cooler master hyper 212x performance

Utku · Feb 18, 2014

Hi guys.

I wasn't happy with my intel stock cooler so I installed cooler master hyper 212x some months ago. Still I am wondering if the performance is ok, so I decided to ask some questions.

Usually I am using HWINFO64. There are core temperatures and a cpu temperature which are shown separately as you know. CPU temp is always lower and ok. But my eyes always look at core temps which are higher. I know these are normal. But I just want to know if hyper 212x is performing well.

I have some couple of questions:

In the tests, do the benchmarkers look at core temps or the cpu temps for the results?

I wonder the performance so I am writing the temps(Celcius) by HWINFO64 :

IDLE:
Core0 36
Core1 40
Core2 36
Core3 37

CPU 30

prime95 20 minutes:
Core0 51
Core1 60
Core2 57
Core3 57

CPU 49

One more thing: Thermaltake G3 grease is applied, which is best in the industry.
No overclock is done. Everything is at stock speed.
----------------------------------------
My system is:
Cooler Master 850 Watts
Asus P8P67 Deluxe
Intel corei5 2400
Hi Level 4GB 1600mhz ram
OCZ Agility 3 SSD
Thermaltake Armor Tower.
Windows 7 64 bit home edition
My room temp is 24

Especially the cooler master hyper 212x owners! I am looking for your reply!

See you guys.

InvalidError · Feb 18, 2014

60C seems a bit on the warm side for an i5-2400 but that could also be caused by a non-optimal case fan configuration. If the 212's fan is blowing towards the rear, you need a rear exhaust fan and if it is blowing up, you need a top exhaust fan. If you have filtered intakes without fans, I would recommend putting intake fans on all of those.

EasyLover · Feb 18, 2014

[strike]Dear temps are normal.

So far as benchmark softwares goes, they test the functionality of the CPUs not the individual core. Run the stress tests and they will give you idea of temps.

Regards,[/strike]

envy14tpe · Feb 18, 2014

Yeah, seems kinda high especially since this is a non overclocked system. However, you don't really need to run Prime95 on a non overclocked system. Just check out temps under load (gaming).

At idle I'd expect the temps around 30-33C (20C room).

EasyLover · Feb 18, 2014

Sorry. misread "no overclock". Keep a check on your temps under load. One time temp reading will not give you exact or near to exact reading. You need to continuously check at idle and at load. If you still get 60 or so then something is wrong.

This could well be non-proper installation of the cooler. Pl remove the cooler. Re-apply the thermal compound and install again using recommended settings. Also check the fan of the cooler for proper working in orientation.

Sorry again.

envy14tpe · Feb 18, 2014

When you applied the thermal compound did you follow the rice grain rule? Don't add more than that.

InvalidError · Feb 18, 2014

EasyLover :

If there was something fundamentally wrong with the installation, he would be getting readings much worse than 60C after 20 minutes of Prime95.

envy14tpe :

I would not be too worried about excess paste with the amount of force the 212's retention clips put on the CPU. Unless the paste has very high viscosity, any significant excess will ooze out in fairly short order. Perfect application is only necessary if you want to get every single last deg.C out of the HSF. For people who simply want to keep their non-OCable CPU within safe operating range, I would be more worried about the cleanup mess putting in way too much would create than any cooling performance issues. In the OP's case, 60C peak temperature in Prime95 would be good enough for me to call it quits - it might not be ideal but it is low enough that I personally would not want to mess with a 212 just to squeeze another 2-3C out of it.

That's why I suggested starting with the easy stuff: review case airflow to see if the HSF might be re-ingesting significant amounts of its own hot air. That will kill any HSF's performance no matter how perfect the TIM application might be.

jghaverty · Feb 18, 2014

I honestly vote case airflow. I added a top fan 140mm to my lian li and it literally dropped my IDLE temps 5c (from 36 ish to 31ish) and p95 temps dropped a good 10c.

Also, if you know you didnt do the best job installing the cooler, just suck it up and redo it. (i.e. if you know you kinda globbed it on, or smeared it around too much).

my overclocked 8320 doesnt get that hot, your non over clocked old i5 shouldn't be near that honestly.

EasyLover · Feb 18, 2014

InvalidError :

EasyLover :

If there was something fundamentally wrong with the installation, he would be getting readings much worse than 60C after 20 minutes of Prime95.

I would not be too worried about excess paste with the amount of force the 212's retention clips put on the CPU. Unless the paste has very high viscosity, any significant excess will ooze out in fairly short order. Perfect application is only necessary if you want to get every single last deg.C out of the HSF. For people who simply want to keep their non-OCable CPU within safe operating range, I would be more worried about the cleanup mess putting in way too much would create than any cooling performance issues. In the OP's case, 60C peak temperature in Prime95 would be good enough for me to call it quits - it might not be ideal but it is low enough that I personally would not want to mess with a 212 just to squeeze another 2-3C out of it.

That's why I suggested starting with the easy stuff: review case airflow to see if the HSF might be re-ingesting significant amounts of its own hot air. That will kill any HSF's performance no matter how perfect the TIM application might be.

Thanks for great insight. Idea of excess paste was not by me though

jghaverty · Feb 18, 2014

I dont know if they mount differently for intels, but my CM 212 evo isn't clamped on super tight at all. Its snug and flush, but not enough to make up for poor application of TIM (too much or too little)

InvalidError · Feb 18, 2014

EasyLover :

True, someone else explicitly said it. But you would probably count excess paste as not-quite-proper too even if the only real "harm" in doing so is messy cleanup at some point in the future and the waste cost of that excess paste, right?

