15 Years A King: Cooler Master Hyper 212 in 2022 Benchmarked (Black Edition)

Sponsor: Buy Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut paste on Amazon (geni.us/JMVNtOE) or Hydronaut paste for water cooling (Amazon - geni.us/Fsray)
We're revisiting and benchmarking the Cooler Master Hyper 212, specifically using the Hyper 212 RGB Black Edition (a more recent, but still many-years-old successor) to see how the 212 does against more modern coolers. Newer alternatives include the Deepcool AK400, Thermalright Assassin Spirit 120, and Vetroo V5. We'll also cover performance results versus the stock AMD CPU coolers, like the AMD Wraith and AMD Stealth coolers.
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Our GN Large PC Building Modmat now has a 7-YEAR WARRANTY, including some accidental damage coverage for end users! Grab one and support our testing over here: store.gamersnexus.net/product...
Watch our Deepcool AK400 CPU cooler review here: • Best Cheap CPU Coolers...
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RELATED PRODUCTS
Cooler Master Hyper 212 RGB Black Edition on Amazon - geni.us/DofSB5
DeepCool AK400 on Amazon: geni.us/Mr50z
Arctic Freezer 34 Esports Duo on Amazon: geni.us/mvdp
Scythe Fuma 2 on Amazon: geni.us/5qM0v
Vetroo V5 on Amazon: geni.us/9IAQF9
Noctua NH-U12S Redux on Amazon: geni.us/BnCTNY
Or if you want some liquid cooling there’s the Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280 on Amazon: geni.us/RJBy
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Revisiting the GOAT
01:15 - Testing the Best Version of the Hyper 212 (Black Edition RGB)
04:53 - Build Quality & Mechanical Aspects
07:10 - Installation & Complaints
11:08 - Pressure Testing
12:46 - Flatness Testing
13:15 - 68W Ryzen 5 Heat Load at 35dBA Normalized
14:44 - VRM Thermals Were Interesting
15:43 - 100% Fan Speed with 68W R5
17:20 - 123W R7 Heat Load at 35dBA Normalized
18:21 - 123W R7 at 100T Fan Speed
19:00 - Conclusion
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Host, Writing, Test Lead: Steve Burke
Testing, Installation Host, Editing: Mike Gaglione
Video Editing, Camera: Andrew Coleman

[@GamersNexus]

Our GN Large PC Building Modmat now has a 7-YEAR WARRANTY, including some accidental damage coverage for end users! Grab one and support our testing over here: store.gamersnexus.net/products/modmat-volt-large Watch our Deepcool AK400 CPU cooler review here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bn_Wd6iEpq6Brdk

[@mikes567]

yes thank you so much

[@fazkaz1996]

Thanks for giving us warranties and pushing others to do the same!!!

[@mikes567]

32usd for my evo212 and its run at 100% for about 7yrs now straight daily ...thinking of slapping a noctua fan on it when it dies

[@Erick726]

F this cooler! The 212 ruined one of my otherwise perfect motherboards in the past and I'm still upset that I had to waste hundreds to replace it. The mounting design is shit and I'm not taking any chances in the future with Cooler Master.

[@rudiansyahsyah9738]

classroom speak motivation presentasi room basic symbol speak english year 2022 / 2023 quality utility motivation.com master believe.com 2022 / 2023 🏛🌍🌎🌏

[@PitH0und]

"Hey, it's my CPU cooler." -A massive percentage of DIY PC builders login into youtube

[@Najolve]

If it's stupid but it works...

[@mrziff]

100%

[@MongooseTacticool]

Yeah, I have a 212 evo on my 8086k and upgraded the fan, bought it back when I was earning a lot less.

[@mitsuhed]

Yup

[@annoymouse890]

That ak400 is my cooler and I can definitely recommend it

[@caleb7674]

The 212 was kind of an innovator back in the day, mid/late 00s aftermarket air coolers were dominated by zalman and their downdraft flower and proprietary tower design. This allowed for an easy fan replacement where the zalmans failed in that category.

[@pankothompson5903]

yeah sad the same didnt happen to GPUs just have 120mm casefans and mounting holes for like 80,92mm etc and normal 4pin connectors

[@executor32]

Yeah, replacing the fan on my Zalman CNPS9900MAX was not a walk in the park. I suppose it could've been, had I followed through with requesting a replacement from Zalman, but in the end I decided to mod a standard fan since it was practically the same price I would've paid for the Zalman fan + shipping. I ended up getting a 140mm Phanteks RGB fan that had all its LEDs in the hub, so I could cut off the frame without damaging anything. After removing most of the frame and drilling a couple mounting holes at the edges of the back of the hub, I screwed it to the proprietary Zalman fan mount with the original screws, and two years later it's held up just fine. It performs far better than the stock fan and looks much nicer to boot. But yeah, the whole process was a pain in the ass, especially since I don't have a Dremel or the like and had to cut the frame off with a butter knife that I heated on the stove.

[@thebeetalls]

The only thing the 212 innovated was being just barely good enough and cheap. Xigmatek led the way with direct touch heatpipe tower coolers and coolermaster just found a way to mass produce and distribute them at a scale other manufacturers couldn't keep up with.

[@tek1645]

@@thebeetalls it was more than good enough, anything else was unnecessary

[@OverruledDood]

@@thebeetalls Dang Xigmatek, that's a name I haven't heard in a decade. Good times.

[@DisneyVideoArchive]

We can classify air coolers as one of two categories: Coolers before the 212, and coolers after the 212.

[@NoizyCr1cket]

Forget this B.C. and A.D. nonsense. Years are now relative to B.212 and A.212.

[@sjbrockhurst65]

The Antec A40 Pro 'Quiet Assassin' Cooler works very well, on an i7 DDR3.

[@Robbie-mw5uu]

We do not disrespect the Hyper 212 in this house.

[@Lordrlm]

Just did a count, I'm far to invested into the 212 to change them all. I am running 5 of them right now and have never had a problem.

[@yanpakal]

Before the 212 EVO I had an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 PRO Rev.2 xD

[@Daldaren]

I've installed dozens of these over the years, and to my knowledge they stayed in the systems for the lifetimes of the computers, and sometimes carried over to new builds. Fantastic product during its day.

