It looks like russian PC commuity also likes Thermalright. I am building AMD 5600X. I asked AM4 cooler forum about best price/efficienty coooler. People told me to buy PA120 SE for $40. At first I was scetical and asked something cheaper. But they tell "just buy PA120". So yeah. After this video i understand why they reccommend it. Also in my country PA 120 white/black is about 2.5 times cheaper then Dark Rock Pro 4. I wanted to buy PA 120 SE but it was sold out for it's best price.
Old people will remember the name ThermalRight with fondness. Back in the day, the T.R.U.E. was an amazing cooler, as was their follow-up that no one talked about for some reason, the Venomous-X.
I used to have a Thermalright SK6 back in the day. It was one of the best heatsinks available at the time (back before heatpipe coolers became mainstream).
Yup. I still have my IFX-14 that i bought for my first AM2-system working in my HTPC. I am not able to tell by hearing if the PC is running. And that´s not just because i am apparently old :)
This is incredibly good value. Here in Australia the Noctua NH-D15 Chromax is $219aud or $150usd. The Peerless Assassin is $49AUD *with* the LGA 1700 bracket included! It’s literally 24% of the price!!
where did you find it for $49? im looking for the white SE ARGB version (in australia) and Amazon has it for $98. aliexpress has one for like $75 as well but im not sure I trust it
but the question is will i get a socket adapter for free with next new sockets? cause i got adapter for socket 1151 and 1700 for free from noctua, i paid 90 euro for mine, not that bad after all with that service.
Just wanted to let you know that I bought and installed one of these coolers because of your video. I was using the the stock AMD 5600X cooler and when I used handbrake to convert videos using my CPU the temps would go up to 98C, after installing this cooler the temps were steady at 58C and below. I almost spent the extra money on a Noctua and I am so glad I didn't, saved a lot of money and this one preforms well. Thanks again. Keep up the great work.
The exact same boat as you brother, handbrake put mi 5600x to cry, but instead of the stock cooler the wraith stealth i was using the wraith spire witch is a higher TPD. 90°C on full load even on spec is insane.
@@kravenfoxbodies2479 Yea, for the price and results I don't think I will consider Noctua and the expensive ones. This one keeps the temps under 55 degrees no matter what I'm doing, compared to over 90 with the stock cooler.
Well i do sure am glad im not the only one that had issues with 5600X insane temps even when undervolting it was 70 to 75 easy if not 80 peak only gaming. I ordered today a Peerless assasin 120 along with a new mobo as old died and the cpu so it was time to put normal cooler instead of the stock one which was driving me crazy. Btw its 5600X again so :D i hope for good results
Can confirm that this is a great cooler for the price. Got it for about 70 CAD from Amazon, and it keeps my 2700x pretty cool even with all power limits maxed out. (~165w heat load)
@@seanathan14 I've moved on to another build since my original post here so can't confirm exact figures but I recall it being around ~70c when gaming and able to keep it around ~90c when stress testing. Case didn't have the best air flow though as it was matx, would probably have been a bit better in an atx build.
I'm actually sad as everytime new air coolers come out from Thermalright no one pays attention to them. They have been a very solid choice for many many years. Happy to have seen you guys reviewing this! Hope Thermalright stays around keeping offering great prices and performance.
I wish I was more keen inside the world of PC tech, like how I am with audio gear. I love the feeling of being aware of underrated gems that typically evades the public.
love love love your cpu cooler reviews. bought an se-224-xt on your advice, and not a single regret ever. i would love to see an inexpensive case thermals roundup for 2 reasons: 1) cases costs a lot more than coolers. easily running over $100. with high oil prices, higher shipping costs, they are actually getting more expensive over time. 2) with all that high powered next gen components coming, getting good airflow is becoming more important. even a great cooler can get bad results in a stuffy case. many thanks for your time. your hard work is much appreciated.
I saw the small thermalright 120 (something like that) going for about $35 and thought it was pretty solid. Made me think this dual tower one would be a great buy as well but some user reviews people complain about fan noise. Im glad you did this test to because i imagined a custom fan profile would fix that and this video proves it. This is pretty bomb.
hi, love the review! i think this is the first good review of the PA120 i've seen from any western media, it really is an underrated cooler. just wanted to let you know there's a minor mistake at 7:45, where the cooler pictured is an NH-D14, not NH-D15
Here are my before and after temp results: (My old heatsink was the AMD Wraith Prisim). Before / After Idle 52 / 36 CPU-Z Stress test: 80 / 64 Prime95: 90 / 78 3DMark Time Spy: 87 / 72 Pretty easy to install without removing the motherboard. (I have a pretty large case.) A helpful heads up to those who want to install this without removing the mobo from the case - ONLY remove 1 of the old AM4 brackets at a time, and then install the new bracket. Then repeat with the other old AM4 bracket. Why? If you remove both of the AM4 brackets then the backplate probably will fall out. The only thing that worried me was the orientation of the new brackets and what direction the curve went, but the pictures on the installation manual cleared that up pretty fast. Finally, the spring clips that hold the fans scared me to death since I had never used that style before and so I was worried that I would damage the fins on the heatsink tower. I watched Thermaltake's TH-cam video and saw how they are installed and then I did it pretty easily. I think I could now do it blindfolded since I now know it wont damage the cooler fins to pull the spring back that far and use that much force.
@@flipdryI'm not OP but I am using Ryzen 5600, the cooler works like a charm, when I played last of us on the stock cooler, the cpu turned up to 95 degrees celcius, but now it only gets up to 60 degrees. Amazing cooler
@@LeumazDnazor That's awesome to hear it works so well for you 😁. I also have the same cooler with a Ryzen 7 5800x3d and it only ever gets to 70C while gaming with the fans at 50%. Max temp is 74C under cinebench/prime95 loads. This cooler is the new standard imo kinda like the how the Cooler Master Hyper 212 was for 10 years.
Thermalright's big boy dual-tower air cooler is the Frost Commander 140, which is also the brand's proper competitive product up against the likes of NH-D15 and Dark Rock Pro4, while still undercutting them in price of course, might want to check it out!
