Thank you for the review!! Far too few (good) reviews out there on recent Thermalright stuff; you helped convince me to grab one on prime day ($38 for the RGB 120 SE). Total overkill for a 12400 but figure I'll try to keep it long-term for multiple CPUs. Also super thanks for including the RAM clearance height. Couldn't find solid info on that anywhere.
Gskill ripjaws and Trident fit without lifting the fan. The ONLY gripe I can say about these coolers is when swapping ram (testing) you have to remove the front fan clips. That's literally the ONLY gripe I can think of!
@@zq7246 5800x3d isn't overclockable. 105W specs isn't difficult to cool. Should be capable as it was cooling a 13700k for a couple weeks while waiting for the 280 aio to arrive. For a 13700 I'd recommend the 140mm bigger brother to this cooler (or an arctic 280 lol)
@bullyakker I think if I was going to go for a full system rebuild with a new motherboard I'd probably wait until February and get the 7800x3d. Its rated at 120w so you'd think you wouldn't need anything to crazy to keep it cool but we'll see once it launches. For the 5800x3d the Peerless Assassin should be good.
you've convinced me to pick this monster of a heatsink at 40 euros for my new 5600 to make it shut up and have some fun with it. I was having troubles finding reviews of this heatsink on bigger websites/channels, thanks a lot for your review. Godspeed to you man, I can see you getting bigger in the future keep it up. Cheers
@@uNNoia I have only ever used a 212 EVO and a Gammax 400 before in builds, so I'm comparison to stock heatsinks and those two It was pretty easy to mount, and definitely not finnicky unlike the 212 EVO or dealing with the plastics used in the Gammax 400 My CPU boosts to around 4300MHz all core and 4650 on atleast a single core with PBO and an admittedly rahter agressive fan curve, even then it's not nearly as uncomfortable as the stock heatsink and fan I could talk more about it, solid performance and lets my CPU PBO way more than I was getting from the stock heatsink, and it doesnt make me want to get away from the PC from all the noise I got used to Thanks to this video I didnt half-assed it by getting a 30 something heatsink
@@MadMilkPT Your 5600 should be able to boost higher than 4.3ghz with such a beefy cooler. For instance, my 5700x boost to 4.6ghz on all cores and 4.85ghz on a single core when running Cinebench R23. Have you tried curve optimizer yet?
@@dragonl4d216 Wrote that right after I got the heatsink, back then I had almost no experience with Zen at all. Running y-cruncher's BBP test makes my CPU run at 4.5GHz at 75C, altho HWiNFO reports the effective clock to be at 4.15GHz, both all-clock. CO of -5, boost offset of +200MHz, PPT of 120W Considering how heavy BBP is, it's a nice boost in performance and really quiet
Installed on 5600x stock settings. ASRock Thai chi 570. 4.5ghz zcpu bench all core. 63c 1400rpm like 80-90% full speed. I'm happy. I used their tf7 grease. I hope it's what everyone's else is getting. I hated putting the fans on with the clips. Bent some fins slightly. I never used them before so I was a bit sure how they go on exactly. Idk about that design but a lot use those metal clips. I didn't feel great putting them on.
TR produce some really nice quality tower coolers for low price. The Peerless Assassin is no exception.. TR's mounting system looks top notch too. The only Con I can see is that low height RAM must be used, which is the case with most dual tower coolers, except for the Scythe Fuma 2 and Fuma 2 Rev.B coolers.
Agreed, but like I said in the video the AK 120 is nearly the same performance and you wouldn't need to worry about RAM clearance. Regarding the Fuma 2 I would like to test it but Scythe it's replying to my emails, and the price of them in my area right now it crazy, so...yeah not sure when that will happen.
Yeah I agree the AK 120 makes better sense and would have more clearance all round too. I see TR also have another single tower called the Burst Assassin. The fin stack on this cooler is 6mm thicker and it has 6 heat pipes.. all other dimensions are same as the AK 120 White & Black ARGB variants. That's too bad about Scythe not responding.