[@amyjeffs3269]

spot on..had this cooler in 2 of my pcs for many years,and several i built for others without any overheating issues..

[@riothero313]

dude, even the shitty ripoffs work fairly well

[@Jas-wh3np]

212 EVO fans sucked, had multiple seize up and stop turning in my experience. Cooler itself was fine in the days of

[@donjuandemarco7796]

Same. budget people be on a budget. I have been using their air coolers for 22 years. Only complaints I have had are no RGB, and from when people want to dip their toes in overclocking

[@An63rX3r0]

@@Jas-wh3np I had to replace one fan and then the cooler altogether on my brother's home server (AMD FX8120). On my old machine though, 7 years and counting with no problems (Intel Core i5-4570).

[@AllGreatTruths]

I have a Hyper Evo 212 that I've owned for 13 years. Replaced the stock fan with a Noctua and it's still going strong.

[@jamesm568]

Just as good as 140mm water cooling using a Noctua IndustrialPWM fan.

[@MeatPoPsiclez]

Have a hyper 212 that's been running nearly 24/7 for 12 years, stock fan is still going strong somehow

[@jaywhy3178]

About the same for me, 3 CPUs it's been mounted on. From 3570k to 3600 to 5800X3d. Only in the past couple months did I need a fan replacement. 212 Evo is a champ!

[@michaelxdrift]

I like how the 212 plus has the plastic brackets with screws to hold the fan in instead of the almost paperclip like mounting brackets alot of manufacturers use. It makes it easier to mount aftermarket fans AND has two sets so you can push pull (if you want)

[@8draco8]

Same for me. Now mounted on Ryzen 5600X. I replaced the fan with 2 Noctua fans, works like a charm

[@moldyshishkabob]

If anything deserves the term "the old guard", it's the Hyper 212. It's a testament to its price-performance back in the day that a lot of my friends still recommend it as the "cheap" option though there's now so many other competitors that now beat it. It's hard for me to fight that and let people know that other options exist...

[@TRD_Kyle]

When I first built my first computer, about 10 years ago, this was THE cooler that everyone had/used at some point. It was the end game for some just trying to get out stock coolers and for other a jumping block to get into bigger and better. I have not even watched the video yet but I know, no matter how the 212 does, I will be proud of it. It basically defined what a good affordable air cooler is.

[@taz874]

Yep. I remember when i was just getting into building my first PC back in 2014/2015 and had limited knowledge on CPU coolers etc the hyper 212 was that one cooler i saw mentioned everywhere. All the tech websites/youtube channels reddit threads etc would hands down recommend this cooler. It's literally the reason why i went for this as my first aftermarket cooler. I think the only real complaint i heard back then was the installation being a real bitch but performance was always spot on. I had this thing on a 4690k which is still running till this very day and it's never once disappointed me and got me some decent overclocking headroom. I've since moved over to Noctua air coolers on my recent builds(ease of installation being one of them)but I'll never forget the hyper 212.

[@technicalactivity]

i would have used my 4790k cooler with this one on it if the bracket matched

[@GoranMrganic]

If you're scared of cross-threading, you can press it down, spin it counter-clockwise (unscrew rotation) until you hear or feel the beginning of the threads click as they fall in place. Then you start to screw it in.

[@MrGivmedew]

I concur… I use this exact method on just about everything. Also when using a screw driver I will usually grab the shaft and start threading it in without using the handle or if it is a screw driver that takes bits I’ll pull the bit out and screw it in with my finger tips. Then I’ll torque it down with the driver.

[@GameOn82]

@@MrGivmedew I use this method even on water bottles :)

[@thegrimmtv3532]

I always do this as well.

[@connivingkhajiit]

I do this for everything with threads

[@davetemple6344]

I came to the comments to state (or like) this exact method.

[@AMDRyzenEnthusiastGroup]

I've paid between $20 - $40 for MANY 212's over the years. The past 2 years or so they've seen their largest price increases. Prior to that, it was commonplace to see them on sale for around 20 bucks. Nowadays, anything under $35 is a bargain (relatively speaking).

[@Dee0426]

Why u buy so many?

[@the1observer]

$60 is the new $35. All is fine.

[@cashtache]

@@Dee0426 why, he’s a big dum dum, of course!

[@Schoolship.]

to see the cooler master price double while the price of copper, nickel, and aluminum have gone up 10 times... is actually pretty impressive.

[@fredd3.14]

@@Dee0426 he loves the mounting mechanism and hates himself LOL

[@EnigmaticGentleman]

This cooler deserves heaps of praise for just continuing to be a good option after how much new components have increased in quality over the years.

[@Deviantsoundz]

If they didn't massively increase prices (even when compared to others) they could deserve it, not anymore.

[@arthurmoore9488]

@@Deviantsoundz As mentioned at the end. This can be had for ludicrously cheap on EBay, or at an E-waste recycler. Shipping is probably going to cost more than the cooler.

[@Deviantsoundz]

@@arthurmoore9488 most of them are selling for about $25 after shipping (usual 15 for item and 10 shipping) before taxes USED. Its not a good deal because in comparison you can get some coolers from id cooling and thermalright for the same money or less brand new. If you could get it for $15 said and done to your door sure it could make some sense. At $25 it competes with new coolers and just a bad move.

[@masterk5066]

@@Deviantsoundz the black edition goes for like 59.99 lol. Imma shop around though but mostly 59.99

[@Stavroization]

It's not a good option though. Peerless assassin is the same price ($35) and runs laps around it

[@theravenone3439]

Ebay, used, $12 back in 2012-2015. I bought over fifty of them for various builds. Family, friends, craigslist flips. Transplanting pre-builts. I never paid more than $20 for them. Incredible value.

[@discipleofdagon8195]

Cooler master is like that cool grandparent who isn't stuck in their ways and does their best to adapt to the modern landscape while still remaining grounded. They make good entry level AIO's and tower coolers while leaving the more advanced hobbyist market to Noctua, IceGiant, Corsair, Arctic etc.

[@TheKenb425]

I’m still running my almost 10 year old Hyper 212 EVO on an i7-11700. It has also cooled a 6700k for 5 years & started its career on a 3770k.

[@joesheepy]

my 212 is my only original part, gone from cooling a FX6300, a FX8350 with more volts than it should have being pushed through it and now on a ryzen 5 3600, same fan it came with in 2015. Insane value when you think about it.

