Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition RGB CPU Air Cooler, SF120R RGB Fan, Anodized Gun-Metal Black, Brushed Nickel Fins, 4 Copper Direct Contact Heat Pipes for AMD Ryzen/Intel LGA1151

Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2018

Color: Hyper 212 BEStyle: 4 Heat PipesVerified Purchase

I have owned several Cooler Master CPU coolers over the years including the somewhat infamous GeminII (the GIANT one, not the smaller more modern one). The Hyper 212 was an excellent design - so much so that every system I've built in the past three years has boasted one and I've even taken to buying cases specifically with it in mind. So, when it came time to build a system with more asthetics in mind, I was keen to give this sleeker black version a go...

The conclusion is utter disappointment; CM broke so many of the great things about the 212 and I cannot begin to understand why. They've take a huge step back in everything but asthetics and only stayed stationary in performance:
1) The mounting system was changed unnecessarily (in my mind and experience) to one that is more convoluted and allows (all but encourages, actually) you to incorrectly position your mounting bolts slightly... almost undetectably... out of position so that while your trying to mount the heatsink it is a study in frustration to align the screws. THIS WAS NOT A PROBLEM BEFORE, WHY IS IT NOW?!
2) The fan mounting system is something the engineers should be genuinely ashamed of. They've gone from a removable plastic clip system that would screw into any 120mm fan and allow you to pop-on whatever fan you prefer to your heatsink that, while a tad underdesigned, was perfectly workable. Now it is a spring-like wire that seems to require a specific hole position in order to function at all in the mount, but all of my more modern fans DONT HAVE THOSE HOLES. What's worse is that if you have a slightly tight case and can't fit your fat fingers all away round the top and back of you heatsink, deep inside the case - you will have one of the most frustrating experiences of your life trying to get the friggin thing to mount. It literally took me an hour to get the fan back on after it was mounted (yes, the fan HAS TO be off in order to mount the motherboard). I ended up resorting to wedging an allen wrench into the fan to hold the spring clip in place while I moved the fan into position. AGAIN, THIS WAS NOT A PROBLEM BEFORE!

I am extremely disappointed in CM. I actually kind of want an apology for making something so frustrating to use, particularly when they clearly knew how to make a good product in the past.

My advice is to not buy this. Get a standard Hyper 212, or get another brand's product.

377 people found this helpful

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Amy

Never got to try it... shitty mount

Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2018

Color: Hyper 212 EVOStyle: 4 Heat PipesVerified Purchase

I was super excited to find a fan to fit the Motherboard of my brother's computer and yet I didn't even get to finish installing it. I'm sure the fan would have been great but during the instillation of it, the heads of the screws when mounting the fan on to my mother board peeled like wet bread and came off, I thought it was maybe one defective screw that I could work around but then a second one did it! Now I can't even reinstall the old fan cause now I have broken screws jammed into my motherboard even after attempting to pull them out with a pair of needle nose pliers, finger turning, pliers... nothing! The screws are so soft that they just bend and mold to my attempts... I might have to look into a new mother board now because of this incident. Their pair of defective screws probably just added another 300-400 dollar cost to a simple upgrade :(

133 people found this helpful

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Anon

Great price and performance

Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2016

Color: Hyper 212 EVOStyle: 4 Heat PipesVerified Purchase

I'm going to start with the things I didn't like.

The instructions suck. They tell you to put thermal paste on your CPU before mounting the bracket that goes behind the motherboard. Due to the vague illustrations, I did not realize it needed a bracket behind the motherboard, when I was skimming the instructions. Simply put, I ended up having to put thermal paste on it twice because it's impossible to take a motherboard out of your case, attach the mounting bracket and put the motherboard back in place without contaminating the thermal paste. Even a single finger print or eye lash or piece of dust is enough to contaminate it and have an impact on the performance of your heat sink.

Another thing I didn't like was the tool used for tightening on the nuts for the bracket. I tried using it but ended up using a wrench instead.

