Could Cooler Master Hyper 212 be a downgrade vs Stock cooler?

[Phooka13]

Hi,
I just got a i7 2600k and I'm OC'ed @ 4.5GHz on a Asus p8z68-v PRO gen 3 Motherboard. I'm going to pick up a Cooler Master Hyper 212 today but I'm worried that my CPU temp might go up. I know it sounds ridiculous but with the stock cooler i'm getting 30c Idle and 60c Full load CPU temps after 3+ hours of gaming (individual CPU cores are about 10c more per core). I've read that some people are getting the same idle/full load temps with the 212 cooler OC'd at lower setting. Is there a possibility that I'll get higher CPU temps with the Cooler Master Hyper 212 cooler?

I've got decent ventilation using a Rosewill "gaming" case which has 3 fans in it (front, back, top). My MSI 560 TI Frozr II video card supposedly runs cooler than other video cards due to it's heat sinks and large fans. The PSU is bottom mounted and has two fans in it.

Additional notes: It is "winter" right now in California and I live near the beach.

Thank you.

 

[Rustyy117]

The Hyper 212 is certainly better than the stock intel cooler, no doubt about it.

Other people may have stress tested their CPU with a program like prime95 which will produce more heat than gaming would.

 

[Phooka13]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I'll have to try running that program when I get home.

I'd like to get my CPU temp somewhere in the low 20's idle and mid 50's during heavy use. Do you think that's realistic using the Hyper 212?

 

[deadjon]

THe Hyper 212 + Will bring your temps down to ~60C per core at that OC I think when gaming - its best to test it with prime95 first though. Always use per core temps, the general CPU temp means pretty much nothing.

 

[Phooka13]

I see. I was under the impression the CPU temp was what I needed to pay close attention to.

At the moment the idle core temps run around 40c, while high end game will push it to 70c. That sounds about right for a stock cooler. I'm hoping to shave at least 5c off those temps with the Hyper 212. Thanks!

 

[Phooka13]

I used Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound if that makes a lot of difference.

 

[Rustyy117]

You'll easily get 5C off the temps, dedjon is right individual core temps are what matter. The cPU temp is just the temp of the IHS.

I'd expect a 10C drop from moving to the Hyper 212.

Good thermal compound is important and can reduce temps by a few degrees, though AS5 is alittle outdated now.

 

[Phooka13]

Awesome! I was hoping to get 10c off my current temp.

Is there a good thermal compound you'd recommend?

 

[RetiredChief]

While prime95 will push your temps higher than gaming, your setup must allow for the Higher temps as Prime 95 is a MUST for checking the stability of your OC, and you have to run it for 4 hours min, 6->8hrs recommended.

The Stock is HSF is NOT recommended for OCing, personally I DO NOT even remove it from the Box, just leave it in the cpu box to weight it down.

The Hyper 212 is a great cost/performance HSF and works well for mild OC. For 4.5/4.6 OC the Hyper should be OK, But Myself I'm a firm believer in the Cooler the BETTER and would opt for a HSF rated in the top 10 at frosy's.
@ 4.5/4.6 a lot depends on the individual CPU and MB and at what vcore is required for stable operation.

A cup of Homebrew is about 20 Cents (a Buck and a half at 7-11). On cup a day is like - Approx $70 per year. Planning on keeping that OC for a couple of years, it is well worth it to envest in a higher performance HSF.

Idle temps - upper 20's, low 30's mux-nicks. Idle will be around +5-> +9 C above ambient temps. No problem in wither, but dependes alot on summer temps. It's the "Loaded" core temps that are important. My preferce is I do not go above 65C in the summer for continous use, and a good HSF & a OC of 4.5/4.6 should be fine (Do not need water cooling unless going for 5.0 or higher).

added
My config is I5-2500k with a Zalman 9900Max HSF and artic silver 5. Better thermal paste will only shave a couple of degrees off.

 

[Rustyy117]

I use Arctic cooling MX-4 as its non-conductive and gives better temps (by a degree or two) than AS5.

 

[geofelt]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I'll have to try running that program when I get home.

I'd like to get my CPU temp somewhere in the low 20's idle and mid 50's during heavy use. Do you think that's realistic using the Hyper 212?

No air cooler will get you close to 20c, unless your room temperature is in the 50f. range. There is always a delta over ambient of perhaps 10c T idle with a good cooler.

You will do better with the hyper212. At the very least, it will be quieter with a slower turning 120mm fan.

Run prime95 with rounding checking.
Run it long enough for the temperature to stabilize at it's peak. You should get NO errors.
Normal gaming will not push the cpu anywhere near it's peak, so 50c is quite reasonable.

 

[Phooka13]

Thanks, this is all very useful information.

Frosty Tech is a good resource too.

 

[RetiredChief]

@ omgitzfatal - Artic Silver 5 is also NON-conducting.

 

[Rustyy117]

@ omgitzfatal - Artic Silver 5 is also NON-conducting.

That's good to know, thanks

 

[RetiredChief]

Yea, a lot of people think, O silver, must be conductive. But spec sheet shows that it is non conductive.

 

[Phooka13]

Best answer selected by Phooka13.

 

[Phooka13]

Thanks everyone for your help!!

 

[Phooka13]

So I installed the Hyper 212 yesterday and ran Prime95 while I slept (around 7 hours). The highest temp a single core got was 72c while the other cores were around 65c. Isn't that kind of high still? I'm thinking of cleaning the CPU/heat sink and reapplying thermal paste to make sure that isn't the problem, or do these temps sound about right?

There was a HUGE difference in idle temps and while playing games. Idle all cores were 25c - 30c and while playing BF3 the highest a core got was 45c.

 

[Rustyy117]

Did you run Prime95 with the stock cooler? if so do you know what the temps were?

 

[Phooka13]

I didn't try Prime95 with the stock cooler but I'm pretty darn sure it could have done some damage to my CPU. With the stock cooler my idle individual core temps were close to 40c and my gaming load around 60c, Prime95 could have pushed temps closer to 80c maybe?.

 

[Rustyy117]

Well judging by your before and after gaming temp difference of 15C I would imagine that prime95 temps would have been 87C+ atleast. So I think the Hyper212 is doing a good job considering its low price.

 

[Phooka13]

I agree, for the price it is well worth the investment. I wanted to get a better cooler but there just isn't enough room between the CPU socket and the first RAM slot. Hyper212 is one tight squeeze as it is.

It was funny all the reviews said the instruction booklet was bad, I felt the instructional video by Cooler Masters was worse!