Thermaltake TMG A1 AM2 CPU Cooler Review

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Thermaltake TMG A1 AM2 CPU Cooler Review​

Manufacturer Product Page: TMG A1 CL-P0371
Product Number:CL-P0371
Availability: Now
Price: $35.48 at NCIX
Warranty: 6 years




"Ideas originate from humanity, realizing ideas is our belief."
- Kenny Lin, Thermaltake CEO.


If your were to say the word “Thermaltake” to one hundred different people you would probably get many variations on two general yet different answers. Some people will say “cpu heatsinks” and others will say “computer cases”. To this reviewer the name Thermaltake conjurors up happy memories of the huge (for the time) all copper Volcano 7. It was this (then) revolutionary all copper heatsink that proved to me that a cooler could be more than just something that came in the box with the cpu. Even though it has been years since the release of the Volcano 7, Thermaltake is still going strong and are releasing more heatsinks than ever. They come in all shapes, sizes and prices but today we will be looking at one of their less expensive models: the TMG A1 AM2 CPU cooler.

The after market cpu cooling industry has changed over the years and it has grown and matured into a very exciting marketplace. It has become a mixture of cutting edge technology, engineering and marketing that is quiet literally changing the face of the computer industry. In this hyper competitive marketplace terms like “thermal resistance” and “air turbulence” blend seamlessly with words like “aesthetics” and “noise levels”. It is no longer considered “good enough” to just have a huge piece of copper coupled to a high-speed buzz saw fan. Coolers now have to not only contend with increasing thermal loads, but have to be quiet and in some cases need to be pleasing to the eye as well. This presents a bit of a problem for the manufacturers of these heatsinks since they either need a "one design fits all" approach or they take the path Thermaltake seems to love: release many different heatsinks for various applications.

Thermaltake still makes some very good after market coolers and while they no longer wear the crown of “king of the coolers” they are still recognized as an industry leader. The subject of today’s review is one of Thermaltake’s Thermal Maximum Grade CPU heatsinks called the A1. This cooler is designed to fit most of AMD’s socket cpu’s, whether they be the older socket 754, the venerable 939 or even the newer AM2 and newest AM2+ CPUs. It is backed up by Thermaltake's 6-Year TMG warranty and comes in at a pretty trim $40CAD MSRP. Not only is it on the inexpensive side, but it promises good cooling while remaining extremely quiet thanks to a PWM-controlled fan. All of this sounds great but it will be interesting to see how the Thermaltake A1 performs in our tests.

 

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Packaging and Accessories

Packaging and Accessories​

On first inspection of the box one is left with a very positive feeling. While it maybe a little colourful when compared to a drab cardboard box that some other heatsinks come in, it does have a very distinctive and refined look to it. It doesn’t scream and yell but it does still catch the eye if you were looking at it in a retail environment.

Even better is that the fact that the box is crammed with relevant information that would certainly help a first time buyer in making a decision. Especially if that first time buyer was to see this box on display at his local computer store.

When you actually open the box you are greeted to a very simple yet effective packaging scheme. No bubble wrap or vacuum sealed packaging here! Rather you have an easy to remove molded two piece plastic container that protects and supports the heatsink in transit. This makes for a very easy and intuitive removal with no tools or scissors required. One has to simply remove the top half of the plastic container, remove the heatsink and fan combo, remove the small protective cap on the bottom of the heatsink and install it. No hassle, no plastic clamshells to break into and best of all no chances of damage while removing it from the box.

As with many other CPU heatsinks in this price range, the list of accessories is very short. Besides a simple instruction pamphlet with lots of pictures you get a sticker and that is it. Other than that the only other thing in the box besides the A1 itself is it’s own retention bracket. It is obvious that this was done to help keep the A1 in its intended price range and is normal for today’s cost cutting “value added” marketplace.

 

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Specifications / First Impressions

Specifications

First Impressions

The TMG is a fairly standard “double 4” heatpipe tower design cooler with a frameless fan. Some people would call this an 8 heatpipe system but in reality it is really only 4 large “U” shaped heatpipes that start at the top right side of the heatsink, go down and through the copper & metal base and then terminate at the top left side of the heatsink. Overall this makes for a very efficient thermal design that has been nicely executed by Thermaltake.

