After careful consideration I have decided to transfer all hardware review activities to a new domain. I purchased Hardwareasylum.com in 2012 and have been working hard to build a new and improved Ninjalane on that domain. If you are reading this you have reached one of the archived articles, news, projects and/or reviews that were left behind during the site migration.
Please update your bookmarks and be sure to visit the new and improved Ninjalane at Hardwareasylum.com
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Plus Heatsink Review
Author: Dennis Garcia
Published: Thursday, August 27, 2009
Installation
A popular method for mounting fans these days is to use a spring steel wire clip and depending on how the clip is constructed it can making mounting the fan extremely easy or the most frustrating thing ever. On a scale from 1 to 10 I would rate the CoolerMaster solution around a 3.
Installing the Hyper 212 Plus is a little different from what you would expect. The mounting process is designed to be universal so that it will work on Core i7, Core i5 775, AM/2, etc.. The hardware consists of a metal backplate, some mounting screws and a universal mounting clip that opens up to fit the different mounting positions. Very similar to the Core i7 mount that Themralright offers on their heatsinks.
Mounting the heatsink occurs in 2 stages.
First you mount the backplate which is bolted in place, the bolt doubles as a standoff for the heatsink retention clip. Once the backplate has been secured you can mount the heatsink and this part MUST be done without the fan being installed since the fan will block access to the screws that hold the clip in place. You also must make sure the center post is in the middle of the heatsink and the notch off to the side lines up with an alignment notch on the retention clip. If it does not line up the entire assembly will never seat properly.
Mounting the heatsink occurs in 2 stages.
First you mount the backplate which is bolted in place, the bolt doubles as a standoff for the heatsink retention clip. Once the backplate has been secured you can mount the heatsink and this part MUST be done without the fan being installed since the fan will block access to the screws that hold the clip in place. You also must make sure the center post is in the middle of the heatsink and the notch off to the side lines up with an alignment notch on the retention clip. If it does not line up the entire assembly will never seat properly.
The biggest issue here is that it may look like you are installing things properly until you get to the last screw and wonder why it won't fit. Sometimes these universal mounting brackets work great but most of them time they are just a cheap alternative to a better solution.