@@HardwareForGamers hi, glad you have made this video thank you. I was planning on making a build with this cpu cooler but I’m wondering if it was compatible with RAM sticks which are around 45.5mm high like the PNY XLR8. What would you assess to be the highest RAM sticks suitable for the pearless assassin ? Thanks
@@ayaa8039it really comes down to the case, to have the fans at the 155mm height the RAM heat spreader needs to be 42mm or lower. But you can raise the fan up higher (increasing the overall CPU cooler height) if the case can support it.
@@HardwareForGamers kinda late to the party. im thinking about buying this cooler for an sff build you think it can be mounted on b660i asus mobo with 2 corsair vergance ram modules of 35mm height with a fun above them without ussues? thanks
Would be awesome if reviewers would mention the airflow direction of included fans also.(or even better if the direction would be noted down by arrow sign as all my case fans have). Thanks for the review.
Irrelevant question. In general the nice side (face side) is sucking. So to memorize this think about: faces suck. But you can detach the fan and turn it around. Up to you
I bought the Assassine 120 SE mainly for a future upgrade to a 5800x3D. Currently I use it on my 60W R5 5600G. Its fairly warm in my room, summer time, window open, played Cyberpunk 2077 for an hour and the CPU temp just couldnt get past 60°C. I expect similar results with the 5800x3D in the future. Great cooler imo. It can be really tight with the RAMs, but u can still adjust the cooler fan however u want, so if ur case is spacy enough there will never be space issues with the RAm sticks.
@@Texasman1992 Got it on my 5800x3D..I thiiiiink it spiked up to like 70+ degrees at some point for half a second, but its usually at around 65+-ish degrees playing Star citizen ( an unoptimized CPU+GPU heavy alpha state game) on a hot summer day, window open (CPU not undervolted!). Sooo its safe to say this cooler is a fkn solid safe bet for about 40-45 bucks..Installations was pretty easy too, just screw it in alternating slowly from side to side and keep pressure on the other side while screwing the other side, so its not screwed in super one sided-ly :) Gotta add, that I think I have a fairly well optimized air flow in my old PC case, with 2 strong fans at the front, one at the back and one 170mm slow rotating (600rpm) Noctua above the board basically, inside the case door. But nontheless this cooler can easily handle the 5800x3D.
Got the peerless assassian 120 se black for $35 on amazon and it keeps the very hot 5800x3d while gaming from 60-75c lot of people complain about their 5800x3d reaching 80-90c with AIOs. The only issue is the fan does hit the ram causing me to mount the fan like 1/2 a cm higher than the heatsink in order for it to fit properly.. and I only have gskill non rgb ram with small a small black heatsink.. so just keep in mind for those with larger heatsinks that are all tall.. this is a HUGE cooler.
Surprisingly little difference between the TRs. Doesn't seem worth the extra price and size over the other 2 single fan ones. Thanks for the comparison
7:00 what may be happening is that they're churning out different models and then are possibly going to discontinue the models that don't do well while (hopefully) improving and jacking up the prices of those that get more popular.
Nice review Will you review the Thermalright FC140 CPU cooler in the future? Im planning to build my first PC and Im between the Thermalright PA 120SE and FC140 for my 12700k.
10/12/2022 Amazon USA Peerless Assassin 120 SE is $35.90!! Talk about a killer deal! I would easily pay $65 for these like I did some time back with the Scythe Fuma 2 before rev 2 and their new $90 price tag. With the 12900k and equal noise (35db and 40db) This beats it hands down. Don't care about noise? CRANK up the fans even further and the temps go even lower. I have seen videos where the Noctua D15 and Dark Rock Pro 4 beat it by 5-7* running benchmarks and 260+ Watts but in gaming? it's a tie with the ThermalRight taking a 1-2* lead in my rig anyways. (I had covid and a week to kill so yeah.... tweaked both pc's and delivered the 12400 to the gal-pal. All 3 have this cooler and in 1, I replaced an AIO 240 and this has far better temps and less noise.
omg thanks for this man i ordered this like an hour ago and then watched this and checked my motherboard to see and it turned out to be a 1700, this was great man you saved me some stress
I picked up the base color (Grey) PA120 for $33 on Amazon prime day. I literally canceled my white version I ordered couple days to get the $30 discount which is great.