One thing that did stand out is that unlike some other similarly designed coolers Thermaltake did not take into consideration the cooling of the motherboard. In a “standard” cooler the fan points down towards the chip and pushes air through (and over) the heatsink. This additional air movement helps cool hot MOSFETs located nearby. To make matters even worse, most new motherboards have this air movement factored into the design of the Northbridge / Southbridge cooling design. What this means is that the motherboard has strategically placed heat sinks (and heatpipes of its own) that “capture” this cpu fan air and re-use it to cool these hot motherboard chips.

Here is a picture of how Thermaltake shows their A1 goes about this:

This oversight is a shame because it is so easy to fix. All Thermaltake had to do was slightly bend the ends of the bottom aluminum fins downwards. This simple tweak would force some of the fan’s air down to the motherboard where it would do some good. While this is a minor oversight, it is something that you should be aware of. You should also be aware that the literature on Thermaltake’s website shows that it does actively cool the area surrounding the A1. However, with its straight fins that cannot channel the air downwards it is unclear how this is possible.

The next thing that one notices is that the bottom of the Thermaltake TMG A1 heatsink is not solid copper. Rather it has a copper base, with a metal top screwed onto the copper base that sandwiches the heatpipes between them. It is puzzling why Thermaltake did not go with an all copper base but, with the 4 heatpipes there to move all the heat away from the cpu, it is doubtful if this has any ill effects on its cooling efficiency. If we were to hazard a guess it probably has to do with the fact that copper is softer than most metals and that the top part might get damaged by the retention bracket.

As an added bonus the TMG came with its own Thermal Interface Material (aka "TIM"). It came pre-applied and was a grease based compound rather than the cheaper (and older) wax pad style. This further reinforces the idea that this cpu cooler is marketed towards the less technically inclined end of the marketplace. Everything about this cooler screams “user friendly”.

Here you can see that except for minor polishing marks, the base is even and free of any major tool marks. It is not the best polished base we have seen but it is not the worst either. Overall, the level of quality at this price point was certainly above average.

 

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Fan Design

Fan Design

The 92mm, 7 blade fan on the Thermaltake TMG A1 is rated to spin up to 2500 rpm. At this speed it can move over 35.14 cubic feet of air per minute and is rated to it at 16 decibels or 0.7 Sone. Personally, I think this is a tad bit on the generous side but this is what the specs say.

As for construction, Thermaltake opted for a non-standard all black plastic body with a modified frameless design. In a nutshell the fan has a very thin housing bracket on the heatsink facing side that is strong enough to allow it mount the cooler, and survive the torque the fan places on it, but does not impede air flow.

More importantly this “frameless” design coupled with its aggressive scimitar style fan blades help to reduce air turbulence. Below a certain noise level the air itself can become the largest single source of noise created by a fan. At this noise level principles like fluid dynamics actually come into play. What this means is that the air itself can be seen to act like any fluid medium and by reducing the friction or turbulence it encounters you can actually make the air itself quieter.

The fact that Thermaltake engineers took into account these advanced principles is very impressive and its does pay dividends. This is where the ultra low “Sone” rating of 0.7 comes into play. Sone is a unit of measure that describes perceived noise levels. Unlike the Decibel scale, where two identical sounds can be perceived by humans as more or less “noisy”, the Sone scale takes into account what people can hear. This way it not only describes how loud something is but also how noticeable it is.

Here is the TMG A1’s DBA to CFM ratio as claimed by Thermaltake:

Here is the TMG A1’s Sone to CFM ratio as claimed by Thermaltake:

Overall this should be a very, very quiet fan. The only concern with this fan its low CFM rating. A much higher rating would have produced more noise but honestly when you get below the noise level of the other fans in your system it is wasted. We would have liked to have seen it rated at a much higher 50cfm, even if this meant it was a 1.0 Sone versus a 0.7 Sone fan. However, as it can use a standard 92mm fan (albeit with a bit of work), if the fan included does not meet your needs or dies after the warranty ends it should be relatively simple to replace with a faster fan.

The next thing we did was to take apart the fan and see how well it was mounted. In a very nice move, considering the price range, the fan is mounted to the heatsink with anti-vibration springs. The fan is still solidly connected so there is hardly any chance of it falling off; it is just the vibrations do not get transferred to the heatsink. These little springs are surprisingly good at eliminating fan vibration noise and this is a good effective compromise between reducing noise and securely mounting the fan.

Here is Thermaltake's schematic on how this mounting system works:​

 

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Bearing Design

Bearing Design

On a positive note the TMG fan is a very well executed piece of engineering. After reading the literature & schematics on Thermaltake’s website and then seeing this fan in action our suspicions were aroused too exactly what the term “enter bearing” meant. To us if it acts, sounds and feels like a FDB, then it should be considered a FDB variant, and in fact that was what we were going to state. However, just as this review was about to be published Thermaltake was able to not only confirm that it is a proprietary Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) fan but it is made by their OEM partner Everflow.