@@fdjw88 Unfortunately, the availability seems to be restricted to the asia-pacific region. Let's hope Thermalright improves the availability of their products in the future.
Thermalright used to have one of the best socket 2011 tower coolers. I think it was the SilverArrow. Crazy amount of heatpipes and huge performance, it was a Noctua fighter from the start.
another great video Mike, I love your presentation style! And this cooler is absolutely gorgeously looking! Though I would prefer the black one - and it's not even to be found at where I live. Not a single shop sells them. Wow. But still, I for myself simply cannot understand why people would choose an AiO over a cooler like this. It's just awesome.
INTEL 17XX was included with mine! It looks like a recent addition, with a new sticker slapped on the box. Thanks for this review, nobody talks about my favorite air cooler. My PA120 still only costs 42 us on amazon. It's gray/aluminum, includes the top caps and gray fans that match Noctua Redux. A few details: - I can see solder at the joint of the cold plate and heat pipes, many cheap coolers don't use solder. - The stacks are offset further from your graphics card (like Noctua's), allowing my hot gpu back plate better ventilation. - People avoid this because a limited number had slightly short mounting screws for AMD, negative reviews complain about needing to apply dangerous pressure to start the screws. Those are older reviews and mine installed perfectly on AMD, like most reviews. - Absolutely the best value in my pc, and one the best coolers I've owned. I returned a Scythe Fuma 2 when I found the Thermalright simply looked and felt better built. Also, I can't confirm, but it's been said that Thermalright will also offer updated mounting hardware years later, perhaps for a small price.
Great video. I currently have the Scythe Fuma 2 on my 3900x. I bought it a few years ago for around $60. It's been great. I may have to think about this cooler when it is time to update my system. It really looks like an impressive cooler.
Just picked one of these up in anticipation of a new build 👍. A lot of TRs coolers are discounted right now on Amazon! Still using my old lapped TRUE I bought back in 2010 with my current 4790k rig, working great.
The only reason I tried other coolers was because there waa a period of a few years where you could only get Thermalright from a couple of vendors. Good to see the availability improve and a new generation of builders seeing the performance and value. If you get a chance to test their Macho lineup or their older HR-02 Plus, I suspect you'll be surprised at how well those work without being loud.
I can't believe I paid $120 for the U12A last year when this thing was around as an option. 😭 Oh well, it was for my SO's build and she thinks it looks cool, so I'll say it's still worth. Currently rebuilding my own rig's aesthetics and just got this Peerless Assassin SE in white for only $35, so at least I saved money *this* time. 😅 Thanks for the review, 'Nucks!
Was building a new rig after Microscenter forced me to buy a 12700k + Mobo for a great price. Def needed a new CPU cooler as my noctua is 10 years older and Id rather not deal with whatever is waiting for me in my current PC case that I haven't opened in years lol. Ran into this one and it was an instant buy seeing it compete at that price. $49 after tax for the all black version
Huh I don't get it I have a 13700k and this thing is idling at 50°, getting up to 80° in gaming and in cinebench is thermal throttling way earlier than my U12S I bought this to replace.
@@karthick6028 the price of the PA120 seems to vary a lot. I was able to get one on prime day for less than the AK400. The AK400 is still one of the better single tower coolers for lower TDP heat loads.
Watched this AFTER I already bought the base model. I am so hyped and I also shared this video to my buddies on Discord that made fun of me for not buying a “known” brand. As far am I’m concerned, as long as it makes a solid connection with my CPU on the baseplate I’m already winning
Just got this for $48 after tax on Amazon Canada! Really excited to see how this does with my 5600x as it seems incredibly impressive in the tests I've seen.
I'm shocked that this brand was forgoten by many of the main reviewers out there. I was in the hunt for a cooler for my 5600x because for me 90°C on full load even on spec is too much. A there he is the peerless assasin, where in my country a top brand is like 150 to 200 Usd this was only 60. I was looking al over youtube for a review and the only reviews are for Noctua, Thermaltake or Scythe. Maybe they show some love now that you have reviewed this model.
I picked up a PA120SE White ARGB to handle the extra heat on the 5800x3d I picked up. It cools well, it's white, it has ARGB, it's way less expensive than my U12S that it is replacing (way, way less than the Noctua D12L, D14, D15 dual tower equivalents) The SE models are 2 mm shorter than the normal PA120. 155mm vs 157mm. This allows cases such as the Coolermaster NR200 to get the side panel closed.
I picked this same cooler up in black a while ago on Amazon. It was on sale for $37! Amazing performance for the price and it looks great too. Using it on a 9700K with a mild overclock. No complaints here.
I was going to initially go with the Noctua NH-D15 to replace an AIO that went bad, but looked at these reviewes on the Thermalright PA. Glad I did, saved $115 and it's working like a champ!
You're providing the best CPU cooler coverage on TH-cam, but I wish you'd speak more on after-sales care on these products. What continues to make Noctua a great brand for example is their generous warranty service and free mounting hardware upgrades so you can use the same cooler for multiple generations. It ends up being great value in the long run. I think this matters more than 1 or 2 degrees temperature difference.
@@HardwareCanucks Noctua are not the only ones to provide free mounting hardware but I don't know if anybody else ships with DHL Express for 2,50€ extra. I got moutnting kits next day from another country twice now and I think that's amazing. Also I got the cooler second hand and all I had to provide is a photo of the cooler and respective motherboard for the needed kit with a time stamp.
This is extremally important, Scythe global policy is that it does to NOT provide mounting kits for existing customers, without charging additional cost. For example, a customer would have to pay extra for an LGA1700 kit and pay again for any future mounting hardware. Irrespective of Scythe official global policy, in my experience Scythe’s customer service is poor. Scythe failed to help me even buy a kit, after a month of messing around I had to return the Fuma 2. Most of the major CPU cooler makers (like Arctic Cooling and Noctua) will support customers. I have now gone back to Noctua whose customer support is impeccable. Peace to everyone and stay safe.
