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TR2TT is a Thermaltake company making its name known with CPU coolers. The TR2-M4 is very similar in design to the Cooler Master Aero 7 coolers. Check out the review to see how the “X Blower” HSF performs.
Introduction
It is amazing how far we have come with CPU cooling fans. Showing my age, I remember working on PCs when the CPU was a rectangle and had no fan, just a little lone heatsink.
Today, we are looking at the TR2-4M. It is made by TR2TT, which is a Thermaltake company. The target market for their products is the price conscious end-user.
Features and Specs
Features
- Blower fan: Two-way air induction, optimum air flow, air spread on the heat sink evenly
- Embedded VR function in X-blower fan
- Tool-less clip: 3-point fixed, quick to install
- Heat sink: Unique copper-screwed process, make good contact between copper and aluminum, perform well
- Manual fan speed control: Install in PCI slot, from 2100 rpm to 4500 rpm
Specifications
| Fan Dimension: | 80x80x70 mm |
| Heatsink Dimension: | 80x80x45 mm |
| Rated Voltage: | 12V |
| Started Voltage: | 7V |
| Rated Current: | 0.07 ~ 0.45 A |
| Power Input: | 0.84 ~ 5.40 W |
| Fan Speed: | 2100 ~ 4500 ±10% RPM |
| Max. Air Flow: | 10.9 ~ 26.9 CFM |
| Max. Air Pressure: | 1.1 ~ 7.5 mm H2O |
| Noise: | 25 ~ 41 dBA |
| Bearing Type: | 2-Ball bearing |
| Life Expectation: | 75,000 Hours |
| Connector: | 4-Pin |
| Weight: | 397g |
| Thermal Resistance: | R=0.47°C/W |
The TR2-4M is rated up to AMD Athlon XP 3400+. If you’ve read some of our other recent CPU cooler reviews, you are probably thinking that you’ve seen a design similar to the TR2-4M before. The comparison to Cooler Master’s Aero 7 series is undeniable. You can check out Neal’s review of the Aero 7 Lite here.
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| The front of the package | The back of the package |
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| It could be a tight fit in some motherboards. |
Included in the package is a speed control knob for the fan that you put in a PCI slot. This gives you easy access to control the fan speed without having to open the case, which is indeed a nice touch.
Testing
The test machine for this cooler is a Falcon Northwest Mach IV. The CPU is an Athlon XP 3000+ overclocked at 11 x 200MHz. This gives us a CPU running as a 3200+ with an effective 400MHz FSB (front side bus).
Here is full list of parts in the machine generating heat.
| Motherboard: | ASUS A7N8X Deluxe 2.0 |
| CPU: | Athlon 3000+ @ 3200+ 400MHz FSB |
| Memory: | 1GB Corsiar DDR 3200 |
| GFX: | NVIDIA 5900 Ultra 256MB |
| Storage 1: | Maxtor DiamondMax 9 200GB ATA 133 7200RPM |
| Storage 2: | 2x IBM 80GB’s RAID 0 on Promise ATA 133 Controller |
| DVD: | Toshiba DVD |
| DVD-Burner: | Sony DVD RW 500UA |
| Other: | Floppy Drive |
The stock heatsink/fan in the Mach IV is a Cooler Master Socket A cooler. Test temperatures were read using Motherboard Monitor from Alex van Kaam. The inside case temperature during both test runs was 23C. First, we ran the TR2-M4 at the same speed as the Cooler Master (2500 RPM), and then we tested it at 4500 RPM.
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Even if I run the TR2-M4 at 2500 RPM, it manages to beat the Cooler Master by 10-15%. If you can stand the added noise, you can even shave off a few more degrees by running it at 4500 RPM. I settled running it at 3500 RPM, which caused a temp increase just 1C more compared to running at 4500 RPM.
So what does this great cooling cost? We have seen it for $15.00 US, which is a great price.
Final Score
| Performance |
9
|
This cooler is both quiet and powerful. It easily handles an Athlon 3000+ overclocked to 3200+ with 400MHz FSB. |
| Features |
8
|
Innovative 2-way induction fan as well as a cool fan-controller for the PCI slot. |
| Bundle |
8
|
Normal cooler bundle plus a cool PCI fan controller. |
| Quality |
8
|
The copper base attaches very well to the rest of the heatsink. No problem with keeping the CPU cool. |
| Price / Value |
9
|
Web search found the price of $15.00 US. It’s a really good and inexpensive cooling option. |
| Final Score: 8.5 | The TR2-4M is a solid performer, with a few flaws. The main flaw in my opinion is the lack of a front mounted speed control unit versus PCI only. Overall, I like it and plan to keep it in my system. | |
