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Details of Spire Easy Stream 9T236B1M3G

Aftermarket Pentium 4 heatsinks are in tight competition, with themselves and with the retail stock P4 HSF unit. With such an admirable stock heatsink, why might someone want to spend money on purchasing an aftermarket model? Given the fact that many individuals can over clock their P4 systems to remarkable levels with no more than this stock device it is no wonder why many don’t feel the need to “upgrade”. Can you imagine if AMD could pull off such an effective cooling situation? Maybe you want something more than the retail heatsink, maybe you don’t own one or maybe you don’t want that gritty metal surface mating with your precious little heat-spreader.

Spiretech has released this “Easy Stream” 9T236B1M3G with hopes of attracting an audience that I think primarily doesn’t already own a retail heatsink. Why you might ask? The design is so similar to the stock heatsink that the only real glaring structural difference is the attention paid to the quality of the base-finish. So if the stock heatsink works so well, then surely a “clone” of it with a better base finish should work even better? The reasoning seems water tight and we will see if it holds true in a moment. Worth mentioning is he attachment method; it is similar to stock, but the Spiretech offering seems to bring something new and convenient to the table that I will discuss later.
 

Packaging

The 9T236B1M3G, which I will refer to as “M3” from now on simply because it is easier and reminds me of one of my favorite cars, comes packaged in a small, efficient box. The package contained a small instruction sheet and the HSF. Covering the base and the apex of the fan was a formed piece of plastic designed to provide a small barrier to unwanted damage. I presume it was also in place to prevent the pre-applied thermal compound from running free. Given the tight quarters of the packaging a less than trustworthy UPS employee could manage to damage a fan, or bend something but not likely scratch the base (unless it was Ace Ventura delivering this thing…).

Appearance

If you have seen the stock HSF you have almost seen the M3. Think of the BMW 325…kiiiinda like the M3, but not quite…missing that “finish”. The clamping device must be mentioned first. The stock clamping device feels flimsy to me, and in fact I was scared on more than one occasion to mess with it. This M3 brings me great relief. The simple clip-and-grab mechanism is so easy to work that you could have a child install this thing if you REALLY wanted to. The fins are ridged, and evenly spaced. Interestingly the “thickness” of the base layer varies in a wave pattern when observing the heatsink from the side. Crowing the sea of fins rests a thin high powered fan, with an ample length 3-prong power connector.The base finish is a rarity in today’s mid-level, affordable heatsink segment. I expected to see lines like the retail HSF, or poorly masked matching marks.

But no, this base was so smooth that at the right angle the tiny pits formed a rainbow! It was as smooth as I could expect an aluminum base to be. It was without a doubt in a class of smoothness apart from the stock HSF. Marring this perfect horizon of sheen was a plot of blasphemous white thermal tar. I despise this generally cheap, sticky goo and immediately had to smite it from the face of the otherwise savory kingdom. Once it was removed with some alcohol I peered into the reflective surface to look for previously overlooked imperfections. I didn’t find any, and to be honest I did not expect to. It is difficult to justify in pictures how superior this finish is to the retail HSF so take my word for it.