Thermalright TRUE Spirit CPU Air Cooler Review @ [H]

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
Staff member
Joined
May 18, 1997
Messages
55,596
Thermalright TRUE Spirit CPU Air Cooler Review - The Cogage True Spirit CPU cooler was an instant hit with those wanting maximum degrees per dollar when looking at CPU air cooling a couple short years ago. The True Spirit is back, sans the Cogage branding, now in flying its flag under the beloved Thermalright banner that so many of us are very familiar with.
 
Am I reading the sound comparison right? the TS120 is QUIETER than the TS140?

I wonder if going from a VenX to a TS140 would give me any appreciable cooling gains....
 
zaxour said:
Am I reading the sound comparison right? the TS120 is QUIETER than the TS140?

I wonder if going from a VenX to a TS140 would give me any appreciable cooling gains....
Click to expand...

Technically, it is the fan of the TS120 that is quieter. They both share the same design with the TS140 being bigger with more heatpipes. The difference in noise comes down to the different fan used on the TS120.
 
I bought the original for $25 on Amazon and it's still kicking ass for my i7 920 at 4Ghz. I'm only using the one provided fan, too.
One of the best PC purchases I've ever made, easily.
 
I'd like to see a comparision of the 120 model vs the Hyper 212+. They look very similar in design, with the True Spirit looking a little bling-ier.
 
maybe I missed it, but are these available already? I can't seem to find either @ newegg or other online etailers.

BTW Thanks for the review, I'm looking for something to replace my original TRUE120, Was thinking of the H80 or H100 even, but these seem to do the job and stay quiet.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Welp, I know what I'm buying for my other PC's from now on. The 120 sure does look like a miracle of a HSF.

And its about time something beat the COGAGE in price/perf.
 
Availability is atrocious ATM but should improve. Thermalright has been pretty good at getting products to mainstream channels in the past. Figure they are just making the review rounds ATM.
 
Digital Viper-X- said:
maybe I missed it, but are these available already? I can't seem to find either @ newegg or other online etailers.

BTW Thanks for the review, I'm looking for something to replace my original TRUE120, Was thinking of the H80 or H100 even, but these seem to do the job and stay quiet.
Click to expand...

Here is the question everyone should ponder when looking at water cooling,

Will the extra few degrees improve my overclock?

If the answer is yes then I say go for it.
Most of the time the answer would be no (especially now that air cooling is getting very close to H2O) and it's better to save the coin.
 
Nice, I'll be getting one of these for my new system. Too bad its only sold on Nan's just like the Macho. I want a seller that doesn't charge $11 for shipping.
 
Domingo said:
I bought the original for $25 on Amazon and it's still kicking ass for my i7 920 at 4Ghz. I'm only using the one provided fan, too.
One of the best PC purchases I've ever made, easily.
Click to expand...

Ditto

This cooler is still the best one I've ever had, The only thing I didn't like was the original push pin mounts, and now that is fixed plus some. Props to Thermalright for polishing up a great product.
 
Thanks for the excellent review. I never would have known that there's a difference between the CoGaGe and TR versions of the 120 without it. I think for the average user, they might as well get the 120 because the 140 only gives a 1* C increase in performance, at the cost of 1dB noise, so it's really not that much better overall.

But yeah great review and hats off to TR, they're really knocking it out of the park lately.

Hey Marc, what do you think is the design difference between the CoGaGe and TR versions of the 120 that makes the TR version perform the same with a 5 dB reduction in sound? As interested as I am in cooling designs, I still don't understand what the actual differences are that make some perform better than others. Thanks a bunch, I appreciate it.
 
Last edited:
Thanks, will look into this. I need a new cpu cooler badly since my CPNS9700 didn't have the brackets for an AM3 socket.
 
Interesting ... I thought I bought the Macho HR-02 today and it ended up being the True Spirit. Good to know this performed just as well.

Just a note for those that don't want to make the same mistake, if you click the US flag in the Buy tab for the Macho HR-02 product page on the Thermalright site, it will link you to the True Spirit page at nansgaminggear.com.
 
wow nice heatsink......wonder how it performs compared to the TRUE120-cu I got...hmm
 
After lookin at your old TRUE120-cu review, the TRUE120-cu is better buy about 3c.

Man guess this 4 year old heatsink is still badass.
 
Marc Adams said:
Here is the question everyone should ponder when looking at water cooling,

Will the extra few degrees improve my overclock?

If the answer is yes then I say go for it.
Most of the time the answer would be no (especially now that air cooling is getting very close to H2O) and it's better to save the coin.
Click to expand...

I'm happy with my current OC, I'm more concerned with keeping things quiet at this point, which is why I was thinking of the Antec H100 with 2 fans @ low speeds. But I do see your point as well.
 
Great review. I had a thermalright air cooler on my q6600 and it was fantastic. Rock solid construction and great overall product. If I hadn't just purchased a h100 I'd probably pick this up.
 
Great review and great coolers.

Thanks guys, never thought I'd consider upgrading my old TRUE Spirit, but I actually am now.

Make sure you guys use the commissioned links if you bite on this one guys!
 
Glad to see the comparison to the Macho. :) I recently set that up, and it appears to be fairly similar to the TS140 in both price and performance (though the TS is slightly better). All in all, I'm glad to see Thermalright stepping up their game.
 
i too would like to see this compaired against a coolermaster 212 evo - was about to pick one up for my new 2500k, but the true 120 looks like it could be my next cooler, providing they become avialable on the uk (which they dont seem to be currently :( )

will be my first thermalright since i imported my old xp-90c from the US when i had my old dual core opteron!
 
Digital Viper-X- said:
I'm happy with my current OC, I'm more concerned with keeping things quiet at this point, which is why I was thinking of the Antec H100 with 2 fans @ low speeds. But I do see your point as well.
Click to expand...

