i refuse to buy from anyone else anymore I never use a cpu so powerful that it need liquid cooling i only use thermalright, either the single fan assassin or peerless assassin unbeatable price to performance neck and neck with noctua cooler thats double the price
@@tomtemple69 fr i love brands like thermalright and tecware coming out of nowhere and just producing good budget products they dont care about marketing and shit they just give us good products we give them money thats it
The fact that Thermalright is selling these coolers for the price they are, just means that all the other companies that charge more have been bullshitting us for a very long time.
Not necessarily though. There’s no real way to know what sort of margins their competitors are dealing with. That said, thermalright is awesome and lighting a fire under every other company
I think you nailed the concept that it's not the total number of pipes, but the number that lie directly above the CPU. Great observation. As a result, I purchased the Frost Spirit for the build I'm working on now.
the performance is so good that even if you pretend it doesn't come with fans and buy your own, it's still better value than almost every other competitor's unit in the price range. that's nuts
To those who, like me, have been looking for the TR FS140 in the gaming chart (8:11): I believe that the green line (mis)labeled as SCYTHE FUMA 3 (right above the ASSASSIN III) is actually the TR Frost Spirit 140. The correct SCYTHE FUMA 3 line is the pink one right above the DEEPCOOL AK620.
@Cosmopavone weird. Mine came with a cable splitter and the thermal paste but only 1 fan. The fan was the tl-d12 model that has the cut corners, i assume for easier mounting to the heat-sink.
@@T.Lspitz No way man, the Phantom Spirit comes with two tl-c12 fan. If you found only one tl-d12 pro in the box it can only mean two things: 1 you have a Silver Soul and not a Phantom Spirit or 2 they made a mistake when boxing it
@Cosmopavone hmm🤔 Now you have me second guessing myself lol. I do remember considering getting the silver soul, but I'm 99% sure i passed it up for the phantom spirit. I still have the box so I guess I'll find out when i get home. Hopefully, I'm not have a "special" moment publicly online lol
The fans could be easily replaced over time if they failed, the value is very much there for this brand. I installed a Peerless Assassin, & have The Phantom Spirit also. I thought the metal hardware of the original design was better than The SE version. There will always be room for improvement.
I would love to see these coolers benchmarked on a 7950x (non 3D) to see how the die being lower on the IHS changes cooler performance. It’s my understanding that more heat pipes would equal better performance in that case
I've tested the PA120 and PS120 (both non SE) with SYY 157 Thermalpaste on a 5800X3D with curve optimizer at -30 in Cinebench not too long ago. It didn't showed much difference then in this video (1,6° lower for PS120 after a few testing benchmarks).
I was recommended the Phantom Spirit SE by my local PC seller to cool my i7-13700KF. It’s a really great air cooler for the price. Great job Thermalright.
@@luladrgn9155currently running my i7-13700KF at PL1 230W and PL2 limit of 210W (also using a Thermalright contact frame). Need to max fans (and my country is pretty warm at 30-33C) to cool the cpu but for the price i cannot expect more
The extra fins are decorative. You can see from the side that the decorative ones look slightly different from the real ones. It's so the heat pipes don't stick out from the top and it looks clean.
Just upgraded to the original PA 120 with grey top from the intel stock cooler(copper slug version) that came with my i7 4790K for 40€ from Amazon and have no regrets, instant 20ºC temp reduction during full load(60ºC down from 80ºC).
Thanks for this video! I am building my first PC, and you helped me make another decision. Your video was concise and easy to understand. Most of the reviews I have looked at are confusing, but you made it easy to understand using statistics and explanations. Thanks!
Just built a new rig with a Phantom Spirit 120 SE ARGB on a 7800X3D. Very happy with its performance so far. I'll definitely be watching those fans though.
Would be interesting to see how Thermalright's AIOs perform as they are much better prices than the competition to see if they can be as good at liquid cooling vs the competition as they are for air cooling.
From the reviews I've seen, and comments I've read about them, they all seem to be incredible value. With the budget Frozen Prism 360 being able to easily cool a 12900K.
Thermalright is making quite good CPU coolers and considering the price they are actually great. I got another less known for some budget system a few months back - Burst assassin and it didn't disappoint. Basically silent, compact, well made cooler at great price.
Bought one to replace my AMD stock cooler a little while ago. Between this and the PA120 was about 3 bucks CAD so I got no complaints running 45C constantly with my 5600.
45C on a 5600x is mighty impressive considering my friend gets 40C on that CPU with a 240 AIO. I have a Dark Rock Pro 4 that costs as much as my friend's AIO and a Phantom Spirit combined and can only eye your temps with envy. It is silent, though.
I've reviewed both, and every cooler you just mentioned bang for your buck is the Phantom Spirit 120 se and I have also done a head2head between the Spirit and the Assassin there is actually a difference between both
Man the TR ba 120 has 6 heatpipes 23 bucks atm, SAME cooler than the Ultra 120 extreme but with only one normal fan. My favorite has been the TR TA140 EX that is no longer avaliable and was around 30 bucks. The ta 140 EX has been the absolute best thermalright I have ever tried in temps. Haven`t tried the phantom spirit.
happy that I decided to get one when I saw it after PA review and noticing that it’s cheaper with more heatpipes,felt like too good to be true deal, but it works perfectly
I have no remorse about buying the Peerless Assassin 120. I installed it two weeks ago, and it's working beautifully with my 5800X3D. In FS2020 @ 4K (water-cooled 240mm rad, 3090 Ti FTW) I'm seeing 52°C (CPU) and 62°C (GPU) with a very moderate fan profile. Yes, I did have to move the fan out a bit to clear my RAM. Doesn't seem to make a big enough difference to worry about. Visually? I don't even notice it. Good video. Previously subscribed. Thanks.
