Spire Fourier IV heatsink/fan

Post by **MikeC** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 12:02 am

Sooty · Post by **Sooty** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 2:23 am

Thanks Mike. I havenâ€™t time to read it thoroughly, but one thing I like is the improved ergonomics of having the fan mounted below, and the compact height. Thereby cooling the mobo, at the same time interrupting far less, the intended airflow of most conventional cases - compared to similar h/s designs.

Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 4:32 am

Well that heatsink looks nice anyway.

Regarding that mount thing....I just experienced a MB failure after changing heatsinks. The ASRock board had an XP-120 on it (very tight,difficult fit). I changed over to a Big Typhoon heatsink, which mounts similar to this Spire heatsink. The Typhoon uses four round nuts, which you finger tight with no definite stopping point. I'm not sure what broke my board....could have been the difficult removal of the XP-120, or the uncertain mount of the Typhoon. Something to consider when changing/mounting heatsinks.....

Post by **MikeC** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 8:08 am

Bluefront wrote:Well that heatsink looks nice anyway. Regarding that mount thing....I just experienced a MB failure after changing heatsinks. The ASRock board had an XP-120 on it (very tight,difficult fit). I changed over to a Big Typhoon heatsink, which mounts similar to this Spire heatsink. The Typhoon uses four round nuts, which you finger tight with no definite stopping point. I'm not sure what broke my board....could have been the difficult removal of the XP-120, or the uncertain mount of the Typhoon. Something to consider when changing/mounting heatsinks.....

This is exactly the kind of HS mounting that should be dismissed as unacceptable. From the very first HSF review going back 5 years, I've insisted that the ergonomics and usability of the mounting system is integral to how a HSF should be rated. If it uses a dumb system like no-stop bolts, well, don't support it by buying it.

nightmorph · Post by **nightmorph** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 4:32 pm

Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 5:40 pm

Looking into this heatsink installation further......Gateway talks about it in a "facts" page concerning MB bending when heatsinks are installed. They recommend screwing the MB down to the MB tray before installing the heatsink. Sounds like a safer method, but.....there is no way I can install an XP-120 on anything I own other than an Aria, while the board is already installed. Just not possible. The Big Typhoon installed much easier, and I didn't over-do the tightening at all. Bad luck maybe.....

psiu · Post by **psiu** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 5:41 pm

Well, hopefully Spire doesn't get scared away and comes back with some much improved coolers. I have seen them all over as the cheapo aluminium-fin-with-a-60mm-fan-cooler, but it would be fantastic for there to be another decent competitor.

Nice idea here, and kind of outside the "box", now they just need to get a handle on the simple things like mounting and performance

Plissken · Post by **Plissken** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 11:36 pm

A good, thorough review on a product that obviously doesn't fit any market niche, especially those involving quiet computing. It looks like Spire need to invest more toward research the next time around.

My only issue review is this, three paragraphs in:

The Fourier IV comes packaged in a retail box made entirely of clear plastic. We've never liked such packaging because of what they mean for the environment, during both production and disposal. It would be nice if unbleached recycled cardboard with a minimum of color ink was used instead.

Some may say "Silent PC Review" equals "Environmentally-friendly PC Review" and they'd have a good argument, but that paragraph is inconsistent, if not unprofessional. Where was the complaint about the Ninja's packaging, which appears to use at least as much clear plastic, and even more colored cardboard? Or the SPCR-assisted P-180 cardboard packaging which is 40x as large, completely covered with ink? Are environmental quibbles only allowed to be directed towards products with negative reviews?

While reading the review for the first time, and that paragraph, I knew it would be a negative review because of the inconsistent "lashing out" that I hadn't seen before. Otherwise it was a great review, sorry if this is a bit off-topic.

EndoSteel · Post by **EndoSteel** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 10:10 am

The stock 92mm fan is made by Fanner Tech (otherwise known as Shen Zhen)
Actually ShenZhen is a city in China where the company is situated (or one of it's plants)

.

mrzed · Post by **mrzed** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 1:17 pm

Plissken wrote: Some may say "Silent PC Review" equals "Environmentally-friendly PC Review" and they'd have a good argument, but that paragraph is inconsistent, if not unprofessional. Where was the complaint about the Ninja's packaging, which appears to use at least as much clear plastic, and even more colored cardboard? Or the SPCR-assisted P-180 cardboard packaging which is 40x as large, completely covered with ink? Are environmental quibbles only allowed to be directed towards products with negative reviews?

While reading the review for the first time, and that paragraph, I knew it would be a negative review because of the inconsistent "lashing out" that I hadn't seen before. Otherwise it was a great review, sorry if this is a bit off-topic.

I think you're reading too much into this here. I've seen the same complaint in a number of other reviews, some positive (can't remember to link off-hand). Surely there are differences between reviews, but there are also different writers too.

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 1:38 pm

is that kind of plastic really that bad? ISTR PET plastic is easily recyclable.

1111111 · Post by **1111111** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 11:44 pm

Taken from the charts:

7V 26 dBA@1m 2150 RPM
Mid (6.8V) 27 dBA@1m 2000 RPM

In this case lower rpm equals 1dBA louder