Finally, I find the heat sink isn't exactly what I'd call secure. Even after tightening it down and making sure I had everything properly lined up, the whole thing will still twist a little bit. It's noticeable when you're trying to re-attach the fan.

I've seen other reviews saying they ended up with mounting parts that were defective. Fortunately, I did not have this problem.

What do I recommend buying before attempting this?

It comes with its own thermal paste but you could always buy better. I went with some Arctic Silver 5, like most people. You'll also want some lint free wipes (coffee filters work but I do not recommend them because they're a bit stiff and tend to cause scratches; I used PEC PAD wipes sold here on Amazon that I bought for cleaning photos and negatives) and either rubbing alcohol (at least 90% but 99% is preferred; can usually find at least 91% at Walmart and most stores) or one of those cleaner kits. Also, if you don't have a small wrench set, you might want to get one, unless you plan to rely on the tool included in the kit. You definitely need a screw driver but most people would know this already.

So, how do you put this thing on?

Be sure to consult the instructions for each step. Also, before you do anything, take the heat sink and fan and verify you have enough clearance for it on your motherboard and in your case. This heat sink is rather large. There is a risk of it crowding a RAM slot or being too tall to even fit in your case.

The first thing you should do is attach the bracket to your motherboard as per the instructions for your CPU. If you've already mounted your motherboard to your case, you will have to take it out. I used a wrench because I didn't have enough space to flip it completely on its back and use the included tool.

Detach the fan from the heat sink.

After you do that, put the X shaped bracket through the gap behind where the heat sink makes contact with the CPU. Keep the adhesive strip on for now. Test and make sure the X bracket matches up with the mount points you attached to your motherboard. Once you confirm you have it correctly adjusted, place your CPU in the socket (if you haven't already) and secure it.

Clean the CPU cap (the part where the heat sink will connect with the CPU; use a lint free wipe and the alcohol or cleaner solution) and place thermal paste in accordance with the instructions for your thermal paste. If your thermal paste lacks instructions, the idea is to have just enough paste covering the part of the cap directly above the core(s) for your CPU. If you can't find specific directions on google, you could try putting a small plus sign of paste in the middle. To get the appropriate amount of paste, you need only an amount equal to a single line covering about 50% of the length of the CPU cap. So, if you do a plus sign, it only needs to be about 25% of the length of the cap. If your CPU doesn't have a cap, just place a rice sized dot in the center of each core. Again, most CPUs have instructions for this online.

Once you've done that, take the adhesive strip off of the heat sink. I recommend cleaning the spot you took the adhesive off of (again, using a lint free wipe and cleaning solution) but it's not absolutely necessary. If you want to confirm whether you put enough or too much paste on, you can place the heat sink against the CPU, apply some pressure (just enough to get the paste to spread) and twist the heat sink a little each way. If you pull it up and the paste is going over the edge, you have too much and should use a lint free wipe to clean the excess along the edges. There should be at least enough to cover a circular area over all cores.

You should now carefully line up the brackets and orient your heat sink. Proceed with lightly screwing in each screw. Once you've got all 4 screws started, go around and tighten them all down.

Finally, reattach the fan, plug it in and you're done.

So, what did I like about this?

Once I finished putting it on, it lowered my idle temps quite a bit (down to about 27 C idle and about 48 C under load with the core temps topping out around 63 C under load) and it fixed the overheating problem I was having with my stock heat sink. Supposedly, over time the temps will get better as my thermal paste settles but I don't expect a huge difference. The fan hasn't noticeably raised the noise level in my PC, which is fairly quiet. I had a little trouble keeping the fan from touching the heat spreader on the closest RAM stick but I managed to wiggle in a tiny gap. The top of the heat sink comes really close to the other side of my case but there is a gap there. Overall, I'd say I'm satisfied.

