Thermaltake TR2-M1 and TR2-M2

Manufacturer: TR2 (Subsidiary of Thermaltake)
Supplied by: TR2 (Subsidiary of Thermaltake)
Est. Street Price: ~ $16 & $17

By Brian Tiller (6/10/2003)

Introduction

Summer is just around the corner here and we all know what that means.....time to keep things cool. To that end we're here again to take a look at not just one, but two new CPU cooling solutions from a company called TR2. Now TR2 may be a new company but they are actually a new brand name owned by our good buddies over at Thermaltake, and as we all know Thermaltake does indeed produce some kick-a** coolers. Today, thanks to TR2/Thermaltake, we'll be taking a peek at their first two heatsinks, the M1 and the M2. One things for sure, they are definitely on the right track with the naming scheme, as in very easy to remember! As you can see the packaging makes them very easy to tell apart from one another. The M1 is in a nice small box decorated with TR2's colors, blue and yellow. On the other side we have the M2 in the clear plastic packaging.

Specifications

The M1:

• Construction: Aluminum w/copper plate

• Application: AMD Duron and Athlon Series up to 3400+

• Dimensions (Heatsink only): 80x80x45mm

• Fan Size: 80x80x25mm

• Fan Speed: 2500RPM

• Air Flow: 32.4 CFM

The M2:

• Construction: Aluminum w/copper insert

• Application: AMD Duron and Athlon Series up to 3400+

• Dimensions (Heatsink only): 70x66x30.8mm

• Fan Size: 74x74x15mm

• Fan Speed: Low - 3000RPM
                  Medium - 4500RPM
                  High - 5600RPM

• Air Flow: 35.5 CFM @ 5600 RPM
  

The M1

We'll be taking a quick look at first the M1 and then the M2 before we throw 'em in the fire. The M1, if you'll remember, is the one that comes in the box. Our first look at the heatsink shows that there are only 22 cooling fins, and while the fins are fairly thick at the base of the heatsink, they do taper off as they rise to the mounted fan.

 

Turning the heatsink to the side, we can see the clip and thankfully it's a 3-pronger jobber. TR2 has also slapped a sticker onto the side of the sink here, gives it a little color. A quick view form the top gives us the included fan which is basically an 80mm LED case fan, and since it's easy to take off, you can always put something with a little more 'Umph' on here.

   

And speaking of which, with the fan removed you can see how the cooling fins are split where the clip sits in place. So if you want to be picky about things, I guess you could say that there are actually 44 cooling fins arrayed in pairs.

The last thing we'll check out is the base of the sink. What I noticed first off was the clear plastic cover over the entire base and wondered why. Then I saw something that really worried me....on the bottom of the base was one of those icky thermal pads. 

 

Guess what? It's not a thermal pad like I thought. It's actually paste pre-applied at the factory. This kinda threw me for a loop as I wondered why they would do this, but at least it's not one of those !@#$!%@#$ pads. 

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