Intel’s Sandy Bridge-E enthusiast platform brings with it a new Intel socket, and that means new cooler mounting brackets! One nice thing about the X79 chipset: The boards ship with an integrated universal CPU mounting backplate, so no more fiddling around behind the motherboard.
Now, the new chipset hasn't been out that long, so cooler manufacturers are still working on getting their products compatible with the universal backplate. We were able to wrangle up seven LGA2011-compatible CPU coolers, ranging in price from $30 to $120, to see how they cope with the new mounting system and whether they’re up to the task of cooling an overclocked Sandy Bridge-E CPU.
We tested each cooler on a test bed with an Asus P9X79 Deluxe motherboard, a i7-3960X CPU, 16GB of DDR3, and a Thermaltake Level 10 GT case with its stock fans running at “high.” The i7-3960X is the flagship Sandy Bridge-E CPU, and contains six cores and support for 40 PCIe lanes. Its Turbo mode hits 3.9GHz out of the box, but we’ve clocked the proc up to 4.2GHz. We tested each cooler after an hour of idling and an hour of full burn at 4.2GHz, using the Sandy Bridge-E version of Intel’s internal thermal testing utility, and measuring the core temperatures with HWMonitor. To further level the playing field, we’re using the same thermal interface material for each cooler, eschewing the included thermal pastes in favor of Arctic Silver’s Lumiere, which we’ve used for all our cooler tests for years. In a sidebar, we’ll also talk about the effect of thermal paste on CPU performance.
Because very few of us run our CPUs at 100 percent across all cores for long stretches of time, the burn temperatures represent worst-case scenarios—this should be the hottest these CPUs ever get.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss
What, this old thing? Cooler Master’s Hyper 212 Evo is the new‑and‑improved version of our standby CPU cooler. It’s just $35 and offers performance far exceeding other coolers in its price range, so it’s the first thing we reach for when we build a new budget-conscious rig. Given that LGA2011 CPUs don’t come with heatsinks, the Evo is the closest thing we have to a stock cooler, and it will be the standard against which all other Sandy Bridge-E coolers are judged.
The plastic fan clips on the Evo are much easier to use than the wire clips that originally came with the first Hyper 212-Plus.
When we reviewed the Hyper 212 Evo in the January 2012 issue of our magazine, we had two major complaints about it: The backplate mounting procedure remained annoying, and the cooler didn’t have LGA2011 mounting support. Both of those problems have now been addressed.
The Hyper 212 Evo is a skyscraper-style heatsink, with four direct-contact copper heat pipes rising into an array of aluminum heat-dissipation fins. From the base of the heat exchanger to the tips of the heat pipes, the cooler is 6.3 inches tall, 3.13 inches deep, and 4.7 inches wide with the included 12cm PWM fan attached.
Thanks to the unified backplate on the LGA2011 socket (a crossover from Intel’s Xeon platforms), the Evo’s mounting process is greatly simplified. The LGA2011 X-shaped crossbar now screws directly into the mounting holes on the included backplate. No more accidentally unscrewing mounting bolts when removing the cooler.
In our test bed, the Evo continues to impress, cooling our i7-3960X at 4.2GHz down to 74 C. It’s not the best cooler in this roundup, but it outperforms coolers three times its price. And although its height may be a concern in narrow cases, the heatsink and fan do not interfere with any RAM slots, unlike many other coolers in this roundup. The Evo remains an inexpensive, inexplicably kick-ass cooler.
| Dimensions HxDxW (inches, with fans) | 6.3x3.13x4.7 |
| Weight | 1 lb, 4.6 oz |
| Heat Pipes | 4 copper direct-contact |
| Stock Fans | 1x 12cm PWM |
| Add’l Fan Support | 1 (clips included) |
Powerful, inexpensive performance
Not the freshest design; Mounting annoying on earlier brackets.
Comments are closed on this article
Baer
January 28, 2013 at 6:13pm
So, I spend about a half a grand on a cpu, perhaps twice that on a pair of GPU's a couple hundred on a high end PSU, more on memory Etc and I really care about saving twenty five bucks on a cooler and 250 pennies on thermal paste?
Yes, that should be part of the review but if this is really still MAX PC it should not carry any weight as far as PERFORMANCE ratings go.
I have always had great results from AS-5 but the Tuniq TX-4 pared with the H100 sounds like a good choice for my next build.BTW, a lot of tedious work went into this matrix of tests and this review, thank you!
xXSINS OF WARXx
January 28, 2013 at 1:00pm
I would have loved to see the phanteks ph-tc14pe added to this review.
Still think The Hyper EVO is the best bang for your buck. Spending +$30-50 for 2-4 degrees celcius is not worth it IMO. That price range, liquid cooling should be the only option relevant.
And3rs0nTX
January 27, 2013 at 8:55pm
I'm using a corsair H60 at the moment and I couldn't be happier with it especially since I got it for only $60.
iplayoneasy
January 28, 2013 at 6:22am
I've always been a fan of those. I grabbed the cheesier h40 for $45 on sale once and had an AMD 965 Black @ 4.2GHz for the last 2 years.
iplayoneasy
January 26, 2013 at 11:32am
Considering I got a high watt, high temp FX 8320 clocked at 4.7 GHz, I'd have to say the $30 hyper 212 is the best deal out there. 59C prime95 after 6 hours.
Meat_Juice
January 25, 2013 at 10:58am
These coolers are for pussies. A water loop is the only way to go for a real MaxPC enthusiast.
Penterax
January 25, 2013 at 11:59am
Yah, and I bet your Daddy's name is Piston, and claims to have 7 pecs instead of 2.
nsvander
January 25, 2013 at 9:43am
A year after the socket comes out, you do a review on coolers? I am still using my Thermalrite TruBlack 120 that I had from the 1336 days, bought an adapter and happy as a clam with it.
nedwards
February 01, 2013 at 10:56am
I did this roundup for the print magazine a year ago. I'm not sure why it's being posted now.
cmasupra
January 26, 2013 at 6:49am
New coolers can come out after the platform is released. In fact, many have. It's a valid review.
Penterax
January 25, 2013 at 12:04pm
Socket 2011 is rumored to be good through another CPU release (Ivy Bridge-E), but regardless, it's a popular overclocker platform good for testing coolers.
I would like to see an updated thermal paste test suite that includes my current fav, Phobya HeGrease Extreme.
kiaghi7
January 24, 2013 at 7:48pm
Big though it may be, I still gotta give it to the NH-D14, on hotter ambient it cooled to lower than all but the H100, and even then the difference was negligible at idle and very modest at burn-in.
While its size can be an encumbrance, the nice thing is that the "front" fan that could potentially interfere with RAM can readily be raised up over its level and lends additional air-flow over the RAM.
The caveat obviously though is that it is BIG in every since of the word, so most "mid towers" and smaller need not apply... It's just not intended for tight spaces.
Bullwinkle J Moose
January 24, 2013 at 5:59pm
The Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo is the highest performing cooler for the price AND weight (Only 1 lb, 4.6 oz)
So, what is the highest performing sandy bridge and Ivy bridge chips that can be cooled with this WITHOUT THE FAN?
Just Curious
Print