When I first put my stock heat sink on, it did a fair job (but not great since even a small overclock caused it to overheat) at keeping the CPU cool. However, about 3.5 years later my idle temps had nearly doubled and games were starting to make it overheat. I had a choice to make. I could either clean off my stock heat sink and CPU and put on new thermal paste or I could buy a new heat sink. I decided that if I was going through that much trouble, I might as well invest in a good heat sink. This heat sink is compatible with a large range of CPUs. Furthermore, I don't plan to stop using my i5-3570K any time soon. So, even given the age of the CPU, I think I'll get my money back out of the heat sink. I'm wishing I hadn't been lazy and bought this heat sink back when I initially put this PC together.

For anyone curious, these are my motherboard and case.

ASUS P8Z77-V PRO LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Thermaltake Armor Series VA8000BWS

238 people found this helpful

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David Umina

IGNORE THE NOOBS, THIS THING IS AMAZING!!! (Water Cooling FTL)

Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2019

Color: Hyper 212 BEStyle: 4 Heat PipesVerified Purchase

This is one of those products where people who are inexperienced, clumsy, or mechanically challenged will blame the product when they install it improperly or struggle to follow directions.

I am an experienced PC Tech and have installed just about every CPU cooler you have ever seen or heard of. I have purchased dozens of Hyper 212 Evo's and always thought they were ugly... But the price and performance couldn't be argued with. This new black edition cooler maintains the same level of quality and performance one would expect from the tried-and-true hyper 212 evo but looks a thousand times better.

The cooler is easy to install (takes about 3 minutes), Looks AMAZING, and performs extremely well. It is a much better value than all of its competition, and in my opinion, is the most beautiful CPU cooler in existence.

I have these running on my overclocked 6700k (4.6GHz, max temps ~70C (delidded)) and 9900k (5GHz all cores, max temps ~80C). Keep in mind that on the hotter processors you should add a second fan (the brackets needed for the second fan are included). There is no need for gimmicky AIO water coolers which I have personally seen leak many times. A good air cooler performs more than adequately and is infinitely more reliable (And cheaper). Don't believe me? Don't take my word for it... Or your friend's word... Or the guy on the forum's word... Do some actual research.

Don't hesitate... Just buy it!!

60 people found this helpful

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Peter W Ferguson

Great performance and looks

Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2018

Color: Hyper 212 BE RGBStyle: 4 Heat PipesVerified Purchase

I replaced the stock intel cooler on my 4790k with this when I learned that I was sitting at 60C idle and had thermal throttling under load (AIDA64 stress test was quickly approaching 100C before I shut it down). This new cooler keeps me idle at about 30C, and even under full load (again using AIDA64) it is hovering around 60-65C. Very satisfied with the performance.

I have previously installed an older model hyper 212 on another computer, and like there, the installation was pretty easy.

The cooler looks much nicer than the older metal color model, and the RGB just adds to it.

Honestly couldn't be much happier about it. Highly recommend.

78 people found this helpful

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Leroy Tolstoy

Spacer addition makes installation MUCH easier. See attached photos.

Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2018

Color: Hyper 212 EVOStyle: 4 Heat PipesVerified Purchase

Subsequent to addition of a spacer, this cooler installation is much, much, much easier, and it is unlike the painful experience that I outlined below. The reason this works is that the distance that the hex bolt needs to span is much less. Cooler Master could make the process even easier by modifying their drawing labeling the bolt and the actual spacer, that features a hole in its bottom. Please see the "E and D" drawings attached, the one on the left with no black fill in the hole, the right drawing with fill in the hole. Cooler Master: Please make this change!!!
Old review:I have installed this CPU cooler on several computers, all LGA 1150. On the current installation, the backplate installation was uneventful. Attachment of the frontal screws/receptacles was uneventful. However, placement of the X-frame and its attachment to the frontal receptacles was impeded by the fact that, even with flat seating of the X-frame into the CPU heat plate ridge (with all its oddities), the attachment screws were several millimeters short of the frontal receptacles. Attachment required that the X-frame be stressed to the point of bending to make the connection. This required so much force that my hands were hurt. The simplest explanation for this (and no, I did not neglect proper seating of the X-frame with its knob and U-cutout) is that the connecting screws were just too short by 5-8 mm or so. If for some weird reason I were to install this heat sink again, I would probably start at a hardware store trying to find longer frontal attachment screws. I am very sorry to write this, since this CPU cooler is otherwise a splendid device and very well priced.

