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CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Plus Heatsink Review
Author: Dennis Garcia
Published: Thursday, August 27, 2009
Conclusion
As most of you already know you're never given a second chance to make a first impression and when it comes to computer hardware you will know almost immediately if you like something or not. Well our impressions of the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Plus started out good but quickly regressed.
It all started with the installation. Normally when we assemble systems we install what we can outside of the case so that when it comes down to the actual installation we have less moving parts to deal with. Well to install the Hyper 212 Plus you will have to remove the motherboard to install the back plate. The plate comes with several pre-drilled holes for the various processor platforms which is normally ok however the holes were slightly too small for the standoffs to thread thru. (read: force needed to be applied to install)
The next step is to mount the heatsink which is nothing short of a balancing act.
First you need to adjust the retention clip to match your processor platform (after it has been threaded thru the heatsink) the clip was very loose and will collapse with the slightest pressure. While holding the heatsink in place you thread the mounting screws into the standoffs that you already installed. The final major step is to install the cooling fan which really came down to holding the heatsink while threading the spring clip between the radiator and fan.
The worse came when trying to remove the heatsink, the fan clips did not want to come off and you can't properly remove the heatsink with the fan installed (fan covers screw heads). So we resorted to unbolting the stand offs which in turn locked them to the mounting screws.
Now for the real trouble, after reapplying thermal paste, (seems our 5 dot method won't work on exposed heatpipe coolers, the paste spreads into the cracks and does not cover the heatsink/processor). Figuring we would short cut the installation process we tried to install the heatsink directly with the standoffs still attached to the mounting screws. This would have worked great had the holes in the back plate been large enough to accept the standoff screws to begin with. Instead extreme force was required to shove the screws thru the backplate and after a good 20min of cussin the heatsink was reinstalled.
Now for the ever popular list of Good things and Bad things.
It all started with the installation. Normally when we assemble systems we install what we can outside of the case so that when it comes down to the actual installation we have less moving parts to deal with. Well to install the Hyper 212 Plus you will have to remove the motherboard to install the back plate. The plate comes with several pre-drilled holes for the various processor platforms which is normally ok however the holes were slightly too small for the standoffs to thread thru. (read: force needed to be applied to install)
The next step is to mount the heatsink which is nothing short of a balancing act.
First you need to adjust the retention clip to match your processor platform (after it has been threaded thru the heatsink) the clip was very loose and will collapse with the slightest pressure. While holding the heatsink in place you thread the mounting screws into the standoffs that you already installed. The final major step is to install the cooling fan which really came down to holding the heatsink while threading the spring clip between the radiator and fan.
The worse came when trying to remove the heatsink, the fan clips did not want to come off and you can't properly remove the heatsink with the fan installed (fan covers screw heads). So we resorted to unbolting the stand offs which in turn locked them to the mounting screws.
Now for the real trouble, after reapplying thermal paste, (seems our 5 dot method won't work on exposed heatpipe coolers, the paste spreads into the cracks and does not cover the heatsink/processor). Figuring we would short cut the installation process we tried to install the heatsink directly with the standoffs still attached to the mounting screws. This would have worked great had the holes in the back plate been large enough to accept the standoff screws to begin with. Instead extreme force was required to shove the screws thru the backplate and after a good 20min of cussin the heatsink was reinstalled.
Now for the ever popular list of Good things and Bad things.
Good Things
Great performance
Can install 2 cooling fans
solid construction
Universal processor support
Can install 2 cooling fans
solid construction
Universal processor support
Bad Things
Poor installation hardware
Cannot install with cooling fan attached
Universal back plate difficult to install
Exposed heatpipes requires 4x the normal amount of thermal paste
Fan clips difficult to install
Cannot install with cooling fan attached
Universal back plate difficult to install
Exposed heatpipes requires 4x the normal amount of thermal paste
Fan clips difficult to install
We would like to thank CoolerMaster for making this review possible
