Introduction

Spire Cooling has been in the computer cooling business since 1991. They have completely focused on keeping your computer cool, and they have a solution for almost every heat emitting part of your computer. Spire was kind enough to send us three of their AMD compatible heat sinks for us to test and compare. So what are we waiting for? Let's get to the coolers!



The Falcon Rock II is a "Super Quiet" cooler. The Large 80mm fan runs at a low 2300 RPM for quiet cooling but less airflow. The fan is also made of metal and is attached to the heat sink with metal screws so the fan itself is an extension of the heat sink. The heat sink itself is fairly large too, and it has a copper core that comes in contact with the CPU core. The clip has three lugs for a secure fit to the socket.


The Fridge Rock is smaller than the Falcon Rock II, with a smaller fan and a slightly smaller heat sink. The fan has a thermal probe, but the probe is located outside of the heat sink, thus it does not get an accurate temperature of the heat sink itself. The fan runs at speeds of 2500 ~ 4200 RPM depending on the temperature, so this is going to be louder than the Falcon Rock II. The Fridge Rock also has a copper core but it seems like it is not connected to the rest of the heat sink well as there are gaps between the two metals. The heat sink was also quite dirty, and looks like it was mishandled at the factory. Unlike the Falcon Rock II, the clip on this heat sink only has one lug. The size and weight of the heat sink can put quite a strain on the socket, and I would have preferred a three lug clip.


The Micro Flow II is the smallest cooler of the three. It features a low profile fan and a smaller heat sink. The fan runs at a constant speed of 4200 RPM, and is the loudest of the three. The fins on the heat sink are the thinnest of the three which makes for higher surface area to dissipate heat. The copper core is of the same quality as the Falcon Rock II and it also has a three lug clip to secure the heat sink to the socket. The wires on the Micro Flow are sleeved, which I think is a nice touch.


Performance Test

I tested each heat sink/fan on an AMD Athlon 1.4 GHZ. For the idle test, I just sat in windows for 20 minutes. For the load test, I played Battlefield 1942 for an hour to let the temperature stabilize. Here are the results of the test:

Spire Cooler Comparison
(Show All Graphs) (Collapse Graphs)

Idle

Load

Micro Flow II

Fridge Rock

Falcon Rock II

43.2

44.7

52.8

0

Temperature ( °C )

100

 

 

Idle

Load

Micro Flow II

Fridge Rock

Falcon Rock II

46.7

47.9

57.9

0

Temperature ( °C )

100

 

 

As you can tell from the graph, the Micro Flow II had the best cooling performance with its thin fins and high RPM fan. It was also the loudest of the heat sinks. The worst performing heat sink was the Falcon Rock II with load temperatures almost reaching 60° Celsius. It was extremely quiet though, and I could not hear it over my case fans. The Fridge Rock was almost up there with the Micro Flow with performance due to the thermal control probe, but it was still louder at higher speeds during the load test.


Conclusion

I would have to say the winner of the three is the Micro Flow II. Despite being the loudest, although it still wasn't that loud, it performed the best. The Fridge Rock made a close second with it being quieter during idle tests and not getting too much hotter than the Micro Flow. The Falcon Rock came in dead last with extremely poor performance. I would not recommend the Falcon Rock II to gamers, or anyone looking for good performance. It is only for those who require the quietest of computers, and even then, there are better solutions out there. However, if you are looking for good cooling, I do recommend the Micro Flow II if you want great performance, or the Fridge Rock if you want good performance without the noise.