Just to add to the thought you have...I made my H50 drastically quieter...I put a bad fan to use by cutting the fan and it's mounts out of the fan housing and put the housing in as a spacer between the radiator and the corsair fan. Huge difference that tips the scales in noise reduction.
 
Burticus said:
I'd like to see a comparision of the 120 model vs the Hyper 212+. They look very similar in design, with the True Spirit looking a little bling-ier.
Click to expand...

You can probably find a couple of comparisons of the Hyper 212+ against the original Cogage online, I cross shopped both when I got my 2500K in May and decided to get Cogage TRUE Spirit because it preformed a little better and the price difference was like $10-15. Altho I ended up getting the bolt thru kit for the Cogage so I probably paid an extra $4 on top of that.

IIRC the Hyper 212+'s performance was closer to that of my old Zerotherm Nirvana or the popular Xigmatek heatsinks that featured direct heat pipe contact on the base (which interfered a bit with contact with the heat plate so it was kind of a wash). It's nice to see that TR refreshed the TRUE Spirit package and now includes the bolt thru kit for less than what I paid a few months ago.

The True Spirit 120 is a decent step up from the Hyper 212+ for like $10 extra (assuming the Hyper 212+ still sells for $20-ish), probably not worth upgrading for anyone that already has a stable OC but a good alternative when choosing coolers.
 
Last edited:
Impulse said:
The True Spirit 120 is a decent step up from the Hyper 212+ for like $10 extra (assuming the Hyper 212+ still sells for $20-ish), probably not worth upgrading for anyone that already has a stable OC but a good alternative when choosing coolers.
Click to expand...

Hyper 212+ goes for 25-35, depending on where you buy it from.

I have one, and seeing the results of these makes me think of picking up a TS120. Basically silent, within 1C of the 140mm version, performs better than some water kits, 30 bucks AND it's not a monster, compared to the Macho HR-02? I keep selling myself on this thing.

Sounds like a great product.
 
Huh, could've swore it was a little cheaper, guess I must be remembering some special deal or something... TR's Spirit 120 is definitely the better value then.
 
Remember, you can only buy Thermalright's value line through Nan's Gaming Gear, so you have to add the $11 shipping to the cost of these coolers every time. There's no free shipping Amazon or Newegg deals on these coolers.
 
There's other shops besides that which have carried the TRUE Spirit line before... Sidewinder Computers for instance. Now whether any of them offer free/cheap shipping I wouldn't know...

I live in Puerto Rico where I always pay shipping on everything except for maybe Ebay. Newegg seems to charge between $20 & $40 regardless of how much crap I order (so I usually place big orders with them, or anything that's over $200), Amazon doesn't even ship electronics here for some reason, but Prime's a no go on other goods regardless. OK QQ /endrant
 
We have been using these on our folding rigs for years.

100% CPU 24/7 on OC-ed i7s and Xeons, keeps 'em cool and happy.

It is on the short list for us.
 
any chance we could convince you guys to include the NH-D14 and Hyper 212+ or evo in these reviews? These are about the most popular cooling solutions in their price ranges and would love to see how the reviewed units stack up against them
 
"Since we are dealing with water cooling we will allow extra time for each test to give the water in the loop enough time to reach equilibrium."

Looks more like an air cooler to me...
 
Aaarrggghh, and I was all set to get myself the Macho too with my very imminent next build, thanks a lot for making this process harder for me. :( :p

Anyways, these look like great coolers. I'd probably switch my choice to the True Spirit 140 with maybe a few more corroborating reviews, but at 170m it seems like it'd be getting too tall for my taste and my Antec 900. The TS120 is really attractive with it's slightly lower performance matched by a smaller size and lower price though, and inexplicably it's quieter as well(really? :p), so I'll probably get that instead.
 
jcollett said:
Availability is atrocious ATM but should improve. Thermalright has been pretty good at getting products to mainstream channels in the past. Figure they are just making the review rounds ATM.
Click to expand...



I hope they sell it at more than one place. Selling it through nan's only is a stupid idea.
 
zaxour said:
Am I reading the sound comparison right? the TS120 is QUIETER than the TS140?

I wonder if going from a VenX to a TS140 would give me any appreciable cooling gains....
Click to expand...

Cheaper for you to just add a second fan and go push-pull.

This is what I'm doing with my (very similar) Thermalright TRUE Black, and it works very well.

These two coolers are a win-win, though. For people who don't already own a quality air cooler, there's nothing in this league for price/performance as a new purchase. I wish the TS120 had been around when rebuilding my SO's system this summer.
 
LoneWolf said:
Cheaper for you to just add a second fan and go push-pull.

This is what I'm doing with my (very similar) Thermalright TRUE Black, and it works very well.

These two coolers are a win-win, though. For people who don't already own a quality air cooler, there's nothing in this league for price/performance as a new purchase. I wish the TS120 had been around when rebuilding my SO's system this summer.
Click to expand...

I've already got 2 GT1850's in P/P
 
I hit the button. Got the 120 on it's way. Cheaper, lighter, and just as good performance. Will post some results on the i7-2600k when I get it in. Want to get rid of the stock cooler so I can mess around with the clocks.

Oh. Read on the TR site that for the Archon, the side fan is needed to be removed. Is that only because that particular HSF is so tall that it physically interferes with it or is it something more on air flow disruption? No mention on the True SPirit models. I have an HAF 912 case with side fan pulling air in.
 
Last edited:
well good luck with that - let us know if it includes a 2011 mount or if 2011 is mentioned on the box.
if anyone wants to know the reason - well if it ain't on there it is not compatible as far as thermalright is concerned for 2011 socket. Support for thermalright blows so hard - its the lowest of the low.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top