Accidentally stumbled on this review and I must say that am surprised its this good of a cooler, for a 65W Ryzen 3 and 5 this will be such a overkill, I probably can use it with just the middle fan, I will be trying that out. Thank you for all the awesome reviews to whole HC team!
I recently bought my PA 120 se rgb for $34 off of Amazon. I only have a i3-12100f, but $34 for such a good cooler was a steal and I couldn't turn it down.
The two bigger brothers to this cooler are the Frost Spirit 140 and the Frost Commander 140. They have 8mm heatpipes and they're essentially the successor to my OG Thermalright Silver Arrow. Great value.
The FS140 is a sidegrade at best. It's worse than the PA120 under ≈200W, and not better enough past that point to make much sense VS the PROPERLY SUPERIOR FC140.
After upgrading to a Ryzen 7 5800X3D, my dual fan Noctua NH-U12S was not able to keep up. I upgraded to the Thermalright Frost Commander 140 BLACK and the difference was immediately noticeable. Temps dropped by 5 degrees on average, it is much quieter and the CPU can boost higher at 90 degrees.
Good to see TR is still kicking and putting out killer products. I always got Scythe stuff back in the day but I remember the TR Silver Arrow being one of the ones that everyone was always talking about, trading blows with the D14 for less money. Amazon has the PA120 for $38 right now and I'm tempted just to buy one even though I don't need it haha
I use their orange topped ARO M14 cooler for my 5800x. Zero issues with keeping that chip cool. Easy to install, looks great, quiet. They'll definitely be on my list if I need a new cooler.
For someone looking for beefier cooler without breaking a bank, I would recommend checking it's bigger brother. I've been running Thermalright frostcommander 140 since December of last year. it is on par with Noctua best offering.
I notice you're using the 10980XE for your reviews. Would a newer platform eg the 13900K make a difference? Apparently that thing is a real beast to cool down.
Ayy yo thanks mike! I've been wanting to upgrade from my Wraith Prism cooler but could not decide between an expensive AIO or a Noctua cooler! Seeing these results is making me pull the trigger for this product 50 $ for the ARGB white model :)))
Thank you, you pretty much answered all of my questions thoughout the review, except maybe: how does it cool an AMD CPU and vs. AK620? Would love to see Frost Commander 140 review under highest W CPU load!
I remember used this for my friends all white build. It's a solid cooler, can't believe I snag one for $45 CAD during the holidays, definitely will use it for my next customer, because it completely blew my expectations.
Great review! Thermalright is very underrated, it would be awesome to see a review of the TA120 EX MINI and the Silver Soul 135... They are very interesting because both use 120mm fans with a height of just 135mm, that could be the best possible cooling for a SFF, maybe better than the NH-U9S?
11400 stock vs thermalright pearless assasin 123 se on a coolermaster nr200 itx -stock idle: 42 c max load: 85 c cinebench score 8180 -thermalright cooler idle : 28 c max load: 60 c cinebench score 9958
Really nice video, Thermalright was a top brand for coolers back in the og days. PS: mentioned the NH D15 but used a picture of the venerable NH D14 :-)
neck to neck at 120W @ 100% fan speed but get 5°C hotter on the 260W @ 38dB test. It all depend of the test, just like a Subaru Vivio can win a race against Formula 1 race car if you add snow to the mix.
With these dual fan towers, do you use the included fan cable splitter (joiner) and plug into a single MOBO CPU fan header? or, if you have a second cpu fan header on your mobo, do you use both headers?
Crazy that this just came out when I got my Fuma2, lmao. I love Scythe as far as I have tested it, but there's no reason to pay 20 bucks more for it if you get similar results with this one. Any new builders have it real easy with CPU coolers, I envy you.
i knew it they just selling a badge of their own product they put a high price tag cuz they got promoted by famous tech youtuber, i'm waiting for this moment finally, thanks for reviewing this
Thanks for the review! I was using PA120 but now change into FUMA 2, since FUMA 2 wont have conflict issue with almost any kinds of ram under cooler high limited, I believe this is why FUMA 2 still worth buying.
Thermalright was well established for it's reputation in CPU cooling, along side Cooler Master, Thermal Take and Zalman during 2000s. I actually preferred this brand compared to Cooler Master that's usually overpriced with mediocre performance. Maybe it's always end up overlooked because of the cheapness but remembering that Thermalright produced high quality grade fans and carbon based thermal paste, I always trusted this brand for it's performance. They mostly included high tier TF7 paste with their products, so that's a huge plus!
I came across the U120EX recently but could not find any reliable reviews for it. It looks really nice and comes with the thermalright version of the nf-a20/gentle typhoon (TL-B12). It's currently at $69 and $79 for the white and black respectively. The fans alone are $23.
Just got the Silver-Grey capped model; outstanding value at the equivalent of $30 USD where I live. Rebuilt my 1150 Sabertooth Z87 with 4790K for a RTX2060 backup pc in a spare room.
At 8:50 you say "never keep your fan profiles on your motherboards at Auto settings", and ""optimze for performance and noise levels". OK, how is that done? Are you suggesting setting a constant fan speed? Or ...?
got the SE variant second hand for 25$ as a replacement for deepcool AG200 (it sucked so bad, but at least was cheap) and it's so great, 140W ryzen 5 no problem at all, installation was so easy. very quiet. i am very happy with it.
I am cooling my Threadripper 1950x with 33 bucks air cooler by Arctic Freezer 33 TR that I bought as a temporary solution while I decide what water cooler should I buy. Three years later, it is still there, quiet (even on 100% render or code build) it only hums. I actually love the sound it makes. Never needed water cooling that would probably be more noisy.
Great video, glad to see you putting more time in front of the camera. Would love to see some more boutique SFF content. Have you seen the Densium 4L case? People have been able to install 3060ti's and even nodded RTX A4000's into it! Z39 low pro cooler?
Use this cooler exclusively now instead of the pricey air coolers. It is a fantastic air cooler. Initially I was using the Thermalright “Frost Spirit” but it seemed to have disappeared. I now use the Peerless assassin.
