Spire MicroFlow I HSF Review

 

Let me thank Bas for sending this over to be reviewed.

I recently saw that Spire had their a new cooler released and was lucky enough to receive one to review. However this one is the latest cooler that Spire has made towards the budget user. It’s also “AMD RECCOMEMNED”.

About Fanner Group

Fanner Group, global supplier of cooling solutions for the personal and networked computer, with it's manufacturing facilities in Shen Zhen, China and offices in The United Kingdom, Germany, The Netherlands, Japan, Taiwan and USA, offers a wide range of thermal products and accessories for the computer industry. Fanner Group is also ISO 9002 certified. This ensures every heatsink coming off the assembly line is precisely made for the specifications of different CPU’s.

First Impressions

When I received the package, I was excited to get this review started. Spire extends its traditional packaging with the MicroFlow I.  Opening the box reveals the cooler and instructions.

SPECS

Dimensions Heat sink : 12VDC Fan : 69×67×35 mm (l × w × h)70×70×15mm

Bearing Ball bearing
Rated speed 3700 RPM +/-10%
Rated power 2.40 W
Noise level 29.7 dBA
Air flow 23.7 CFM at 3700 RPM
Current 0.20 A
Life hours Ball: 50.000
Connector 3 Pin, mainboard
Application Intel : Pentium III ~ 1.13 GHz (FC-PGA)
Celeron ~ 1.4 GHz (FC-PGA)
AMD : Athlon XP ~ 3000+ (Barton)
Athlon MP ~ 2600+ (Thoroughbred)
Athlon XP ~ 2800+ (Thoroughbred)
Athlon XP ~ 2100+ (Palomino)
Athlon ~ 1.4 GHz (Thunderbird)
Duron ~ 1.3 GHz (Morgan)

Thermal resistance 0.57 °C/W
Thermal type White grease pre-applied

The Spire MicroFlow I is an AMD Recommended heatsink fan constructed out of all-aluminum that dissipates heat very quickly. It utilizes a fin design that optimizes performance. 

The MicroFlow I utilizes a 70mm fan. It is rated to push 23.7 CFM at a 29.7dBA noise level.
The cooler comes with pre-applied thermal paste. This will be removed when testing. The base is very well done and is very flat. There were no apparent scratches. The MicroFlow I is rated at cooling up to the AMD XP 2800+ Thoroughbred, so you will be safe on running them on any of the AMD XP lines up to the 2800+ CPU.

The nice finish

The fins

The clip mechanism Spire chose to utilize is a 1-lug clip that I don’t really support. With so many companies already at the point where 3-lug clips are standard, it wouldn’t hurt to have a 3-lug design.

Installation & Testing

As usual, you will need a flathead screwdriver that will properly fit the clip. As you can see from the image above, the cooler is very small and compact.

Testing will consist of running the cooler for a minimum of 72 hours for the Arctic Silver 3 compound to “set in”. After those 72 hours, we will be recording temperatures off of Winbond Hardware Monitor to compare temperatures against the Spire FalconRock II. We run no programs on idle and our CPU usage are kept at a 0-3% minimum. As usual the load consist of 1 hour of UT 2003 and 5 minutes of Toast. Ambient temperatures are around 21-22 degrees.

Results
Spire MicroFlow I

Spire FalconRock II (Results taken from our review)

Conclusion

The MicroFlow is good cooler towards the average/budget user. Spire has once again produced a good cooler with good performance. It doesn’t beat out the FalconRock II we reviewed, but it’s a budget cooler, we didn’t expect it to. The fan noise was moderate. It produced a low noised whine that will add some noise.
What I did not like was the fact they opted to use a 1-lug clip, since the coolers that we reviewed from them have a 3-lug clip. If you are looking for a cooler that cools well and is cheap in price, take a look at the Spire MicroFlow I. I recommend it.

I rate the Spire MicroFlow I a…

8/10!

Pros & Cons

+ AMD Recommended
+ Light
+ Good cooling for people on a budget
- 1-lug clip
- Pre-applied paste
- Adds noise

Check out Spire at www.spire-coolers.com

Note: Since this review, Spire has released the MicroFlow II. It's a revised version of the MicroFlow I with a 3-lug clip and a copper inlay.  It also has minor changes that improve performance such as a faster fan, etc.  Good job Spire!

Note:  One of Spire's retailer in the U.S. is http://www.caplinktech.com.  Checked it out looks like a good place.  You can see Spire's whole line of products there and purchase too.