From the front, we see that the heatsink is built using a 57 fin array separated by 2mm to produce a fairly dense stack. The fins are all laminar and lie parallel to each other. The surface area of each fin is slightly less than the Enermax ETS-T40 but thanks to an extra 5 fins, the EVO is still competitive in terms of cooling potential. The four U-shaped heat pipes have each end distributed to one side of the fin array. Due to how closely space the heat pipes are, heat can’t be distributed effectively over a larger surface area.


From the side, we can see just how narrow the cooler is. Again, we see that the fins are flat with no winglets or other features to increase turbulence, opting in favour of a narrower fin pitch instead. Two grooves running down the length of each side are for the fan brackets to be clipped in.


The fin array has remained unchanged from the older Hyper 212s. The shape of each fan is exactly the same and characterised by semi-circular grooves along the length of the fins.


At the top, the fin has the Cooler Master logo engraved onto it. The heat pipe ends are all exposed and form two clusters for each end of the heat pipes. We also see that the fins have a matte finish rather than a polished mirror finished. Personally, this is welcomed as it reduces the appearance of finger prints.


Here we see the four heat U-shaped heat pipes all 6mm in diameter. As usual, these are made of copper for optimum thermal conductivity. The heat pipes are more closely spaced than before to create the Continuous Direct Contact effect at the base.


One of the key highlights of the EVO is its new Continuous Direct Contact technology which simply means having all four heat pipes in contact with each other such that no gaps are created in between. This is very useful when couple with Direct Touch technology because heat can dissipate from the CPU without any impedance. We should also note how flat the base is as a result. The size of the base is also perfectly suited to larger i7 CPUs so heat transfer is efficient.


The base lacks a perfectly mirror finish but it is still flat enough to make good contact with the CPU.