Cooler Master
Hyper 212 Plus Processor Cooler (RR-B10-212P-GP)

Cooler Master Hyper 212+ - Best value for money, EVER

If there is one word I must use to summarize this cooler, it must be "WOW".

Before I installed this cooler, I still used the standard heatsink/fan combo that came with my Core 2 Quad Q8400 CPU. I managed to overclock this CPU on the stock cooler quite nicely, but I reached temperatures of about 40'C at idle speeds, whilst overclocking the CPU to 3.2GHz (from 2.66GHz).

After I installed the cooler, I noticed a spectacular temperature drop down to 32'C at idle speeds, keeping the CPU at the 3.2GHz overclocked level. I was completely captivated, and proceeded to benchmark the CPU with this cooler at the overclocked speeds, and got a massive increase in my overall score from 3D Mark 06. The CPU didn't even break a sweat, and thus I fell in love with the massive cooler that is the Hyper 212+.

What's in the box

- Heatsink, pre-fitted with one 120mm Cooler Master fan
- Mounting brackets, screws, nuts, blots, socket and instructions to fit the cooler to all CPU sockets on the market
- Heatsink compound (no additional information regarding this compound is given, except that it's Cooler Master compound)
- Mounting clips and screws for fitment of another 120mm fan to the other side of the heatsink
- Anti-vibration pads to keep the fans from vibrating and thus causing noise

I do have a few tips regarding this cooler though, and I'd appreciate it if Cooler Master could place this info on the cooler or make it available before you buy it:

- Make sure the cooler will fit in your case. You need AT LEAST a case with a width of 200mm to fit this fan. It is incredibly large, and only seeing it installed on a CPU will give you an idea of how big it truly is. The cooler stands from the motherboard a height of 158.5mm. The lenght of the heatsink is 79.7mm and width is 118.5mm. The last two dimensions to increase with the fans though, installing two 120mm fans makes the cooler 129.7mm wide long, and the width of the fans increase the width of the cooler to 120mm.

- Make sure the cooler will fit on your motherboard. Many newer motherboard have very large coolers and heatsinks fitted to their South Bridge controllers, and I know that specially Intel boards will have a hard time fitting in with the cooler. Brands like Asus, MSI and Gigabyte however seems to have taken into account that you may want to fit an aftermarket cooler to your OC motherboard, and they build their boards with low-profile heatsinks on the South Bridge. The other thing is the clearance over the RAM. I have newer chips, them being quite low, but I have had no problem fitting the cooler next to them. It comes up high enough to clear even bigger RAM chips, but I think you might have a problem with RAM coolers like the ones you get with the Corsair Dominator GT series RAM chips. Make sure before you buy!

- When fitting the cooler to the motherboard, ignore your basic instincts and do it like this: Remove the fans from the cooler. Mount the retaining bracket (the one that comes on the rear of the motherboard for stability) onto the rear of the motherboard first, and tighten all screws completely. Next, place the motherboard on a flat pillow or thick cloth to protect the soldered connections on the motherboard from hard surfaces/metal shorts. (If you haven't done so already, install your RAM chips now.) Install the CPU, and place a small amount of heatsink compound (about the size of a BB-bullet) onto the heatsink contact patch. Place the heatsink onto the CPU, and turn/wiggle it around slightly to get the compound to go everywhere it needs to. Place the fastening bracket over the top of the contact patch of the heatsink and tighen all the screws FULLY. If they are not fully fastened, the cooler gets a weak seating, limiting cooling and giving weak performance. Next, mount the motherboard into your case. Once mounted, plug in the power cable for the fan(s), and lastly mount the fan(s) to the heatsink. I struggled for a while with this before I noticed the method I explained to be easier.

Getting an additional fan for this cooler truly isn't neccessary, but I would recommend it anyhow. The cooling performance I'm getting is incredible, it's like nothing I've ever seen.

I am exceptionally pleased with this cooler, it works wonderfully and once I get some better heatsink compound I cannot wait to see it's true performance!

STRENGTHS:
Performance, performance and once again performance
Looks, it really looks awesome fitted to any motherboard
Easily fits another 120mm fan
Direct contact pure copper heat pipes looks and keeps cool
Fits all motherboards, all sockets

WEAKNESSES:
It's a bit hard to fit, and even with all the screws tightened all the way it still isn't stuck to the CPU as much as I'd like, but it works like that so who am I to comlain?

BEST USES:
Extreme air cooling for gaming machines and enthusiastic overclockers

SIMILAR ITEMS OWNED:
Several stock/standard coolers and other aftermarket coolers

RECOMMENDED ITEMS:
Nothing will ever be in the same class as this. Cheapest cooler, best performance.