59 people found this helpful

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Mr. Fox

Excellent Low-Cost Option for Overclocked 8700K

Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2018

Color: Hyper 212 EVOStyle: 4 Heat PipesVerified Purchase

I needed a cheap heat sink for temporary use while my Tt Floe Riing 360mm AIO was being replaced under warranty due to a leaking pump. I have to admit that this is way better than I expected it to be. My CPU temps at 5.0GHz in Cinebench are roughly the same as they were at 5.2GHz in Cinebench using water cooling. I added a second fan for push/pull. The temps are good enough that I don't have to be bored or impatient running stock clocks or a mickey mouse overclock while wait for the RMA. If you are on a tight budget and cannot afford liquid cooling, I highly recommend this cooler.

96 people found this helpful

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redmeatkelley

Broke within warranty; very poor customer support from the manufacturer.

Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2017

Color: Hyper 212 EVOStyle: 4 Heat PipesVerified Purchase

Incredibly poor customer service with the OEM. Amazon did not handle the return and directed me to Cooler Master. Their telephones are not answered by live people, nor are messages returned. The website requires that I registered and it is very non-friendly. Cooler fan broke within warranty period and the company seems to be making it very very very difficult to obtain a RMA (Return Materials Authorization). I do not recommend.

74 people found this helpful

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B12

Worth more than its price. New installers BE CAREFUL.

Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2019

Color: Hyper 212 BEStyle: 4 Heat PipesVerified Purchase

First: i5-8400 cpu, z370-f motherboard, 2x8gb ddr4 2133hz in dual channel, gtx 1070 in a NZXT s340 elite mid-tower case. First I had a corsair h100i v2. Idled at low 20's and under 100% cpu load would reach mid to high 40's. I donated setup when I stopped gaming for a bit, and when I wanted to rebuild I went cheap with a CM MasterAir g100m. Pretty, decently idled at high 30's and under 100% load would go to low to high 70's celsius. Wanted to upgrade the viper patriot stick to a 2nd stick and realized the g100m blocked a dual channel setup (40mm height sticks with 35mm clearance from g100m). Wanted that dual channel option so upgraded the cooler to this. Replaced initial stock fan (used it for chassis rear exhaust) with 2 corsair ml120's making the total of this cpu cooler 59.99. Idles at mid 20's and under 100% cpu load for about 3 minutes the highest its max was 51 celsius but averaging 47-48. Basically $130 for a 9% increase in cooling vs a $60 setup for 9% less cooling. This is a no-brainer worth the money spent. Install was simple enough, just one tip:

HAND TIGHTEN REAR BRACKET LUGS. DO NOT use the provided socket with phillips head grooves to tighten, you WILL damage your motherboard. I've done enough mechanical work to have been knowingly prepared, but if it was my first computer build or light equipment build, I'd have cracked my mobo. So please be careful when installing, does not have support like other brackets, this one tightens on the board itself.

31 people found this helpful

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mallory

I’m technologically handicapped. And I did it.

Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2020

Color: Hyper 212 BE RGBStyle: 4 Heat PipesVerified Purchase

I wasn’t expecting it to stick out. But it worked still. The instructions are easy if you know if you have intel or Amd. Before putting on the paste, make sure the screws on the fan thing align with the back plate. The RGB controller confused me. The instructions show you plugging it into something, but idk what thats supposed to be. My old RGB stock fan just plugged into the CPU FAN peg things. So when this fan didn’t light up I thought the controller was broken. Turns out, the controller connection part of the instructions can be left out. Just find those peg things that say LED CPU and plug the second cord from the fan in there. Lights work, fan works. So far so good. I can control the colors using the RGB 2.0 thing that came with the motherboard. Idk how to explain that.

19 people found this helpful

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5 star		82%
4 star		11%
3 star		4%
2 star		1%
1 star		2%

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