I just bought this cooler and I didn't know it would cover up my ram. Do you think it's okay to move the fan to the back part of the heatsink? I want my ram to show up because I have white ARGB ram for aesthetics
Love the video, thanks for the installation guide, though you did skimmed out on how to put the fans but I’m pretty sure a little reading would figure that out
@@HardwareForGamers I liked it so much i purchased 2 more for my other pc and for the gal-pal's ancient 4690k (she's getting a 12400 soon but doesn't know it! =) )
i7-12900k benchmarks run toasty right about 90*C. Gaming? No worries at all! Lian Li 011 air mini (Thing is NOT a mini! lol) , 2x140mm fans intake (stock), 1 rear (stock) and 1 top rear (Arctic P12) exhaust fans. I can see where a larger Noctua D15 would be better if I ran benchmarks all day pulling 240++ watts (Ahem...260)
Excellent content! Friend which air cooler would you recommend for R75800x3D ( 160 mm) ... I didn't want a water cooler ... thank you very much! 👍(I thought about,AK 500 /AG 500).
I haven't tested the AK 500 yet, but I have heard good things. The AK 500 is more money than the peerless assassin. I do think the peerless assassin will perform better temperature wise, but will be louder...
@@HardwareForGamers OK . There are many models of this thermalright brand ... here in my country we have few tests. There is the PS 120 SE Fantasy that I was looking at ... on Aliexpress it is at a great price ... and the AK and AG too ... I will research more and more to make a reasonable purchase for the R7 5800X3d...and follow your videos...thank you very much for your attention and response...sorry for my bad english... 👍
@@alexrezende1307 PS 120 SE is the newest version with one extra heatpipe. If you can get it at a good price or the same price you should get as it's 7 heatpipes vs 6.
Just ordered the white rgb one for 50$ cad shipping and taxes in. That's like 35$ and its just going on a 4th generation i5. I am betting super good Temps
Great review! In case you still have the cooler, could you please confirm by measuring the height yourself? I Know it says 155mm, but I see the heatpipes are taller than the fans in the top. I want to buy this cooler for CM NR200 and 155 is really marginally fitting. Thank you!
It fits with the tempered glass panel. If it doesn’t clear, you can put the second fan over the IO panel. I removed the shroud. As it will be covered anyways
Just bought it for 32 USD... decided to get another one. Noctua D15 is great in my other PC but price-to-performance just isn't there. I can get two ThermalRight for 65 USD or I can get two Noctua D15 for 300 USD :-/
Thank you for review. I ordered MSI B500M Mortar +5600X. I want to order 120 SE. But i afraid of installing on this motherboard. Is there any issues with VRM radiator on Mortar and 120 SE?
im getting the PA120 SE ARGB White for a Ryzen 7 5800x, will it keep it cool? Edit: I have done my set up and all, and this cooler is awesome, with the 5800x limited to 4,2ghz it runs at 50°C and the max I've seen in CPU intensive games (Cyberpunk, GOW, etc..) 60°C. ASUS optimized mode from an asus TUF/ROG mobo makes this cpu have really good performance. Before asus optimized mode CPU would go up to 73°C at 4,8Ghz, and with asus optimized mode CPU would go up to 60°C at 4,2Ghz
Why did you omit the Frost Commander from the test? Just a reminder you had said you would test them against each other lol. I apologise if you had and I missed it. Thanks
Thank you for this video, I am very interested in this CPU cooler. 😊 But unfortunately only a cooler with 157mm fits in my case. And in every video I see that you have to position the fan further up because of the RAM and then it's significantly more than 157mm or. 🤔 3:12 They are the only one with the fan flush at the top how did they do that. 😊😁
@@HardwareForGamers Many thanks for your quick reply, that's really great. Ah ok so it must not be higher than 42mm. Did you measure from the mainboard to the upper edge of the ram. Or how exactly should I measure it. ? 😊 I have an Asus TUF B450M Pro Gaming motherboard, and 2x 8GB Crucial Ballistix DDR4 3200MHz Ram.
