Cooler Master Hyper TX2 & 212

Value and Conclusions

For ten quid I can't argue that the Cooler Master Hyper TX2 is an absolute bargain, it's cheaper than its closest competitor, the Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro, although by only a couple of quid and doesn't perform quite as well. But if you're looking for that inexpensive even such a small difference is a significant one.

What you do get with the Hyper TX2 though is both AMD and Intel support in one heatsink so it should survive a series of upgrades and it should also allow you to pass the heatsink down to others much more conveniently. Boards with an enclosed CPU socket will almost always cost a lot, so therefore you probably won't pair a cheap Hyper TX2 with one anyway. The Hyper 212 however, should be more up the street of the enthusiast prepared to part with 150 notes on a motherboard.

The installation is a lot more involved, but it's no more than any other serious 'sink and pays off by strapping it down extremely well. At £30 you're within a few pounds (sterling) of other heatsinks in its area like the Thermaltake MaxOrb, V1, Zerotherm BTF90 and Scythe Infinity and it's still a little cheaper than the Tuniq Tower 120 (at £35). In that respect, it's still good value because it has a vast socket support, dual fan support and excellent cooling but it still has no 4-pin fan connector or fan controller chucked in like with the Thermaltake's or the Gigabyte 3D Rocket II (despite its poor cooling performance) for example.

It's not like a Noctua 120mm fan where at full pelt you can't even hear it because it runs at sub 1,000RPM. For a 2,000RPM fan it's something you absolutely need, even if it's a small inline rheostat. You need to offer the choice for those who have bought a large cooler for silence and those who want it for sheer performance. The Cooler Master wins on the performance front, almost, but unless you want to fork out for another fan there's no option of silence.

Final Thoughts

If you're after the ultimate performance from an air heatsink the Cooler Master Hyper 212 should certainly fit the bill with its included high performance fan and dual fan option, but you'll need to swap the fan out for a quieter alternative or at least lower the voltage on the current one if pine for a quiet environment.

For those looking for an inexpensive but still capable heatsink, the Hyper TX2 is a good purchase. With both AMD and Intel support included it does more than the Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro, but it's worth remembering that the Freezer 7 Pro performs better and has a 4-pin connector to knock the fan noise down on the many compatible motherboards. The Hyper TX2 suffers from the same fate as the Hyper 212, in that it's audible but not offensive, and the fan can again be swapped out if need be, unlike the Freezer 7 Pro.

Cooler Master Hyper 212

• Features
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• -
• 7/10

• Performance
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• 8/10

• Value
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• 8/10

• Overall
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• 8/10

Cooler Master Hyper TX2

• Performance
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• -
• -
• 6/10

• Features
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• 8/10

• Value
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• 10/10

• Overall
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• 8/10

What do these scores mean?