Cooler Master Hyper 212 Halo Black

[crazyeyesreaper]

Cooler Master's Latest Hyper 212 Halo Black looks to carry on the legacy established by its venerable ancestor. Delivering solid performance, good looks, and plenty of clearance for components making it s a decent option for entry to mid-range gaming PCs.

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[wheresmycar]

not bad, not great, a little more for RGB lovers but $50 nahhh

I recently discovered the Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE ARGB with 7 heatpipes, dual tower, 2 ARGB fans and a beasty looking bugger.... all that for just $44. I guess the CM halo's size/compactness and non-obstructive memory stick visibility might be more fitting/appealing to some.

 

[Garrus]

Now that the price is high, CM's cooler isn't really special. I just bought the Phantom Spirit with 7 heat pipes (non rgb) and it was only $35 USD and is the best cooler probably for that price. Also the DeepCool is doing great with the AK500 and Noctua is always great if you don't mind the high price.

lol, I noticed someone else mentioned the Thermalright 7 heat pipe cooler right before I did. Need a review of that, stat!

not bad, not great, a little more for RGB lovers but $50 nahhh

I recently discovered the Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE ARGB with 7 heatpipes, dual tower, 2 ARGB fans and a beasty looking bugger.... all that for just $44. I guess the CM halo's size/compactness and non-obstructive memory stick visibility might be more fitting/appealing to some.

exactly!

 

[evernessince]

Cooler Master really has been resting on it's laurels with the popularity of this model. They have been passed several times now by other competitors.

 

[wheresmycar]

Now that the price is high, CM's cooler isn't really special. I just bought the Phantom Spirit with 7 heat pipes (non rgb) and it was only $35 USD and is the best cooler probably for that price. Also the DeepCool is doing great with the AK500 and Noctua is always great if you don't mind the high price.

lol, I noticed someone else mentioned the Thermalright 7 heat pipe cooler right before I did. Need a review of that, stat!


exactly!

yeah £35 here in the UK too. I'm sooo tempted to grab one just for the sheer value. Only problem being i've shifted up to fancy looking 280mm/360mm AIOs in the last few years and i've already got a Scythe Mugen 5, Cryorig R1 + H7 sitting around (and some other less admired units). Maybe it would be a nice "collectors" addition... "no more Vases, flowers and photo frames Mrsss... we're decorating the house with sexy looking chunky industrial metal junk coupled with plastic fans to fight off intrusive spiders"

 

[Chrispy_]

I remember when the 212 was £20.

Thanks, RGBLED, for ruining the cost of things as usual.

 

[Anarchy0110]

Too expensive as the comments above already stated, so yeah ...

 

[Hugis]

Thanks for the review @crazyeyesreaper could you please test some of these Thermalright coolers(Phantom spirit and peerless assassin) ta

 

[arandomguy]

I remember when the 212 was £20.

Thanks, RGBLED, for ruining the cost of things as usual.

It's not RGBs increasing the price. Cooler Master has been increasing the prices on the 212 line ever since the original, and the still sells due to first move brand recognition and wide availability.

This is TPU's review of the 212+ from already way back in 2016 - https://www.techpowerup.com/review/cooler-master-hyper-212x/

No RGBs or any cosmetic upsells and already $40 MSRP vs. $50 MSRP for this.

 

[MachineLearning]

It's not RGBs increasing the price. Cooler Master has been increasing the prices on the 212 line ever since the original, and the still sells due to first move brand recognition and wide availability.

This is TPU's review of the 212+ from already way back in 2016 - https://www.techpowerup.com/review/cooler-master-hyper-212x/

No RGBs or any cosmetic upsells and already $40 MSRP vs. $50 MSRP for this.

In fact they're practically the same price adjusting for inflation (USD).

What is $40 in 2016 worth in 2024?

What's the value of $40 in 2016 due to inflation?

www.amortization.org

So this cooler ends up being equivalent or better value.

 

[Chrispy_]

It's not RGBs increasing the price. Cooler Master has been increasing the prices on the 212 line ever since the original, and the still sells due to first move brand recognition and wide availability.

This is TPU's review of the 212+ from already way back in 2016 - https://www.techpowerup.com/review/cooler-master-hyper-212x/

No RGBs or any cosmetic upsells and already $40 MSRP vs. $50 MSRP for this.

You're not wrong, I never realised how high the MSRP on these things was. It's nine years older than that, and it was always the "sub-$20" cooler when launched in 2007. You'd rarely buy it at full asking price because it's just a cheap, basic cooler. If it's not *actually cheap*, it's garbage - at least in terms of performance/$!

I guess this is one of those products where the MSRP is completely unrealistic. At $50 you'd never ever consider this cooler now, there's just too much established competition at half the (street) price.

