As will be quickly apparent, Cooler Master has taken the improvements they baked into the more expensive HALO variants and then tweaked the blueprint so as to work within the lower MSRP of the ‘standard’ 212 design. We say that as even just on a quick glance it is pretty obvious that this is the Hyper 212 Halo’s shipping container. Albeit with different graphics and text applied to it.
We are not all that surprised by this as this ‘trickle down’ effect as that is typically how all manufactures do things. We simply were not expecting it to happen so quickly. In either case, we take no issue with Cooler Master using a more expensive shipping container for their more budget constrained Hyper 212 variant. This shipping container is attention getting, but not garish; is festooned with all the data anyone, even a novice, requires to help make an informed decision; and generally speaking, is well beyond what buyers have come to expect for this price point.
More impressive still is the internal protection configuration is also darn close to what the ~20 percent more expensive ‘premium’ Hyper 212 variants use. That is to say, the 2023 Black edition uses a defense in depth strategy to ensure your newly acquired cooler makes it home safe it sound. That too is unexpected. After all, few care about the box it comes in and by ‘rounding’ a corner or three a few dollars can easily be shaved off the build cost for the manufacture. Cooler Master has not done this and the end result is a first impression that is arguably best in class… as this looks, acts, and feels like a much more expensive shipping design.
This expectation exceeding theme continues when one turns their attention to the included accessories. Here, once again, buyers can expect to find the exact same class defining components. Components that obviously have been carried over from the more expensive Hyper 212 Halo series. In fact, one could easily argue the included accessory list is better than what the Halo Black we previously reviewed ships with. We say that as you can expect to find the excellent Intel and AMD mounting hardware that impressed us in the Halo Black review. Including the exact same Intel backplate with the posts and securing caps pre-applied to the backplate for you. All one need do is slide them in or out depending on the Intel socket type you plan on using. You can even expect to find the same wire fan brackets. However, unlike the Halo editions this less expensive bad boy edition comes with enough to mount two fans and not one like the Halo. Color us impressed.
This excellent first impression continues on to the Hyper 212 Black 2023 edition itself. As we went over in the Halo review Cooler Master knows how to do ‘full black’ right and they obviously know how to do it right even on a budget. Put simply, and unlike the Chinse clones, this less expensive cooler comes clad in a full black paint job that makes use of paint that is thick, robust, and rather scratch resistant. Just like the Halo Black edition. Now that is impressive.
Also impressive is while the overall dimensions of the Hyper 212 series’ cooling tower has not changed all that much (125x152x74mm vs 124x154x73) Cooler Master has once again improved upon the underlying design. With the Hyper Halo (as we are going to call it for brevity’s sake) made use of a dual stack cutout in the front and back face of said fin array to reduce static pressure requirements, the new 2023 Black edition uses a multi-step design. As you can see the difference is night and day.
Yes. This new and improved ‘face’ to the fin array does slightly reduce overall surface area compared to the Halo. Which in turn slightly reduces the theoretical cooling performance potential. This however is more than made up for the fact that this change not only further reduces the overall air pressure required to force said air through the fin array… it focuses it. Focuses it towards the center of the fin array so that every erg of heat energy that can be transferred from the fins to the air is transferred. This efficiency improvement is why Cooler Master can, with a straight face, claim a 200TDP cooling rating for this new variant of a design that originally made claims of a 130’ish TDP.
Before moving on to what also plays a large role in this higher cooling rating we do have to point out the other benefits to this improved fin array. First and foremost, this more advanced fin array design is typically not found in this corner of the marketplace as it is more costly to manufacture. This however is more of a fringe benefit… albeit one that nicely boosts the overall value of this cooler. Beyond improving the overall value, this fin array design not only allows for better ‘top end’ cooling performance it also allows for better performance at lower fan rotational speeds. Which in turn means the 2023 Black edition can net buyers a lower noise system.
Do not get the wrong idea, and before anyone rushes out to replace their 212 Halo Black with this newer Black edition, the RPM differences between the new Sickle Flow and the Mobius 120 are going to be in the 100 to 200 rpm range. At the slow end of the spectrum this may result in a 1 maybe 2 decibel difference. So, one may notice a difference in noise… or one may not.
Going hand in glove with this improved low-end performance is the fact that the 212 Black (as we are going to call it for brevity’s sake) also offers better ‘top end’ performance than its more costly predecessor. Namely this bad boy’s fan offers a ‘5th gear’ compared to the Halo. Yes. You will be sacrificing the amazingly… shockingly, good RGB abilities that the included 120 Mobius fan offers. But in return you get a fan that goes back to the 212’s roots and offers 2500rpm (and not 2K) of cooling performance. An extra 500rpm on the top end with better low-end / slow performance is one heck of a 1-2 combination. So much so, forget about it just outperforming 212 clones… this less expensive variant can outperform a more expensive official variant at both the low and high end of its CFM envelope. Now that is phenomenal.
This added level of flexibility does, in our opinion, make up for the fact that the 120 Sickle Flow fan is lacking in the color department… and can be on the loud end of the spectrum when running at full speed. That however is pretty much par for the course with 120mm fans. There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. In order to offer a true 70+CFM rating and a whopping 3.6mm static pressure rating any 120mm fan is going to be loud. Not Yate Loon loud, but certainly on the upper end of the spectrum. Which is fair as this fan allows buyers to customize the fan profile to their specific needs. Instead of buyers thinking along the lines of what fan to replace it with to meet their specific needs.
Moving on. One of the major selling features of the (then new) Halo variant of the venerable 212 series was the fact that it elevated the overall aesthetics of a build. Put simply it did not look like a ‘cheap’ cooling solution. A large part of this was, of course, the deep and rich black (or white) paintjob but a lot actually had to do with the all-metal topper that covered the previously exposed heat pipes. A chunk of alloy may not sound like much of a change, but when installed in the typical case all one will see of their cooling solution is the fan and the top of the cooling tower. As such it made a huge difference and made the Halo the most flexible Hyper 212 released to date.
With the new 2023 edition of the venerable Black variant this actually changes as Cooler Master has made the wise decision to include a slightly difference variant of the Halo’s ‘topper’. To be precise it too is made from alloy. It too gets that same paint job as the fin array. All that has changed is the ease of manufacturing said hunk of alloy. Basically, Cooler Master took that fancy chunk of alloy and simplified it by getting rid of all the extraneous flourishes stamped into the top of it and it just features the Cooler Master logo in the center. The end result of this cost cutting change is the Hyper 212 Black simply blends into the background better than the Halo version. Mix in the ‘blacked out’ fan and the less expensive Hyper 212 Black 2023 edition is arguably even more flexible than the Halo B/W edition… or at least is as long as you do not want to draw attention to the cooling solution. If your system build’s needs trend more towards the latter the Halo and its more extroverted aesthetics may be worth the added cost.
Overall, the tweaking Cooler Master has had to do in order to hit the Black’s lower MSRP are rather minor. Put bluntly, if you are fine with a non-aRGB stock fan the 2023 Black may in fact be better than its more expensive brethren. No matter how you slice it that spells major headaches for the Chineseium clones. Afterall, better performance; better aesthetics; better build quality… and all that for the same as what the clones are demanding? Talk about a reversal of fortune.
