Cooler Master Hyper 612 PWM CPU Cooler Review

Installation
Installation for the Hyper 612 PWM is pretty simple. Luckily with the AMD installation you have a couple of methods to install the cooler. There are two separate retention plates, the one pictured below (which I tried first) and another set of longer retention plates. The smaller plates are used for a horizontal installation (the fan being horizontal to the motherboard).  While the larger plates are used for vertical installations, which I found out to be the best fit for my motherboard, the ASRock 890FX Deluxe5. Whichever method you choose you’ll have to install each of the retention plates by two screws.

Cooler Master Hyper 612 PWM CPU Cooler Cooler Master Hyper 612 PWM CPU Cooler

Then you can apply your thermal grease, which has been tested that a small dot in the center of the CPU is the best application for both regular and direct-touch coolers. (Perhaps my small dot is a little larger than it should be). Once you get your grease applied you can then attach the four rubber pads to the four holes around the CPU.

Cooler Master Hyper 612 PWM CPU Cooler Cooler Master Hyper 612 PWM CPU Cooler

Then you can attach your cooler to the motherboard. To fasten the cooler to the board you actually have to flip it over and attach the backplate by four nuts, which are easily fastened with the included nut setter. Like I mentioned before, the vertical installation worked best for me and gave me just enough clearance over my northbridge heatsink and high heat-spreader memory. I didn’t have the same clearance when installing it horizontally, so it was nice that Cooler Master threw in the extra brackets for a different installation.

Cooler Master Hyper 612 PWM CPU Cooler Cooler Master Hyper 612 PWM CPU Cooler

The Hyper 612 PWM takes up a lot of retail space on your motherboard, even with the single included fan.

Cooler Master Hyper 612 PWM CPU Cooler Cooler Master Hyper 612 PWM CPU Cooler

You may also want to consider attaching any cables to the motherboard that are near the CPU before you install the motherboard in the case. I found it to be very tricky installing my two fan cables and CPU 8-pin power cable to the motherboard all which are located in the top left corner of the motherboard.  Despite its large size, the Hyper 612 PWM does fit snuggly inside my case, but others might not be so lucky.

Cooler Master Hyper 612 PWM CPU Cooler