@@HardwareForGamers ok then i will do it like this. 😊 I measured roughly and I measure from the mainboard to the ram 41.5 mm so that should fit. So that should work, I hope. 😊 Thank you for your help. 👍😊
I find it hard to believe RAM clearance is 42mm, my RAM is 44mm and i had to install front fan about 1cm higher up on the tower than what is meant to. I believe my temps is bad bc of this sadly.
Surely its better to mount the fans where they were designed to be mounted and not the opposite side covering your ram? Pretty sure the outside fan is supposed to be a pull, not push. Not sure if it affects performance but it would definitely affect my beautiful RGB ram ;)
@@HardwareForGamers Awesome video thanks. I think your video claims that push/pull is better performance so I will be able to see my ram and get the better performance too! Unless I misunderstood :S
@@Veganarchy-Zetetic better performance at the cost of more noise yes. The PA is a twin tower cooler, so there should be an even larger performance difference between push/pull and just push.
@@HardwareForGamers All this performance reduction to make the fans quieter is ridiculous imo. Put the loudest jet engine fans on my cooler and if people don't like the noise they can just turn them down and have hotter CPU's. So sick of buying underperforming CPU coolers for over £100 just because they are quieter...
Yes you can adjust the front fan. The performance impact would be minimal. Just make sure the case has sufficient CPU cooler clearance for the total adjusted height.
Was this updated since the video? Just ordered this because says LGA1700, but video says to buy separately. Hoping it arrives with the appropriate hardware.
Will you be just gaming? Planning on undercoating or overclocking? The esports duo is a pretty okay cooler have you run any tests with it to see if you even need to upgrade?
those are 42 mm exactly? or they're 42.2, or 42.6... ? mine are 42.2 mm so im doubting about it XD i know i can pull up a little bit one of its fans but still want to know to be prepared to it, thank you
I have Peerless Assassin too, just recently bought. But why the led blink at random? Is it faulty product or could you tune with software. Also, my Asrock Polychrome couldnt control the Led, any help?
@@HardwareForGamers I have asrock B660m steel legend. The software to control RGB is Asrock Polychrome. My RGB components are Thermalright Peerless Assassin, Corsair Vengeance RGB RS, and the motherboard itself. Sadly, Asrock Polychrome only detect and control light on the motherboard loll
Is the system for gaming or will you be rendering? If you're gaming there will be a 1-2 C difference, if you're rendering there might be a 3-4 C difference.
Months later... Overkill for 12400.. very nice! Pisser is, Cant use cpu tempt to adjust fan curves in bios because it too friggin cool... 12700k cranked to it's arses and... i had some bad temps the first day with benchmarks then? it just dropped like..what the hell! So we did an arctic aio280(fatboy) with a 13700k vs this.. okay the arctic blew its arse off YET... Want to game and not spend $120? THIS is your baby! (or the newer model which has one more heat pipe) this will chill a 13700k at 5.7 all core or 5.8, 2 core, 5.7 4 core...you get the drift. she bangs within 3*c of a Noctua d15 with dual fans and so much smaller size! wslightly louder? Yep! smaller fans.. less than half the cost.. i swear, I sound like an arctic shilling but i'm not! This is the most HOLY HecK bangs for the buck coolers ever made! ( i've been drinking, pardon my typo's) So we tried to kill it.. 13900k... uh, don't run prime 95 kids.. just, no.. gaming however? Not a friggin issue! Cyberpunk 2077 1080p, 360fps, 4090.. 13900k oc'd to 5.9 all core???.... gaming? No problem at all. It hit 85c a few times then dropped to high 60's low 70's and we pushed this beotch!! Benchmarking? Yeah., 100c/ did that on purpose asap knowing it would. OC'd and gaming however with a 4090? in a few benchmarks this came out better (3x out of 10) better than the D15. half the cost? much less weight? This thing is a beast! i have the newer version arriving this week to see how much better it is! i suspect it;'s about thew same but may be even better with benchmarking as that runs a cpu into hell! or at least i do =X.
Have this cooler and the issue I have is that the fan covers one of the ram sticks preventing air flow to it. This causes it to be about 10c hotter than the other stick. If you OC your ram, this could be an issue.
