imagine what levels of performance you could reach with dual Panflos.. As it stands we are very impressed with this cooler as should you be.

Passive Cooling

In certain extreme cases you may have to deal with a dead fan; or alternatively you are interested in using a certain cooler as a passive cooler. While we are hesitant to recommend any Air cooler for passive cooling, unless the manufacturer has designed it to be one, we all know things break and there is a possibility of ending up with a passively cooled device even if you neither meant nor wanted it to be so! To this end we have devised the following torture test to see how a given cooler will perform in a worst case scenario.

The following test will be PASS/FAIL unless a manufacture specifically states a CPU cooling solution is designed for passive cooling as we feel that do to otherwise would be very disingenuous and down right unfair. If it is designed for passive use we will of course provide hard data on its performance. We believe this is a fair and reasonable compromise between providing you our reader the most information possible, while still being fair and unbiased to the manufacturers.

Anyone can create a test which has no possibility of success but that would be a waste of any ones time; this test on the other hand is as tough as we can make it and still have to possibility of success. What makes this test so difficult, is the simple reason that we will be testing in an open bench which has absolutely no external air flow. Even in the most under-cooled cases there is always some air movement, even if the air movement is only coming from the PSU it is still a heck of a lot more than will be afforded a cooler on our open bench. As we stated earlier this is a worst case, scenario where the cooler will have to shed all the heat it can by simple passive radiation!

The first and main part of the test is 15 minutes of prime95 small fft being run at stock speed (2.4GHz) on our i7 test system. If at anytime the temperature of any of the four cores reaches and stays at 70° C for greater than 10 seconds we will consider this test a FAIL.

Please note: Any Air based CPU cooler which passes the i7 test will automatically be given a PASS grade on the cooler running secondary passive CPU test. To keep things easier to understand the only time we will publish the Q6600 subtest is when a given cooler has failed the main i7 test.

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The 212 Plus passed this test with flying colors. If your case has good airflow and a cooler running processor, this may make a good and SILENT addition to your system. For everyon else, knowing you have some wiggle room if you DO lose a fan is a nice security blanket to have.

 

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Value

Value

The term “Value” is such an amorphous term that it truly has different meanings for different people. For some a CPU cooler is only as good as it over-clocking potential, for others it is how quiet it does its job; for others still it’s how effective it is for its cost. We here at HWC try to provide as many answers as possible for the term “Value”. Hopefully by this point in the review people looking at OC potential or loudness levels will have a fairly good idea of what its Value is. For the “best bang for the buck” crowd we have included a chart below showing how much each 1*c less costs when compared to Intel’s FREE stock cooler. No consideration has been made for noise levels, “looks” or any other extraneous factors; this is just raw performance vs. monetary cost. For any cooler which performs worse than the Intel stock cooler a rating of “FAIL” will be given. For any cooler which has a “Value” of more than $10 per 1°C a rating of “FAIL” will be used in the graph but the chart will list its actual “value”.

All prices are based on either their MSRP (if no e-tailer prices were available at review time) or the online price they sold for at the time of their review. IF a CPU cooler does not include a fan the price of a Scythe F has been included ($12).

To make it as easy as possible for you to modify this ratio we have also included the various coolers temperature difference so if you do come across one of them on sale you can easily modify its “Value” rating. We here at HWC are in no way saying this is the definitive answer to “Value”, rather it should be considered another tool to help you make your final decision. After all something is only as “valuable” as what you consider it to be.

Q6600 Cooling Value

Please Note: This chart has be calculated based upon the differences between Intel stock cooler’s average load at its highest OC on a Q6600 @3.0GHz versus various after market coolers average load temperatures (in their stock configuration with stock TIM) also on a Q6600 @ 3.0GHz.

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As with the passive tests this value score really is not that surprising. This is a beast at cooling even older quads and when you combine extremely good performance with an extremely reasonable price tag….what else could possibly happen except be a very, very, VERY good deal?

i7 920 Cooling Value

Please Note: This chart has be calculated based upon the differences between Intel stock cooler’s average load at its highest OC on a 920 @ 3.42GHz versus various after market coolers average load temperatures (in their stock configuration with stock TIM) also on a 920 @ 3.42GHz.

