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2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Amazing heatsink for the price.Jan 12, 2010
By J. Terauchi
I don't know what the other reviewers are complaining about. Seriously, anyone who knows anything knows that this heatsink was designed by Thermalright for Cogage, and thus it has some of the same issues that the Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme has. If you want it to sit securely, get the Thermalright bolt through kit. In my case I had no choice but to get a bolt through kit because I wanted to use this heatsink with my Core i7 860 and EVGA P55 LE motherboard, but even if I was using a socket 1366 setup I still would have gotten the bolt through kit.
Anyway, I ordered this cooler after reading [H]ardOCP's review of a dozen different I7 heatsinks, in which they awarded the TRUE Spirit their Editor's Choice Gold Award. It is an amazing little heatsink. Actually, I shouldn't say little as it is quite large, though not as large is it's Ultra 120 Extreme brothers. It was tall enough that I had to remove the side mounted fan from my Antec 900 because of clearance issues. Installation was not the easiest I have ever done due to the fact that the bolt through kit requires you to remove your motherboard (obviously if you use the pushpins you do not have to do this). However, I have done this so many times at this point it still only took me 10 minutes or so) The extent to which it bent my motherboard was a little concerning, but no problems have occurred. It is true that even after you secure it, it can be turned in place. However, it is only with great force that I can turn mine. I severely doubt that it will ever move even when I take my tower to lan parties. One other point, at first I was a little bit concerned about the less than perfect finish on the bottom of the heatsink (it does not appear to be perfectly flat, nor does it have a mirror finish). However, this has apparently in no way affected the performance, nor do I regret my decision to not lap the heatsink before installing it. I will say that the instructions were not as clear as they could have been, but it didn't take me more than a couple of minutes to figure it out.
In regards to cooling performance, this thing is amazing. I currently have my Core i7 860 overclocked to 3.8Ghz, with hyperthreading disabled, vcore at 1.275, and with ambient temperatures at around 14C I am getting load temperatures under Prime95 of 54C or under (usually under). The fan is not too loud out all (it is easily drowned out by my XFX 4890). That is another plus, unlike many other high end heatsinks, this one includes a fan.
The bottom line is that for the price, this heatsink is very difficult to beat. Does it perform as well as the Ultra 120 Extreme? No, but is it half the price of the Ultra Extreme when you factor in the cost of a good fan? Yes. Does it give you close to the performance of its big brothers? Yes.
I'm the kind of guy who cheers for the underdog, the little guy, the little train (heatsink) that could. If you want great performance at a low price, give the Cogage TRUE Spirit a chance.
Great cooler for the priceMar 29, 2010
By Lee P. Mcevoy
"LPM182"
Great cooler at a great price. I did a lot of research on coolers before deciding on this one. For the price and preformance it can't be beat. I overclock my I-7 920 and this keeps it cool.
 Pretty Darn Good CoolerAug 05, 2009
By Adrian Stec
"MiriV"
I bought this CPU cooler knowing that its the only one that fits well in a mid-tower case - 156mm compared to 160 or taller - and doesn't cover any RAM slots on Asus P6T Deluxe. Packaging contains everything needed - Heatsink, 120mm Fan, Mounting clips, Thermalright Chill Factor Thermal Paste and a sticker. After spending about 20 minutes installing - manual is worthless - I have to take a star for the mounting system. It can be a pain and you have to figure out how to mount it, which is annoying - the cooler may slide a bit on the thermal paste and its hard to center it, the push-pin system overall sucks - you have to keep it locked, so it goes thru at first, unlock it, push down and then lock it, so it spreads the plastic pins. Took me a while. Overall performance increase was expected - idle fell 15*c, fan is pretty quiet for its size. Max load temps fell 20*c. Im still keeping the CPU stock, but the True Spirit should be enough to keep it cool.
+ Price
+ Efficiency
+ Looks
+ Thermal Paste
- Push-Pin
- Manual
I recommend it to everyone who looks for a good cooling performance for light overclocks at a great price.