I've had this cooler for a while now, I didn't know it wasn't avaliable in the US markets. Had it over here in the EU/UK for at least 6 months now. Its a great cooler, just wish they would release it in matt black.
Just picked up a Peerless Assassin in white! After years of using an AIO I'm really starting to get pissed off with the idle pump whine, even on quiet. I upgrade AIOs every 2-3 years but recently I've tried 3 in the last 3 years to find one that's gonna be silent at idle but these pumps are driving me nuts now.
The gap between air coolers and AIOs are so small nowadays that it's worth it to switch to air coolers. We can all thank Thermalright for this and making the switch really affordable too.
Unless you do productivity tasks all day everyday and you run CPUs with most amount of cores possible AIOs are not worth it Most people just buy it for the look. AIO don't benefit them at all
I've recently put this cooler on a 5800x, switched from Thermalright's Macho rev. B (a behemoth of a cooler), and results are great! One thing that imoroved greatly but is not so obvious is my GPU temps. The macho was apparently so big that it was close to my Rx6800xt and it heated it up noticeably, so when I switched to the phantom spirit, my GPU temps dropped by 8-10 degrees!
Oh wow. I have very similar story for mine. I've recently ordered both 5900X as an upgrade from 5600 (need those extra cores for reasons) and I considered switching from Thermalright Macho ABW. I was kinda underwhelmed how this big boy was actually performing (probably an outdated design) and found this gem as a replacement. I also use 6800XT so your build is very similar to mine. Looks my projections about it being significantly better are justified! Out of curiosity, how exactly did temperatures drop from using Macho?
@@manoftherainshorts9075 Well, It either knocks off about 5-7 degrees on the CPU, or maintains the same temps (70 degrees, that being said I removed one exhaust rear fan on my case because of the bearing failing, couldn't yet buy a new one) under load while being noticeably more quiet. Also, the frequency doesn't drop at all. So, overall improvement!
I think you should test both intel and AMD CPUs, because of the different hot-spots and potential for offset mounting. On modern CPUs you can't count on the hottest part of the die(s) being under the center of the IHS, so this will naturally favor some coolers on certain CPUs. FS-140 vs FC-140 is an easy example; I wonder if the FS only performs that well on certain intel CPUs and maybe the FC would perform better on AMD, because the heat-pipes cover a larger area or are more directly under the CCDs.
Great coolers for new builds. I remember when the cooling options for high end CPUs was all AIO water cooling on review after review, now there are air coolers that do the job just as well. In the UK, Amazon (6 Aug 2023) have both the Phantom Spirit and Frost Spirit at the same price. £37.90 (incl 20% tax) that's approx $48 USD. I've not been able to check this in the USA. The PS120 is 4mm shorter and fits a NR200 csae. I think the FS140 will also fit the NR200 but only with the mesh panels. If anyone can confirm this I'd be grateful to know.
Just bought a Phantom Spirit 120 for $38. It's friggin' amazing. I think it might even be as good as the NH-D15 in my main computer, which cost three times as much.
I like the idea that you can build a 7800X3D/ X670E with this cooler today and maybe in 4 years drop whatever 9000X3D chip in it, still use this cooler (possibly with 2 new fans) and ride into 2030.
I've run both on multiple machines. The PA was amazing enough. especially compared to the $115 competition. The PS one ups it, especially compared to the new $145 competition.
Hiding the fact this is a sponsored review in the last paragraph of the UA-cam video description is a very bad look for Hardware Canucks. Edit: Hardware Canucks edited their video description into sponsored by Phanteks. Previously it said it was sponsored by the cooler manufacturer.
Replaced my Peerless Assassin with the Phantom Spirit about 2 weeks ago. Never used the stock fans on either; replaced with Silent Wings Pro 4. Idle temps are around 1 - 2 degrees cooler.
Just fitted today on my Ryzen 9 5900x. XPlane 12 was causing shutdowns on my stock Ryzen cooler @90C. Retrospective fit is tricky, tight access, ( had to disassemble having installed!l so recommend fit the power cable to the MB first, then the cooler. Dramatic improvement, now XP sits around 60C, very quiet and seems at first look to be more responsive.
Bought PS120 (non-SE) for a new system based in part on this review. 14700k + TR contact frame + stock thermal paste + Fractal Torrent Constant full speed (cooler + case), 10-min Cinebench run, room temp warm (can't measure) 253W maxed at 91C, average
I ordered the PA120SE ARGB for £30 before watching many reviews - I couldn’t find a non-SE with the ARGB, and the PS120 RGB was 30% more expensive, so I do now feel a lot better about my purchase watching this!
I upgraded my 5950x from the best _RGB_ single-tower cooler (ID Cooling SE-224-XT - NOT XTS) to the best _RGB_ double-tower cooler (Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE) and got an instant 5.1% improvement in cpubenchmark - from 45,200 to 47,500 - no changes required! Thanks Hardware Canucks! I'm sold on this great cooler!!