The main advantages FDB’s have over normal sleeved or ball bearing designs are that they create very little friction and thus create very little noise. This is because the main moving part is separated from the fan housing not by grease or ball bearings but by FLUID and fluid has a tendency to dampen any noises the bearing surfaces make. The easiest way to think of how a FDB system works is to take a normal “sleeved” bearing design and replace the grease with fluid. Some people refer to fluid dynamic bearings as a modified sleeve design. Whatever else you call it, you can call this enter bearing fan quiet.

Here is a diagram showing how the enter bearing works

Here is a Scythe FDB diagram

Similar looking are they not? Of course the Thermaltake is only rated for a "mere" 50,000 hours Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF). Which while certainly acceptable is curiously short, since for example Scythe’s S-Flex line has a MTBF three times longer than this.


Please note:

MTBF numbers are not the same as “expected time before failure”. All MTBF really means is that if you have a MTBF of 50,000 AND you USE 50,000 you can expect 1 to die every hour. It does not mean that ANY will LAST 50,000 hours…a subtle distinction but it is a distinction you shouldn’t overlook.

Unfortunately, manufacturers don’t like to publish the life expectancy of their products. This would give customers a false sense of security, and (where we do live in a litigious society) this “level of expectation” would leave them wide open to a class action suit. After all if they say it “should last X hours” and when a good percentage do not last that long, well lets just say that is the stuff lawyers' dreams are made of.

To get a better “feel” for what the manufacturer thinks is the real length of time a product should last simply look at the length of warranty. The length of warranty has been calculated to be long enough so that customers feel secure in purchasing it BUT still short enough that it will be “out of warranty” when most fail. Taken for what its worth, Thermaltake’s TMG A1 comes with a 6 year warranty.

 

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Installation

Installation​

As stated earlier, and like most other coolers in its price range, the TMG does NOT come with a back reinforcing plate. Rather, it relies on the standard 754/939/AM2 mounting bracket to support its weight. While weighing in at a relatively svelte 505grams it is still more than AMD’s maximum recommended weight of 450 grams (which is the same maximum as Intel's). While one can understand the reasoning behind this cost saving measure it does not instill much confidence.

The upside to this "feature" of installing the A1 without a back plate is that it is VERY easy to install. It seemed like just as much time was spent in removing it from its packaging & inspecting if for any defects as installing it. This really is a user friendly cooler. Depending on your level of experience this can be a very big deciding factor. After all, not everyone has the time, inclination or even the comfort level to remove a motherboard and install a fairly intimidating back plate.

One thing worth mentioning is that you can only mount this cooler with either the fan pointing down or up. This is unfortunate since if it could be pointed towards the back of the case the rear exhaust fan could conceivably help create a push/pull scenario helping to enhance the TMG A1's cooling abilities without the added weight of another fan attached. More importantly having the hot air from the CPU blow either up onto the power supply intake fan or down onto the top of the video card, instead of being sucked out the back of the case is a less than attractive proposition.

On the positive side, while this Thermaltake cooler is tall it is not so tall as to be a concern for most cases; and while wide is not so wide that it blocks, rubs or even touches any surrounding parts on most motherboards. With some of the bigger coolers you have to be careful that the case cover can be closed with out it touching and the A1 does nnot have this problem. Even with it installed in a mid-tower Antec Slq3000b case, there was more than ample clearance and closing the door was not a concern. Equally important is that while it is a wide tower it was not a concern on either Asus’s boards and did not touch or rub any surrounding parts.

 

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Subjective Tests

Subjective Tests

These tests are the main tests I do on any after market part that I am planning on using in a build. If they don’t sound or feel "right" I bin them and use alternatives. Whether that means a completely different brand or just another one from a different batch greatly depends on the priorities of the build (i.e. noise vs. performance vs. longevity vs. style vs. cost).


Finger Spin Test

Just as the name suggests I give the unplugged fan a quick spin with my right hand index finger while holding it vertically in my left. This is done to see how much friction a fan produces (via the length of time it takes to stop and perceived speed at which it rotates); but mainly it is done to feel how well balanced the fan is. If the fan feels unstable then it is most likely unbalanced. A fan that is unbalanced may have a drastically reduced life expectancy and may catastrophically fail taking other computer parts with it.