 

[Athlonite]

Cooler Master has been increasing the prices on the 212 line ever since the original

This is the original Hyper 212 from 2007 (costin just 27 pounds) it was alright if you used two fans in push/pull it sucked with just a single fan though But I replaced it with the Tuniq Tower 120 which with a single fan was a: Quieter and b: A better performer

I still have both tucked away in the archive

 

[Frick]

The Hyper 212 was never good value, not here anyway. Or maybe for a very short window, until retailers realized it would sell well at any price.

 

[Zareek]

They've been taking notes from Noctua. Take a successful product, paint it/make it more visually appealing and jack up the price. This coming from a guy with chromax.black NH-D15. Yup, I paid $10 extra to not have shit brown fans. I'm by no means an ascetics guy but that brown is so ugly!

Every time I see a hyper 212, I'm reminded of why I stopped buying CM. I got two Hyper 212s in my closet, wasting space because CM stops supporting their retention brackets. I guess I should just give them to recycling at this point.

 

[maxli86]

It's not RGBs increasing the price. Cooler Master has been increasing the prices on the 212 line ever since the original, and the still sells due to first move brand recognition and wide availability.

This is TPU's review of the 212+ from already way back in 2016 - https://www.techpowerup.com/review/cooler-master-hyper-212x/

No RGBs or any cosmetic upsells and already $40 MSRP vs. $50 MSRP for this.

I have own the original Cooler Master Hyper 212X that is one of the best heatsink fan back in the day in my opinion.
Than when CM release the Hyper 212 Black edition, I assume it should be better.
Installation wise the new series for Hyper 212 Black edition is easier than the original 212.

However the thermal performance isn't that as good unlike previous gen.
The main reason was the fan used, the CM silenco fan is the weak link which was also mentioned in Gamer nexus video.
The Hyper 212 Black edition RGB edition comes with a better fan but the thermal performance is average.

For CM Hyper 212 series what I notice this HSF are suitable for CPU with 65 watt TDP, CPU with higher TDP
opt to consider other HSF. I do also own the CM ma612 stealth which is by far the better HSF than the Hyper 212
along with CM sickleflow fans which are stronger fans.

CM have been going back and forth with their Hyper 212 while in fact in my opinion, they should just stick
to the CM Hyper 212 Black edition design and include a stronger fan like the CM sickleflow fans.
Even the new CM Hyper 212 Halo fan CFM (Airflow) is rated at 51 cfm which is weaker than the original Hyper 212 rated
at 81 cfm.

So if CM is reading this, why totally revamp the Hyper 212? The design was focus more on aesthetic than performance.
Yet it seems the fan is the weak link, I rather CM just continue selling the CM Hyper 212 Black edition but include
sickleflow fans with it.

Like the CM ma612 stealth which uses two CM sickleflow fans thus it's thermal performance is not bad in my opinion.
If anyone ask my opinion if I were to consider CM HSF, should I consider it?
Either consider other HSF or look for CM HSF that uses CM sickleflow fans which is a much better fans than any
of CM series.

 

[Mazer]

Glad I bought mines for $25 back before covid completely trashed the price

Added RGB and it's what now $50... Hard pass rather get scythe mugen or peerless assassin at that price.

 

[Assimilator]

I'm impressed that CM managed to take a product that worked well for literally years, and somehow make its performance worse. That's a level of incompetence difficult to comprehend.

 

[wheresmycar]

I'm impressed that CM managed to take a product that worked well for literally years, and somehow make its performance worse. That's a level of incompetence difficult to comprehend.

Is it possibly the fan? Maybe smaller fan blades, lower CFM and don't these circular type fans lose pressure from the flanks where the heatsink is exposed? The original evo had a boxed fan with side latches

Anyway i never did like these circular type fan casings which always looks like an uncompleted product (maybe its just me)

 

[fb020997]

Is it possibly the fan? Maybe smaller fan blades, lower CFM and don't these circular type fans lose pressure from the flanks where the heatsink is exposed? The original evo had a boxed fan with side latches

Anyway i never did like these circular type fan casings which always looks like an uncompleted product (maybe its just me)

Also the black coating on fins doesn’t help. I don’t know if it’s paint, powder coating or anodizing, but if it’s the first two of course it‘d be worse than the unpainted one.

 

[Vario]

I built a few computers using the 212 Evo for my budget conscious friends. One thing I disliked was the retention bracket. Even screwed down tight, the 212 Evo was always capable of rotating. The performance was okay, because you could buy the 212 Evo for around $22. You'd be insane to pay more than that. One can often buy a used high end aircooler for $40 off eBay (Noctua, Phanteks, Thermalright, etc).

 

[sLowEnd]

The Hyper 212 was never good value, not here anyway. Or maybe for a very short window, until retailers realized it would sell well at any price.

I don't remember finding the original Hyper 212 particularly outstanding, even all those years back. Other competing coolers like the Xigmatek HDT-S1283, OCZ Vendetta, and Sunbeam CCF were better performers in the budget tower category.