For those looking to overclock their new AMD or Intel processor after market cooling is a must, but buying the right cooler is not an easy job, especially for those on a tight budget. For most, overclocking is about taking an affordable CPU and turning up the frequency so that it can match, or in some cases outperform, much more expensive high-end CPUs.

These affordable CPUs can range anywhere from $100 to over $200 in price, depending on the model. The problem is, while it is very easy to pick up a quality processor at an affordable price these days, the same cannot be said about quality cooling. The vast majority of performance coolers are priced at $50 and above, with many failing to include a fan at this price.

The brand new Thermalright Venomous X costs $70 US without a fan for example, while the Prolimatech Megahalems which is another popular high-end choice is priced at around $65 US without a fan. Noctua has a few high-end examples that do include fans, all of which cost around $80 US, and the list goes on.

Those looking for something priced closer to $40 US have few quality options to choose from, though the recently reviewed Cogage TRUE Spirit can be had for $40 US. Like Cogage, which is a spinoff company from Thermalright, Cooler Master is also looking to deliver some high-performance affordable cooling products.

The Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus is priced at just $30 US, while the Hyper TX3 can be picked up for just $20 US. Both coolers feature a tower design that is supported by multiple heatpipes. This is a proven design that is used by all the high-end coolers, such as the Thermalright Venomous X, Prolimatech Megahalems, Noctua NH-D14 Ultra Silent, Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme, and Thermolab Baram.

It will be interesting to see what corners Cooler Master has cut to make these new products so affordable, assuming they have cut any at all. Therefore we will be focusing on the design, installation process, and of course the performance of these new products. With that in mind, let’s move on to check each cooler out in more detail.

The Hyper 212 Plus heatsink measures 120mm long, 80mm wide, and 158.5mm tall, making it roughly the same size as the Cogage TRUE Spirit and even the Prolimatech Megahalems. However while the Megahalems weighs in at 790 grams, the Hyper 212 Plus weighs just 626 grams.

There is a good reason as to why the Hyper 212 Plus is much lighter than the Megahalems and even the TRUE Spirit. That reason being that Cooler Master has incorporated the popular Direct Contact heat-pipe design. This design is both lighter and cheaper than using a traditional copper base plate, while we have found that it can work even better.

The trick is making sure that the surface is flat, and Cooler Master has not bothered to do so. Rather, the surface of the Hyper 212 Plus is very rough, featuring about a dozen indentations alongside and between the copper heatpipes. However this has been done on purpose, and Cooler Master expects that the thick thermal paste that is supplied with the Hyper 212 Plus will take up this space.

Cooler Master has devised a very clever mounting system for the Hyper 212 Plus, which enables it to be used on Intel’s LGA775/1156/1366 platforms as well as AMD’s AM3/AM2/AM2+ platforms. Amazingly the same bracket can be used for installation on any one of these platforms, which is quite incredible and not something that we have seen before.

The intelligent universal mounting system is likely one aspect of the Hyper 212 Plus that has helped Cooler Master keep costs down, as it features very few parts. Still, there is no aspect of the Hyper 212 Plus that appears cheap and the attention to detail here is very impressive. Even the 120mm fan features its own pre-installed anti-vibration pads, which help reduce the operating volume.

The 120mm fan can operate between 600 – 2000 RPM and is voltage regulated. At full speed we found the fan to be remarkably quiet, despite moving 76.8 CFM at a claimed 32dBA. Overall the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus looks like a decent enough product, especially at just $30 US, but the big question still remains, how does it perform?

Being a smaller heatsink Cooler Master has limited platform support, as the Hyper TX3 can be used only with Intel LGA775 or LGA1156 processors, leaving out support for the high-end LGA1366 processors. However support from all modern AMD processors exists with coverage for the 754/939/940/AM2/AM3 platforms.

For comparisons sake we are testing the Cooler Master Hyper TX3 on the LGA1366 platform with a custom bracket so that you can see how it compares to the Hyper 212 Plus. It is worth noting that the Hyper TX3 uses standard mounting methods for both Intel and AMD platforms. This means if your case does not provide access to the back side of the motherboard, removal is not necessary with this product.

Again Cooler Master has incorporated the popular Direct Contact heat-pipe design with the Hyper TX3. That said, this implementation is a little different to that of the Hyper 212 Plus, as this smaller version only features three dual heatpipes rather than four, which will no doubt have an impact on performance.

Cooling the fin array is a smaller 92mm fan which has to work a little harder, spinning at 2800 RPM when placed under load. When the CPU is idling the fan can slow down to just 800 RPM, where it will generate a whisper quiet 17 dBA. At full speed this 92mm fan moves just 54.8 CFM, which is 28% less than the 120mm fan of the Hyper 212 Plus.

However like the Hyper 212 Plus, the Hyper TX3 does come with a second set of fan clips so that a second 92mm fan can be installed on the opposite side of the heatsink, sucking air through. Overall the Cooler Master Hyper TX3 looks like an impressive little cooler and we find it hard to believe that the asking price is just $20 US!

Hardware - Intel Core i7 965 Extreme Edition @ 3.70GHz (LGA1366) - x3 OCZ DDR3 PC2-16000 CL8 Module(s) - Seagate 750GB 7200RPM (Serial ATAII) - ASUS GeForce GTX 285 (1GB) - ASUS P6T Deluxe (Intel X58) - OCZ GameXStream (700 watt) Software - Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit) - Intel System Driver 8.4.0.1016 - Nvidia Forceware 190.38

Both the idle and stress tests are run for 20mins and then the lowest/maximum values are recorded. Prime95 is used to place all four cores under 100% load for the 20 minute period. The rooms ambient temperature is kept at 21 degrees.

The Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus kept the overclocked Core i7 processor at just 28 degrees when idling, making it 15% cooler than the Hyper TX3 and 39% cooler than the standard Intel box cooler. This also meant that the Hyper 212 Plus matched the Cogage TRUE Spirit, while it was just a degree warmer than the industry’s leading air-coolers.

The performance of the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus is impressive as it matched the Thermalright TRUE Copper with a stress temp of 66 degrees. Although the 120mm fan of the Hyper 212 Plus was spinning 500 RPM faster, it was still very quiet. The Prolimatech Megahalems was also just a single degree cooler, while costing around 3x more without a fan. The Hyper TX3 was roughly 14% warmer, with a stress temp of 75 degrees, making it 15% cooler than the standard Intel box cooler.

The Cogage TRUE Spirit really impressed us with its value when we tested it late last year, and at $40 US the performance provided by this product was remarkable. However the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus is not only cheaper, but also provides even better temperatures, as it was 3 degrees cooler in our stress test.

Also worth keeping in mind is the fact that the Cogage TRUE Spirit is not a universal product and only supports the LGA775 or LGA1366 platforms. Therefore, it really is amazing to think that for just $30 US users can pick up a completely universal CPU cooler that delivers performance comparable to the very best air-coolers.

In terms of performance and value there really is nothing better than the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus right now and that is quite an achievement. The Hyper TX3 is also a real bargain at just $20 US, though do not expect the same kind of performance out of this product. Still, for a mid-sized cooler the Hyper TX3 does perform rather well.

The Cooler Master Hyper TX3 is only slightly smaller than the Thermolab BADA, which was 6 degrees cooler under load. Still, in order to achieve this result, the BADA fan spun at 3000 RPM and generated significantly more noise.

Although the Hyper TX3 was far from silent, with its fan at 2200 RPM, it did operate within tolerable levels. The Hyper 212 Plus on the other hand was very quiet, and we feel that at 2000 RPM most users will not have a problem with this product.

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Reviewed By Steven Walton