X-bit labs

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Processor Cooler Review (page 6)

Category: Coolers

by Sergey Lepilov

[ 12/17/2007 | 04:10 PM ]

Thermal and Acoustic Performance

First let’s check out the processor thermal diagram:

It is evident that the new solution from Cooler Master doesn’t demonstrate any impressive results, losing to Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme supercooler about 7-8ºC in CPU peak temperature with the identical Scythe fan used (~1140RPM). Note that Nyper 212 falls not that greatly behind with the original fan. Inside a system case, Hyper 212 with two high-speed fans installed managed to even outperform the known air-cooling leader. However, the latter has never been tested with powerful fans like that. Moreover, it regains its leading position in an open testbed. I would also like to say that Cooler Master Hyper 212 with two quiet fans appears as efficient as with a single high-speed fan.

Now let’s take a look at the maximum CPU overclocking results with each cooling solution. The tests were performed in an open testbed. Here are the obtained results:

CPU Vcore was different during these tests for each of the coolers:

• Cooler Master Hyper 212: ~1900RPM  – 1.5V; ~1140RPM – 1.45V; ~1140RPM x 2 – 1.5125V; ~1990RPM – 1.5375V; ~1990RPM x 2 – 1.55V;
• Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme: ~1140RPM – 1.5875V.

Here Cooler Master Hyper 212 yields more significantly to the competitor from Thermalright. Look, if we compare the coolers performance with a single fan in quiet mode, the super-cooler allows pushing the quad-core processor frequency 240MHz higher than the Cooler Master product. Nevertheless, with a pair of high-performance fans helps Hyper 212 reduce the lag to the minimum. Although you should remember that the difference in the level of generated noise becomes pretty significant in this case. So, I guess it is time for us to check out the acoustic parameters now:

The most important thing that we have to stress after looking at the diagram is the low noise generated by the default Cooler Master Hyper 212 fan. My observations pointed out in the Design and Functionality section of this article proved absolutely correct during noise measurements. Check it out: Hyper 212 fan rotating at ~1900RPM generates 36.6dBA of noise, which is very close to subjectively comfortable level of 36dBA. The 9-blade Scythe Minebea fan working at ~1990RPM in the same conditions produces 38.5dBA, which is far from being comfortable.