These are getting soo tempting to look at again. I love the look and ease of access I have with my simple cooling loop. But I am getting tired of monitoring the coolant in the thing.
As a former Tr True Spirit 140 and current Tr Macho x2 owner, I'm really glad to see Tr getting some attention. They make excellent coolers. I'd been hoping to see a review of this cooler from a trusted source, and you guys hooked me up. Thanks. EDIT: What do you guys use to test full core load? Still AIDA64?
@@paulo9h Not sure. I went w the Macho w my next build, ended up selling the PC w the TS 140 in it. Been a long time since I looked at comparison tests.
This is damn impressive! I love my Dark Rock 4 Pro in my main system but i needed a good cooler for my work pc with 5950x, i was so close to buy the Shadow Rock 3 i ´m so glad i stumbled over your vid, this cooler is damn impressive and perfect with 5950x.
Wouldn't worry about the color offset, it happens in construction to when your trying to match metal colors with vinyl colors. This cooler might look better if the pipes and fins were a darker color.
I am really happy TR are finally releasing coolers. They went away from most markets in Europe in the past 6-7 years. Hopefully they'll sell more in EU. Saying it as an owner of the original IFX-14, a Venomous X and a TRUE Spirit 140. I've always had an amazing performance for the price I've paid with TR. Would love to see more 140mm towers though as they have better noise to performance ratio from 120mm fans.
@@HardwareCanucks not sure why my comment disappeared, but it’s $65 on Amazon. Won’t post the link this time just in case that’s why. This cooler is still the better deal for sure. But the fuma 2 doesn’t compete in the same bracket as the D15s and dark rock pro 4. It competes in the mid-range bracket.
This cooler is well known in the Taiwanese PC community for providing top-notch performance at a decent price. I'm glad it's being recognized by HC!!
how are the bearings in it how long do they hold up?
I always wanted to get one, but availability in Canada can be hard. I really wanted one when I first built my i5-2500k pc!
If it becomes popular in the US prices will start to rise.
5 years ago maybe, but their quality has decreased significantly since the brand was bought out by the OEM factory.
It looks like russian PC commuity also likes Thermalright.
I am building AMD 5600X. I asked AM4 cooler forum about best price/efficienty coooler. People told me to buy PA120 SE for $40. At first I was scetical and asked something cheaper. But they tell "just buy PA120". So yeah. After this video i understand why they reccommend it.
Also in my country PA 120 white/black is about 2.5 times cheaper then Dark Rock Pro 4.
I wanted to buy PA 120 SE but it was sold out for it's best price.
Thermalright were monsters back in the days, even before Noctua dreamed being what they are now
Yeah, it seems like people have forgotten about them because they aren't "cool" or something and have non-weird colour schemes.
back in the day, Thermal right Silver arrow head to head with NH D-14 (before D-15 coming out ofc)
How I miss my trusty old TRUE120 I had from the C2 Q6600 / i7 920 days
@@rolandwalker8298 same for me True120 a very beast mine was on top of core2 duo 6600 1ghz OcK fixed still alive as my sister PC
Dude i never knew they even existed lol but I have only been PC modding for 3 years now.
Old people will remember the name ThermalRight with fondness. Back in the day, the T.R.U.E. was an amazing cooler, as was their follow-up that no one talked about for some reason, the Venomous-X.
I used to have a Thermalright SK6 back in the day. It was one of the best heatsinks available at the time (back before heatpipe coolers became mainstream).
Yup. I still have my IFX-14 that i bought for my first AM2-system working in my HTPC. I am not able to tell by hearing if the PC is running. And that´s not just because i am apparently old :)
The first third party cooler I ever bought was from Thermalright. I think it weighed nearly a kilo of copper lol
TRUE Black best cooler i ever had :)
I still have my original TRUE
This is incredibly good value. Here in Australia the Noctua NH-D15 Chromax is $219aud or $150usd. The Peerless Assassin is $49AUD *with* the LGA 1700 bracket included! It’s literally 24% of the price!!
where did you find it for $49? im looking for the white SE ARGB version (in australia) and Amazon has it for $98. aliexpress has one for like $75 as well but im not sure I trust it
@@emporioalnino4670 BPC Tech is the original site i saw them though, but they're back up to $69 and out of stock at the moment
but the question is will i get a socket adapter for free with next new sockets? cause i got adapter for socket 1151 and 1700 for free from noctua, i paid 90 euro for mine, not that bad after all with that service.
In belgium we have it for 42 euro's lol
In the USA you can get models for $38 after tax and shipping costs. It performs better than most air coolers and just under AIOs.
for a second there, I thought that was a Windows logo
Ha. Never looked at it that way.
Thought so too
Don't even shit on my prick.
Tricked me also
That is Noctua’s face when they see this :))
Just wanted to let you know that I bought and installed one of these coolers because of your video. I was using the the stock AMD 5600X cooler and when I used handbrake to convert videos using my CPU the temps would go up to 98C, after installing this cooler the temps were steady at 58C and below. I almost spent the extra money on a Noctua and I am so glad I didn't, saved a lot of money and this one preforms well. Thanks again. Keep up the great work.
The exact same boat as you brother, handbrake put mi 5600x to cry, but instead of the stock cooler the wraith stealth i was using the wraith spire witch is a higher TPD. 90°C on full load even on spec is insane.
I just picked up the PA 120 SE for $35.90 in the states, same issue with the stock cooler on my 5600x being a hottie!
@@kravenfoxbodies2479 Yea, for the price and results I don't think I will consider Noctua and the expensive ones. This one keeps the temps under 55 degrees no matter what I'm doing, compared to over 90 with the stock cooler.
Well i do sure am glad im not the only one that had issues with 5600X insane temps even when undervolting it was 70 to 75 easy if not 80 peak only gaming. I ordered today a Peerless assasin 120 along with a new mobo as old died and the cpu so it was time to put normal cooler instead of the stock one which was driving me crazy. Btw its 5600X again so :D i hope for good results
Can confirm that this is a great cooler for the price. Got it for about 70 CAD from Amazon, and it keeps my 2700x pretty cool even with all power limits maxed out. (~165w heat load)
What temps do you see? Planning on getting this for my 5800X, also around a 150w CPU.