InvalidError · Feb 18, 2014

jghaverty :

I have a 212+ on my Core2Duo and unless CM changed the retention clip for the EVO, it does apply a fair amount of force on the CPU once all four screws are tightened into backplate studs until they reach the end of their threads. CM's newer retention design with "wings" that screw into the HSF and long screws from the backplate directly into those "wings" on the other hand seems a fair bit more flimsy - really worried about excessive force ripping the wings out of the HSF's threads if tightened a little too much.

Utku · Feb 18, 2014

Thanks guys, I knew that something was wrong because after some time I opened the case, touched the heat pipes( their starting point near cpu) they weren't hot enough, so I am sure this is about installation. I had suspicion about the tightness. I don't think it touches the surface flawlessly. Normally the bottom part -ecpecially the heat pipes- shouldn't be just warm after hours of working right?

And for the owners of hyper 212x, you remember the screw in the middle part? Do you think it is not tight enough?! Cause I was sure that the other four screw around the cpu was really tight enough.

By the way, thermal grease was applied well. It wasn't too much or a little etc....

jghaverty · Feb 18, 2014

InvalidError :

I dont know if its my setup, but its almost like the screws that go into the base plate are too high for my board. I have to crank the crap out of my screws and even then it still "wiggles". Temps are great, and I lapped the surfaces pretty well, so Im ok for now. I will eventually grind down the nuts or screws though, just to get it more snug I guess.

Utku :

Pipes being cool doesn't mean much really. Mine are almost cool to the touch and I was gaming all morning.

If you're gonna be taking it apart, take a GOOD straight edge and make sure your mating surfaces are FLAT. Mine was pretty curved (which shocked me a little bit), and I spent a good hour lapping the damn thing to get it flat.

InvalidError · Feb 18, 2014

Utku :

The middle clip screw does not appear to serve any purpose other than holding the two clip arms together and slotting into the aluminum block's hole to prevent the HSF from slipping too far off-center. I was satisfied enough with the amount of force the clip was putting on the base block by simply snugging the clip screws into the studs so I never bothered trying to tighten the middle screw. Small as it is, I doubt it would be able to put much extra pressure on the HSF before stripping its threads.

Utku · Feb 18, 2014

Ok guys thanks, I will reinstall it again carefully. jghaverty, thanks for the heat pipe information. I thought they would be very hot, but you say you have nice temp readings.

I will look at the surface this time, if there is a problem about quality, I'll try to do best I can.

InvalidError · Feb 18, 2014

jghaverty :

Are you talking about "twist" wiggle? If that is the case, DO NOT over-tighten since you will NEVER get rid of it. This is a quirk of how the 212's retention mechanism works: the cross-armed clip only has a middle-stud that fits loosely in a hole on the base block and a tiny locator pin around to prevent it from twisting a lot. You could tighten the studs until you break the motherboard or socket and it would still "wiggle" by a few degrees when twisted.

After the thermal paste has had a few weeks of thermal cycling to fully cure and pack down, it will form a vacuum bond between the CPU and HSF which should fully lock it down until enough force is applied to break the vacuum.

As for the IHS not being flat, I remember reading that Intel's IHS are slightly concave by design with many people being puzzled about that since that seems counter-intuitive: simple logic says you want the hotspot to be slightly higher to make 100% certain it gets the best contact possible. I would not be too surprised if there was a more complex reason behind it such as the concavity being used as a thermal paste pump: excess paste oozes out of the cavity during thermal expansion, gets sealed out by the edges and the remaining paste inside the cavity gets crushed by vacuum assist during cool-off, rinse and repeat until just the right amount of densely packed paste remains between the IHS and HSF. Of course, that theory can only work with reasonably flat HSF surfaces and definitely won't work with HSFs like the 212s that have massive grooves between pipes across their base.

jghaverty · Feb 18, 2014

Yes, but my twist and wiggle is pretty extreme haha. I know what Im doing on that regard, its too loose, the screws bottom out before it starts torquing on the board, which Im pretty sure is not whats supposed to happen. The chip being flat or curved isnt what I was concerned over either. My 212 base plate was warped pretty badly. I lapped it very flat and it definitely works better.

InvalidError · Feb 18, 2014

jghaverty :

You aren't going to need torquing until the screws bottom out unless you are crossing threads: when you put case screws in, they go in with little to no resistance until they bottom out and then you give then 1/4 of a turn to snug them so they don't come loose... same goes with springs: if you compress springs using a screw, you need relatively little force to turn the screw until the spring bottoms out all crunched on itself.

If you mean that your 212 is so loose that you can easily make it flip-flop on top of the CPU by pushing it sideways at the top then you could try putting a thin washer under the center pin to pick up the excess slack - a lot less messy than grinding the studs and completely reversible.

jghaverty · Feb 18, 2014

InvalidError :

I dont really care about it being reversible or not. Yes its pretty "floppy" though.
The screws are bottomed out without torquing on the top. Im using "torque" as a technical term, not some ham fisted fool cranking on the screw with a 3 foot long screwdriver. I tried using the "washer" method already, and its being a complete pain in the arse to get it still. I would put washers on the motherboard side, but theres some pcb wiring running next to one of the mounting holes :-/

Not a huge deal for me really, wont take long either.

Utku · Feb 19, 2014

Thank you guys, I have searched other forums and the problems about the temperatures and flatness etc. are mentioned for the hyper 212 models. All the same problems about these models.

I will try to observe everything in my next installation.

Thanks.

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