[@keremkoterim4437]

Hey I was thiking of using my 212 hyper evo black rgb edition with i5 13600K 13th generation. It's current mounted on my i7 9700K. Do you recommend it?

[@TheKenb425]

@@keremkoterim4437 I think it would work fine as long as you don’t pump more than ~125 watts into it. I limit my i7-11700 to 110 watts in the bios and don’t see temps over 75C in a well ventilated case.

[@evlkenevl2721]

Yus! Been hoping for this one! The mounting mechanism of the 212 has gotten a lot of criticism in recent years, but it was considered pretty good in it's heyday. Back then there were a lot of coolers that required way more force to mount, or had really sketchy plastic twist fasteners. CM just kept what they had while everyone else got better.

[@bmanna495]

Used it on my first (and current) build I remember spending like 1 out of the 4 hours it took me just to figure out the mounting mechanism

[@jakestocker4854]

Yeah exactly by today's standards it's a pain in the ass but back then it wasn't too bad.

[@TheLikeButtonLMAO]

and what they have, is still really good though

[@henryatkinson1479]

I ran a Hyper 212 Evo since 2012 and retired it this year when I finally put my FX8350 out of my misery. Bearings all still good, no issues electrically, and after a quick dusting and cleaning of the contact surface, it looks and performs like new.

[@Larsoff]

Bro, you were still running an 8350 in 2022. I put mine out in 2018. Bless your soul my man

[@kdawg3484]

Absolutely perfect timing for me. I just upgraded my Ryzen 3600 to a 5800X, and I was considering if I should upgrade my Hyper 212. It's handling things just fine, but I'll probably upgrade to a Fuma 2 at some point for more headroom and less noise based on this review. As far my history with Hyper 212s, to quote the old lady from the Frank's Red Hot commercials, "I put that sh*t on everything." My very first PC build a decade ago I used some enormous cooler that was marginally better in online reviews and was a nightmare to install. I subsequently built a bunch of computers for my job over the years, and I just grabbed Hyper 212s off the shelf every time. Didn't even have to think about it. Yeah, the mounting mechanism is a bit fiddly, but the slimmer profile was so much easier to manage. And most importantly, they were about $20 and always in stock. My go-to combo over so many years was the Cooler Master HAF 912 case and the Hyper 212. All the other guts changed, but those were stalwarts. What a great case; I miss it enormously. If you're reviewing things that just kept chugging along over the same time period, I'd love to see a review of the HAF 912.

[@nothlur]

used the same combo with my first self built PC, perfect pairing. absolutely loved my 912, only changed cases so i could have a window to see my glowy PC guts, now it's waiting to probably be modded and get some "period correct" parts (AKA stuff i wanted back then but couldn't afford lol)

[@stashio04]

I'm still running this exact combo with a 2500k and R9 Fury. Probably due for an upgrade but it still runs great for the little use it sees these days.

[@montgomeryfitzpatrick473]

My 212 has been keeping my 5800X at good temps for going on a year

[@Treadston3]

Used the Hyper 212 EVO RGB Black Edition from the Ryzen 5 1600, to the 3700X and was on my 5800X for well over a year until about a month ago. It was pretty damn good for what it was, but under all core loads the 5800X definitely pushes the boundary of how much cooling it can provide for an 8 core / 16 thread. Also, it's very damn quiet. I can barely tell if it's ramping up fan speed when it was getting hot in my Lian Li LANCOOL 2 Mesh case. That's just my personal experience however.

[@Demorthus]

The 212 has a special place in my heart lol. It's just that " ol' reliable, little guy that could" 😂 for $20-25 it was great. That said, it does seem it's time is done given all the improvements shown by others. Nonetheless it's cool to think about how it's a fun topic to consider for a cooler that's akin to a meme for how universally known it is 😂

[@joeykeilholz925]

My memory of the pricing: usually $25, cheapest $20 that I remember. $30 was the price you'd pay at some places if they weren't the best available pricing. Easily the best value product in terms of longevity. I used mine from 2012-2019. I remember how shit the pressure was. I would have to adjust it a few times to get it perfectly and the difference was obvious. But you have to respect the GOAT of COATs. Not too bad to replace the fan and keep the heatsink!

[@nerdonabudget]

There was a time where I'd always pick up a Hyper 212 if it was on sale for $20 or less just to have on hand to use in builds and whatnot. Lowest I paid for one was probably $10 during Black Friday, which I definitely stocked up on a few of them. These days I don't even consider it anymore, there's way too many tower style coolers with the same number of heatpipes and performance that consistently sit at $20-25 and have aesthetic bonuses such as black/white coating and included RGB fans, something that Cooler Master charges a premium for.

[@sylviam6535]

They haven’t been $20 or lower for a very long time now.

[@LocalAutist]

@@sylviam6535 the v2 was sold here in sweden for $16 for god knows how long

[@andrejtb1]

I am still using my 212 Evo and I never regretted buying it. Stock Intel cooler on idle was giving me 80s temperatures, but after I upgraded it I was amazed how it did well and I finally could game without having to worry about the temperatures It's giving me 45s to 55s under load/idle. (The CPU I used was the i7-4770)

[@Lurker-dk8jk]

9:35 - Totally agree. To prevent losing my soul (and destroying hardware), I always turn backward until I feel where the thread will engage properly, then tighten. Retappng or replacing threads with inserts is a pain in the ass, and sometimes isn't practical or even possible.

[@devilmikey00]

As someone who owns the exact one he showed here, you have to put A LOT of pressure to get the threading started. Those springs are pushing against you really hard and the screw just barely reaches the post. It's hard to even tell if you are screwing into anything threading normally, turning backwards feels like nothing. It's a bad mounting mechanism. You just have to lean into it and turn, hoping you threaded anything at all and then hope that you threaded deep enough that when you put pressure on the other corner it doesn't pop loose.

[@neiltroppmann7773]

Always possible, never practical to fix threads.

[@GamersNexus]

Yes, we've talked about this approach frequently in cooler reviews. It doesn't help much with this specific mounting mechanism, though.