Concern over fan longevity is a pretty minor issue. Just buy new fans and swap them out. At $16-18 CAD for a 3-pack of TR 120mm ARGB fans, it's a pretty simple proposition that still ends up being cheaper than a Noctua D15 cooler.
I realized the other day, I actually have 2 x PA 120 SE in my rigs, when I probably should have purchased the PA120 but the names were super close. So many products derp but it's cooling just fine. Next time I will pay more attention when ordering.
I'm not surprised this is somewhat better than the Peerless Assassin, since it matches all the other reviewers. It's still a relief to see it confirmed on LGA1700, since most other testers were on AM4. Thank you for this! The fan thing is a little concerning, hopefully it won't become a major issue over time, but I can trust that your channel will let us know if you notice it. The aesthetic difference is real -- if you need a more refined looking cooler, the Peerless Assassin or Frost Spirit come in non-SE variants that look nicer. BTW: I think Thermalright are clearing out old stock, and new Frost Spirits (the V3?) support LGA1700, but older ones (pre-V3?) didn't, according to some Amazon reviews, so I would say do be careful. One last tiny thing: at 10:15 you said the "Frost Commander" when I think you meant to say "Frost Spirit" which is being highlighted on the graph. (I don't blame you, Thermalright has like a dozen relevant coolers on the market and the naming is kind of all over the place! It's hard to keep them straight myself, and I didn't have to say all their names dozens of times in a row on camera... Thanks again for the videos, the reviews, all the hard work!)
Yeah I got the standard Peerless Assassin over the other models simply for aesthetics. I always hated the look of the copper nubs sticking up out of my old Hyper 212 Evo.
Apparently, I'm the only one here who use Thermalright Silver Soul 135 💀, I don't need double fan to double the noise and I won't have RAM clearance problem. Most importantly, it's matte white, has heatsink cap and the only TR heatsink without printing the brand name out. 😊
Ngl, I have a NH-U12A on my older rig and swear by it for being quiet and a performer, tried this out on my current build and its performing really well. Only gripe is the fan noise at certain speed has a bit of a buzz to it, had to set a static fan setting to like 40% and it has kept pretty cool. Aside from the fans, installation was pretty quick and straight forward and everything is laid out to pick whatever socket and didn't even have to read the manual lol, overall for the price and performance its one of the best bang for your buck and probably BIS for the NR200 itx case.
After years, 4 PC builds, CPUs like Ryzen 5600x, 5800X3D (now) etc, Im still using the Arctic freezer 34 duo. But...they went from 33$ to 67$ in my country over the course of last 4 years. Covid, inflation etc have ruined us all. So Im glad sub 50$ coolers exist, tho, even over 50$ is good when you realize they almost cool as the 110$ noctua d15
the pearless assain still works like brand new 6 months in, 0 buyers remorse, the only downside is I had to place the front fan on the back as my ram was to big and it didn't fit in the case , still same amount of fans and same volume of air moved, I would say its better as it ejects the hot air directly on to the back exhaust fan
My solution to the lack of 3rd fan clip is to just zip tie it. Been rocking this thing since February but there just wasn't any reviews of this cooler so I was kinda worried Turns out my decision was correct. It is better than PA120. I got it on Taobao for less than 30$ shipment included
@@gersongaete1574 I don't have sufficient tools to scientifically measure the improvement of the 3rd fan. Too many variables in my environment. I also do not wish to purchase a decibel measuring tool just for this task.
@@maozedowner5915 You can measure the decibels with your phone and you can also measure the performance of your fan from the BIOS and with HWinfo64 for example.
1. "Whereas the coolers with more heatpipes like the Phantom Spirit, D15, Assassin III, Frost Commander..." The D15 has only 6, the FC 140 has only 5. 2. "That means that Thermalright Frost Spirit gets are Damn Good Value Award." Not Frost Spirit but Phantom Spirit. Of course there are so many of them with similar names that I totally understand this mistake. :)
still loving my peerless assassin! been ruining it for several months with the phanteks t30 fans on my 7950x with zero issues whatsoever! even tho you all told me they wouldnt fit lol. months later still rocking it flawlessly.
There will likely be next to no difference in performance unless you ramp up the fan speed to >1000rpm, at which point it'll probably be too loud for most people. Modern air coolers are inclined to have the fins spaced quite far apart, so they work very well with weaker airflow.
I have that PS120SE on my computer ✅. But I have a feeling the no SE version is better quality. Unfortunately by the time I upgraded my tower. the standard version is not yet available .
The Phantom Spirit buyers' remorse is nothing compared to my "be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4" remorse, which I got a month ago. It was a huge improvement over the stock AMD cooler, but then I watched the Hardware Canucks big comparison from almost a year ago and my heart sank. The Peerless Assasin crushed the be quiet! and for about $60 less. Naturally, I went and bought the Peerless Assasin. ... Then a few minutes later, in the middle of another Hardware Canucks video about the Phantom Spirit (not this one), I was on Amazon frantically cancelling my order. This evening, my new Phantom Spirit arrived and I can't wait to install it! Anyone want to buy a lightly used Dark Rock Pro 4? 🤣
Thermalright is making great affordable coolers, but they're failing at building model brand names - they could be building valuable cooler names that consumers would look for, and just keep improving them. Like the Phantom Spirit could have been a Peerless Assassin V2.