1 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 Decent performance for the cost, but screwy designDec 14, 2009
By Luke
Now let me first say this heatsink is not a bad heatsink. On the stock i7 920 heatsink, I was averaging around 58c which is not acceptable at idle temps. So, I read the online reviews and thought this heatsink looked pretty swell. And now that its installed, the thermal compound has had time to set properly, and everything is all settled, I can review it a little bit.
Installation: First of all, do NOT follow the instructions. I managed to scratch the bottom of the cooling block all to hell trying to find the hole for the pushpins after installing this on my motherboard, and it was disappointing to see so many large surface scratches. First thing you should do is install the mounting clips as stated (be careful because they scratch the block), THEN put the heatsink on the motherboard with thermal paste. That way you can line it up without any issues. After you install the mounting bracked, the heatsink will not evenly sit on the processor like other reviewers have complained about. I think there was some kind of mistake on the mounting brackets, the heatsink sits a good 5mm too higher so it floats. It will not fall out of your case and the thermal compound should keep it in place after its been heated a few times, but its still very annoying.
Performance: I actually got exactly what I expected out of this. I'm running my i7 920 overclocked to 3.2ghz, and its running at around 39c idle with 1700 rpm. I have my motherboard set to kick up to 1800rpm when it gets above 60c, so it stays pretty cool. There is not a lot of metal actually cooling here, so 39c for a heatsink this small is fine in my books.
Noise: Okay here's one big complaint, my fan actually makes a high pitch whirring noise when its at a lower RPM. Its definitely more of an electrical noise, like a tv that's been left on. Anywhere from 1290-1500 rpm actually is louder than higher speeds, so I have to keep my RPM up. I am running an Antec 902 case, so its a very quiet setup, and the loud "WHEEEEE" noise is terrible. I don't believe its a faulty fan, but rather the motor inside the fan is poorly constructed.
Conclusion: This heatsink is working quite well for my setup so far, I've only had it in a few days but I am happy with the temperature results. I am dissapointed that the mounting brackets do not place the heatsink far enough down to keep it from turning, but it is transferring heat well. It might just be I have a faulty fan, but low RPMs are not an option if you have a higher hearing range. Also make sure your case is large enough to fit this thing, it sits about a half inch away from my case window. Compared to other $40 options, this is definitely a good buy, but if you want better build quality and higher quality parts/instructions, you are going to pay for it.
0 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Terrible construction, design, and mounting bracketOct 19, 2009
By dwz
I was being as careful as possible with this when I installed it. I'm running 40-45c idle with a i7 920 on stock speeds -> nowhere near the so called "real" reviews posted on various websites when googling the product. Not only are the push pins a royal pain, but you have to line up a tiny little screw with the heatsink while attempting to not slice up your fingers. It's absolutely necessary to install this product on a motherboard that is already taken out of the case.
The fan mounting things are terrible, and slip out easily. When using the push pin system, it is very screwy and nearly impossible to push down the pins with the right amount of force without 1) the heatsink moving around, applying uneven pressure on the CPU and scuffing the surface of both and also without 2) cutting up your hands and having to recover from sore thumbs for a couple days, and also without 3) warping the motherboard. I guess you get what you pay for. Even the finish of the bottom of the heatsink is concave, and not symmetrically concave either.
This is the worst design I've ever seen in a heatsink, thanks to the push pin mounting bracket, fan mount, and sharp edges at every corner almost designed to slice into your hands.
Not to mention, after installing 5-6 different times, I'm still not getting the performance that the so called "real" reviews on Google mention.
Steer clear of the TRUE heatsinks and this COGAGE TRUE SPIRIT. Unless you washer mod or penny mod to increase pressure (leaving your processor and motherboard at risk of damage), don't bother. I've never had such aggravation in all my years of working on high volumes of PCs 40 hours a week.
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