Cooler Master's Hyper 212 Black RGB is a choice chip chiller for chump change

Cooler Master Hyper 212 cooler
(Image credit: Cooler Master)

Cooler Master's Hyper 212 cooler—in one of its forms—has been a long time favourite of ours. And right now, it's on sale at Newegg for just $30 . For that price you get an RGB fan, great looks and LGA 1700 support, so its ready to use with any modern processor.

The Cooler Master Hyper 212 has seen many updates over the years. It was originally launched way back in 2011! But that doesn't mean its an old lump of metal. Far from it. Its heatpipes have been updated, its got a subtle black colour, and of course, it's been upgraded with RGB support.

Now that it includes LGA 1700 support, you can use it to cool pretty much every mainstream desktop CPU, though it's important to pair it with the right system. Cooling a 5950X or 12900K is a step beyond it. But, if you've got just about anything below that, it will do the job. Got a 12600K? 5800X? They'll be fine. 

Do note that it might get a a bit noisy with those higher TDP processors under a heavy load, so perhaps the Hyper 212 is better suited to an i5 or something like a 5600X to really have it performing at its best, while remaining quiet.

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Silencio

Cooler Master Hyper 212 RGB Black| 120mm Fan | AMD and Intel CPU support | $52.99 $29.99 at Newegg (save $23)
The Hyper 212 is one of our favourite budget coolers, and the Black RGB edition looks even better while still cooling just as well. It's currently $23 off the regular price after a mail-in rebate.

It's not the first time the Hyper 212 RGB Black Edition has been this cheap, but this price tends to happen during the peak Black Friday or Prime Day type sales. But any time is a good time to buy a CPU cooler when they're on sale, especially if you're stuck with a barely adequate stock cooler.

If you're after something a bit beefier for a high core count CPU, or you need to keep your chip chilled during some serious crunching, check out our Best CPU Air Coolers list. There's something to suit every CPU.

On the other hand, if all-in-one liquid cooling is more your style, we've made a list of our favourites AIO coolers. Jumping up to AIO cooling adds expense though. Spending just $30 on a Hyper 212 RGB Black edition frees up a lot of money to spend elsewhere on your system.

Chris Szewczyk
Hardware Writer

Chris' gaming experiences go back to the mid-nineties when he conned his parents into buying an 'educational PC' that was conveniently overpowered to play Doom and Tie Fighter. He developed a love of extreme overclocking that destroyed his savings despite the cheaper hardware on offer via his job at a PC store. To afford more LN2 he began moonlighting as a reviewer for VR-Zone before jumping the fence to work for MSI Australia. Since then, he's gone back to journalism, enthusiastically reviewing the latest and greatest components for PC & Tech Authority, PC Powerplay and currently Australian Personal Computer magazine and PC Gamer. Chris still puts far too many hours into Borderlands 3, always striving to become a more efficient killer.