The True Spirit 140 Direct (god, I wish that name were shorter) from Thermalright performs quite well. In terms of noise, it tops the charts with its near-silent operation. In fact, the 37 dBA during the 100% PWM test puts it firmly at 2 dBA quieter than the next cooler, which is Thermalright's Le Grand Macho. That in and of itself is an impressive achievement. Cooling performance isn't half bad either. It certainly won't blow you away, but does alright with its relative performance being near that of Noctua's NH-U12S while being cheaper. In terms of clearance due to the thin tower-style heatsink: Well, users can go hog wild when it comes to memory with overly large heatsinks.

Installation of the True Spirit 140 Direct was generally uneventful and relatively easy, which is always good. Build quality is par the course for Thermalright in that it was superb. Finally, for those wanting extra cooling performance, the option for dual fans is provided, and the extra fan clips are included in the box. Overall, it is a solid performer that should fit in with most builds because of its neutral appearance. Even socket AM4 is supported out of box with new stock. While not a sure bet due to older stock still being available, it is nice to see Thermalright already getting AM4 support squared away.

That said, no cooler is perfect, and that remains true for this Thermalright design. First, the HDT base means the True Spirit 140 Direct requires a bit more thermal paste than usual. The gaps must be filled in order to get good spread on the CPU IHS. Not a big deal, those used to the pea or grain-of-rice method will be sorely disappointed. So remember to do a good job with applying the thermal paste. The next issue to be wary of is motherboard expansion-slot clearance. This tower cooler comes extremely close to the first expansion slot. While it does clear, I would not chance it myself; after all, it might only take a short for that expensive graphics card to be toast. The fan clips are a bit awkward, and paired with these cheesy rubber anti-vibration grommets, you will likely be as unimpressed as I was. Those with larger fingers will find cramming the bits into place difficult. While the fan clips are not bad, they need the rubber grommets that are in place to have enough force to hold the fan securely. Overall, the design feels weak and needs to be reworked. Like all aluminum coolers, the True Spirit 140 Direct is also a fingerprint magnet. Thankfully, Thermalright includes a nice pair of gloves, so be smart and don't do it like I did - wear the damn gloves!

Overall, the True Spirit 140 Direct from Thermalright is a high quality, exceptionally quiet, and affordable tower cooler.