@@seanathan14 I've moved on to another build since my original post here so can't confirm exact figures but I recall it being around ~70c when gaming and able to keep it around ~90c when stress testing. Case didn't have the best air flow though as it was matx, would probably have been a bit better in an atx build.
@@seanathan14and finally you bought this cooler for your 5800x? And which temps do you have with this cooler?
ugh god that's a terrible price..old comment, I know..but the 120 Black right now costs 49.90 CAD on amazon Canada..much more stomachable price
I'm actually sad as everytime new air coolers come out from Thermalright no one pays attention to them. They have been a very solid choice for many many years.
Happy to have seen you guys reviewing this! Hope Thermalright stays around keeping offering great prices and performance.
I payed attention, got the assassin king 120 argb, currently recommending the peerless to a friend as his aio on a 5600x has gone bad.
I wish I was more keen inside the world of PC tech, like how I am with audio gear. I love the feeling of being aware of underrated gems that typically evades the public.
I cool a 5900x with a truespirit 140
I love Noctua but Thermalright is my close second. Price to performance their stuff is top notch.
I'm still rocking my over 13yo Thermalright SI-128 SE.
I only buy Noctua，when it's hard to find Thermalright. Thermalright is the king of cooler. You might need to change some fans after years.
noctua is overpriced mate
@@Jeffnvz noctua is overpriced mate, "I only buy noctua" is just idiotic, especially when their fans are uglier, stupid
@@roboticvenom1935 nope
Good to see competition at this price range, looks are cool too.
love love love your cpu cooler reviews. bought an se-224-xt on your advice, and not a single regret ever.
i would love to see an inexpensive case thermals roundup for 2 reasons:
1) cases costs a lot more than coolers. easily running over $100. with high oil prices, higher shipping costs, they are actually getting more expensive over time.
2) with all that high powered next gen components coming, getting good airflow is becoming more important. even a great cooler can get bad results in a stuffy case.
many thanks for your time. your hard work is much appreciated.
Yeah, I'll be updating the entire methodology when AM5 comes around.
I saw the small thermalright 120 (something like that) going for about $35 and thought it was pretty solid. Made me think this dual tower one would be a great buy as well but some user reviews people complain about fan noise. Im glad you did this test to because i imagined a custom fan profile would fix that and this video proves it. This is pretty bomb.
best way to deal with noise is to invest in some quality headphones
@@Charlie092 most high quality headphones are open back
hi, love the review! i think this is the first good review of the PA120 i've seen from any western media, it really is an underrated cooler.
just wanted to let you know there's a minor mistake at 7:45, where the cooler pictured is an NH-D14, not NH-D15
Oops! Good catch!
Here are my before and after temp results: (My old heatsink was the AMD Wraith Prisim).
Before / After
Idle 52 / 36
CPU-Z Stress test: 80 / 64
Prime95: 90 / 78
3DMark Time Spy: 87 / 72
Pretty easy to install without removing the motherboard. (I have a pretty large case.) A helpful heads up to those who want to install this without removing the mobo from the case - ONLY remove 1 of the old AM4 brackets at a time, and then install the new bracket. Then repeat with the other old AM4 bracket. Why? If you remove both of the AM4 brackets then the backplate probably will fall out.
The only thing that worried me was the orientation of the new brackets and what direction the curve went, but the pictures on the installation manual cleared that up pretty fast. Finally, the spring clips that hold the fans scared me to death since I had never used that style before and so I was worried that I would damage the fins on the heatsink tower. I watched Thermaltake's TH-cam video and saw how they are installed and then I did it pretty easily. I think I could now do it blindfolded since I now know it wont damage the cooler fins to pull the spring back that far and use that much force.
What CPU were you cooling?
I have a smaller case so for me it was really damn hard to connect the wires, but eventually I did it xD
@@flipdryI'm not OP but I am using Ryzen 5600, the cooler works like a charm, when I played last of us on the stock cooler, the cpu turned up to 95 degrees celcius, but now it only gets up to 60 degrees. Amazing cooler
@@LeumazDnazor That's awesome to hear it works so well for you 😁. I also have the same cooler with a Ryzen 7 5800x3d and it only ever gets to 70C while gaming with the fans at 50%. Max temp is 74C under cinebench/prime95 loads. This cooler is the new standard imo kinda like the how the Cooler Master Hyper 212 was for 10 years.
@@flipdry damn that's great, I heard the ryzen 7 runs pretty hot
Thermalright's big boy dual-tower air cooler is the Frost Commander 140, which is also the brand's proper competitive product up against the likes of NH-D15 and Dark Rock Pro4, while still undercutting them in price of course, might want to check it out!
i can't find Frost Commander anywhere here in North America, is it only available in the Asian market??
@@fdjw88 Unfortunately, the availability seems to be restricted to the asia-pacific region. Let's hope Thermalright improves the availability of their products in the future.
@@fdjw88 it was available on Amazon for a few months.
Thermalright used to have one of the best socket 2011 tower coolers. I think it was the SilverArrow. Crazy amount of heatpipes and huge performance, it was a Noctua fighter from the start.
bought mine few months ago for 40euro, now it cools my 5800x3d cinebech max 76* games 56* what a monster
Ditto, I have a 5800X3D in an NR200p ITX build with a 3080, I've never seen it go over 78c
another great video Mike, I love your presentation style!
And this cooler is absolutely gorgeously looking! Though I would prefer the black one - and it's not even to be found at where I live. Not a single shop sells them. Wow.
But still, I for myself simply cannot understand why people would choose an AiO over a cooler like this. It's just awesome.
