Can Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO Handle Overclocked i7-4790k

[bp8401363]

Is Cooler Master HYper 212 EVO a good cooling option for an overclocked i7-4790k?

 

[Andrew Murdoch]

4.2Ghz yes. Anything above and you want water cooling. Some people say 4.4 but I err on the side of caution.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

It's all about the silicon lottery and the voltage needed to get there:

My thinking is:

Up to 1.200v = Very Good Air Cooler (Hyper 212)
Up to 1.250v = Best Air Coolers (Phanteks PH-TC14-PE, Silver Arrow or Noctua DH14) ....... Dual 140mm CLC / AIO Cooler w/ 1500 rpm fans (Corsair H110)
Up to 1.275v = Extreme Speed Dual Fan CLC / AIO w/ 2700 rpm fans (too noisy for most folks)
Up to 1.290v =Best air coolers (Cryorig R1 / Noctua DH-15) Swifteh H220-X
Up to 1.325v = Custom Loop w/ 15C Delta T (3 x 120mm / 140mm) *
Up to 1.400 = Custom Loop w/ 10C Delta T (5 x 140mm or 6 x 120mm) *

* At this level having the GPU(s) also under water is assumed

Also, if you are not running AVX, you can add as much as 0.10 to all those voltages.

At 1.2 volts I was at 42 multiplier .... I needed 1.26 to get to 44. Id expect between 42 and 44 with the Hyper 212. Unless budget restricted, I'd suggest the $60 Phanteks which will get you 44 - 46. The Phanteks will beat any CLC water cooler with similar noise levels and costing up to $100

The $90 DH-15 will beat any CLC cooler including those up to $140

 

[Jonathan Cave]

bp8401363,

In short the answer is Yes.

In my experience temperatures are not the limiting factor for over-clocking - The ability to achieve higher CPU overclocks are determined by the voltage the CPU can handle and the motherboards power phases. You can achieve 4.6Ghz on an EVO 212 and temps will be fine but will vary from computer to computer due to many variables e.g. Ambient room temp, Case , Airflow , Number of GPU's etc...

You do not need a Corsair 100i etc... temps will be lower using a watercooled solution but it is NOT mandatory or in most cases necessary.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I agree that in today's world, voltage more than temps is the limiting factor on overclocking. But .... and this is a big but, few would for example run a synthetic stress test long term on a CPU w/ the stock cooler even at stock settings ... temps quickly break 85C and. while that won't damage the CPU short term, most would agree that it is not conducive to longevity. Yes, you certainly can get to 4.6 Ghz with a Hyper 212 cooler .... approximately 1% of CPUs will do that based upon leader board analysis of various sites while keeping temps at a level (mid 70s) conducive to having the CPU for 3+ years. At 4.6 Ghz / 46 cache . 2400 RAM speed, most Haswell CPUs will hit 1.48v and above.

Here's what Asus recommends:

A very good air cooler is required for voltage levels above 1.15V.
1.20V-1.23V requires use of closed loop water coolers.
At 1.24V-1.275V dual or triple radiator water cooling solutions are advised.

95% of CPUs with a Hyper 212 will do 4.2 to 4.4 while keep temps in the mid 70s under generally used stress testing. 95% of CPUs with a Phanteks will get 4.4 to 4.6 and keep temps in the mid 70s. A lesser % of Noctua DH-15 users will get to 4.7 simply because a smaller % of CPUs will do 4.7 at all, but for those that can, the extra cooling capacity of the Noc (or Cryorig R1) is worth the investment..... A H100i has no value since it can't beat these coolers which cost less.

I am speaking in the context of overclocking for better performance, not to get a higher number so it can be posted on a leader board. You can certainly do several things to get higher overclocks, all of which have a negative effect on performance, longevity or both. For example.

1. Turn off hyperthreading ... reduces heat, hurts performance on apps that use more than 4 cores.
2. Disable adaptive voltage features and run at constant voltage ... wastes energy, decreases longevity
3. Use highest multiplier for just one core ... less performance on other cores
4. Set cache multiplier more than 3 less than CPU multiplier ... hurts performance on certain apps like image editing

The silicon lottery is by far the biggest variable in how far one can OC their system. I have seen Haswell's "1 click OC" to 4.8 on air .... and ones that can't do 4.6 on custom water loops.

 

[Jaycen12345]

all these people are bullshitting, i run my 4790k in 1.3v overclocked to 4.7ghz using evo 212 and Gelid GC extreme thermal paste , running between 70-78C