Installation

Installing the Thermalright True Spirit 140 Direct is honestly fairly easy even with all the small bits and pieces needed. First, assemble the backplate with the mylar film using the included screws and proper plastic washers. With the backplate ready, position it on the motherboard and use the screw nuts to hold it firmly in place.


Next, position the LGA 1151 spacer on the CPU if using that platform. Make sure to install the spacer properly since it has a set orientation, so pay close attention to that step. Once in place, close the retention mechanism. Now, secure the mounting plate to the screw nuts and apply some thermal paste. Keep in mind that you will want to fill the gaps with an HDT cooler, which means the usual pea-size method will not work well. Filling the gaps on the cooler's base with thermal paste first tends to work best, paired with a few small dots on the CPU itself.


With that done, secure the tower to the mounting plate and attach the fan.

The mounting hardware included with the Thermalright cooler is relatively straightforward, but does consist of a lot of small parts. My only gripe is that the fan clips and rubber vibration pads are a bit awkward. In terms of difficulty, I would rate its installation an 8 on a scale of 1 (hardest) to 10 (easiest). If the fan clips were less finicky and the rubber mounts were pre-installed, I would bump it up to a 9, but those being such minor issues, they are nothing to get bent out of shape over.