[@Lurker-dk8jk]

@@neiltroppmann7773 Yeah. Several PC cases I've worked on use cheap screws or panels that strip out too easily or are stripped from the factory. It's sad that some panels will never fully attach or tend to come off when they shouldn't. In that case (no pun intended), I'll just use rivets.

[@potatopotatopotatopotatopo8746]

@@devilmikey00 i built someone a pc with the 212 BE just 2 weeks ago and it was a nightmare getting the screws in. You described it perfectly. It's like the brackets you screw down on the cooler is just simply too damn small for the standoff screws

[@88Opportunist]

The mere idea that we are still talking about the viability of a cooler from the C2D days is a testament of how good this thing was. No other cooler from back then is still in the conversation, not even stuff the stuff Thermalright sold that came with just the tower and no fans that was considered the best at the time.

[@jasongress3738]

One of the nice things about the Hyper 212 is that they included the brackets you needed to run them in a push/pull configuration. I recall back in the day that they performed noticeably better. I wish that GN could have shown us those results.

[@TheBeelzeboss]

Yeah, tbh it felt kinda cheap to show us a 1fan 212 when there are 212s like the ARGB Turbo that come with 2 66CFM Sickleflow.

[@jessebraughler8594]

Found one of these in my old farmhouse attic recently. Gave me a chuckle since it's been a decade since I put any of these into a system.

[@thehorsefromGOTs8]

that black edition mounting bracket seems like way less of a headache than the weird x shaped one the evo had, and I absolutely agree about the captive screw threading thing, it's terrible and the spring makes it harder to feel if it's cross-threading, since the spring already makes the screw feel gritty and bad.

[@thehorsefromGOTs8]

@@lunarvvolf9606 I've seen that vid and am aware of the anticlockwise method, I've been building computers since the pentium 2 days

[@40gamer90]

the x shape was for intel iirc, i still have my evo with the amd mount on it and it just clips over the standard amd plastic brackets

[@thehorsefromGOTs8]

@@lunarvvolf9606 it always just seemed like a no brainer, I remember doing it with my super soaker as a kid cuz if you cross threaded that bottle it wouldn't seal

[@chriss4799]

My Hyper 212 Evo (non-black) is treating my 7600k very nicely. For the price I paid, I'm happy with running it at 5 GHz around 65C.

[@AdaaDK]

ohh back when you could get 65-95 watt K sku I5/i7´s... (the good ole days). Nowadays the hyper212 is only fine for non-oced systems. Rip, it ran 60+ celcius on a stock clocked i7 8700k i build for my cusin a few years back.

[@1pcfred]

65C? She's burning up! You're a parts abuser.

[@mal2ksc]

Even cheaper than a fan upgrade is to add a second fan. They used to sell a second, matching fan as an option, but that probably stopped when they started on the endless carousel of ever cheaper fan suppliers since matching becomes a hopeless task. In any case, they were still offering it when I bought my Hyper 212 Evo, and including the second fan clip whether you bought the second fan or not. I opted to supply two fans myself for noise reasons, but I've always used it in a push-pull configuration.

[@AdamB5000]

The 212 was my first ever aftermarket cooler. I felt so good purchasing and installing it.

[@rougenaxela]

I'm still using a Hyper 212 Evo, the catch is, it's fan died several years ago so I swapped in a Noctua fan. I don't remember what I paid for it but it was cheap and a lot better than the stock coolers of the day.

[@cockatoo010]

I'm also using a Hyper 212 with a Noctua fan. Mine is an NF-P12 Redux

[@livingthedream915]

also still using a hyper 212 evo, but with the stock fan that's been repeatedly re oiled and an arctic PWM fan on the other side

[@Starscreamious]

It was 30 USD for 5-10 years at least.

[@DamnCyrus]

Did the same, that beautiful brown fan breathed new life into it

[@Eeta_Zeeba]

Hello fellow 212 Noctua edition havers

[@infinitywulf]

Actually bought one for my rig when my aio kicked the bucket and it has kept the temps very decent, definitely happy with my purchase.

[@jankypox]

I hear ya on the captive screw complaint. However, anyone that works with screws, bolts, nuts, or anything with a threaded male and female connector for a living - especially a technician - should know that turning the screw or bolt counter-clockwise roughly a full turn before beginning tightening will 99.9999% of time seat the screw/bolt perfectly with a noticeable “click” and reduce the the potential of cross threading to virtually zero. In other words, especially with the captive screw like this one, all you have to do is line up the screw with the hole, then push it down to make contact with standoff hole, slowly rotate the screw in a counterclockwise direction as if you were “loosening” it but maintaining downward pressure and the screw will “click” into the thread perfectly. Then you simply start tightening it in the normal clockwise direction, with virtually no chance of cross threading, unless the screw, bolt, nut, or stand-off is already damaged. Works every time with basically any mechanical screw, nut, bolt, and stand-off - from PCs to cars to planes to skyscrapers.

[@CarAudioInc]

if you can't figure this out on your own, maybe you shouldn't be attempting anything lol

[@TheXeroLink]

I was thinking this exact thing when he made the case for cross threading. I was like uh, how you’re not torquing it that hard

[@christopheroutland]

I'm repurposing some pieces from an older htpc build for a Christmas present, and wanted to keep the Alpenfohn Black Ridge for a future htpc. I decided to top the R53600 with the black rgb 212 and found that they're still stocked, and actually available in brick and motor stores. Thank you for reviewing with your unbelievably thorough methodology; you're one of just handful of channels I trust for unbiased and objective reviews.

[@ChadeGB]

I used multiple 212's over the years, when I was using the black version I stuck a second fan from an older 212 on there for a push/pull setup and it improved the performance by a considerable amount. I have the remnants of 4-5 212's "Resting" in my spare parts box in the garage.

[@sebastianjennings1159]

I used a 212 on a ryzen 3700x briefly. Was running a good 12 degrees cooler under load compared to the stock cooler. Swapped to a 360mm AIO when I upgraded to a 5900x

[@shapeshiftsix]

Yeah absolutely, the 2nd fan on there helps a lot. I managed to get a 4.3 all core on my 2700x at one time with a 212 evo with 2 fans on it. Don't know why Steve didn't show any results with dual fans

[@sebastianjennings1159]

@@shapeshiftsix yep. I had some extra RGB fans laying around so I was able to add a second fan as well. Don't have a good baseline for how it performs vs an AIO but for $40 I was very pleased

[@GCAT01Living]

I really like the idea of looking at the "modern" incarnation of a long-standing product line to see if it still measures up and is worth it. Nice video!

