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The Thermalright Spitfire + VRM-R5 is an impressive cooling combo that tackles the Radeon HD 5870 very well. Having proved itself with the Radeon HD 5870, we would feel confident sticking the Spitfire on any of the graphics cards named in its compatibility list.
Something worth mentioning is the fact that the Spitfire also supports the GeForce GTX 480 and GTX 470 graphics cards. Shortly Thermalright will be releasing VRM heatsinks that support these new Nvidia graphics cards. Everyone knows that the GeForce GTX 480 is a hot customer, so it will be interesting to see how the Spitfire handles this graphics card. Thermalright had claimed that the Spitfire would reduce stress temperatures of the Radeon HD 5870 by 32 degrees. This is an interesting claim as it is extremely conservative based on our findings. With the 140mm fan, which operates at just 1000 RPM, we witnessed a 44 degree drop in temperature, while the much faster 1500 RPM 120mm fan allowed for a 50 degree temperature drop. Clearly these are phenomenal results, even when compared to the Prolimatech MK-13 which produced a stress temperature of 58 degrees with a pair of 120mm fans, making it an incredible 13 degrees hotter than the Spitfire with just a single 120mm fan. Of course the Prolimatech MK-13 performance was let down by inadequate VRM cooling, which saw temperatures soar well above that of the standard AMD reference cooler. The Thermalright VRM-R5 solves this issue by reducing the VRM temperature to levels that are comparable to that of the standard cooler.
That said, if you were to give the VRM-R5 its own dedicated fan we believe it would perform better than the standard cooler. Having said that, we did jerry-rig a pair of 120mm fans to the Spitfire/VRM-R5 combo and found that the VRM temperatures never exceeded 41 degrees with dedicated air-flow. What makes the Thermalright Spitfire so great is also its biggest disadvantage and that is its size. Tipping the scales at 550 grams meant that Thermalright needed to reduce the stress being placed on the graphics cards PCB and the PCI Express slot. Their solution is simple, a support bar system that lifts the card up and it works. The support bar system is quick and easy to install, while it is also very flexible. However weight is not the only concern here, as its massive size means that the Spitfire takes up a huge amount of space within the case. For those using a single graphics card with a tower style CPU cooler this is not so much of an issue, as the heatsink can be positioned to face downwards below the graphics card. On the other hand, multi-GPU setups will require users to install a low profile CPU cooler as the Spitfire heatsinks will need to be mounted in opposite directions with the primary heatsink intruding on the CPU coolers space. Ideally users are also going to want a full size tower if they plan to use two of these VGA coolers.
Now for the price, the Thermalright Spitfire is currently retailing for roughly $70 US, which does not include a fan or the VRM-R5 heatsink. The VRM-R5 will cost an additional $25 US, bringing the cost to $95 US without a fan. The Thermalright X-Silent 140mm Silent fan has a retail value of about $15 US, so when all is said and done this setup is going to cost around $110 US. That is a hell of a lot of money for a VGA air-cooler setup, though given the results we feel many will be able to justify the cost. All things considered, the Prolimatech MK-13 costs $60 US and in order to work with the Radeon HD 5870 it would require the VRM-R5 anyway, and again it also does not come with a fan so the total kit price would be up around $100 US. Overall the Thermalright Spitfire + VRM-R5 is certainly a pricey setup, but we feel given the incredible performance it is well worth the asking price. |
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tiger |
Posted on: 04/14/2010 01:11 PM
Yeeehaa... that are really some impressive results. It just shows how much you can do with alternative cooling solutions. It kind of makes Crossfire or SLI configurations impossible. But still impressive! |
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Oldie |
Posted on: 04/15/2010 08:50 PM
Great review thanks. That thing is a beast I want!!! |
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Leo |
Posted on: 04/13/2010 12:02 PM
Wow that is massive ... that is all  |
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ProX |
Posted on: 04/13/2010 09:48 PM
I have been keeping an eye on this product and I am so glad you decided to review it. The results are better than I was hoping so I am trying to get one for my 5850 now. |
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Rosco |
Posted on: 04/23/2010 01:37 PM
OMFG that thing is massive!!! 2 thumbs up for the well done review and for a well done product. |
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SN95Stang |
Posted on: 05/24/2010 03:16 AM
I can confirm this thing really works! Recently purchased this setup for an XFX HD4890 and the results are simply amazing! My full load temps gaming are lower than the idle temps with the stock cooler! Only drawback was fitting this thing in to an Antec 902 case. Had to use the bottom PCI-E slot on my Asus P5E and mount the cooler towards the top of the case, and the included support bracket BARELY clears my tower style CPU cooler. This configuration lined it up perfectly with the side mounted 120mm fan, although a little modification of the fan holder was necessary, it worked out well. |