Hyper 212 EVO - Did I make a mistake?

[Zephiux]

Recently purchased an i7-4790k to go along with my gaming/video editing build and was searching for a relatively cheap but effective CPU cooler for it. I decided ultimately to get the Hyper 212 EVO a few days ago. However, I kind of feel like I made the wrong choice. The CRYORIG H7 and the be quiet! Pure Rock for $3-5 less seem to have me thinking I made a mistake. What are everyones opinions? Should I go through RMA process to get one of the other CPU coolers?

 

[MarkW]

I have the CM 212 EVO, and I love it.

Why do you now think you made a mistake?

 

[Gam3r01]

I wouldnt call it a mistake, the CRYORIG is a marginally better cooler, but I wouldnt say the EVO was a mistake.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

It's definitely not worth the T & E to swap a $30 cooler for a $27 one.

 

[i7Baby]

Look at reviews and benchmarks.

 

[atheus]

Hyper 212 Evo is a fine choice. There's a reason it's the best selling aftermarket cooler on the market. Don't worry about it and enjoy your computer. If you decide to reach for 5GHz or something then you can start thinking about higher performance products up around the $100+ price point. Until then, you're all set.

 

[profoundnoah]

Usually at these price ranges, the 212 evo is an absolute dominator when it comes to competition. You should never feel bad about buying a 212 evo as they are great coolers, and you really won't notice a noise difference between that and the be quiet.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

There's a reason it's the best selling aftermarket cooler on the market.

Let's be careful here....it a very good budget cooler, but that doesn't make it anywhere near the best cooler for the same reason that most sales doesn't make the Big Mac, the best hamburger that one can buy.

The Noctua NH-D15 will deliver 72C for example under the same conditions that the Hyper 212 Evo delivers 89C.
If ya have $30, it's a great choice; there are others. Which one ya pick won't make a helluva lotta difference. personally I preferred the $30 Scythe Mugen 2 but it's been replaced by the more expensive Mugen 4. The Hyper 212 used to own the $30 market niche but now there are numerous competitors several of which out perform the Hyper 212, two of them from relative newcomer Raijintek.

The Aidos is $20 and beats the 212 by 1C
The Silverstone Argon also edges out the Hyper 212 by 1C
The Themis is $23.50 and beat the 212 by 3C

results vary from test to test but 1-3C isn't going to make a lot of difference if for some reason you strongly prefer the aesthetics of another cooler.

Whether one made a mistake depends on what their goals are:

What cooler you use will depend upon what OC you wanna reach and how much voltage you need to apply to accomplish that:

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 1.287v = Best air coolers (Cryorig R1 / Noctua DH-15)
Up to 1.300v = Swiftech AIOs ( Swifteh H220-X / H240-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.

 

[atheus]

There's a reason it's the best selling aftermarket cooler on the market.

Let's be careful here....

A very thorough and considered answer, but just to defend my statement I didn't mean to imply anything like it's the bar-none the best cooler on the market, much less the best cooler for the price. It's the best seller because it's well-known as a solid performer at a good price. As you said there are some alternatives at the same price now that are basically equivalent, but as far as I know there's nothing so great as to make buying a 212 EVO a mistake. Perhaps the successor Hyper 212X which has a slight edge (but doesn't seem to be available anywhere) will make that into a moderately false statement soon, though.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I understood where you were headed .... bt my concern was what could be inferred from reading it as I have seen many posts where someone was of the position that the 212 actually did compete with the big boys .... a mindset inferred from previous posts where this was not clear. Was not looking to refute your post, just clarify as to how one should make inferences therefrom.... essentially a what was not said versus a what was said thing.