[@dave-is9sw]

would be nice if they did it with other components too

[@SIKCAR]

I didn't even know there were replacements for the bang for buck cooler until I watched this video. I'm still rocking my 2nd 212 black edition, thinking it's still the go to air cooler. Thanks for the video, it's definitely going to relate to almost everyone that has built PCs for the last 15 years.

[@devonmoreau]

Very excited to see this review! I’m using the Hyper 212 RGB that you tested, on a 2700x.

[@eternalbleedingheart]

The review I've been waiting for. Been sitting on my Hyper 212 evo since 2011. The original fan has long since died, using a Corsair LL120 rgb with decent results on a 5600X. Our local Microcenter still has plenty of the RGB and black models (30+ total in stock). While obvious to say something is old and just replace it, part of me has always been "how long can I make this $30 go?". Will likely find a replacement whenever I get out of my also old Corsair Air 540.

[@blueridge8992]

Also, you forgot to test one of the hottest internet debates of the 2000’s: a Hyper 212 with two fans in push pull is objectively superior to Corsair’s circa 2007 Nautilus AIO water cooler. That statement was usually followed with things like, “this water cooling thing is just a fad. It will never catch on.”

[@OutOfNameIdeas2]

Proper air cooling will always be quieter and cheaper. Noctua beats 360 rads. Water cooling is just about looks. unless you go custom loop ofc. Speaking from experience, And having watched ltt's video.

[@reaperreaper5098]

@@OutOfNameIdeas2 Watch Gamers Nexus' videos on the subject, and you'll know that the idea of a Noctua tower beating a 360, even AiO, is a joke. They are a much, much, much more reliable source than LTT.

[@temporaltomato3021]

@@reaperreaper5098 Absolutely. I've worked on or used so many systems at this point, and as long as you don't buy the worst AIO's on the market or set them up badly, you're in excellent shape performance-wise AND acoustics-wise, as you have thermal "inertia" due to the water and don't have to ramp the fans up immediately. I would also personally avoid any cooler that has elements like pump and/or fan speed (but especially pump speed) controlled via software. Had unfun experiences with NZXT AIO's for this reason - software is just too slow to respond to bursts of heat under load meaning you *always" get temperature spikes higher than are necessary, and just setting permanent 100% pump speed sounded awful as long as I was in a quiet room. In summary, there are valid reasons for going for air cooling, but in a contest of the best air vs the best liquid coolers, liquid wins in performance and noise every time.

[@0525ohhwell]

@@OutOfNameIdeas2 Except of course how well that large mass of water works as a thermal sink to absorb temp spikes.

[@gmaxsfoodfitness3035]

@@OutOfNameIdeas2In 2019 Noctua's best overpriced air cooler got beat by a cheaper (at the time) Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280 by 6-7 degrees Celsius. It's also quieter. This was before the AMD offset mount existed. The Arctic 360 version is also way ahead of Noctua. The 420 AIO is about equal to the 360 and Gamer's Nexus tested the AMD offset mount on it and it beats ALL air coolers by 10 degrees Celsius. Noctua isn't even the number 1 air cooler on the charts. I forget the brand but it's beats Noctua by 1 degree Celsius. All of these temp comparisons are noise normalized at 35dba. EK AIOs are also way better than Noctua's air cooling. Noctua has people brainwashed with fancy packaging and all this "advanced" fan technology that they'll put hundreds of dollars worth of their fans in their cases.😑 For my first build I bought a premium Noctua fan for $30 because I'd heard how "great" they were online. I didn't know about Arctic P12 fans yet (I did use their thermal paste though) or I would've bought a 5 pack for the SAME PRICE OF ONE NOCTUA FAN. They're just as quiet and cool just as well. Noctua has a bit better build quality but not 5x better smh.

[@charlesballiet7074]

great to see some of these rewinds it really does help us know if there is any actuall progress outside of the marketing hype

[@egonieser]

I still have my OG Hyper 212 in the shelf. I lost the mounting bracket but I loved it so much I refuse to throw it out. It truly was a beast of a cooler in it's category and price. It saw so many systems both intel and AMD over the course of the decade and not a fault on it (apart from a missing bracket, must have thrown it away with some packaging while clearing out)

[@agostinho6550]

U can buy the bracket

[@JuraIbis]

I got a 212 2-3 years ago for 20$ on Amazon not knowing it was the king and cheap. It was unbeknownst to me one of my best buys.

[@jasonh9523]

Going on 11 years of my Hyper 212 Plus in P/P cooling an overclocked 1055t. I did change the fans to Arctic P12's just because, but I still have the originals blade master sleeve bearing fans and they still work fine.

[@Zarphag]

June 2011 for my 212+ still going strong

[@DT_Liox]

Picked one up last week because my AK500 mounting hardware sheared during install. Used the ak500 fan as a puller on the hyper and it has been keeping my R9 5900x under 50°c even during load of playing Factorio, ARK, and planetside2.

[@C-M-E]

After upgrading my main workstation in 2020, I initially went with a ~$170 watercooler, but it was plagued with issues and ended up going back. I've been an avid watercooling proponent for decades, but on a whim, the Hyper 212 Black was on the shelf for $28. Pff, worth a try. Imagine my surprise when paired with a 5800RPM server case fan, it was reading temps on par and Below anything I'd ever seen with watercooling when doing long render runs and simulation work, arguably the hardest way to break in a new CPU, a 5900X running 5ghz like a total champ. Really made me a believer in air cooling again!

[@NightFoxXIII]

This was my first PC cooler when I got started in the PC build space. Paid regular pricing for this but was about 30 bucks in CAD at the time. So it powered and let me overclock my first i5-3570k to a good degree too. (No one wanted to use the included intel cooler since it was just outright bad and noisy AF) It's still running that by the time I got to my second build, I gave my old PC as a hand me down to a cousin of mine when the PC parts market were super bad during Covid.

[@kanutinbonbin]

The first real contender to the Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer! Such a great concept that was/is! Great as usual guys!

