Thermalright
TRUE Spirit 90
Small and informative is the
characteristics of Thermalright TRUE Spirit 90’s box. Besides the product and
manufacturer’s name, you will also find its specifications on one of the box’s
side, which is not typical for Thermalright’s packages.
Accessories for Thermalright are not
changed over two years.
The
accessories
A universal retention plate can be seen
here, a back-plate, brackets for a second fan, and screws with the plastics
spacers. With the reasonable price, TRUE Spirit 90 is transported with the
normal Chill Factor thermal grease while other luxury products in this series
are accompanied by the effective and more expensive Chill Factor 3.
Manufactured in China, the TRUE Spirit 90
just costs $25 with a one-year warranty.
This tower-shape cooler is even smaller
than Katana 4 with the height of 124 mm, width of 102 and thickness of 49 mm.
In other words, TRUE Spirit 90 can even be fitted in some HTPC’s cases.
124
mm high, 102 mm wide and 49 mm thick
There is no subtle highlight in its design.
A 43 aluminum plate is tightly pressed into three copper heat pipes which are 6
mm in diameter. The fins’ thickness are 3 mm with the between gap of 1.7 mm.
The Thermalright TRUE Spirit 90 is alike
its brothers TRUE Spirit 120 and 140 in some aspects. The shape of the fins
looks similar to the curved edges although everything is smaller. The most
eye-catching difference is that on both sides of the heatsink are the
straight-line-form pipes.
The
curved edges
Engineers of Thermalright must have thought
that it would not be worth the trouble to use the tessellated pattern like in
the senior models. Unfortunately, the trick of this special technology is
rarely manipulated in an affordable-price cooler.
The heat pipes are soldered to the
nickel-plated copper plate of the base.
The
heat pipes
The well-finished 40x35mm contact surface
of our TRUE Spirit 90 is not free from the birthmark of Thermalright coolers,
the convex middle of the base. You can see it in the following photos:
The 40 x 35 contact surface, which is
well-done in the TRUE Spirit 90, is not an exception of the birthmark of
Thermalright coolers, the convex patch in the middle of base. The following
photo is the proof.
The
convex patch in the middle of the base
Thermalright TRUE Spirit 90 is also
92x92x25 mm in dimension and supports the speed adjustment based on PWM, just
like the Katana 4.
The
Thermalright TR-9225-BW fan
The rotation speed of Thermalright
TR-9225-BW is in the range 600 to 2500 RPM. The maximum airflow and noise level
can only be identified through the cooler’s specs: 61.2 CFM and 35.3 dBA. Both
are higher than that of the Katana 4 although the maximum speed is similar. The
usage life of the sleeve bearing is not showed in the specs.
Like any other opponents, the Thermalright
TRUE Spirit 90 supports all of the contemporary PC’s platforms. With the same
screws as TRUE Spirit 120/140, its installation is also similar. It takes three
steps to install the cooler yourself into a LGA2011 processor. First of all, insert
threaded bushing into the CPU socket’s mounting holes.
Then attach the mounting plate on these
bushings with screws.
Using
four screws
After that, add some thermal grease and
mount the cooler which is then fixed by a retention plate and two screws.
Finish. Quick and simple. The pressure is
even too high for such a compact cooler, which is just 384 g heavy.
Because the Thermalright TRUE Spirit 90 is
compact, the bottom edge of its fan (which is lower than the heatsink) and the
mainboard is just 30 mm far from each other.
The
Thermalright TRUE Spirit 90 is very compact
However, the cooler is just the block the
way to the nearest memory slot, so this is not a big problem. Let’s check
Thermalright TRUE Spirit 90 through our tests and their processes.
Thermalright TRUE Spirit 90
·
Dimension of the cooler (fan): 124x102x49
(92x92x25 mm)
·
Weigh: 384g
·
Heatsink material and design: Tower heatsink of
aluminum fins on three copper heatpipes 6 mm in diameter going through the
nickel-plated copper base
·
Heatsink fins: 43
·
Heatsink fin thickness: 0.3 mm
·
Gap between the fins: 1.7 mm
·
Fan type and model: TR-9225-BWTY-140
·
Fan rotation speed 600 – 2500 RPM (PWM)
·
Airflow: 61.2 CFM (max.)
·
Noise: 35.3 dBA (max.)
·
Fan bearings: enhanced Hy-per-Flow Bearing
(EHFB)
·
Nominal/ startup fan voltage: 12V
·
Fan current: 0.25 A
·
Approximate max fan power consumption: 3 W
·
Supported CPU sockets: LGA
775/1155/1156/1366/2011, Socket AM2(+)/AM3(+)/FM1(2)
·
Additional: Fan with PWM control, Thermalright
ChillFactor thermal paste
·
Recommended price: $25