Replace or Upgrade? CM Hyper 212 EVO

[ZGR]

I have been pretty satisfied with the 212 Evo I got, but I noticed temperatures were pretty high for the past few days. Opening the case and looking at the cooler, I saw that one of the screws snapped in half and was wedged into the motherboard.

I lost the small half, but here's a pic of the larger, broken half.

Should I get the same model? Or is it worth buying a higher tier cooler? I've been looking at the Noctua DH14 and the Phanteks PH-T14PE. Both coolers are roughly 3x the price I paid for the 212.
I hit a temperature wall at ~ 4.5 GHz with the EVO 212, but if the Noctua or Phanteks can deliver far better temperatures, I am willing to pay more.
If there isn't a good air solution to upgrade from, I will probably see about getting a replacement set of screws and springs from Cooler Master as the cooler did not come with any spare screws...

I have NO watercooling experience, but am not against the idea... I am happy with the performance the 212 can provide, but the shoddy build quality is making me look up the price scale.

I'm now using the stock Intel HSF which I'm glad I kept as a backup!

 

[Charlie98]

Depends... I myself have not found the 212 to be the greatest at efficiency, and I have a push-pull fan setup on mine and it's wrapped with duct tape to try to get the air to go through it instead of out the sides. Having said that, I still use it because I'm a cheapskate and don't want to drop $80 on a Noctua. I'd just get hold of CM CS and get another set of screws.

You do get what you pay for, however. If you can afford the D-14 (or D-15) and are trying to break out of 4.5GHz... go for it.

 

[Blain]

Looks like a brass MB standoff.
Why not just replace it and reassemble (don't over tighten)?

 

[ZGR]

Looks like a brass MB standoff.
Why not just replace it and reassemble (don't over tighten)?

I made sure I didn't over tighten the screws which is why I'm rather perplexed at it breaking. In fact, a couple of the screws were loose when I noticed the broken screw.


Since the cooler didn't come with any spare springs and screws (the spring and screw snapped in half) I just need a replacement set from Cooler Master if I want to reinstall the cooler.

But I also want to break past 4.5 GHz with acceptable temperatures so upgrading to something beefier makes sense. The 212 was only $23 so I'm not too broken up about replacing it. If the ~ $80 coolers are worth it, I'll definitely upgrade.

 

[Blain]

If the ~ $80 coolers are worth it, I'll definitely upgrade.

$80 coolers are "worth it" if they allow you to OC your CPU up to a processor level equal to $160 over what your CPU costs.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

$80 coolers are "worth it" if they allow you to OC your CPU up to a processor level equal to $160 over what your CPU costs.

Interesting choice for a measuring stick. Makes sense, I suppose.

I have a couple of those 212/+/EVO units. Never saw anything like this, or as the OP describes. I'd expect more damage to the motherboard from over-torqueing before breaking a bolt like that.

Choose your poison! Depends on what you want, and depends on what you need! Getting a new set of fittings fills the "need" aspect and probably would cost $10. "Want" depends on what Blain explains.

If the OP ran up his OC to 4.4 or 4.5, he might swing for a D14, but again -- depends on the processor.

UPDATE: Oh, I see! Finally saw the OP's sig. Devil's Canyon? I say . . . GET the NH-D14, D15, or simply contemplate a water option, beginning with AiO. I could also see limiting the cooling budget to "below custom-water." But -- really -- I'd slap a better cooler on that i5-4690K than an EVO . . . If you spent the money on the processor, anyway . . .

 

[ZGR]

Thanks for the replies. I knew the EVO wasn't going to be great to begin with; but after investing my time with overclocking this CPU, I really want to push it harder just for fun! I'll be purchasing the DH15.

I bet I'll try water in the future when I need more GHz! I checked to see any damage left by the screw, and only a minor scratch is left where one of the Intel push-pins enter. I was pretty gentle/patient getting the piece of screw out.

The stock Intel HSF is quite good with cores maxing out in the mid 80's with LinX at 3.9 GHz.

I think I will try to get a replacement set of screws for the EVO as it is a pretty good cooler considering the cost. It will be a great backup or useful for a secondary build.

 

[MongGrel]

Thanks for the replies. I knew the EVO wasn't going to be great to begin with; but after investing my time with overclocking this CPU, I really want to push it harder just for fun! I'll be purchasing the DH15 for $75 from ncixus.

http://www.ncixus.com/products/?sku...qspPkCiyOnaV93uiAKh7y6ovJ1WWew2QJgaAsF08P8HAQ


I bet I'll try water in the future when I need more GHz! I checked to see any damage left by the screw, and only a minor scratch is left where one of the Intel push-pins enter. I was pretty gentle/patient getting the piece of screw out.

The stock Intel HSF is quite good with cores maxing out in the mid 80's with LinX at 3.9 GHz.

I think I will try to get a replacement set of screws for the EVO as it is a pretty good cooler considering the cost. It will be a great backup or useful for a secondary build.

What you have on the way you should be very happy with, and as good as most starter AIO water ones, unless you do a real dedicated water system.

Never think I've seen a standoff break like that, production glitch from the raw stock I'd guess.

Been using a 14 in here awhile now.

Have pondered a 15, but seems it wouldn't be worth the small jump.

