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TR2TT’s TR2-M4 X Blower Heatsink/Fan

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.

The front of the package The back of the package

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.

No Load
Fan
Temp.
CoolerMaster (2500 RPM) 47 C
TR2-M4 @ 2500 RPM 43 C
TR2-M4 @ 4500 RPM 40 C
UT2k3 – Temp. right after benchmark have run
CoolerMaster (2500 RPM) 55 C
TR2-M4 @ 2500 RPM 47 C
TR2-M4 @ 4500 RPM 44 C

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.

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