Cooler Master MasterAir Pro 3 and 4 CPU Cooler Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

The Cooler Master MasterAir Pro 3 is available for just £35, which is the same MSRP as the 212X, although you can pick up the 212X now for just £27. The real winner here though has to be the MasterAir Pro 4, which costs just £42.71 and given that it performs on par with much more expensive air coolers, it’s easily one of the best on the market right now.

Overview

Cooler Master have been a popular choice for many system builders. Their legendary 212X is widely regarded as one of the best value coolers on the market and has been for many years. While the 212X is now a little bit more affordable, I think it’s about time we assign it to the tech history books. The smaller and dare I say it, slightly better looking MasterAir Pro 3, is a very welcome upgrade.

The MasterAir Pro 4 is undeniably better than both the 212X and the Pro 3, but it also costs more too. For just over £40, it offers excellent cooling performance on stock and overclocked processors and would make a great choice for those running more powerful processors or those who seek whisper quiet performance.

The fans on both coolers are amazing; they certainly set a new standard for low-to-mid budget coolers. With low RPM operation you can barely hear more than a whisper from either, but even at higher RPM, they’re still pretty remarkable. Of course, means that you can run them on a higher fan profile to give you even better cooling performance, without making too many compromises on the acoustics.

The build quality is pretty straight forward, but still durable and nicely finished. The mounting kits are a bit fiddly to screw on, but overall they’re very durable and the fact you can mount it on just about every Intel or AMD processor from the last decade means you’ll have no issues with support. Finally, the slim design means you won’t have any conflicts with memory either, giving both coolers excellent compatibility.

Pros

• Competitive prices
• Fans are incredibly quiet, even at load
• Significant performance upgrade for those moving from stock coolers
• Good CPU socket support
• 100% RAM clearance
• Intel quick mounts included
• Good overclocking performance (Pro 4)

Cons

• None

“The new MasterAir Pro 3 and 4 from Cooler Master have taken the budget crown from the 212X. If you’re looking for a high price to performance ratio, good overclocking potential and whisper quiet fans – we can’t recommend them enough!”