I watch all your air cooler videos even though I do custom loops on me and my wife's systems. Always a great comprehensive comparison! How do these dual tower units run with Ryzen CPUs since those tend to run much lower power than Intel CPUs? Curious how they perform whether it's 1 CCD (60-85W) or 2 CCDs (90-180W).
bought the PS 120SE two months ago and if they ever release a PS non SE version in black that looks similar to the PA120 non SE black, Ill definitely have buyers remorse.
Question is, if they can compete. Looking at the Assassin IV from Deepcool, which isn't better then the Assassin III and only offers looks / clearance (if needed) ... Maybe Noctuas new one is just the same tier as the TR ones of the Assassin III/IV .. for the usual Noctuas Premium Pricing of course
I just bought a Peerless Assassin and did not like the high noise, so I returned it and purchased the Phantom Spirit and guess what? I have an annoying tick coming from one fan! I checked to see if anything was touching any fins, but it just appears to be a faulty fan. I put my Arctic cooling P12 fans on instead and this HSF is amazing.
Really impressed by the Frost Spirit 140 results especially considering its price. Should I expect any difference in performance between the normal, black or white version? I'm currently still using my trusted Macho rev B on a 12600kf but looking into upgrading my rig with a 13700k soon.
When nobody can beat thermalright peerless assassin in price-to-performance
Thermalright: Fine I'll do it myself
I like that they are kind of their own competition, striving to do better
@@Sen-ki-every company should be competing against themselves to avoid stagnation in the monopoly/duopoly.
i refuse to buy from anyone else anymore
I never use a cpu so powerful that it need liquid cooling
i only use thermalright, either the single fan assassin or peerless assassin
unbeatable price to performance
neck and neck with noctua cooler thats double the price
@@tomtemple69 fr i love brands like thermalright and tecware coming out of nowhere and just producing good budget products
they dont care about marketing and shit they just give us good products we give them money thats it
Thermalright also does aio’s (;
Consumers are being spoiled with the amount of great budget cpu coolers Thermalright are cooking up :)
Agreed but the results also prove that we are certainly reaching a plateau on high end air cooling performance
Me using a a 13 dollar cooler. Yes I agree.We are so spoiled.
That's what happens when an OEM enters a market they supply coolers for
le them cook
@@HardwareCanucks Well people are saying it for 20 years.
The fact that Thermalright is selling these coolers for the price they are, just means that all the other companies that charge more have been bullshitting us for a very long time.
Not necessarily though. There’s no real way to know what sort of margins their competitors are dealing with.
That said, thermalright is awesome and lighting a fire under every other company
Operating at a loss to gain market share is a valid tactic.
@@Scxe They have been around I think two decades now... kind of late in the game for that, don't you think?
Companies like Noutua overspend on research and development, and add all of it to the product.
@@rockhaze maybe. Could be that they don't have enough market share yet. Either way, I bought two of their coolers and am thus far satisfied.
I think you nailed the concept that it's not the total number of pipes, but the number that lie directly above the CPU. Great observation. As a result, I purchased the Frost Spirit for the build I'm working on now.
@@noir-13 this is a great point. I'd like to see the tests run on both Ryzen and intel to see if there was a difference.
the performance is so good that even if you pretend it doesn't come with fans and buy your own, it's still better value than almost every other competitor's unit in the price range. that's nuts
It also comes with a full tube of thermal paste. Most coolers don't do that
To those who, like me, have been looking for the TR FS140 in the gaming chart (8:11): I believe that the green line (mis)labeled as SCYTHE FUMA 3 (right above the ASSASSIN III) is actually the TR Frost Spirit 140. The correct SCYTHE FUMA 3 line is the pink one right above the DEEPCOOL AK620.
also at the end i think he was mentioning phantom spirit yet said frost spirit for the award(?)
I got the Phantom Spirit three months ago. Incredible cooler at a ridiculous price.
Did yours come with 2 fans or just 1?
@@T.Lspitz 2 fans, a syringe of heat paste and a pwm splitter cable. Paid 42 on amazon
@Cosmopavone weird. Mine came with a cable splitter and the thermal paste but only 1 fan. The fan was the tl-d12 model that has the cut corners, i assume for easier mounting to the heat-sink.
@@T.Lspitz No way man, the Phantom Spirit comes with two tl-c12 fan. If you found only one tl-d12 pro in the box it can only mean two things:
1 you have a Silver Soul and not a Phantom Spirit
or
2 they made a mistake when boxing it
@Cosmopavone hmm🤔
Now you have me second guessing myself lol.
I do remember considering getting the silver soul, but I'm 99% sure i passed it up for the phantom spirit. I still have the box so I guess I'll find out when i get home. Hopefully, I'm not have a "special" moment publicly online lol
The fans could be easily replaced over time if they failed, the value is very much there for this brand. I installed a Peerless Assassin, & have The Phantom Spirit also. I thought the metal hardware of the original design was better than The SE version. There will always be room for improvement.
Would you say the phantom spirit is better than the assassin? Is the evo the same performance just different color?
@BUDDAz1g
Well the whole review was about Phantom Spirit Being better than Peerless Assasin.
I would love to see these coolers benchmarked on a 7950x (non 3D) to see how the die being lower on the IHS changes cooler performance. It’s my understanding that more heat pipes would equal better performance in that case
I've tested the PA120 and PS120 (both non SE) with SYY 157 Thermalpaste on a 5800X3D with curve optimizer at -30 in Cinebench not too long ago. It didn't showed much difference then in this video (1,6° lower for PS120 after a few testing benchmarks).
