Written by Profi | 08 May 2012
Posted in Articles - Reviews

World-known PC hardware manufacturer Cooler Master, which is popular among professional players by their gaming division CM Storm, brought to us for review their new high-end CPU cooler TPC 812.

You may wonder how CPU coolers correlate with gaming website, well, modern gaming PCs have powerful CPU with specific requirements to its cooler and silence is not on last place during the long gaming battles as well.

Just few years ago these type of coolers where oriented for overclockers only. But nowadays, with modern CPUs and motherboards, you can significantly increase power of your CPU even from Windows itself. When your processor will not satisfy you with its speed anymore, instead of buying new one you should think about increasing CPU’s frequency. Certainly, you strictly need to follow the safety rules and carefully read relevant section in manual of your motherboard.

Regardless that modern CPU can be easily overclocked, stock coolers which are coming with CPU itself are oriented to work with default CPU’s frequency only. Using such coolers with overclocked CPU will cause overheating and damage to your CPU.

Another reason to use these CPU coolers is the silen??. I have changed the stock cooler just to have silent PC. It’s really hard to sit all day in front of PC with annoying noise from cooler. Cooler Master TPC 812 is unique cooler, because it’s a first cooler with vertical vapor chamber technology. All details about this technology and cooler itself, you’ll find inside the review.

Specifications

• CPU Socket - Intel® LGA 2011/1366/1156/1155/775;AMD FM1/AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2
• Dimensions - 138 x 103 x 163mm (5.4 x 4.1 x 6.4 in)
• Heat Sink Dimensions - 134 x 74 x 158 mm (5.3 x 2.9 x 6.2 in)
• Heat Sink Material - Copper Base / 2 Vapor Chambers
• 6 Heatpipes / Aluminum Fins
• Heat Sink Weight - 826g (1.83 lb)
• Heat Pipe Dimensions - Ø6mm
• Fan Dimensions - 120 x 120 x 25mm (4.7 x 4.7 x 1 in)
• Fan Speed - 600 – 2,400 RPM (PWM) ± 10% (1,600 RPM with Silent Mode Adapter)
• Fan Air Flow - 19.17 - 86.15 CFM ± 10% (59.54 CFM @ 1600RPM)
• Fan Air Pressure - 0.31 – 4.16 mm H2O ± 10% (1.99mm H2O @ 1600RPM)
• Fan Life Expectancy - 40,000 hrs
• Noise Level - 19 - 40 dBA
• Bearing Type - Long Life Sleeve Bearing
• Connector - 4-Pin
• Fan Weight - 152g (0.34 lb)
• Weight - 1044g (2.31 lb)

The Box

Cooler TPC 812 comes in a small yet stylish box with 170 x 145 x 192 mm dimension. On the front of box there is a picture of the cooler with the main features and compatible sockets.

On right side you can read all specifications in details.

Left side has a clear picture of Cooler Master TPC 812 without any ads, so you can overview cooler without opening the box.

On backside you can find brief description of the main features in 8 languages.

Unboxing

Inside the box there is a cooler which is packed and protected very well.

Certainly inside the box there are all necessary parts, tools and accessories for mounting to any type of sockets.

Construction

As mentioned in the beginning, Cooler Master TPC 812 is the first cooler with vapor chambers. Additionally there are 6 traditional heatpipes as well. Combination of two technologies significantly increased cooler performance and reduced the speed of fans which means less noise.

Vertical chamber has L-form but combination of two chambers in center transforming it to U-form. Heatpipes also have U-form and allows the heatsink in “chess” format.

The base of Cooler Master TPC 812 is made from 100% pure polished copper.

Special fin design provides a better airflow. Fins are aluminum and nickel-plated.

The top of the cooler TPC 812 consist of the heatpipes and Vertical Vapor Chambers chromed caps.

The main fan is Hyper (120mm) which, easily can be attached to construction from any side. You can add another 120mm fan to increase cooler performance.

Fan mounting system is just awesome. On some CPU’s cooler it’s just a pain to detach the fan and replace or clean, but on TPC 812 this operation is way easier.

In Usage

The cooler is big, but not that big as I expected. Anyway, before buying it make sure that you have enough room for placing it. The size is 163.1 x 138 x 102.7mm. If you’re planning to add 2nd cooler, the size will be 163.1 x 138 x 127.7mm.

Unlike the size, weight shouldn’t be a problem for any PC. As all high-end coolers, weight is around 1kg – 978g with one cooler and 1130g with two.

Manufacturer paid a big attention to all parts and details of Cooler Master TPC 812 - new technology, all necessary details and accessories, excellent build materials.

If you never installed CPU coolers before, I strictly recommend you to watch the guides on Youtube just for understanding the algorithm. For all others installing CM TPC 812 shouldn’t be problem at all.

Here are the temp results from Frosty Tech:

As you can see, TPC 812 is competing with liquid cooling system and only few degrees behind 2-fan CPU coolers. Keep mind that TPC 812 is high-end cooler, but its price is affordable. If you’re planning to overclock your CPU, you definitely should try Cooler Master TPC 812.

Pros:

• Unique technology Vertical Vapor Chamber in combination with traditional heatpipes
• Special fin design for better airflow
• 100% pure polished copper base
• Excellent fan mounting system
• Compatibility with all Intel and AMD platforms
• Easy to mount
• Heat capacity up to 240W (with 2 coolers up to 300W)

Cons:

• Size couldn’t fit to all cases (it’s general issue for all high-end coolers)
• On full speed fan’s sound noticeable