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Just as the value of the Cooler Master 212 Plus is great on older 775 quads, its i7 value is very impressive as well. It performs almost as good as the best air cooler we have ever tested, yet costs less. There isn't really much more would could ask of this unassuming cooler.​

 

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Conclusion

Conclusion

It’s been one heck of a ride, but like all good things it has now come to its end. We hope you too walk away from this review as impressed as we are with the Cooler Master Hyper 212+. It's performance is among the best of the best while having everything anyone could possibly want; from an easy installation process, to a wide range of compatibility options to a size that won't leave you bumping into everything in sight. Add this the fact that the more expensive V8 and V10 products were usually left in the dust by a cooler that costs significantly less and you suddenly realize that Cooler Master has an interesting situation on their hands.

As we saw in the performance evaluation sections, the Hyper 212 PLUS has exceptional cooling potential. However, we really do wish Cooler Master had gone with four 8mm heatpipes instead of the smaller ones found on this cooler. As good as the numbers were, we did see that it may have maxed out at the top end of the i7 overclocking tests. This is why the Prolimatech was able to overtake it while sporting a much slower fan. Don’t get us wrong as this cooler has awesome potential and will satisfy most of the enthusiast community. Even at 3.8GHZ the average temperature of the fire-breathing i7 920 CPU was relatively cool and the Hyper's performance was only inferior to the best of the best of the best.

In the 212 PLUS' stock configuration you get not only a great high speed fan but one which is also has very good static pressure and an acceptable noise envelope. As an added bonus you may also get a Rifle Bearing fan and not the Sleeve Bearing which is advertised. To us a fan which does as good a job as this one does AND has a longer life expectancy is a nice bonus and not something worth beating up the manufacturer over. With that being said we do have a hunch that many enthusiasts will be swapping out this lone fan for a pair of quieter ones since the performance increase is significant enough to make most overclockers sit up and take notice. In our books, the very fact that the 212 PLUS can accept a second fan straight out of the box is what pushes it past the venerable Xigmatek 1283 and OCZ Vendetta 2.

The other thing which really pleased us is the backplate which comes standard with this Cooler Master heatsink. Pushpin mounting really is a less than optimal solution especially when you are talking about a cooler like this one.

In the end it what sealed this cooler's fate -and left the crown firmly seated on the Prolimatech- was the fact it required a 2000RPM fan to get as good a results as it did. Most coolers have a more balanced approach to performance versus fan speed than this little powerhouse and this did to a certain extent skew things in its favor. While not overly noisy, the fan this cooler comes equipped with can't exactly be called quiet either. We firmly believe in testing coolers with their stock fan (assuming they come with one) as this gives you a more clear and precise picture of its "out of the box" potential, BUT it does casue the occasional zinnger.

It many ways this review ended up being a good old fashioned slugging match and was a lot like watching a rematch of Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvellous Marvin Hagler. However, the heavyweight fighter did walk away the winner in this main event, albeit sporting a pair of black eyes and a chipped tooth.

Most will never ever reach the ceiling of this relatively lightweight air cooling solution’s thermal envelope but those who do would be better served by going for the big boy Prolimatech Megagalems. On the other hand, many an overclocker may prefer the svelte 212 PLUS to the others since it cools as good as if not better than most of the big boys…who also cost a lot more.

While we could go on and on, we think the best way to sum up this cooler is to say it’s a DAM GOOD VALUE. It performs wonderfully yet is very reasonably priced and (for the majority of consumers) if you pull the trigger and purchase one you will not be disappointed in it.



Pros:

- Price
- Excellent Cooling Performance
- Dual fan capable out of the box
- Very powerful stock fan
- Backplate comes standard
- Improved installation process (compared to other CM coolers)


Cons:

- Heatpipes are the smaller style
- Relies on a 2000RPM fan for optimal performance
- Questions over Fan specs
- Single pressure point mount does allow twisting to happen
- "Only" second best at high loads

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