@@Electric_Doodie Phatom spirit fans are more quiet than Pearless Assasin
Pretty sure that cpu is supposed to be at 95° lol
I was recommended the Phantom Spirit SE by my local PC seller to cool my i7-13700KF. It’s a really great air cooler for the price. Great job Thermalright.
is it enough? air for an i7 13th and K?
@@luladrgn9155currently running my i7-13700KF at PL1 230W and PL2 limit of 210W (also using a Thermalright contact frame). Need to max fans (and my country is pretty warm at 30-33C) to cool the cpu but for the price i cannot expect more
@@luladrgn9155 more than enough, unless you are really pushing some OC or have bad airflow in your case. He tested it on a 13900k in the video.
@@luladrgn9155i mean if it can handle a 13900k, at 40€/$ bro I don't think it will have any issues
@@luladrgn9155 the test in the video was done with an i9-13900k, of course its enough.
The difference between the SE and the regular one is not only the top plate. The regular one has more fins, therefore it's also a tiny bit taller.
The extra fins are decorative. You can see from the side that the decorative ones look slightly different from the real ones. It's so the heat pipes don't stick out from the top and it looks clean.
And heavier.
130mm vs 150
Just upgraded to the original PA 120 with grey top from the intel stock cooler(copper slug version) that came with my i7 4790K for 40€ from Amazon and have no regrets, instant 20ºC temp reduction during full load(60ºC down from 80ºC).
Still love how Thermalright was the the top end about 2 decades ago, sort of disappeared and now is back with a vengeance and causing this much havoc.
I have a phantom spirit and have to say it's bloody awesome for the price. Easy to install and fans are surprisingly quiet even at max RPM.
I bought this for my 5800x3d and absolutely love it. So easy to install and it performs extremely well
Good to hear. I'am considering to buy the phantom spirit for my new 5800x3d. What temperatures do you reach on full load?
@@exebion9506 Between 70-80C when running Cinebench
Thanks for this video! I am building my first PC, and you helped me make another decision. Your video was concise and easy to understand. Most of the reviews I have looked at are confusing, but you made it easy to understand using statistics and explanations. Thanks!
Why would I have buyer's remorse? Stagnation is the consumer's worst enemy.
Just built a new rig with a Phantom Spirit 120 SE ARGB on a 7800X3D. Very happy with its performance so far. I'll definitely be watching those fans though.
Just get two Noctua/be Quiet/Nidec GT fans if you want better performance and reliability. The heatsink itself is good and should last forever.
What model number fan came with yours?
Also did it come with 1 or 2 fans?
temperatures?
You are doing a huge service to the community :)
Thermalright also makes AIOs now, a review on those would be pretty nice.
We are in the process of setting up our AIO cooler testing methodology.
@@HardwareCanucksplease make it happen! Great job so far, thanks!
Would be interesting to see how Thermalright's AIOs perform as they are much better prices than the competition to see if they can be as good at liquid cooling vs the competition as they are for air cooling.
From the reviews I've seen, and comments I've read about them, they all seem to be incredible value. With the budget Frozen Prism 360 being able to easily cool a 12900K.
Hadn't heard of this model (nor the Frost Spirit) until now! Good to have more budget options with excellent performance!
Thermalright is making quite good CPU coolers and considering the price they are actually great. I got another less known for some budget system a few months back - Burst assassin and it didn't disappoint. Basically silent, compact, well made cooler at great price.
Bought one to replace my AMD stock cooler a little while ago. Between this and the PA120 was about 3 bucks CAD so I got no complaints running 45C constantly with my 5600.
45C on a 5600x is mighty impressive considering my friend gets 40C on that CPU with a 240 AIO.
I have a Dark Rock Pro 4 that costs as much as my friend's AIO and a Phantom Spirit combined and can only eye your temps with envy. It is silent, though.
I've reviewed both, and every cooler you just mentioned bang for your buck is the Phantom Spirit 120 se and I have also done a head2head between the Spirit and the Assassin there is actually a difference between both
Thermalright is slowly gaining popularity in my country. Have 2 of them: axp90-47 and pa120 se. Price to performance is amazing!
Good timing. I just bought Phantom Spirit 2 weeks ago.
Thanks for the recommendation, just ordered it and replacing my NH-D15 :).
These fan-cooler reviews are becoming my favorite tech videos, great work as always!
Man the TR ba 120 has 6 heatpipes 23 bucks atm, SAME cooler than the Ultra 120 extreme but with only one normal fan. My favorite has been the TR TA140 EX that is no longer avaliable and was around 30 bucks. The ta 140 EX has been the absolute best thermalright I have ever tried in temps. Haven`t tried the phantom spirit.
happy that I decided to get one when I saw it after PA review and noticing that it’s cheaper with more heatpipes,felt like too good to be true deal, but it works perfectly
I have no remorse about buying the Peerless Assassin 120. I installed it two weeks ago, and it's working beautifully with my 5800X3D. In FS2020 @ 4K (water-cooled 240mm rad, 3090 Ti FTW) I'm seeing 52°C (CPU) and 62°C (GPU) with a very moderate fan profile. Yes, I did have to move the fan out a bit to clear my RAM. Doesn't seem to make a big enough difference to worry about. Visually? I don't even notice it.
Good video. Previously subscribed. Thanks.
I've had this cooler for a while now, I didn't know it wasn't avaliable in the US markets. Had it over here in the EU/UK for at least 6 months now.
