Thermalright HR-09 and HR-09 Pro Review : Literally dominating over the competition

Today's review will cover two of the tallest m.2 heatsinks on the market, Thermalright's HR-09 and HR-09 Pro. At 48mm and 74mm tall, they're literally dominating over the competition's heatsinks which are usually 20mm or less in height.

The need to keep modern Gen 5 SSDs cool has resulted in a market for m.2 heat sinks, and there's a wide variety of choices to consider. Heat sinks of sizes large and small, in a variety of form factors and even with active cooling, are now available to keep your SSD cool. We're recently reviewed the HR-10 Pro, another m.2 heatsink from Thermalright, which features an active fan.

When NVMe heat sinks first hit the market, many of the units included with certain motherboards were gimmicks and actually resulted in higher SSD temperatures. Cooling m.2 drives wasn't really a concern back then, but today's PCI-e Gen 5 SSDs aren't able to sustain their peak performance without some form of cooling. The controller found in most PCI-e 5 SSDs currently on the market is Phison's E26, which has a TJ Max (maximum temperature) of 125C - much hotter than previous generation products.

Thermalright is well known in the cooling market, the Peerless Assassin is a favorite of Wccftech readers. Their recently released Phantom Spirit 120 is in my opinion the best air cooler currently on the market - offering a combination of quiet noise levels and top tier performance.

Both HR-09 and HR-09 Pro utilize copper heatpipes to transfer heat away from your SSD. The HR-09 has one heatpipe, the HR-09 Pro has two.

The main difference between these units is their height - the HR-09 Pro is essentially a doubled version of the HR-09 with twice the fin area, twice the heatpipes, and (nearly) twice the height. The HR-09 measures 48mm tall, the HR-09 Pro measures 74mm tall.

The other difference between these units is their tops. The HR-09 has an etched metal top with Thermalright's branding, the HR-09 Pro's top is of jagged fins.

The sides of each unit have diagonal vents to help facilitate airflow through the fins and heatpipes

The HR-09 and HR-09 Pro arrive in a small brown box not much larger than a cell phone, with an outer covering showcasing the product.

Opening the box reveals the contents, the heatsink is protected by a soft covering and molded foam.

Thermalright also includes a small screwdriver, which is underneath the molded foam.

To start installation you'll need to use the included screwdriver to remove the screws from the sides of the unit, allowing access to the thermal pads. A small piece of foam protects the thermal pads during shipping, which can be discarded after installation.

Remove the peel from the pads, and place your SSD in the base of the unit. Place the heatsink inside of the base, and secure it with the included screws.

The last step is to connect the SSD to the m.2 slot, and secure it with a screw.

If you're using a large air cooler, you might not be able to install this heatsink in a m.2 slot next to your CPU - you'll need to use one of the slots lower on the motherboard instead. This won't present a problem with liquid coolers, but air cooler compatibility may vary.

In my last review of Thermalright's HR-10 Pro, some readers expressed concerns that these units might present compatibility issues with GPUs. While you might have compatibility issues with certain air coolers, a GPU won't present a problem. Pictured below is Thermalright's HR-09 with a prototype Intel DG1 dGPU installed next to it.

To test the performance of the heatsink's cooling ability, I’ve run a custom IOMeter script which takes 30 minutes to complete testing. This script is designed to cause the drive, and especially it’s controller, to create as much heat as possible. You might consider it a “Furmark” of SSD testing, it’s a power virus designed for the purpose of testing NVMe cooling.

Both the HR-09 and HR-09 Pro don't just dominate over the competition in size - they also dominate in performance! The HR-09 Pro's is amongst the best results I've seen thus far, running at a nice and cool 52 degrees C. The basic HR-09 is a bit warmer at 67C, but this is still better than over half of the heatsinks I've tested thus far!

Both HR-09 and HR-09 Pro heatsinks are able to run the TeamGroup Z540 SSD at it's peak performance of 4900 IOPs in this stress test. As you can see from the chart above, reduced temperatures don’t always translate into higher benchmark performance - but it will increase it’s lifespan and longevity. A SSD running at or near peak temperatures (also known as TJunction Max or TJ Max) with have a lower lifespan compared to one running at a more reasonable temperature.

For coolers like Thermalright's HR-09 and HR-09 Pro which are able to run a SSD unthrottled, a great way to look at it’s value is to compare the thermal improvement for every dollar spent - how well does the heatsink keep a Gen 5 SSD Cool for the amount of money spent? The HR-09 and HR-09 Pro deliver a great combination of performance and value, delivering amongst the best performance per dollar on this chart.

But in truth, this chart is a bit deceptive - the HR-09 Pro's rating is based on it's MSRP of $17 USD. But as with all Thermalright products, the HR-09 Pro is generally available for less than it's rated MSRP. As of this writing on November 4, 2023 it's available on Amazon for only $12.90 for the black version and $10.59 for the silver version. If I were to judge it's value by those metrics, the perf/$ would increase to 2.67 or higher!

Thermalright's HR-09 and HR-09 Pro are some of the best solutions currently available on the market, providing strong cooling performance that will allow a PCI-e Gen 5 SSD to maintain high speeds and run at lower temperatures, while increasing its longevity and lifespan.

If you're a professional or other user with storage intensive workloads, a heatsink of some kind is required to maintain peak performance with modern SSDs. If you're interested in Thermalright's HR-09 or HR-09 Pro, they have MSRPs of $11.99 and $16.99 but are frequently available for less. As of this writing on November 4, 2023 they are available for $10.59 on Amazon.com

Thermalright's HR-09 and HR-09 Pro provide excellent SSD cooling

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