Is a post on the bottom of the X Brace that fits into a dimple in the

Fortunately, the instructions provided on Cooler Masters The cooler, and holding it up to the CPU to see if the mounting holesĪre aligned. Is more trial and error of placing the X-Brace on the baseplate of Little lacking here, and getting the brace into the correct position The printed instructions included with the AM4 mounting kit are a Is positioning the X-Brace onto the base of the cooler. This will be significantly easier if the backplate is adhered to your AM4 motherboard, otherwise an extra hand is useful, or as we do, lie the case down and with 1 hand support the backplate on the back of the motherboard, while attaching the mounting posts with the other.Īnother thing of note, if your backplate is not adhered to the motherboard, the backplate will remain loose after the mounting posts have been fully tightened, we would love to see the inclusion of different mounting posts, or even some washers to prevent this.

First the stock cooler mounts are removed from the backplate by removing the four phillips head screws, then the mounting posts included with the AM4 installation kit are screwed into the backplate. The Hyper 212 Evo uses the stock AM4 backplate, but not the stock cooler mounts. Were charged $14 shipping for it, which is significant compared to To get the AM4 mounting kit, which consists of a different X-BraceĪnd 4 mounting posts. Support, the fine print stated you will need to contact Cooler Master Still, it's nice to have that option.Thing of note is that while the Hyper 212 Evo is listed as having AM4 They do give you a second fan bracket, but I didn't see any improvement in cooling performance with a push-pull configuration. The thermal compound included is decent, but for high voltages/OC I would recommend something better. Note that access to the rear of the motherboard is required to mount the backplate, so depending on your case configuration removing the motherboard may be required. Mounting isn't as easy as some other aftermarket coolers out there, but it's totally manageable. However, under normal loads the fan is quiet, and still delivers sufficient airflow to cool my CPU.

It tends to generate a howling sound above 80%. Noise levels are a bit high when the fan nears maximum speed.

My ambient room temperature is generally around 26C. Load temperatures in games and normal programs are around 65C max, while synthetic stress testing will see around 75C. Temperatures are pretty good, I'm pushing 1.250V through my i5 4670K to maintain 4.3GHz (I got a below average chip). I've found that the EVO outperforms the more recent versions of the 212, such as the 212 Black Edition. This has been my go-to aftermarket cooler even after all these years.

Hyper 212 evo install