Its a great cooler, just wish they would release it in matt black.
Just picked up a Peerless Assassin in white! After years of using an AIO I'm really starting to get pissed off with the idle pump whine, even on quiet. I upgrade AIOs every 2-3 years but recently I've tried 3 in the last 3 years to find one that's gonna be silent at idle but these pumps are driving me nuts now.
The gap between air coolers and AIOs are so small nowadays that it's worth it to switch to air coolers. We can all thank Thermalright for this and making the switch really affordable too.
"I upgrade AIOs every 2-3 years" maybe just idk get a softtube loop? Fucking forehead move
Unless you do productivity tasks all day everyday and you run CPUs with most amount of cores possible AIOs are not worth it
Most people just buy it for the look. AIO don't benefit them at all
Dual tower master race
@@maozedowner5915 I totally agree with you
Ok so I installed the cooler to my PC now and holy crap its so much better than the Noctua NH-D15...this little thing is a BEAST!
I've recently put this cooler on a 5800x, switched from Thermalright's Macho rev. B (a behemoth of a cooler), and results are great!
One thing that imoroved greatly but is not so obvious is my GPU temps. The macho was apparently so big that it was close to my Rx6800xt and it heated it up noticeably, so when I switched to the phantom spirit, my GPU temps dropped by 8-10 degrees!
Oh wow. I have very similar story for mine. I've recently ordered both 5900X as an upgrade from 5600 (need those extra cores for reasons) and I considered switching from Thermalright Macho ABW. I was kinda underwhelmed how this big boy was actually performing (probably an outdated design) and found this gem as a replacement. I also use 6800XT so your build is very similar to mine.
Looks my projections about it being significantly better are justified! Out of curiosity, how exactly did temperatures drop from using Macho?
@@manoftherainshorts9075 Well, It either knocks off about 5-7 degrees on the CPU, or maintains the same temps (70 degrees, that being said I removed one exhaust rear fan on my case because of the bearing failing, couldn't yet buy a new one) under load while being noticeably more quiet. Also, the frequency doesn't drop at all. So, overall improvement!
@@SuperLeshina so, 5-7 degrees less on CPU and 5-10 degrees less on GPU. Gotcha. Thanks for your answer!
I think you should test both intel and AMD CPUs, because of the different hot-spots and potential for offset mounting. On modern CPUs you can't count on the hottest part of the die(s) being under the center of the IHS, so this will naturally favor some coolers on certain CPUs. FS-140 vs FC-140 is an easy example; I wonder if the FS only performs that well on certain intel CPUs and maybe the FC would perform better on AMD, because the heat-pipes cover a larger area or are more directly under the CCDs.
thank you for reviewing more thermalright products 😀
What about the Phantom Spirit 120 EVO? It comes with new fans that are supposedly Noctua U12A quality.
Great coolers for new builds. I remember when the cooling options for high end CPUs was all AIO water cooling on review after review, now there are air coolers that do the job just as well.
In the UK, Amazon (6 Aug 2023) have both the Phantom Spirit and Frost Spirit at the same price. £37.90 (incl 20% tax) that's approx $48 USD. I've not been able to check this in the USA.
The PS120 is 4mm shorter and fits a NR200 csae. I think the FS140 will also fit the NR200 but only with the mesh panels. If anyone can confirm this I'd be grateful to know.
Would like to know as well!
Just bought a Phantom Spirit 120 for $38. It's friggin' amazing. I think it might even be as good as the NH-D15 in my main computer, which cost three times as much.
Mike, thanks for the info on the Edifier's.
I bought a pair of the R1280Ts, love them !
U really did become a Brand on testing CPU Coolers... Gr8 work !
Gamers Nexus are far more reliable and go into more depth.
I like the idea that you can build a 7800X3D/ X670E with this cooler today and maybe in 4 years drop whatever 9000X3D chip in it, still use this cooler (possibly with 2 new fans) and ride into 2030.
I've run both on multiple machines. The PA was amazing enough. especially compared to the $115 competition. The PS one ups it, especially compared to the new $145 competition.
Like i said its a really good and cheap Cooler. Thanks for listen and testing it
As for replacing fans no one said Noctua was the only option. ARTIC.
Hiding the fact this is a sponsored review in the last paragraph of the UA-cam video description is a very bad look for Hardware Canucks.
Edit: Hardware Canucks edited their video description into sponsored by Phanteks. Previously it said it was sponsored by the cooler manufacturer.
What a fail :)
Replaced my Peerless Assassin with the Phantom Spirit about 2 weeks ago. Never used the stock fans on either; replaced with Silent Wings Pro 4. Idle temps are around 1 - 2 degrees cooler.
How about noise?
It's not worth the upgrade, as the difference isn't much at all.
Just fitted today on my Ryzen 9 5900x.
XPlane 12 was causing shutdowns on my stock Ryzen cooler @90C. Retrospective fit is tricky, tight access, ( had to disassemble having installed!l so recommend fit the power cable to the MB first, then the cooler.
Dramatic improvement, now XP sits around 60C, very quiet and seems at first look to be more responsive.
Been running the Thermalright PS for a few months with a Ryzen 5 5600X. Been amazing, got it for under $40 on amazon.
Bought PS120 (non-SE) for a new system based in part on this review.