Finally thermalright got riview by big tech youtuber, i've ben using this air cooler long time, the price to performance are amazing
INTEL 17XX was included with mine! It looks like a recent addition, with a new sticker slapped on the box. Thanks for this review, nobody talks about my favorite air cooler. My PA120 still only costs 42 us on amazon. It's gray/aluminum, includes the top caps and gray fans that match Noctua Redux. A few details: - I can see solder at the joint of the cold plate and heat pipes, many cheap coolers don't use solder. - The stacks are offset further from your graphics card (like Noctua's), allowing my hot gpu back plate better ventilation. - People avoid this because a limited number had slightly short mounting screws for AMD, negative reviews complain about needing to apply dangerous pressure to start the screws. Those are older reviews and mine installed perfectly on AMD, like most reviews. - Absolutely the best value in my pc, and one the best coolers I've owned. I returned a Scythe Fuma 2 when I found the Thermalright simply looked and felt better built. Also, I can't confirm, but it's been said that Thermalright will also offer updated mounting hardware years later, perhaps for a small price.
Great video. I currently have the Scythe Fuma 2 on my 3900x. I bought it a few years ago for around $60. It's been great. I may have to think about this cooler when it is time to update my system. It really looks like an impressive cooler.
Just picked one of these up in anticipation of a new build 👍. A lot of TRs coolers are discounted right now on Amazon! Still using my old lapped TRUE I bought back in 2010 with my current 4790k rig, working great.
Been using the PA120 in my builds for a while now. Usually with a single fan to allow access to the memory slots. Works really well
The only reason I tried other coolers was because there waa a period of a few years where you could only get Thermalright from a couple of vendors.
Good to see the availability improve and a new generation of builders seeing the performance and value.
If you get a chance to test their Macho lineup or their older HR-02 Plus, I suspect you'll be surprised at how well those work without being loud.
I can't believe I paid $120 for the U12A last year when this thing was around as an option. 😭
Oh well, it was for my SO's build and she thinks it looks cool, so I'll say it's still worth.
Currently rebuilding my own rig's aesthetics and just got this Peerless Assassin SE in white for only $35, so at least I saved money *this* time. 😅
Thanks for the review, 'Nucks!
Excellent video Mike. Great review and covered all the key stuff so well in less than 10 min.
Was building a new rig after Microscenter forced me to buy a 12700k + Mobo for a great price. Def needed a new CPU cooler as my noctua is 10 years older and Id rather not deal with whatever is waiting for me in my current PC case that I haven't opened in years lol.
Ran into this one and it was an instant buy seeing it compete at that price. $49 after tax for the all black version
how does it perform?
@@russellhyatt5852 really well! Playing spiderman the other night my highest core was 52.
@@Luger718A1 I just got the white version for 35 usd, not the se version .It was a sale. I’m excited!
@@hman6159 nice! Great deal. This thing is kicking butt! And my case only has 2 fans currently.
Huh
I don't get it
I have a 13700k and this thing is idling at 50°, getting up to 80° in gaming and in cinebench is thermal throttling way earlier than my U12S I bought this to replace.
I love Noctua but I'm definitely keeping an eye on these guys from now on.
Deepcool ak620 is one that needs to be tested. I'm sure it will be great competition wrt price/performance
Yes, and the AS500 please. Believe these 2 are the real Noctua killers.
Yeah and the AK620's fans are quite a bit better
You should also check ak400 which is half the price
@@karthick6028 we are comparing dual tower coolers not single tower
@@karthick6028 the price of the PA120 seems to vary a lot. I was able to get one on prime day for less than the AK400. The AK400 is still one of the better single tower coolers for lower TDP heat loads.
Watched this AFTER I already bought the base model. I am so hyped and I also shared this video to my buddies on Discord that made fun of me for not buying a “known” brand. As far am I’m concerned, as long as it makes a solid connection with my CPU on the baseplate I’m already winning
That's nuts man... Thermalright has been around longer than Noctua
Just got this for $48 after tax on Amazon Canada! Really excited to see how this does with my 5600x as it seems incredibly impressive in the tests I've seen.
I'm shocked that this brand was forgoten by many of the main reviewers out there. I was in the hunt for a cooler for my 5600x because for me 90°C on full load even on spec is too much. A there he is the peerless assasin, where in my country a top brand is like 150 to 200 Usd this was only 60. I was looking al over youtube for a review and the only reviews are for Noctua, Thermaltake or Scythe. Maybe they show some love now that you have reviewed this model.
I picked up a PA120SE White ARGB to handle the extra heat on the 5800x3d I picked up.
It cools well, it's white, it has ARGB, it's way less expensive than my U12S that it is replacing (way, way less than the Noctua D12L, D14, D15 dual tower equivalents)
The SE models are 2 mm shorter than the normal PA120. 155mm vs 157mm. This allows cases such as the Coolermaster NR200 to get the side panel closed.
I picked this same cooler up in black a while ago on Amazon. It was on sale for $37! Amazing performance for the price and it looks great too. Using it on a 9700K with a mild overclock. No complaints here.
I was going to initially go with the Noctua NH-D15 to replace an AIO that went bad, but looked at these reviewes on the Thermalright PA. Glad I did, saved $115 and it's working like a champ!
Is hard to say "NO" to that all white cooler 😍....sorry Noctua, but this cooler beat your aesthetics
top quality review, so valuable , been waiting for a good review of this cooler for a while
You're providing the best CPU cooler coverage on TH-cam, but I wish you'd speak more on after-sales care on these products. What continues to make Noctua a great brand for example is their generous warranty service and free mounting hardware upgrades so you can use the same cooler for multiple generations. It ends up being great value in the long run. I think this matters more than 1 or 2 degrees temperature difference.
A great suggestion. I'll make sure to mention it.
@@HardwareCanucks Noctua are not the only ones to provide free mounting hardware but I don't know if anybody else ships with DHL Express for 2,50€ extra. I got moutnting kits next day from another country twice now and I think that's amazing. Also I got the cooler second hand and all I had to provide is a photo of the cooler and respective motherboard for the needed kit with a time stamp.
This is extremally important, Scythe global policy is that it does to NOT provide mounting kits for existing customers, without charging additional cost. For example, a customer would have to pay extra for an LGA1700 kit and pay again for any future mounting hardware.
