Introduction & Closer Look
If your first guess was cooling to the question, “What kind of products does Cooler Master produce?” you would of course be correct! Cooler Master are of course not just well known for their affordable, performance and downright outrageous cooling options (V8 cooler anyone?), but they are also very deep into the PC chassis/case markets as well. Today I’m going to be taking a look at a cooler from their Hyper cooling range which offers good value for money, but without sacrificing much in terms of performance. I am of course talking about the Hyper 212 which now features a red LED PWM fan.
To add to this review of the Cooler Master Hyper 212 LED cooler, I have also included (in addition) testing with an aftermarket Cooler Master MasterFan Pro 120. This is to see if an aftermarket can actually improve the cooling performance of a relatively basic mid-range air cooler.
Taking a look at the Hyper 212 LED CPU cooler itself as it comes when purchased, out of the box and stood upright, it has a pretty basic look; in comparison to some other coolers currently on the market. With the 120mm Cooler Master PWM fan pre attached for ease of use and of course, convenience.
The Hyper 212 stands at 160mm tall with an overall depth of 116mm and a width of 60mm; the width increases to 85mm with the fan attached. Overall it’s a pretty svelte little cooler and should pose no problems in terms of RAM clearance. There is a second set of brackets included so you can use the 212 LED in push/pull as well as with a singular fan.
The Cooler Master Hyper 212 LED uses 2 materials which make up the coolers main construction, this includes aluminium for the fins and copper for the heatpipes.
As mentioned, the heatpipes are made from copper and in the case of the Hyper 212 LED, these are direct contact for improved and superior cooling performance.
Looking at the Hyper 212 LED from a different angle, the Cooler Master logo is embedded into the top of the tower, with the 4 direct contact copper heatpipes firmly and neatly soldered into place.
Here we have the Cooler Master MasterFan Pro 120mm Air Balance LED fan which is considered aftermarket and offers a high performing solution to the stock fans. It’s widely known that most brands use cheaper and more generic fans with CPU coolers, so we of course will be using this particular fan to see if extra performance can be gained.
The MasterFan Pro 120 has 3 different modes which can be selected. These are performance, quiet and silence mode. Obviously these are pretty self-explanatory, but performance mode will of course lead the fan to flow faster, thus increasing the noise output. Quiet and silence mode will be more ear friendly, but will sacrifice the air pressure and air flow which will lower performance, but it won’t buzz until your head explodes!
Cooler Master Hyper 212 LED Specifications
| Model number | RR-212L-16PR-R1 |
| CPU Socket | Intel® LGA 2011-3/2011/1156/1155/1151/1150/775AMD® AM3+/AM3/AM2+/FM2+/FM2/FM1 |
| Dimensions (LxWxH) | 120(L) x 84(W) x 160(H) mm |
| Heat Sink Dimensions (LxWxH) | 116(L) x 60(W) x 160(H) mm |
| Heat Sink Material | Aluminum (Fins) Copper (Heatpipes) |
| Heat Sink Weight | 468g |
| Heat Pipes Diameter | Ø6mm |
| Fan | |
| Fan Dimensions (LxWxH) | 120(L) x 120(W) x 25(H) mm |
| Fan Speed | 600-1,600 RPM ± 10% |
| Fan Airflow | 66.3 CFM ± 10% |
| Fan Air Pressure | 1.7 mmH2O ± 10% |
| Fan Life Expectancy | 280,000 hrs |
| Fan Noise Level (dBA) | 9-31 dBA |
| Fan Bearing Type | Rifle Bearing |
| Fan Connector | 4-Pin (PWM) |
| Fan Rated Voltage | 12 VDC |
| Fan Rated Current | 0.19 A |
| Fan Power Consumption | 2.28 W |
| Fan Weight | 166g |
| Warranty | 2 years |
| EAN Code | 4719512053379 |
| UPC Code | 884102029486 |
Installation
Installation was pretty pain free with the Hyper 212 LED CPU cooler and although it could have been made much easier, it wasn’t too much to handle.
Starting off with positioning the back plate of the cooler behind the motherboard, all you need to do here is align the screw points to each hole and push them through; AMD and Intel have different mountings, but the instructions included are pretty straightforward.
Next, it’s a case of screwing on the double barrelled bolts into place…
Installing the mounting plates onto the cooler it was probably the fiddliest part as each bar requires the use of a small screw. It’s the kind of screw that if you drop onto the floor, you might have trouble finding it. One these are firmly in place and correctly as shown, you can move onto the next step.
After applying your thermal paste of choice, it is a simple case of lining up the mounting screws which are on springs to the holes in the double barrelled bolts. Remember to screw them down evenly for an even fit of course!