[@Angel-HC]

I've got two of these bad boys, one in my 8600k PC that I use at work and the other on my 3800X machine at home. My home PC has the newer black RGB version with the improved mounting bracket which made installation MUCH nicer compared to the old silver one I bought years ago. I'm not OC'd on either machine so the 212 still does a great job keeping my temps in check.

[@1cooooolguy]

I love that little cooler, as someone new to the PC DIY, I had to built my first PC in 2016 and that was the first cooler that I used. Mainly for what Steve said, it was cheap. It cooled a i5-6600k and it was quite nice! Still works to this day! Although I need to replace all of the fans in that PC... and I'm scared to open up the GTX 1070... I've not been good at repasting GPUs...

[@sammygreco]

I have the same set up as you, 6600k cooled by a hyper 212 evo and an MSi 1070 Gaming X. I'm upgrading with the release of next gen products in 2023, but my PC is still kicking along.

[@churt6754]

@@sammygreco repasting a GPU is pretty straightfoward. I repasted my MSI 1080 Gaming X so it could be used in a future basic VR build.

[@Masterrunescapeer]

There is no need to repaste a GPU unless you're actually having thermal issues, the factory applied thermal paste is usually designed to last quite a few years (have had it last ~10+ years without real issues on GPUs, currently my longest running GPU is a R9 280X which is still fine in temps from end of 2013).

[@802Garage]

Same, except I had an AMD 1100T. The cooler worked well, but I switched to an AIO later.

[@1cooooolguy]

@@Masterrunescapeer oh! I’ve constantly heard from creators like Steve, Jay, and Linus that reposting a gpu is necessary after a few years. I always assumed somewhere in the 2-4 year range.

[@whitemoses7913]

Nice revisit - absolutely hate that mounting mechanism! - and now I can see how it compares to the more modern stuff - thanks Steve. (and GN ofc)

[@toddzino58]

I have 3 212’s in my house right now. Been running fine for years now. Just installed a 212 black edition in a friends new AMD build. Cooler was bought over Black Friday last year.

[@ApocalypseSoldiers]

Hey steve and Mik, as a Plumbing technician and superintendent of commercial construction, it has been my job to thread 10-100's of things a day for 7+ years now. i recommend pushing the screws into the hole and thread backwards. you will feel the screw fall into the start thread, as soon as this is felt you are lined up with the first thread and can begin threading without worry even on very small threads. this will stop the screw from cross threading every time if done correctly. we use this trick on every threaded install including Gaslines, Water/air tight connections, water heaters, ect.

[@CSHracer]

The Thermalright Silver Soul 135 is a step up from the assassin spirit 120 and at $40.36 on Amazon Prime right now is an absolute steal. 135mm tall, 6 heat pipe dual tower cooler. The fan is amazing and it kicks my old NH-U9S's butt in thermals, and I had dual fans on the U9S.

[@sorak185]

I have a Hyper 212 Evo Black on a 3800X, and the CPU is always at boost clock because it cools well enough. Even under artificial load, I've never seen the CPU temp get over 70C in a Fractal Meshify S2. I'm quite happy with the cooler.

[@Benjamin_Reese]

This was a fun one! I had one of the CoolerMaster 212 early in it's lifetime. 😀

[@gd527tt]

Wow, Phenom II mention! I had a hyper 212+ that I used on my Phenom II x3 720, unlocked to an x4 and overclocked, then I moved it over to my 6600k. Replaced with an Evo last year but would still have been using it had I not inherited it when my sister upgraded. Finally upgraded again to a Thermalright FS 140 RGB.

[@TheMaristBoy]

I still remember my Hyper 212 Evo that I paired when the i7 2600k came out. It's crazy to think that flagship desktop CPUs nowadays require so much more cooling.

[@kanaka118446]

Higher core density and higher TDPs unfortunately require it. Can't defy physics :/

[@jedpratte]

Many of the flagship cpu's now are becoming beasts to cool. Heck my 10850k i have overclocked on a 360mm aio can hit 80c when pushed hard.

[@superliljohn91]

Would love to see how the Cooler Master V8 GTS cooler keeps up with modern high end air coolers since it had 3 fin stacks and a vapour chamber. I wish I picked up an AM4 bracket for mine when they were still available.

[@Dan-Simms]

I second this, definitely a unique design, and would love to know how it performs.

[@max6325974]

I have bought this thinng like 3 times for different computers and recommended it to friends.. Never once has disappointed.

[@Necropolis20123]

I've waited for this video for so long

[@zodwraith5745]

I've bought quite a few of these over the years for random builds. I hadn't realized how badly they've jacked prices. I thought I'd just bought one a week ago but it ended up being the Deep Cool Gammaxx400v2 for only 20 bucks. Just shows they're so ubiquitous with cheap builds I didn't even notice the brand I bought. Obviously not for i9/R9 builds but far better than stock on a system you don't want to return with overheating problems because people own cats and not compressed air.

[@ravenfeeder1892]

Nice to see Mike spreading the thermal paste rather than just leaving a blob and hoping it spreads evenly. The blob method is mostly OK but can't be perfect for getting standardised results for testing. DerBauer always spreads his thermal paste and he's one of the best terms of reference for this stuff.

[@pheelix-]

Been spreading my paste sense 1993. Always been the best method. :P

[@Joseph-C]

From a physics perspective nothing can be better than spreading because nothing else gets every last square millimeter of the IHS covered in compound.

[@tarjeidavidsen7611]

Comparisons to see progress quantified like this is awesome

[@letto18]

I have a Hyper 212 Plus that I got as part of a bundle 9 years ago when getting parts for my 1st build back in 2013 at the end of Open Beta for MechWarrior Online. As for Price, It was part of a used bundle, FX-4100 with the 212+ and a tube of Arctic Silver Ceramique 2 for $60 Canadian.

[@bmacc6672]

I paid $35 back in 2013 for the EVO. It was my first aftermarket cooler and a significant upgrade from the stock intel cooler. The mounting hardware was awful compared to any other cooler I’ve used since then.

[@teluas]

I'll echo others and say how awesome this one was for its time. I've done many PC builds using this cooler, right up to its current version. On a related note, it might be cool to see you guys do reviews on CoolerMaster's more modern air coolers like the MA612 and MA624.

