Thermaltake SpinQ CPU Cooler Review

Installing the SpinQ

Inside the accessories box is all the items needed to mount the SpinQ to your favorite CPU socket. We will be setting the cooler up for our Intel test bench.

To my dismay the SpinQ uses the stock push pin retention system for the Intel platform. Its not that its hard to put the brackets on, that was quite easy: 4 screws and youre done. The issue is that the push pins are under the cooler making them hard to get at to put on and even harder to get off. To get to the pins easily you need to have the board out of the case; removal of the motherboard from the case is unavoidable.

With the SpinQ installed into the system one thing jumped right out at me: the alignment to the rear exhaust fan. Now normally the rear fan aids a cooler by helping pull the hot air coming off the cooler and the rest of the case and pushing it out. The SpinQ gets its cool air from both ends of the cooler, so the rear exhaust fan could potentially rob air from the cooler, starving it of fresh air. Then again I could be wrong and the rear fan could help pull air through the cooler.