The TMG’s fan didn’t produce any telltale signs that occur in poorly made fans (ticking, clicking, wobble, etc). Overall it felt very well balanced and smooth.


Noise and Vibration

While holding the fan in my left hand, I plug the fan into a 3 to 4 pin molex adapter and then turn on the computer. This way the fan is running at full speed and I can easily feel for any vibration it creates and listen for any noise. I do this while holding the heatsink in the orientation that it will be when installed. In this instance, I held it horizontally (both “up” and then “down”).

Considering the price range of this unit the TMG was very quiet and didn’t create much if any vibrations. In my opinion the combination of the enter bearing design with those 4 little springs do a very good job of isolating any vibrations created.


Tap Test

While holding the heatsink and fan in my left had I gently “tap” both the heatsink and then the fan. In the case of the heatsink it allows you to hear and feel how well made it is. In this instance the aluminum fins felt fragile to me. I am sure that they are more than robust enough for their intended purpose but extra attention was taken during installation.

On the positive side the fan felt very well made and produced none of the telltale sounds that a sleeved or ball bearing fan do when tapped. In fact it felt and sounded a lot like a Scythe SFF120D even though it is an Everflow fan.


Weight and Construction

This test consists mainly on how it "feels" in you hands.

While nowhere near as heavy as some behemoths that I have used in the past the Thermaltake TMG A1 felt fairly light and I would have guessed its weight at well under a pound.

Overall it felt and looked like a cpu cooler that the engineers had to make compromises on to keep it in its intended price range. However, the same cannot be said for its mounting bracket. Relying on the motherboard's standard plastic bracket does not instill confidence and it screamed corner cutting and cost overruns to me. While there may be some concerns about its long term viability, in general Thermaltake appears to have made more good calls than bad with the construction of the TMG A1.

 

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Testing Methodology

Testing Methodology


939 Test System Setup

Processor: AMD X2 4400+
Motherboard: A8N32-SLI deluxe
Memory: 2GB Corsair XMS pc3200
Graphics Card: Evga Geforce 6200
Hard Drives:
2x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB
2x Western Digital SE 120gb
1x Western Digital Se 200 Gb
Power Supply: 600W Seasonic S12
Case: Antec SLK3000B case with 1 120mm fan port for intake and 1 120mm fan port for air out.


AM2 Test System Setup

Processor: AMD X2 4800+
Motherboard: ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe
Memory: 2GB Corsair TwinX PC2-6400
Graphics card: Evga 7900gtx 512mb
Hard Drives:
1x Western Digital Raptor 150GB
2x Seagate 7200.10 320GB
1x Western Digtal Se16 500GB
Power Supply: Enermax Liberty 620W
Case: CM Stacker 830 w/ 8 Scythe E fans


All comparison testing was done on a closed case system with an ambient temperature of 15*C. Recorded temperatures were logged in CoreTemp. Load temperatures were taken after 1 hour of running Orthos’ blend test set at “10”. Idle temperatures were taken 15 minutes after Load testing ceased. Motherboard temperatures were recorded using SpeedFan.

Except where noted, Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste was used for all tests. Application of thermal paste was according to manufacturer's instructions, and allowed to cure for 48 hours under moderate load prior to testing. All tests were run 4 times and only best results are represented.


Notes about Overclocking

I consider 1.5volts to be the most that I would seriously consider for a moderate-to-long term overclock. Yes, you can go much higher but the longevity of the cpu is then called into question. Just as importantly AMD cpu’s should max out at LESS than 55c as this is also what I consider the safest, maximum long term overclocking temperature. For the purposes of these tests I was willing to overlook temperatures as long as they stayed below 60c.

With these two general guidelines I overclocked both systems until either one (or both) of these "rules" was broken.
Overclocking was accomplished by increasing HTT speed (AMD’s version of a front side bus) and then Vcore (only if necessary).

Before testing for idle and max temperatures Orthos blend test was run for 1 hour to make sure that the overclock was benchmarkable at a given clock speed and voltage. If Orthos finished with no errors, SuperPi set to 32m was run twice. After the stability testing was accomplished the given system was allowed to sit idle for 30minutes before starting the official tests. IF both of the above stated guidelines were not broken then testing continued with an increased overclock. These steps were then repeated until one or both of the general guidelines were broken.

Since they have no bearing on these tests, the RAM’s voltage and timings are not recorded, but needless to say they were loosened and the voltage was increased if necessary. Please do not consider this a full “how to” review on overclocking or “safe guidelines” for overclocking nor even an indicator on how well a given cpu will overclock. IF you are interested in OC’ing your system, and use these guidelines we at HWC take no responsibility for the results. Bad Things can happen if you are not careful.

