[ad#review1059-top]There was a time in the not so distant past that every CPU cooler I received for review was 90-92mm. The size suited me just fine, my processors weren’t that hot, and my overclocks not that high. Since that time, my CPUs have grown faster and hotter, and as my overclocking experience has greatly increased, I’ve had no problem with applying more liberal amounts of Vcore, and I’ve pretty much required the 120mm coolers that I have received in the past few years.
But I still like the size of the 90-92mm CPU cooler. They are compact and unobtrusive, allowing full access to the motherboard screws and usually the ATX12v connector. They never conflict with the chassis, power supply, or the memory modules. The fans can be a little noisy at higher speeds, but at stock speeds or mild overclocks, there is no need to run them more than 50% or so. I highly prefer them over stock coolers in any and all applications, and would easily use one on any CPU from stock to a 10-12% overclock, and higher on some processors.
Many of you possibly haven’t heard of Spire. They aren’t one of those large household name companies with a massive marketing budget. But they have been around for since 1991, longer than nearly all PC hardware manufacturers, building high quality cooling products, fan controllers, very nice cases and hard drive enclosures, and power supplies. Their Pininfarina case, designed by Pininfarina, the same company that has for decades designed Ferrari and Fiat bodies, has been around for over three years and is still an excellent seller. Actually, my first aftermarket GPU cooler and one of my first hardware reviews, which I placed on my Radeon 9600GT (yeah, that’s right Radeon and not geForce) back in the dark ages was built by Spire. The copper base was lapped so well that I demonstrated its high mirror reflection by shaving in it. Don’t worry, there will be no personal hygiene performed in this review.
Today I will be looking at the Spire TherMax Pro CPU cooler, a 90mm cooler that fits pretty much every CPU built in the last four or so years including LGA 1366 and 1156. It has three heatpipes and uses Direct touch heatpipe technology. It includes a UV-reactive fan, built by Spire as they build their own fans. Will the TherMax Pro tame that hot CPU? Read on to see!
Specifications
CPU Application:
– Intel : Core 2 Extreme (775 Dual-core)/Core 2 Quad (775 Quad-core)/Core i5 (LGA 1156)/Core i7 (LGA 1366)/Pentium D (775 Dual-Core)/Pentium EE (775 Dual-Core)
– AMD : Athlon 64 X2 (AM2)/Athlon X2 (AM2)/Phenom X4 (AM2/AM3)/Phenom X3 (AM2/AM3)/Phenom X2 (AM3)
Overall Dimensions: 104mm x 60mm x 125 mm (l x w x h)
Fan Size: 90mm x 90mm x 25mm
Fan Bearing: Sleeve bearing
Rated Speed: 2,700 RPM +/-10%
Rated Power Consumption: 3.36 W
Noise Level: 25.0 dBA
Airflow: 53.12CFM at 2,700 RPM
Current: 0.28 A
Lifespan: Sleeve: 30.000 hours
Fan Connector: 3-pin
Features
– Three 8mm all copper u shaped heat-pipes
– All new Direct-Touch heat-pipe technology
– UV-reactant 90mm BlueStar fan design
– Near silent at low speed setting 25.0dBA
– 45 stamped Aluminum Micro-Fins
– Supports the latest Intel & AMD micro-processors
– Includes fan controller and thermal grease
Packaging
The TherMax Pro is in probably the largest box I have ever seen a CPU cooler packaged in. The cooler is fully visible in the front opening. The box itself is colored in Spire’s typical red/black colors. The rear of the box tells a little about the cooler and advertises some of Spire’s other products.
Inside, the cooler is well packaged in a large blisterpack, which has separate compartments for the included hardware. I did not figure out how to open the box until after I had pretty much destroyed it.it opens by cutting the lower front label on both sides then open the flap on the bottom. I’ve had one hardware item in the past that was similarly packaged but I don’t remember what it was or who made it. I guess that it could have very well been the aforementioned Spire GPU cooler.
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