Cooler Master Hyper 212: Looking for a Winner
by Wesley Fink on October 31, 2007 2:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Cooling at Stock Speed
Some users will never overclock their CPU, but they still want to run the coolest CPU temperatures possible to enhance stability and extend CPU life. All temperature benchmarks were compiled with CoreTemp, a public domain utility that is quite stable with reproducible results on the Intel platform. This required retesting a cross-section of the best coolers evaluated so far at AnandTech. To better document performance in the large speed gap between 2.93 GHz and 3.73 GHz the intermediate value of 3.33 GHz was added to all test results during the retest of the coolers.
The very good Intel stock air cooler keeps the X6800 at 31C at idle, compared to the top Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme at 24C, Corsair water at 24C, and Swiftech water at 27C. The Cooler Master Hyper 212 turns in an excellent idle performance at 25C, which is among the best results with CoreTemp. Clearly the 120mm fan is contributing to performance more like results measured with the top coolers rather than what might be expected from a $40 cooler. In comparing results please keep in mind the test results from the new cooling bed using CoreTemp are not directly comparable to earlier cooling results.
It is more difficult to effectively simulate a computer being stressed by all of the conditions it might be exposed to in different operating environments. For most home users CPU power is most taxed with contemporary gaming. Therefore our stress test simulates running a demanding contemporary game. The Far Cry River demo is looped for 30 minutes and the CPU temperature is captured with CoreTemp's "logging" option. The highest temperature during the load test is then reported. Momentary spikes are ignored, as we report a sustained high-level temp that you would expect to find in this recording configuration. This test configuration roughly equates to an 80% CPU load test using Intel TAT, another respected program for thermal measurements.
Cooling efficiency of the Cooler Master Hyper 212 was then compared under load conditions at stock speed to the retail HSF and other recently retested CPU coolers.
The Hyper 212 also turned in an excellent performance under load at stock speeds. CoreTemp results are 36C, which matches the best air cooler tested so far at AnandTech, the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme. This result was much better than other tested mid-priced coolers. It is also a significant improvement over the stock Intel fan which reaches 50C under load at stock speed in our cooling test bed.
If you do not plan to overclock, the Cooler Master Hyper 212 is an excellent choice. At around $40 it is less expensive than the usual $50 to $70 for a top air cooler, but the stock performance at idle and load matches the best units we have tested.
Some users will never overclock their CPU, but they still want to run the coolest CPU temperatures possible to enhance stability and extend CPU life. All temperature benchmarks were compiled with CoreTemp, a public domain utility that is quite stable with reproducible results on the Intel platform. This required retesting a cross-section of the best coolers evaluated so far at AnandTech. To better document performance in the large speed gap between 2.93 GHz and 3.73 GHz the intermediate value of 3.33 GHz was added to all test results during the retest of the coolers.
The very good Intel stock air cooler keeps the X6800 at 31C at idle, compared to the top Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme at 24C, Corsair water at 24C, and Swiftech water at 27C. The Cooler Master Hyper 212 turns in an excellent idle performance at 25C, which is among the best results with CoreTemp. Clearly the 120mm fan is contributing to performance more like results measured with the top coolers rather than what might be expected from a $40 cooler. In comparing results please keep in mind the test results from the new cooling bed using CoreTemp are not directly comparable to earlier cooling results.
It is more difficult to effectively simulate a computer being stressed by all of the conditions it might be exposed to in different operating environments. For most home users CPU power is most taxed with contemporary gaming. Therefore our stress test simulates running a demanding contemporary game. The Far Cry River demo is looped for 30 minutes and the CPU temperature is captured with CoreTemp's "logging" option. The highest temperature during the load test is then reported. Momentary spikes are ignored, as we report a sustained high-level temp that you would expect to find in this recording configuration. This test configuration roughly equates to an 80% CPU load test using Intel TAT, another respected program for thermal measurements.
Cooling efficiency of the Cooler Master Hyper 212 was then compared under load conditions at stock speed to the retail HSF and other recently retested CPU coolers.
The Hyper 212 also turned in an excellent performance under load at stock speeds. CoreTemp results are 36C, which matches the best air cooler tested so far at AnandTech, the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme. This result was much better than other tested mid-priced coolers. It is also a significant improvement over the stock Intel fan which reaches 50C under load at stock speed in our cooling test bed.
If you do not plan to overclock, the Cooler Master Hyper 212 is an excellent choice. At around $40 it is less expensive than the usual $50 to $70 for a top air cooler, but the stock performance at idle and load matches the best units we have tested.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
21 Comments
View All Comments
thoth@cheerful.com - Saturday, September 25, 2010 - link
choppergirl;There is one fatal flaw in your example above. In your suction building you are venting the heat outside the building. and in the blower building you are not. otherwise your examples are correct. In theory the amount of heat transfer is the same for blowing or sucking the air across a heat source with all variables being equal. As one of the previous posters stated to get the variables equal IE the exact amount of air flow.It cost more on the suction set up. Needing a shroud to focus the air flow. This added cost is why manufactures blow the air instead of sucking the air. After all if cost was not one of the driving factors in your system build we would all have decked out Intel hexacore overclocked beast with liquid nitrogen cooling.