[@wildbikerbill6530]

Unlikely the MA612 & MA624 are going to get a review. Doing a quick check of Cooler Master's website, they no longer list them as current models. But I did upgrade earlier this year to a MA612 Stealth and am very happy with the results.

[@AddisonChains]

running it today on my 3600 and have been for months. no issues and overall fantastic fan cooler. 45 cnd at the time used from my brother that ran his pc for 5months with little to no use.

[@802Garage]

I found my Amazon order details for a Hyper TX3, basically the 3 heat pipe 95mm fan version of the 212, from way back in August 2011. I paid $19.80 shipped from Amazon. They didn't even charge state tax. I still have the cooler in the box after switching. Now it's $50!

[@saikousocial]

hurray for Gamer Jesus

[@Lolwutfordawin]

I'd love to see the thermalright macho. It was incredibly cheap at the time and basically just a gigantic hunk of aluminum and copper.

[@richard2616]

This was my go to cooler for all my pc builds for friends and family. It seemed to take a lot of inspiration from the old school Megahalems cooler. The 212 was just so good compared to the stock heatsink.

[@realabpc1883]

Back when we used to use the H212 as our default air cooler for builds, it was consistently $20 or less and pretty widely regarded as a go-to cooler - although we'd often replace the fans with Arctic P120s, which could be had (in five packs) for $5 each at the time. When the Black Edition came out, the price went up to $25, but - to their credit - Cooler Master replaced the "X-brace" with a better mounting mechanism (and also added the plastic snap-on fan brackets instead of the frustrating wire clips). By the time the 212 climbed to ≥ $30, we stopped buying 'em, as they no longer represented the same value.

[@rhynlock11]

I had one for over 8 years and it still manages to efficiently cool my 8600k. Its a great veteran of a 1000 battles and I love it. I believe I paid about $25 for it back then

[@salami99]

air cooling ftw.

[@GruesomeJeans]

I bought the Evo 212 black edition for 33.99 back in 2019 from amazon. It was the first cooler I ever bought for a PC and it cooled both my FX chip and my current Ryzen 3800X. I was getting worried about it's performance with the Ryzen chip even with dual cooling fans so I've since moved to liquid AIO cooling but, I still have the trusty 212 in the closet in case I need it for anything. *edit* I've since finished the video and 2 things, first, I wonder if there is any change in performance if you slapped another fan on the 212. I ran duals for a while and it was still in the 50's I think under load but It might be a good option if someone has one and they want just a tiny but more out of it. Also, you guys might not have the ability but the Coolermaster Jet 4 ICB-V83 for the Pentium 4 was a cooler I had on my very first custom built PC. I got it from a guy on craigslist many many moons ago. The cooler never worked properly, as soon as the fan spun up it squealed like it had a bad bearing in it. I don't even know if you could find one but maybe a video about coolers from back then would be fun?

[@missingdll2976]

I bought a Hyper 212 back in 2008 and have since moved it to my wife's PC and works great still. Currently cooling an FX-8350 with no problems at all, max temp I recall seeing on it under load was 56c. Paid around $20 back then.

[@robertm9906]

I used to have a couple of Cooler Master Hyper N520 cpu coolers. At the time I thought the heatsink worked well. The fans were smaller I think 80mm. Thanks for the info on Cooler Master practices. I'm glad I got rid of them.

[@Quessir]

Currently using the 212 in my system, I found the fan packaged with it to be noisy so I replaced it with a Noctua NF-P12. Been quiet and performing well since on my 3600.

[@GameplayandTalk]

Honestly, this was a solid cooler for mid-range CPUs, which is generally what I've rocked over the years. Still have one functioning well in an older rig.

[@rotor13]

I remember when Circuit City was closing down, my local one had a liquidation sale and they had a few 212's selling for $9.

[@marsaustralis6881]

Many years ago, I bought a Hyper 212 for $10 USD at a flash sale on Amazon. It lasted through several Phenom IIs and FXs, only ending when I got an FX-8370. Up to that point, the only upgrade it saw was stronger and stronger fans, going from the dinky spinner to things like a pair of Gentle Typhoon AP-31s (5400rpm) and using craft foam sheets for crude sound-deadening to the panels (up to a cm thick in some places). It was eventually replaced by a Noctua for the FX-8370, which itself was replaced by an AIO when I maxed out to an FX-9590.

[@m8x425]

Dude, I have a pair of those fans. You're a baller for running them.

[@mekkanic1979]

This was a good review of an "almost pinnacle" cooler of it's time. 15 years in any PC cooling capacity is a long time.

[@hartsickdisciple]

This is the kind of content I follow GN for. I've had 2 or 3 Hyper 212 variants over the years. They were great for my C2D E8400, Phenom II X4 955, 3570k, and 3770k. I had something roughly equivalent to a Hyper 212 on my R5 3600, and it did a good job. It wasn't able to handle my R7 5800X. I ended up buying the Fuma 2, which is fantastic, and plenty of cooler for the 5800X.

[@murdoch9106]

I run it for my 5900X and it works, I even made sure the BIOS gave the CPU all it would eat, and pulled 180W or so, it would boost 4.95 Ghz so I figure its probably just fine, and in games I will never push this thing all that hard. I first got it for the 3600X and with limited money I decided to give it a go and keep it. Originally I was gonna go for a Dark Rock Pro or something, but thats 4 times the price almost, maybe later... xD While talking about dumb things, I ran the 5900X in a B450-F Gaming II from ASUS at first... now... THAT was dumb... xD the VRM's got so hot in benchmarks I could fry bacon on it! xD it "worked", I ran that for 3 months almost but then I caved and got a X570S Tomahawk WiFi Max, now its nice and cool :)

[@alluvial.3206]

I got a hyper 212 black edition with 5900x AM4 but changed the fan out for a Phanteks T30-120 after seeing the impressive reviews for the fan in 2000 rpm mode about 8-9 months ago. I had a Noctua NF-F12 iPPC 3000 PWM in there previously, but it was a little louder than I'd like to it to be, so I figured that was the better and quieter option even if its a little hotter.

[@SkorpyoTFC]

My first real build had one of these. I had to shoehorn the whole thing into an Apevia Telstar X that my old XP machine was in, but the combination of case, mobo, and 212 cooler made it sit perfectly flat right on top of the 120mm fan that was screwed into the plexiglass window. My 2700k never broke 60°C because the cooler was practically ducted to fresh air. That was a great build. Lasted me 9 years running with GPU upgrades.

