Design and Installation
Design
We'll begin with the water block/pump assembly, which the most distinctive aspect of this closed-loop system. It is taller than most, and this is due to the dual-chamber design employed by Cooler Master.
“We stacked an extra chamber on top and engineered it so that cold stuff can go in, but hot stuff can't go back up. The cooler upper chamber is where we store all of the vital components.”
There are two pairs of brackets which attach to the sides of the assembly, for compatibility with AMD and Intel (pictured) processors.
The base of the block is solid copper, polished to a mirror finish.
You'll be relegated to the upper fan mounts in any of the deeper full-tower cases I've reviewed recently, as these hoses probably won't reach the front of a large enclosure.
If you look carefully at the radiator you might notice a user-accesible liquid refill port (top right corner). This is not actually meant to be used, as the sticker warning against removal indicates. Still, it's an unsual addition for a closed-loop cooler which is sealed at the factory.
The fins are advertised as 'square', which Cooler Master says creates "larger fin-to-channel contact". This design should in theory allow for better airflow and potentially quieter operation, though its effect on performance will be determined on the next page.
The fans feature rubber corners over a floating frame around the blades, and each offers a 3-position speed switch. (I tested the cooler with the fans in each of these positions).
The hoses feel strong and are sufficiently flexible, with enough length for the typical mid-tower enclosure.
Installation
First we need to prepare the motherboard. If you're using an AMD system or any Intel socket other than LGA2011, you'll first need to attach the backplate.
This is pretty much identical to what you'll find in other Cooler Master designs such as the Hyper 212 EVO, and is easy to install. (The backplate is not used for LGA2011 installation, and four standoffs are included instead.)
With the correct brackets attached to the sides of the pump assembly (there are different ones for AMD and Intel) it's simply a matter of lowering the cooler onto the CPU – after applying the included thermal paste, of course – and then tightening down the assembly.
The package includes a rubber gasket, which acts as an insulator between the fans and radiator. Once in place the fans feel very secure, and this vector for vibration should be quashed thanks to this design.
The fans themselves have a bit of an unusual design, with the frame around the blades sitting below the surface of the rubbery corners, which explains why the gasket was needed. Without it, the fans sat with the frame touching the metal sides of the radiator, and there was vibration noise. Be sure to use the gasket!
With the cooler mounted it's time to see how it performed!
That blue led is a big let
That blue led is a big let down, else it’s looking like a good cooler.
LED on only one component and
LED on only one component and no RGB??? THIS IS HERESY!
/s
I got few nepton 240m in few
I got few nepton 240m in few rigs. Pretty much identical to this cooler. Doing good job. No Blue Led! Only a white one ! 😀
This just shows how 212evo is
This just shows how 212evo is great bang for your money.
If you like noise, it’s great
If you like noise, it’s great value. Give me noctua any day.
The Cooler Master 212 EVO
The Cooler Master 212 EVO isn’t about being quiet, it’s about being the best dang cooler you can buy for under $30. And while I wouldn’t recommend it to someone very noise-sensitive (that had more money to spend) my experience is that it is easy enough to live with – never noticed it producing more noise than anything else in my system in a closed case.
I tell you I got 212evo cause
I tell you I got 212evo cause of so cheap and it performed well until you start pumping higher voltages through it (like 1.25v).
My i5-3570k is pretty good with voltage, I don’t try an ring every last mhz out of it, I can run 44x,44x,43x,43x on cores with like 1.15v max.
These give me “around” 60c in demanding games like BF1-4, were all cores are utilized a lot.
I do have fan profile set higher than default in bios and with my case Corsair 500r, which is fairly open, it does not bother me.
Yes you can hear fan ramp up with heavy load but its not bad and I use headphones so I can’t hear it anyway.
It’s really not good for
It’s really not good for overclocking. Also, don’t even bother with a Hyper 212 EVO if you have an X99 platform.
Swiftech’s GODLIKE AIOs
Swiftech’s GODLIKE AIOs already exist.
That is all. Dismissed.
From what i can tell, none of
From what i can tell, none of theirs use micro finned cold plates.
Have you seen the Arctic
Have you seen the Arctic Cooling Freezer 240? Mops the floor with all competition and is only $100.
You should really review it.
But this is a sponsored
But this is a sponsored review! So when and If the Artic Cooling folks make with the review dosh, otherwise a review ain’t happening!
No Cash No Flash!
And you are an Arctic Cooling
And you are an Arctic Cooling shill.
If its one of the Asetek
If its one of the Asetek rebrands that Arctic Cooling sells its probably pretty good though.
Anything that mounts a
Anything that mounts a vibrating pump on my CPU is out of the running immediately.
One thing all air coolers
One thing all air coolers will never be able to do: dump the cpu heat OUTSIDE the case.
main reason besides that LC is able to get lower temps when silent, is that i get about 20-30*C lower case and gpu temps.
even a crappy design like aseteks (pump failures) in something like the H60 gets sub 70C for my 3770 (4ghz all cores) running a 16db fan.
but this was only to sell my custom loop, new rig will get a predator (if i can find one)/arctic/ML pro.
they are not based on aseteks stuff and will run much better.
and anyone talking about godlike swiftech: google leak probs
i rather have a asetek aio risking pump failure (corsair covers ALL damaged part for 5y), than have anything leak while its running…