14700k + TR contact frame + stock thermal paste + Fractal Torrent
Constant full speed (cooler + case), 10-min Cinebench run, room temp warm (can't measure)
253W maxed at 91C, average
Just got it, a friend recommended it and damn, it's just great
I ordered the PA120SE ARGB for £30 before watching many reviews - I couldn’t find a non-SE with the ARGB, and the PS120 RGB was 30% more expensive, so I do now feel a lot better about my purchase watching this!
I upgraded my 5950x from the best _RGB_ single-tower cooler (ID Cooling SE-224-XT - NOT XTS) to the best _RGB_ double-tower cooler (Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE) and got an instant 5.1% improvement in cpubenchmark - from 45,200 to 47,500 - no changes required! Thanks Hardware Canucks! I'm sold on this great cooler!!
Concern over fan longevity is a pretty minor issue. Just buy new fans and swap them out. At $16-18 CAD for a 3-pack of TR 120mm ARGB fans, it's a pretty simple proposition that still ends up being cheaper than a Noctua D15 cooler.
When these fail, I would probably buy Arctic Cooling solutions, their Value Pack is very impressive in price to performance department.
having the PA120 is a win, great video
I realized the other day, I actually have 2 x PA 120 SE in my rigs, when I probably should have purchased the PA120 but the names were super close. So many products derp but it's cooling just fine. Next time I will pay more attention when ordering.
How did you come to this conclusion? From what I've seen, performance is basically identical between the two.
I'm not surprised this is somewhat better than the Peerless Assassin, since it matches all the other reviewers. It's still a relief to see it confirmed on LGA1700, since most other testers were on AM4. Thank you for this!
The fan thing is a little concerning, hopefully it won't become a major issue over time, but I can trust that your channel will let us know if you notice it.
The aesthetic difference is real -- if you need a more refined looking cooler, the Peerless Assassin or Frost Spirit come in non-SE variants that look nicer.
BTW: I think Thermalright are clearing out old stock, and new Frost Spirits (the V3?) support LGA1700, but older ones (pre-V3?) didn't, according to some Amazon reviews, so I would say do be careful.
One last tiny thing: at 10:15 you said the "Frost Commander" when I think you meant to say "Frost Spirit" which is being highlighted on the graph. (I don't blame you, Thermalright has like a dozen relevant coolers on the market and the naming is kind of all over the place! It's hard to keep them straight myself, and I didn't have to say all their names dozens of times in a row on camera... Thanks again for the videos, the reviews, all the hard work!)
Yeah I got the standard Peerless Assassin over the other models simply for aesthetics. I always hated the look of the copper nubs sticking up out of my old Hyper 212 Evo.
1:08 That sound effect made me turn and check the source
"Hard to argue against Frost Commander", when the chart says Frost Spirit... :D I'm lost
I'm going with the TR Frost Spirit 140.
The white Peerless Assassin looks so good in my white case, I'm glad they keep upping their game
Im an Sff person but since switching to a 7700x its made me want to switch back to normal.
Will def be picking this up once I do!
Apparently, I'm the only one here who use Thermalright Silver Soul 135 💀, I don't need double fan to double the noise and I won't have RAM clearance problem. Most importantly, it's matte white, has heatsink cap and the only TR heatsink without printing the brand name out. 😊
Bloody good timing, I only bought one of these 3 days ago lmao
Ngl, I have a NH-U12A on my older rig and swear by it for being quiet and a performer, tried this out on my current build and its performing really well. Only gripe is the fan noise at certain speed has a bit of a buzz to it, had to set a static fan setting to like 40% and it has kept pretty cool. Aside from the fans, installation was pretty quick and straight forward and everything is laid out to pick whatever socket and didn't even have to read the manual lol, overall for the price and performance its one of the best bang for your buck and probably BIS for the NR200 itx case.
Are you willing to do a test with different fans for the Peerless Assassin? Like Noctua NF-A12, P12 Max, Phanteks T30 , etc
Its time for Noctua to step up. Thermalright & Deepcool are slowly capturing their market and offering better price to performance.
I would like to know how a Peerless Assassin performs with Noctua NF-P12s since that's what I'd replace them with.
After years, 4 PC builds, CPUs like Ryzen 5600x, 5800X3D (now) etc, Im still using the Arctic freezer 34 duo. But...they went from 33$ to 67$ in my country over the course of last 4 years. Covid, inflation etc have ruined us all.
So Im glad sub 50$ coolers exist, tho, even over 50$ is good when you realize they almost cool as the 110$ noctua d15
the pearless assain still works like brand new 6 months in, 0 buyers remorse, the only downside is I had to place the front fan on the back as my ram was to big and it didn't fit in the case , still same amount of fans and same volume of air moved, I would say its better as it ejects the hot air directly on to the back exhaust fan
My solution to the lack of 3rd fan clip is to just zip tie it.
Been rocking this thing since February but there just wasn't any reviews of this cooler so I was kinda worried
Turns out my decision was correct. It is better than PA120.
I got it on Taobao for less than 30$ shipment included
how did your temperatures improve? maybe you can get the same perfomance with lower rpm and therefore much quieter.
@@gersongaete1574 I don't have sufficient tools to scientifically measure the improvement of the 3rd fan. Too many variables in my environment. I also do not wish to purchase a decibel measuring tool just for this task.
@@maozedowner5915 You can measure the decibels with your phone and you can also measure the performance of your fan from the BIOS and with HWinfo64 for example.
