"Today we are reviewing the new Thermalright True Spirit 120M. It's easy to get excited when a package arrives from Thermalright around here. Thermalright has a long tradition of producing great coolers as evidenced by the Silver Arrow, the HR-02 Macho, and the original True Spirit 120 from 2011. Many of you will remember the SLK-800 from back in 2002. So you can understand how intriguing it was to see the new True Spirit 120M sitting on my desk.
The True Spirit line of coolers is legendary and for good reason. Its lineage goes back all the way to the 2009 when a group of engineers in collaboration with Thermalright produced the original True Spirit. Here's what I had to say back then of the original:
The ‘spiritual’ winner of today’s roundup goes to the TRUE spirit. As the most inexpensive cooler it is easy on your wallet all the while giving you exceptional performance without interfering with your motherboard components. This is one cooler everyone should consider for the next build and one I am certainly going to be using in my personal rig. There is a lot to like about this cooler and hopefully this is a sign of things to come from the crew at COGAGE.
Two things would happen after that review was posted that would change the landscape forever. First, Thermalright would go on to buy out the COGAGE company. A smart move considering the performance of its first product. Secondly, the idea that a cooler could perform as good (if not better) than the high end heat sinks while only costing a fraction of the price would begin to take hold. Suddenly, paying $100 USD for a high end cooler just didn't make sense anymore. I think this page here sums it up perfectly. For every degree of better performance it would cost you half to use the True Spirit than it would its nearest competitor.
Today we are going to find out if this new True Spirit 120M will line up with its heritage."