Irrespective of Scythe official global policy, in my experience Scythe’s customer service is poor. Scythe failed to help me even buy a kit, after a month of messing around I had to return the Fuma 2. Most of the major CPU cooler makers (like Arctic Cooling and Noctua) will support customers. I have now gone back to Noctua whose customer support is impeccable. Peace to everyone and stay safe.
Or, worst case scenario you buy 3 of these over time instead of 1 Noctua cooler.
@@nafdog127 You imply that Noctua is the only other option with warranty. It isn't.
just picked one up on amazon for $32. can't beat that.
Thanks for saying goodnight at the Start of the videos, I feel very welcome when I watch these at 2am
hell yeah, my first cpu cooler was a thermalright macho, still a beast!
Actually fun fact: one of the first CPU coolers sent to HWC about 15 years ago was the TRUE 120 eXtreme.
Accidentally stumbled on this review and I must say that am surprised its this good of a cooler, for a 65W Ryzen 3 and 5 this will be such a overkill, I probably can use it with just the middle fan, I will be trying that out. Thank you for all the awesome reviews to whole HC team!
I recently bought my PA 120 se rgb for $34 off of Amazon. I only have a i3-12100f, but $34 for such a good cooler was a steal and I couldn't turn it down.
Cheers Mike, Good video. Hope to see more of your presentation style. Rocking it !!!!! 🤠
The two bigger brothers to this cooler are the Frost Spirit 140 and the Frost Commander 140. They have 8mm heatpipes and they're essentially the successor to my OG Thermalright Silver Arrow. Great value.
The FS140 is a sidegrade at best. It's worse than the PA120 under ≈200W, and not better enough past that point to make much sense VS the PROPERLY SUPERIOR FC140.
I'm not sure where you get your prices from. 7:53 The price of the fuma 2 Rev. B is $66 and that's also its MSRP. Where does that $90 tag come from?
rev. b is different to the original fuma2, different fans are being used
@@aashusoni8210 As far as I've seen, the Rev B is better in every way, so idk why you would pay 50% extra for an older version..?
After upgrading to a Ryzen 7 5800X3D, my dual fan Noctua NH-U12S was not able to keep up. I upgraded to the Thermalright Frost Commander 140 BLACK and the difference was immediately noticeable. Temps dropped by 5 degrees on average, it is much quieter and the CPU can boost higher at 90 degrees.
Good to see TR is still kicking and putting out killer products. I always got Scythe stuff back in the day but I remember the TR Silver Arrow being one of the ones that everyone was always talking about, trading blows with the D14 for less money. Amazon has the PA120 for $38 right now and I'm tempted just to buy one even though I don't need it haha
I use their orange topped ARO M14 cooler for my 5800x. Zero issues with keeping that chip cool. Easy to install, looks great, quiet. They'll definitely be on my list if I need a new cooler.
My Peerless Assassin Inner Fan started squeaking after 6 months, had to replace it already.
Excelent video as always, I just ordered one for my 2700X since my AIO died after 2 years of use.
For someone looking for beefier cooler without breaking a bank, I would recommend checking it's bigger brother. I've been running Thermalright frostcommander 140 since December of last year. it is on par with Noctua best offering.
Thanks for using symbols together with colors, as a colorblind this really makes easier to see the graphs
That was the intent actually. ♥️
i wasn’t aware of this one, great review!
In what world is the fuma 2 $90?? The thing comes in around $65-$67, you even covered that in your rev B. review.
It's at $38 on Amazon US right now (with a $3 coupon). that's is just astonishing performance for the price.
Totally. It fluctuates by about $5 up and down but right now its really well priced!
It's 40 euros for me and another 30 euros for the shipping
Excellent review. I do know that the SE models for sure come with the 1700 bracket. Just installed one on a 12700 and its been running great.
I notice you're using the 10980XE for your reviews. Would a newer platform eg the 13900K make a difference? Apparently that thing is a real beast to cool down.
Ayy yo thanks mike! I've been wanting to upgrade from my Wraith Prism cooler but could not decide between an expensive AIO or a Noctua cooler! Seeing these results is making me pull the trigger for this product 50 $ for the ARGB white model :)))
I've been running a thermalright cooler on my 4790k and it never gets over like 65C at full load. Great coolers with nice simple aesthetics.
Gaming load or CPU intensive workload?
@@pocpc1788 running stress tests on occt
Thank you, you pretty much answered all of my questions thoughout the review, except maybe: how does it cool an AMD CPU and vs. AK620?
Would love to see Frost Commander 140 review under highest W CPU load!
How is this versus the Deepcool AK620? Currently deciding between the two for a Ryzen 5700X
I remember used this for my friends all white build. It's a solid cooler, can't believe I snag one for $45 CAD during the holidays, definitely will use it for my next customer, because it completely blew my expectations.
This review sold me on this cooler and you have gained a subscriber. I plan to use this in a 3900x system
Thanks!
I really needed this video, thank you! Will probably go for Dark Rock Pro 4 for my next build since this cooler is not available in my country.
Has me curious how well the DeepCool AK620 would stack up against it.
Great review! Thermalright is very underrated, it would be awesome to see a review of the TA120 EX MINI and the Silver Soul 135... They are very interesting because both use 120mm fans with a height of just 135mm, that could be the best possible cooling for a SFF, maybe better than the NH-U9S?
I am impressed by the quality of this video i didn't realize i was watching at 360p the video just made me feel it 720p amazing
11400 stock vs thermalright pearless assasin 123 se on a coolermaster nr200 itx
-stock
idle: 42 c
max load: 85 c
cinebench score 8180
-thermalright cooler
idle : 28 c
max load: 60 c
cinebench score 9958
Really nice video, Thermalright was a top brand for coolers back in the og days.
PS: mentioned the NH D15 but used a picture of the venerable NH D14 :-)
Great find, thanks for letting us know!
the "basic", non-SE PA120 is, today, at $39 in Amazon US. This is ridiculous. Loving to see Thermalright making a comeback.