@@HardwareForGamers I have an R5 5600X, just gaming and some 3D modeling, no OC. I know it's a bit overkill but I'm thinking long term and future upgrades I can do.
@@mozydiaz8296 if that's the case I would recommend going with an assassin king 120 (so you won't have RAM clearance issues) or the peerless assassin 120 if you want a bit more cooling.
To simple answer your question, yes this cooler will likely let a 7600x "stay" at max boost but no it will not keep it "cool". Because it all depends on the motherboard and what settings are being used. I'll try and keep this as simple as I can, If the motherboard is set for max performance it will boost the CPU until the CPU or VRM reach max temperature then it will lower the boost slowly to keep temperatures below or at max limits. Meaning it doesn't matter what cooler you have it will always be at or near 95c. If the motherboard has an eco mode or if you manual under volt to use less power and voltage the CPU will reach max boost with less heat. Silicon lottery will play a big part of how well the CPU does with this.
@@HardwareForGamers I was so impressed with the first I decided to spiffy up some other pc's and see if it would do better. The 240aio literally lost by 2-3*C and I thought.... "Well hell! let me try this on everything!!!" as $41 USD for a cooler is even cheaper (current USD prices) than a 212evo which was our "go to" for over 10 years.
@@HardwareForGamers actually in my area the Burst assasin and this dual tower one are exactly same to same price. So which one i should take? BA or this dual tower with adjusted front fan? Even if it takes performance hit i think it wld still be better and future proof to have a dual tower cooler. Having the same price what u suggest?
@@bhavyamalik3239 if you're planning on only gaming and it does depend on which CPU you are using, you'd likely be able to use only the center fan on the peerless assassin.
Cry me a river all cpu coolers in sweden are expensive almost 1/3 of the price of the cpu like 5600 it´s just a joke now when every thing starts to get so expensive from food to electiric
Only Asian countries get the cheapest fans, after them comes USA So yeah, expensive fans (especially good ones) are a thing since last 20 years Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 around $60 here in Middle East (include TAX), still, cheaper than Be Quite ($110)
For the love of FUCKING GOD, please, PLEEEEEEASE DON'T BUY buy inferior "SE" model!!!! It's NOTABLY worse than the non-SE/vanilla version despite not costing any less at online PC DIY part retailers! Not only is it SIGNIFICANTLY uglier & cheaper looking, BUT it ALSO totally lacks the rubber vibration dampeners found on the normal model's nicer fans making it run louder! In addition, it has -3x less heatsink fins (50x vs the non-SE's 53x, aka ≈6% less)!!! Not to mention the blatantly obvious aesthetic/appearance downgrades like the total lack of any heatsink stack cover plates or the MASSIVELY cheaper looking fans (even ignoring their total lack of vibration dampeners!). 🤷 And when you consider they are basically ALWAYS either the exact same price, or as of right now on Amazon the superior non-SE model is actually $7 CHEAPER ($33 vs SE's $40) basically NO ONE but OEM's/system integrators should EVER be buying the cheapo SE model!!! In fact, the latter bulk order customers are the only reason that the cost-reduced PA120-SE model EVEN EXISTS AT ALL! It provides basically the same level of raw cooling performance in a cheaper to make and thus sell in bulk package, even if it's louder & uglier while actually doing so.
Subscribed! First 10 seconds because you look, and smell like a real gamer. You have not slept for at least 3 days
Thanks I guess???
💀
🤯
Lmfao wtf
Not the response you're hoping to get 😆
Crazy that this dropped to 35 dollars for awhile. Amazing value when i picked it up.
Thank you for the review!! Far too few (good) reviews out there on recent Thermalright stuff; you helped convince me to grab one on prime day ($38 for the RGB 120 SE). Total overkill for a 12400 but figure I'll try to keep it long-term for multiple CPUs.
Also super thanks for including the RAM clearance height. Couldn't find solid info on that anywhere.
Glad I could help
Gskill ripjaws and Trident fit without lifting the fan. The ONLY gripe I can say about these coolers is when swapping ram (testing) you have to remove the front fan clips. That's literally the ONLY gripe I can think of!