[@RonnieDeuce87]

A few years back when I was trying to get a cheap PC together for a friend the Hyper 212 ticked all the boxes. It was cheap (around $20) but surprisingly good for the price. It was better than the stock Intel cooler at the very least. The mounting hardware is definitely it's one negative but at that price you can't really knock it. It's had a good run over the years.

[@toquita3d]

I'm using a "Hyper 212 RGB Black Edition" with a Ryzen 7 5800X (stock). It never goes beyond 71ºC even when 3D rendering. NOTE: I undervolt my processor from 1.45v to 1.25v. No stability issues, I'm a professional 3D Artist and my computer never crashes. I love this cooler. NOTE2: while I do use an RTX GPU for rendering, I tested my CPU with this cooler, and it never goes beyond 71ºC.

[@octaviomontes6592]

Lol had the same set up but upgraded to AIO

[@SelecaoOfMidas]

The RGB black edition was my first cooler for my current PC in 2019, and it cooled like a beast. Even added a pull fan in the back to experiment with how much more heat it could remove from the Ryzen 7 2700. I eventually moved to the Dark Rock Slim because of RAM module clearance and moving from Corsair's Carbide Air 540 to the 4000D Airflow a year later. Might see service again some time on a different board.

[@MoonOvIce]

When I was using a Phenom 955 back in the day, temps went from a constant 60-65c at 100% and 50-53c on idle, which was too high for the CPU, to being ~32c idle and 50-53c on 100% tops, and that was in the summer. It was really that good for the money (I had the Hyper 212+ from around 2011).

[@echowhiskey419]

Mine cooled well, but I found the fan clips quite fiddly, with one always popping lose far too easily.

[@drycleanonly]

You guys should take a look at some of ID Cooling's offerings.

[@whyareyouhittingme]

Yes, please. The se-224-xt is both well-made and cheap, and falls within the 'natural successor' category to the 212.

[@jw4d]

They have very easy installation. Their mounting bracket is pretty similar to Noctua's apparently.

[@Raxiel497]

I got my 212 back in 2008 with a new i7-920 build and kept it going for years, even through my transition to an i5-6600k. It was only this year that it got retired in favor of an Arctic Freezer AIO. But it isn't really retired. Now it's sitting atop an i5-4690 I put together for my wife out of spare and second hand parts, although I did treat it to a pair of cheap Arctic fans as the original fan was starting to get just a little bit of bearing noise. It may not be the GOAT, and the cross mounting bracket may be a pain to line up, but it does the job and it likely will last a good few more years yet.

[@toddratson7526]

I rebuilt my personal rig recently to an R7 5800x and 6750xt combo. I had a Hyper 212 that I purchased about a year ago so I used it thinking I would upgrade later if it couldn't cut it. I used some Grizzly goop on it and I replaced the single cheap fan with a pair of much better ones. Under synthetic test loads I never get above 65C and it is totally silent. I am very happy with it. If I remember correctly, I paid just about $40CAD for it and the fans were about $9CAD each from the jungle site.

[@Geo255420]

12:15 Shows some really interesting heat maps. I would love to see these on the mid range. ryzen5 5600x. Would extra cooling help? or would a copper plate VS the aluminum of many all in ones make a diff. The 5600 can be cooled with. I reach higher GHZ than ryzen7 I played with and resold "supposedly." I rock a black rock 4 over an all in one because I have a unique test bench case. (Lian Li PC-T70 Test Bench white) I got flat air flow which with a be quite black rock 4 set in revers. Aire flow = in back left - out front right. Dose better cooling than 3 diff liquid all in ones that I have tried.

[@brodriguez11000]

$29.44 in 2016. The pain issue was the fan clipped to the heat-sink and was easy to break. It could be done in a push-pull fan configuration. The X- bracket was also a challenge and be careful not to lose the spring in the center.

[@kingawsume]

Picked up a Black Edition for about $30 for my home machine around Christmas 2020. Stuck $40 in Noctua fans on it after I got 5 of them for my birthday 3 months later, but it was the best I could get at the time. Gave me a heart attack putting it in, though; the springed screws felt so bad I didn't realize only one of them had actually threaded the mount.

[@-dazz-]

I wish vendors gave the option to get their heatsinks without fans. I've seen improvements in the 5-8ºC range just by swapping the crappy stock fan in some coolers for an Arctic P12, or a Nidec Gentle Typhoon. Often those cheap fans at terrible at static pressure. I'm willing to bet all these similarly sized coolers would perform almost identically if tested with the same fan.

[@n78966969696896]

The price of the cooler today makes it not as enticing as it used to be but for people who already own it, it's a no brainer. I'm using it on my 5600X I am typing on now and keeps it super cool compared to the stock heatsink. I paid about $18 *I think $17 actually* - this was about eh.. probably 2-3 years ago.

[@Rancid_Ninja]

Anything is better than the stealth the 5600x comes with, I got a prism free from a buddy who bought a better CPU that came with it and he used a aio, works great for my 5600x

[@n78966969696896]

@@Rancid_Ninja Hell yeah man! The stealth is absolute trash basket. I used it only for the short time I was testing my mobo+proc+memory (bought eveything in increments over a month) and the 212 was servicing my old 8 core AMD system at the time. I am going to use the stealth on the old 8 core since it's AM3 so it "should" fit, but really it's only because the old fan on the stock AM3 cooler is about shot.

[@Farming-Technology]

Finally someone is normalising cooling to noise. Thank you. This is the first cooling review I've seen for a few years so kudos if you've been doing it for a while.

[@jacoavo7875]

Great content ! I still use my Coolermaster Hyper N620 in my old gaming pc ( i7 2600k ). It has probably ran nonstop since I bought it (at least 10 years). It currently serves as my dads office / gaming pc, with a GTX 970 :D.

[@existential_]

The 5800X made me upgrade to the NH-D15 from the 212. The 212 wouldn't do anything on that CPU and it would hit the 90c throttle limit constantly even with PBO undervolt (still stable though), kept reading that it's the hot one out of the 5000 series. With the NH-D15 it goes to 70c max.