In the newer review the peerless is neck and neck with the Noctua, but in this review it is behind by almost 10 degrees, why?
neck to neck at 120W @ 100% fan speed but get 5°C hotter on the 260W @ 38dB test. It all depend of the test, just like a Subaru Vivio can win a race against Formula 1 race car if you add snow to the mix.
With these dual fan towers, do you use the included fan cable splitter (joiner) and plug into a single MOBO CPU fan header? or, if you have a second cpu fan header on your mobo, do you use both headers?
If both fans have the same RPM rating then a splitter. If they are different like on the Dark Rock series then we use individual headers
Crazy that this just came out when I got my Fuma2, lmao. I love Scythe as far as I have tested it, but there's no reason to pay 20 bucks more for it if you get similar results with this one. Any new builders have it real easy with CPU coolers, I envy you.
i knew it they just selling a badge of their own product they put a high price tag cuz they got promoted by famous tech youtuber, i'm waiting for this moment finally, thanks for reviewing this
Thanks for the review!
I was using PA120 but now change into FUMA 2, since FUMA 2 wont have conflict issue with almost any kinds of ram under cooler high limited, I believe this is why FUMA 2 still worth buying.
The issue is that the fuma 2 does need to give up some cooling power due to the slim fans
Removing a second fan is 2-3c degrees at most.
Thermalright was well established for it's reputation in CPU cooling, along side Cooler Master, Thermal Take and Zalman during 2000s. I actually preferred this brand compared to Cooler Master that's usually overpriced with mediocre performance. Maybe it's always end up overlooked because of the cheapness but remembering that Thermalright produced high quality grade fans and carbon based thermal paste, I always trusted this brand for it's performance. They mostly included high tier TF7 paste with their products, so that's a huge plus!
i used the MACHO for 6 years with no problems good to see something new
I came across the U120EX recently but could not find any reliable reviews for it. It looks really nice and comes with the thermalright version of the nf-a20/gentle typhoon (TL-B12). It's currently at $69 and $79 for the white and black respectively. The fans alone are $23.
I always loved Thermalright products back in the day, glad to hear they're still around.
Just got the Silver-Grey capped model; outstanding value at the equivalent of $30 USD where I live. Rebuilt my 1150 Sabertooth Z87 with 4790K for a RTX2060 backup pc in a spare room.
I bought the PA120 SE White ARGB 1700-D2. Do I still need to get an lga1700 adaptor kit?
At 8:50 you say "never keep your fan profiles on your motherboards at Auto settings", and ""optimze for performance and noise levels". OK, how is that done? Are you suggesting setting a constant fan speed? Or ...?
Constant fan speed!
got the SE variant second hand for 25$ as a replacement for deepcool AG200 (it sucked so bad, but at least was cheap) and it's so great, 140W ryzen 5 no problem at all, installation was so easy. very quiet. i am very happy with it.
These been flying under the radar. Hope it was one of my comments you saw 😎
I see all comments. - Mike 😁
Can we see a deepcool ak620 review? It's ~£55, looks very clean and i heard it has noctua-like performance
Many thanks, GREAT comparisons!
I have this in amazon cart right now with hopes of it being good. Now that HC has reviewed it, i’m leaning towards getting it even more.
Do it! 😉
I am cooling my Threadripper 1950x with 33 bucks air cooler by Arctic Freezer 33 TR that I bought as a temporary solution while I decide what water cooler should I buy.
Three years later, it is still there, quiet (even on 100% render or code build) it only hums. I actually love the sound it makes.
Never needed water cooling that would probably be more noisy.
Great video, glad to see you putting more time in front of the camera.
Would love to see some more boutique SFF content.
Have you seen the Densium 4L case? People have been able to install 3060ti's and even nodded RTX A4000's into it!
Z39 low pro cooler?
Use this cooler exclusively now instead of the pricey air coolers. It is a fantastic air cooler. Initially I was using the Thermalright “Frost Spirit” but it seemed to have disappeared. I now use the Peerless assassin.
These are getting soo tempting to look at again. I love the look and ease of access I have with my simple cooling loop. But I am getting tired of monitoring the coolant in the thing.
WAIITT, do i have to buy the bracket kit seperately if i have an LGA 1700 socket???
No, the one I got on Amazon from Thermalright came with all the options.
As a former Tr True Spirit 140 and current Tr Macho x2 owner, I'm really glad to see Tr getting some attention. They make excellent coolers. I'd been hoping to see a review of this cooler from a trusted source, and you guys hooked me up. Thanks.
EDIT: What do you guys use to test full core load? Still AIDA64?
140 Power version? Is macho x2 better?
@@paulo9h Not sure. I went w the Macho w my next build, ended up selling the PC w the TS 140 in it. Been a long time since I looked at comparison tests.
This is damn impressive! I love my Dark Rock 4 Pro in my main system but i needed a good cooler for my work pc with 5950x, i was so close to buy the Shadow Rock 3 i ´m so glad i stumbled over your vid, this cooler is damn impressive and perfect with 5950x.
Wouldn't worry about the color offset, it happens in construction to when your trying to match metal colors with vinyl colors. This cooler might look better if the pipes and fins were a darker color.
I am really happy TR are finally releasing coolers. They went away from most markets in Europe in the past 6-7 years. Hopefully they'll sell more in EU. Saying it as an owner of the original IFX-14, a Venomous X and a TRUE Spirit 140. I've always had an amazing performance for the price I've paid with TR. Would love to see more 140mm towers though as they have better noise to performance ratio from 120mm fans.
They closed their distrubution network in Germany :( Noctua is still unbeatable in amount, quality of distribution networks and world coverage.
Isn’t the fuma 2 $65? Still a great deal with the peerless assassin but the fuma is not a $90 cooler.
Check out the price of the Rev.B
@@HardwareCanucks not sure why my comment disappeared, but it’s $65 on Amazon. Won’t post the link this time just in case that’s why. This cooler is still the better deal for sure. But the fuma 2 doesn’t compete in the same bracket as the D15s and dark rock pro 4. It competes in the mid-range bracket.
currently rocking the PA120 SE for my R7 3800X. I love it so much!