Please note: The AM2 cpu used was one of the very first AM2 X2 4800+ processors released and are thus not indicative of how well the newer more refined versions will overclock. Regardless, overclocking of a cpu is completely luck of the draw and these are just the results that 2 cpus gave.


Notes about the “Stock” Cooler

BOTH system’s “stock” cooler was AMD’s higher-end 4 heatpipe heatsink. If you want a comparison to the more normal copper/aluminum cooler that usually ships with AM2 cpu’s please add 3 – 5 degrees to the stock temps.
Here are two pictures of the stock cooler used.

 

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Processor Cooling Benchmarks

Processor Cooling Benchmarks


s939 Temperature Results

With the AMD X2 4400+ 2.2ghz 939 system the Thermaltake TMG A1 lowered idle temperatures on average more than 9c and maximum load temperature by 6*C. More importantly these lower load temperature allowed for a even higher, safer overclock. Definitely a good first showing for the A1.


AM2 Temperature Results

The cooling trend that started with the 939 system continued with the AM2 4800+ 2.4ghz system. The TMG A1 lowered idle temperatures by an average of 8.7*C and maximum load temperature by 7.7*C. Once again these lower load temperatures allowed for a higher overclock.

As you can see from the above charts the TMG A1 did a very good job at cooling both the 939 and AM2 X2 processors. It significantly lowered idle temperatures and it allowed for a higher overclock on both systems. More importantly the A1 did it all this with markedly decreased noise levels. Even when the A1’s fan was running at full speed (as confirmed by SpeedFan) it was not audible over the case fans.

This combination of cooling and quiet operation is an admirable feat, especially considering the fact that the AMD 4 heatpipe cooler is not a bad cooler. When the X2s were the best processor on the market this stock cooler was able to hold its own against many aftermarket coolers. The only negative thing is that an even higher overclock was not possible. It became pretty obvious around the 2.9Ghz mark the TMG A1 was starting to become overwhelmed even at idle. The most likely culprit is that the fan just couldn’t move enough air to be effective in removing the heat that the CPU’s were creating. With the fan that this heatsink is paired with it becomes very obvious that it was not meant to be used for massive overclocks.

 

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Motherboard Temperature Benchmarks

Motherboard Temperature Benchmarks


Orientation: Pushing "Downwards"

As you can see the effects on the motherboard does vary from board to board. At first this variation may be confusing, but when you take into effect the number of fans that are moving air in a given case things start to make more sense. In the 939 system there is only 1 fan for air intake and 1 fan for air removal; whereas the AM2 has multiple intake and multiple outtake fans. In the 939 system there is just not enough air movement over the motherboard when the AMD cooler was taken out of the equation, and thus temperatures went up. While in the AM2 Coolermaster 830 case, there is more than enough air movement that this lack of cpu fan air movement has a negligible impact on the motherboard.


Orientation: Pushing "Upwards"

As this unit can be mounted in only two possible ways we here at HWC decided to test the TMG A1 in its alternate mounting position. In this position the fan is pointing towards the top of your case and away from the video card. This alternate mounting did not raise or lower CPU temperatures but it did help case temperatures. As mentioned the possible negative to this, is that hot air is being blown into your Power Supply’s intake which can disrupt your power supply fan's rotation. If your power supply becomes noisy after mounting the TMG A1 this way, we recommend changing it back.

Mounting the TMG A1 this way actually did improve the older 939 motherboard temperatures by 2*C. This is certainly a big improvement and a temperature difference of only a few degrees from stock is minor. As with any aftermarket part it does all come down to proper cooling. If your system has good air flow, it really shouldn't matter how you mount the heatsink. If your system only has adequate cooling, then this alternate mounting may be right for you. If your system has the power supply on the bottom of the case then this is definitely the way to mount your A1 as there is no negatives and only positives.

In a nutshell, if your case has multiple 120mm fans blowing air over the motherboard then chances of any negative effects being caused by changing out the stock cooler are greatly reduced. However, if your system is like many mid-tower cases with only 2 fans you should definitely take this lowered air movement into consideration before purchasing any tower style cooler. Please do not get us wrong, at no time was any motherboard in any danger from overheating. While we prefer to have these motherboard temperatures as close to ambient as possible, 20*C above ambient is not anything to seriously worry about. While we would have been remiss in not including this information, this should not be considered a “deal breaker” by anyone.