Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler Review

The Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO’s performance is very competitive. It outperforms the silence-orientated Gelid Tranquillo Rev. 2 and Cooler Master Hyper 612S by a decent margin. The majority of coolers in a similar performance envelope are significantly more expensive, making the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO a very potent competitor to today’s Xigmatek and Enermax products. Quite ironically, the Hyper 212 EVO’s cooling performance is surpassed by the very cooler it was designed to replace, the Hyper 212 Plus. The main reason for this performance deficit is down to Cooler Master’s decision to equip the 212 EVO with a 1600 RPM in comparison to the 2000 RPM unit the 212 Plus is supplied with. Readers located outside of Europe should note that the non-European versions of the Hyper 212 EVO use a 2000 RPM fan. The decision to use a lower RPM fan on the European version of the cooler is very odd and could leave some European users with quite a sour taste in their mouths.

Acoustic performance is a major strength for Cooler Master’s Hyper 212 EVO. At full fan speed, it was the second quietest cooler in today’s comparison, beaten only by Cooler Master’s low noise Hyper 612S. The PWM connection unlocks the potential for an almost silent system as the fan speed can be throttled to as low as 600 RPM when performance isn’t the primary objective.

Installation wasn’t as simple as some of its competitor’s methods. Attaching the backplate was frustrating and potentially time consuming due to the weirdly shaped holes which force you to angle and rotate the stand-off into position. Security wasn’t particularly great either. On our LGA 1155 motherboard, the cooler had free rotation up to a fairly significant angle. Installation is one of those things that most users are only likely to complete a handful of times though.

Aesthetics are fairly pleasing for the Hyper 212 EVO. Its shiny surface and protruding heatpipes create a rugged style which complements the quality touch of an embossed Cooler Master logo. A black fan with 7 translucent blades makes for a sleek appearance which will work excellently in combination with internal lighting such as LED strips or cold cathodes. The 2 large labels that Cooler Master print onto the black fan cable somewhat spoil the 212 EVO’s appearance, so I would hope that Cooler Master realise this mistake and rectify it with their future products.

Priced at £23.98/€29,90/$35, the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO definitely offers a large amount of bang for your well-earned buck. Compatibility with the latest CPUs and motherboards is on offer and the flexible fan mounting method should allow users to keep their slightly taller-than-normal RAM modules.

The Hyper 212 Plus which the 212 EVO was built to replace is one of the greatest CPU coolers in recent history due to its immeasurable bang-for-buck factor. While our European version of the Hyper 212 EVO may perform slightly worse than its predecessor, noise output is lowered and compatibility is also widened. The Hyper 212 EVO isn’t priced quite as low as the 212 Plus once was, but it is still very competitively priced. Overall, we think that Cooler Master have a very worthy successor to their Hyper 212 Plus in the Hyper 212 EVO. It offers competitive cooling performance, extremely low-noise operation and outstanding bang-for-buck.