Spire VertiCool II CPU Cooler

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by Greg King on May 30, 2006 in Cooling

Summertime. We can’t get enough of it, but our computers absolutely hate it. So, we have another Spire cooler on the test bench, and this one looks promising. However, though it did a good job at what it was sent out to do, the installation hassle really holds back from this being a favorable cooler.

Page 1 – Introduction

It’s summer. Well, it’s almost summer and the weather is getting warmer. With ambient temperatures going up, what can you do to curb those unruly temps?

It’s time for a cooler review.

Summer is starting to rear its ugly head here and with it comes heat. I keep my house cool in the summer but the temps are still higher than usual. Times like these are where coolers earn their wings so to speak. We are taking a look at the Spire VertiCool II. The VertiCool II follows in the foot steps of the original VertiCool. The similarities stop at the name. The updated VertiCool utilizes 2 heatpipes that run up through 45 stamped aluminum ‘micro-fins.’ There is an 80m UV reactive fan to blow across the fins and move the heat away from processor.

We took a look at the Spire KestrelKing V back in October. I reviewed it on my San Diego 3700+ and will use that same processor to put the VertiCool II through the ringer.

Let’s get to the review’

The packaging exactly like the KrestrelKing but has the VertiCool. This helps keeps marketing costs down but to some, the generic packaging might be a turn off.

As you can see, the packaging is bland but it does have the model number on it which somewhat helps distinguish it from other Spire coolers.

Once removed from the box, the cooler is sturdy and appears to be well built. You can see the 2 heatpipes running up each side of the cooler, through the aluminum fins.

As you can see in the pictures, the cooler is compact and the fan is sufficiently large enough to push air over the fins.

The base of the cooler is 100% copper and the heatpipes are made of copper as well. The finish of the base is smooth with very little trace of machining lines. This smooth surface should provide a nice base for the cooler to make contact with the processor, as can be seen in the following picture.


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