1. "Whereas the coolers with more heatpipes like the Phantom Spirit, D15, Assassin III, Frost Commander..." The D15 has only 6, the FC 140 has only 5.
2. "That means that Thermalright Frost Spirit gets are Damn Good Value Award." Not Frost Spirit but Phantom Spirit. Of course there are so many of them with similar names that I totally understand this mistake. :)
I didn't trust the fans and had extra from my build so I swapped them to Corsair elites and it's been a rock
still loving my peerless assassin! been ruining it for several months with the phanteks t30 fans on my 7950x with zero issues whatsoever! even tho you all told me they wouldnt fit lol. months later still rocking it flawlessly.
so it really fits 2 phanteks t30 ?! also pls advise if it will fit on Peerless Spirit as well?
And even better would be to fit 2 Shark Force 140mm.
I would be curious to see how different fans affect the performance of this cooler.
There will likely be next to no difference in performance unless you ramp up the fan speed to >1000rpm, at which point it'll probably be too loud for most people. Modern air coolers are inclined to have the fins spaced quite far apart, so they work very well with weaker airflow.
I have that PS120SE on my computer ✅. But I have a feeling the no SE version is better quality. Unfortunately by the time I upgraded my tower. the standard version is not yet available .
What model number is the fan that came with yours? Did it come with 2 fans or just 1?
@@T.Lspitz 2 fans included inside the box and is the newest revision fan from Thermalright.
@ksouvenir5561 interesting. Mine came with 1 fan and it looked a little different but still great quality.
Do your fans have the corners cut?
@@T.Lspitz No, round corner. You bought the wrong Phantom Spirit 120 buddy 💡
i got the phantom spirit two weeks ago and i went from 70degrees to 40 while idle and 95 to 50 under load.
What cpu
@@megadeth8592 I got the same question, those are interesting results
@@JoaoPedro-ki7ct i5 11600k. the old cooler was the noctua NH-L9i which was doing fine until things started to crash.
Hi, really enjoyed your video, love your work about CPU air coolers. Could you tell the ram clearance of this cooler? Can't find any info online
WOW. Just bought one for only £32 on amazon. cheers!!
Can you test the Deepcool AS500 plus?
The Phantom Spirit buyers' remorse is nothing compared to my "be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4" remorse, which I got a month ago. It was a huge improvement over the stock AMD cooler, but then I watched the Hardware Canucks big comparison from almost a year ago and my heart sank. The Peerless Assasin crushed the be quiet! and for about $60 less.
Naturally, I went and bought the Peerless Assasin. ... Then a few minutes later, in the middle of another Hardware Canucks video about the Phantom Spirit (not this one), I was on Amazon frantically cancelling my order.
This evening, my new Phantom Spirit arrived and I can't wait to install it!
Anyone want to buy a lightly used Dark Rock Pro 4? 🤣
Thermalright is making great affordable coolers, but they're failing at building model brand names - they could be building valuable cooler names that consumers would look for, and just keep improving them. Like the Phantom Spirit could have been a Peerless Assassin V2.
They’ve done it. There’s a phantom spirit 120 EVO. I got it in today, but there’s no benchmark video to be seen
RIP the old 4-pipe single-tower segment. Love it though.
I watch all your air cooler videos even though I do custom loops on me and my wife's systems. Always a great comprehensive comparison! How do these dual tower units run with Ryzen CPUs since those tend to run much lower power than Intel CPUs? Curious how they perform whether it's 1 CCD (60-85W) or 2 CCDs (90-180W).
Thanks for this vidéo 👍
Just bought one on Amazon, 37€, blackfriday
For a 5800X3D
And bye bye Noctua@ 100-120€....🙃
Just received this bad boy from Amazon a week ago😎
bought the PS 120SE two months ago and if they ever release a PS non SE version in black that looks similar to the PA120 non SE black, Ill definitely have buyers remorse.
Gotta wonder how Noctua are gonna compete with TR and Deepcool matching their best cooler for (less than?) half the price.
Question is, if they can compete. Looking at the Assassin IV from Deepcool, which isn't better then the Assassin III and only offers looks / clearance (if needed) ... Maybe Noctuas new one is just the same tier as the TR ones of the Assassin III/IV .. for the usual Noctuas Premium Pricing of course
and then there the new phantom spirit 120 evo. haha you got to review that
Good comment on the number of Thermalright products.
The phantom spirit evo is out and looks way better can you do a video with it next?
Yes please
I’d love to see how these stack up to the high end aios, like the Galahad, Liquid Freezer and Nucleus.
I've actually done a head2head with the phantom vs a 240mm aio
@@WELSHYTECH you just had to make us watch your video huh lmao
Thermalright woke up and chose violence
Did an AI write your video description, or did you outsource them to India or something?
Totally outsourced to India
What is the difference between the SE and non-SE versions? Does the SE have slightly fewer fins?
I just bought a Peerless Assassin and did not like the high noise, so I returned it and purchased the Phantom Spirit and guess what? I have an annoying tick coming from one fan! I checked to see if anything was touching any fins, but it just appears to be a faulty fan. I put my Arctic cooling P12 fans on instead and this HSF is amazing.
Really impressed by the Frost Spirit 140 results especially considering its price.
Should I expect any difference in performance between the normal, black or white version?
I'm currently still using my trusted Macho rev B on a 12600kf but looking into upgrading my rig with a 13700k soon.
Just got this cooler for 20 bucks at bargain hunt in my area and now am so happy I did.