When Sandy Bridge E launched we went from everyone running the fairly cool Sandy Bridge processors to people actually having to worry a little more about what they select. This was made even more important because Intel didn’t include a stock cooler this time around, opting to sell their own water cooling kit for those looking to cool their 3960X’s. Soon after Cooler Master approached me about putting their Hyper 612 PWM, a heatsink that runs half the price of the Intel water cooling, up against the Intel Water Cooling. You want me to put your cooler up against something twice its price? SURE! Let’s dig in and take a look at the Hyper 612 PWM and its performance.
Product Name: Cooler Master Hyper 612 PWM
Review Sample Provided by: Cooler Master
Review by: Wes
Pictures by: Wes
Specifications
Model |
RR-H612-20PK-R1 |
CPU Socket |
Intel Socket: |
CPU Support |
Intel: |
Dimension |
140 x 128 x 163 mm (5.5 x 5.5 x 6.4 inch) |
Heat Sink Material |
Copper Base / 6 Heat Pipes / Aluminum Fins |
Heat Sink Weight |
806g (1.78 lb) |
Fan Dimension |
120 x 120 x 25 mm (4.7 x 4.7 x 1 inch) |
Fan Speed |
600 - 2000 RPM (PWM) ± 10% |
Fan Airflow |
24.9 - 82.9 CFM ± 10% |
Fan Air Pressure |
0.3 - 2.7 mmH2O ± 10% |
Bearing Type |
Long Life Sleeve Bearing |
Fan Life Expectancy |
40,000 hours |
Fan Noise Level (dB-A) |
9 - 36 dBA |
Connector |
4-Pin |
Fan Weight |
104g (0.23 lb) |
Packaging
The Hyper 612 PWM came boxed up in typical Cooler Master style, meaning purple and white packaging. On the front there is a large picture of the heatsink, somehow the picture doesn't sum up how big the heatsink really is. On the top and front they have listed all of the different sockets that the heatsink will fit. With that list having 9 different sockets on it, you don't have to worry about compatibility issues with anything made it the last 5 to 6 years and anything in the near future. Inside you have two different instruction manuals, the second being specifically for the new LGA socket 2011. All of the accessories are inside and bagged up.
Installation
After seeing the size of the Hyper 612 I was a little worried about how easy it would be to install. I love the new socket mounting that 2011 brought with it, but when you are looking at installing a large heatsink like the 612, to say that you have little room might actually be an understatement. Installing the two 2011 brackets on the heatsink itself was very easy, only taking just a minute and four screws. Mounting it to the board required that we have the board out of the PC all together and even then it was very tight. You have to use the wrench that Cooler Master provides to reach and tighten the four bolts. Small access holes in the heatsink with a screwdriver head on the bolts would have made a world of difference in this case.
Our Test Rig
Asus Rampage IV X79 Motherboard
Seagate Constellation 2tb Hard drive
Cooler Master Gold Series 1200 Watt PSU
http://www.highspeedpc.com/ Test Bench
Kingston 1600Mhz DDR3 Quad Channel Ram
Kingston Hyper X 120 SSD’s in Raid 0
Performance
For this review we are going with a heads up benchmark that compares both noise and cooling performance between the Hyper 612 PWM and Intel’s own water cooling. Putting air cooling up against water cooling in this case is very ballsy considering how well the Intel water cooling performs.
So how did it perform? Let’s start with noise performance. With them both with one fan and each being high quality, noise from the fan’s is limited to air noise when they are running at 100%, something that rarely happens. With both being PWM fans, fan speed is controlled to keep them spinning at no more than what is needed to keep your CPU cool. For the Hyper 612 that is all of the noise you can have, the Intel water cooling on the other hand does also have a little pump/water noise, especially at startup.
For actual performance we put each under load using prime95 set to its blend test while monitors temperatures using realtemp. Load tests were done over a 30 minute benchmark and then we let each idle for an hour after for idle temperatures. Load temps are all that really matter but it’s still nice to know what to expect for idle also. The difference between the two in performance was only slight when averaged over all six cores on our test bench. Cooler Master’s Hyper 612 PWM beat the Intel water cooling by just under a half degree. The fact that it performed on par with the water cooling itself is impressive, a half degree might not be much but it is enough to put the Hyper 612 PWM out ahead.
Overall and FV
After spending time with both and having a chance to compare the two what do we think? Installing the Intel water cooling, as much as I hate it, is still better than trying to install the Hyper 612 PWM. Its size makes it nearly impossible to get to the mounting brackets without having the motherboard out of the case, even then it’s still not fun. But when you have everything installed our experience with the Hyper 612 PWM was favorable. Noise was less than the water cooling slightly and we saw that half degree in cooling performance. It really comes down to do you want air cooling or water cooling; also price is a major consideration. Where the Hyper 612 PWM really shines is its price, its priced at around half of what you can get the Intel water cooling for making it a great option for someone who wants to keep their 2011 socket CPU cool while leaving a little room in the budget for other important components.