 

[ZGR]

I was going with ncixus, but the $15 shipping puts it at the same $99 as everywhere else that offers free shipping. Looks like I'll go with Ebay and wait a few days or Amazon. That picture really shows how big that cooler is! My GPU is in the first slot so I expect to have about as much clearance as your first GPU does...

Edit: Amazon has it for $94.85 so I'm going with that.

 

[chubbyfatazn]

When I got my 212+ the screw holes for the mounting bracket were too small for the provided screws. I ended up enlarging them with the help of some pliers, but I emailed CM about the issue anyway.

2 weeks later a package from Taipei showed up at my door with a complete set of mounting hardware inside.

That's pretty darn good service in my book... might be worth a shot emailing them. Even though you're upgrading it's nice to have an extra hsf handy.

 

[ZGR]

That's the response I hope CM will have for me so I can keep the 212 as a backup. It's a great hsf for the price!

I'll update this thread when I install the DH15 and do some stress testing.

 

[Rezist]

I'm guessing your other screws came loose because the one bolt broke, I personally torqued mine probably a little too much but didn't seem to be effected by it.

 

[ZGR]

I'm guessing your other screws came loose because the one bolt broke, I personally torqued mine probably a little too much but didn't seem to be effected by it.

I agree. I think the screw was broken for a few days without me realizing it, and the stress was loosening the other screws. It was probably a defective screw. I emailed CM I hope they are understanding about it.

 

[gradoman]

$80 coolers are "worth it" if they allow you to OC your CPU up to a processor level equal to $160 over what your CPU costs.

I kinda look at it as something I'll probably never have to change until something really, really compelling comes out. I've had my Silver Arrows for a few years now on several different builds. One of them is in my daughter's PC without fans on the heatsink, just one fan in the roof of her FT03. I know that it's fine for a 2600k at stock even if the fan goes kaput.

 

[ZGR]

Wow. Its been a busy week, but I finally got around to installing the DH15.
CoolerMaster also got back to me, and they are sending me replacement parts for free! Very glad I have the 212 EVO for backup. I haven't gotten around to overclocking again, but so far things are looking good.

At stock speed and voltage, core temperatures are idling in the mid 20's and are peaking in the mid 50's with LinX. That's 10 degrees cooler idle, and over 30 degrees cooler at load; compared to the stock Intel HSF.

I'll update this thread again once I start fine-tuning the overclock, but things are looking good!

Edit: Gonna stick with 4.6 Ghz as my chip is definitely voltage limited. 4.7 GHz requires 1.31v+ for good stability and 4.6 GHz only needs 1.27v.

LinX causes cores to go in the low 90's, but throttling is far less aggressive compared to the 212 EVO. Prime95 + small FFTs peak in the upper 80's. Scores are scaling perfectly with clock speed.

A big improvement is how much quieter the D15 is compared to the EVO 212.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Wow. Its been a busy week, but I finally got around to installing the DH15.

At stock speed and voltage, core temperatures are idling in the mid 20's and are peaking in the mid 50's with LinX. That's 10 degrees cooler idle, and over 30 degrees cooler at load; compared to the stock Intel HSF.

I'll update this thread again once I start fine-tuning the overclock, but things are looking good!

Edit: Gonna stick with 4.6 Ghz as my chip is definitely voltage limited. 4.7 GHz requires 1.31v+ for good stability and 4.6 GHz only needs 1.27v.

LinX causes cores to go in the low 90's, but throttling is far less aggressive compared to the 212 EVO. Prime95 + small FFTs peak in the upper 80's. Scores are scaling perfectly with clock speed.

A big improvement is how much quieter the D15 is compared to the EVO 212.

What is your prevailing room ambient this time of year?

What case are you using -- specific model if you can be accurate?

What sort of cooling strategy? Size, number and placement of fans?

Orientation of cooler: tower facing rear exhaust, tower facing top exhaust, etc.

 

[Azix]

Could get a summary of your evo performance compared to the new cooler? wondering if there really is that much of a difference to justify price.

you weren't running push pull right?

 

[Toro 45]

So 4.6ghz @ 1.27volts, what voltage were you using with your original overclock to hit 4.5ghz with the Evo?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Could get a summary of your evo performance compared to the new cooler? wondering if there really is that much of a difference to justify price.

you weren't running push pull right?

It should be easy to find it. Anandtech has hosted controlled cooler benchmarks across 50+ coolers in the past. Frosty-Tech's website presents them almost like a "journal" of testing over a period of time: the old chart becomes the basis for a new cooler review.

You can get an idea of the difference in Celsius you might expect. Whether presented as "delta over ambient" or something else, the information contains indications of thermal resistance measured against a TDP or higher known wattage. Between that and the rank-ordering, it should give you a good idea unless the reviewers are engaging in a payola scheme with manufacturers. These days, the way they do that: they simply exclude reviews of some higher performance product in order to hype the winners of their comparison. These web-sites don't tend to do that.

But -- doesn't matter, except to your inconvenience. Once you have a relative rank-ordering of coolers A, B, C and D, and you're still interested in cooler X -- any OTHER review featuring a combination of X and either {A,B,C,D} or any subset of {A, B,C,D} will provide you the knowledge you seek.

TRANSITIVITY: "If A > B, and B > C -- then -- A > C" etc. etc.