Last but not least, it’s a very simple case of clipping the fan onto the side of the Hyper 212 heat sink itself and plugging the 4 pin PWM cable into CPU cooler fan header; job done!
Performance
Since our previous cooling reviews, we have decided to update the method accordingly for better and consistent results. It isn’t ideal running Prime95 for a prolonged period of time and if you get called away to do something, it could be left running for much longer than needed. Our new methodology involves running a very stressful multi-threaded performance benchmark called RealBench.
Test Setup
CPU – Intel Core i7 6700k – (4.2GHz at 1.25v & 4.5GHz at 1.38v)
Motherboard – ASUS Z170 Maximus Hero Alpha
GPU – ASUS GTX 1060 STRIX
RAM – Crucial Ballistix 3000MHz 32GB (4x8GB)
PSU – be quiet! 850w Dark Power Pro 11
SSD – Crucial MX300 525GB SSD
Case – Cooler Master Test Bench V2
Idle Testing Methodology
To test each cooler at idle, the minimum temperature is taken after leaving the PC only start-up programmes on Windows 10 being allowed to run for 5 minutes. After this, the minimum temperature with the core temperature being offset against the room temperature; thus achieving delta.
Load Testing Methodology
To load test, we run RealBench while selecting the heavy multitasking benchmark only. We run this a maximum of 3 times concurrently and the maximum temperature recorded is taken. This temperature is deducted from the current room temperature and our final delta temperature is provided.
Results
Note: MasterFan Pro 120 is set to performance mode for the testing today.
Conclusion
One thing about the Cooler Master Hyper 212 LED CPU cooler is that it doesn’t leave a massive dent on your wallet. At £32.99 at Scan.co.uk, it’s easily available and much better than the traditional Intel stock cooler supplied with retail chips. With good performance and even rivalling the NZXT Kraken X42 CPU cooler when the MasterFan 120 is attached. This certainly means the Hyper 212 is provides exceptional value for money.
Does having an aftermarket fan attached make much difference? At the end of the day, not as much as people might hope for. The difference between the stock 120mm fan and the premium MasterFan 120 Air Balance fan comes down to 1.4c in our testing. This means that the stock fan actually does a fantastic job as the MasterFan was set to performance mode; the maximum setting. The MasterFan Pro 120 is available at most retailers for around £13 if you so wish to save yourself a couple of degrees; although the stock one does have a red led if you want to have your system glowing red inside!
Overall whether you’re looking at the Hyper 212 LED as it is, or adding a premium fan for extra performance, for the pricing, the Hyper 212 LED is great value for money. Although installation can be a little more fiddly than it has to be, the performance of this 160mm tall cooler shouts louder than it looks like it can. Not only does the Hyper 212 LED deserve our silver award, but it also deserves our value award, simply for the performance shown on our Intel i7 6700k when overclocked and for the exceptional value offered by Cooler Master.
Big thanks to Cooler Master for sending the Hyper 212 LED in for review.
Pros:
– Fantastic performance to price ratio
– Hyper 212 LED represents amazing value for money
– Suitable for cases with enough clearance of up to 160mm tall
– Does have additional brackets included to allow for push/pull configurations
Cons:
– Mounting system could be a little less “fiddly”
Putting a new fan on this heat sink I cracked the corner piece at the top. I’m still using the bracket hoping it will stay strong enough till I have found a replacement.
Nice one! Cracked one of the plastic clips or broke a piece of the heatsink itself off? The thermal paste I use for testing since Play3r began has been Noctua NT-H1; it’s certainly one of the best around I would say.
I had to retest 3 times to make sure the temps were right in comparison to the NZXT Kraken X42!!!
CM have pretty awesome customer service. If you contact them and explain the problem they might send you out a replacement.
I bought it a few days ago. Plus i installed both Cooler Master Jetflo fans. I have an Intel core i7 3960x processor and it keeps from 24 to 28 C degrees of temperature. Excellent performance while spending a little money. I thought temperature would be around 50 C degrees, nice surprise!. Cooler Master definetively did an excellent job with Hyper 212 led cooler.
How about adding noctua nf-f12 ippc-2000 pwm fan to it.. How much of a performance difference will it make?
I wonder if that would make the fin-stack better or worse… Some quality radiators / stacks have fin density matched to the pressure of the airflow, too little and it’s not efficient, too much and you can start to see more turbulence which apparently causes more problems than benefits.
It’s a good idea for a test though, I’ll have to see if there’s a suitable fan in Noctua’s latest care package and we have one available I’ll ask Dave if he’s willing to put it to the test.
Thanks for the idea 😀