How's it working for you? I just got one myself. I'm about to upgrade my CPU to a 5800x3d and need a better cooler.
@@zq7246 5800x3d isn't overclockable. 105W specs isn't difficult to cool. Should be capable as it was cooling a 13700k for a couple weeks while waiting for the 280 aio to arrive. For a 13700 I'd recommend the 140mm bigger brother to this cooler (or an arctic 280 lol)
@bullyakker I think if I was going to go for a full system rebuild with a new motherboard I'd probably wait until February and get the 7800x3d. Its rated at 120w so you'd think you wouldn't need anything to crazy to keep it cool but we'll see once it launches. For the 5800x3d the Peerless Assassin should be good.
you've convinced me to pick this monster of a heatsink at 40 euros for my new 5600 to make it shut up and have some fun with it. I was having troubles finding reviews of this heatsink on bigger websites/channels, thanks a lot for your review.
Godspeed to you man, I can see you getting bigger in the future keep it up.
Cheers
Thanks, glad you liked the video.
How is your experience with this cooler?
@@uNNoia I have only ever used a 212 EVO and a Gammax 400 before in builds, so I'm comparison to stock heatsinks and those two
It was pretty easy to mount, and definitely not finnicky unlike the 212 EVO or dealing with the plastics used in the Gammax 400
My CPU boosts to around 4300MHz all core and 4650 on atleast a single core with PBO and an admittedly rahter agressive fan curve, even then it's not nearly as uncomfortable as the stock heatsink and fan
I could talk more about it, solid performance and lets my CPU PBO way more than I was getting from the stock heatsink, and it doesnt make me want to get away from the PC from all the noise I got used to
Thanks to this video I didnt half-assed it by getting a 30 something heatsink
@@MadMilkPT Your 5600 should be able to boost higher than 4.3ghz with such a beefy cooler. For instance, my 5700x boost to 4.6ghz on all cores and 4.85ghz on a single core when running Cinebench R23. Have you tried curve optimizer yet?
@@dragonl4d216 Wrote that right after I got the heatsink, back then I had almost no experience with Zen at all. Running y-cruncher's BBP test makes my CPU run at 4.5GHz at 75C, altho HWiNFO reports the effective clock to be at 4.15GHz, both all-clock. CO of -5, boost offset of +200MHz, PPT of 120W
Considering how heavy BBP is, it's a nice boost in performance and really quiet
Installed on 5600x stock settings. ASRock Thai chi 570. 4.5ghz zcpu bench all core. 63c 1400rpm like 80-90% full speed. I'm happy. I used their tf7 grease. I hope it's what everyone's else is getting.
I hated putting the fans on with the clips. Bent some fins slightly. I never used them before so I was a bit sure how they go on exactly. Idk about that design but a lot use those metal clips. I didn't feel great putting them on.
I install this one last week from a Hyper 212. I love it, temp wise it's a beast, but god damn it's loud at after 75% fan power.
Just switched from the same cooler on my 5800x and the temps are 10c cooler. The hyper 212 is good but the peerless assassin is great.
TR produce some really nice quality tower coolers for low price. The Peerless Assassin is no exception.. TR's mounting system looks top notch too. The only Con I can see is that low height RAM must be used, which is the case with most dual tower coolers, except for the Scythe Fuma 2 and Fuma 2 Rev.B coolers.
Agreed, but like I said in the video the AK 120 is nearly the same performance and you wouldn't need to worry about RAM clearance. Regarding the Fuma 2 I would like to test it but Scythe it's replying to my emails, and the price of them in my area right now it crazy, so...yeah not sure when that will happen.
Yeah I agree the AK 120 makes better sense and would have more clearance all round too. I see TR also have another single tower called the Burst Assassin. The fin stack on this cooler is 6mm thicker and it has 6 heat pipes.. all other dimensions are same as the AK 120 White & Black ARGB variants. That's too bad about Scythe not responding.
@@HardwareForGamers hi, glad you have made this video thank you. I was planning on making a build with this cpu cooler but I’m wondering if it was compatible with RAM sticks which are around 45.5mm high like the PNY XLR8. What would you assess to be the highest RAM sticks suitable for the pearless assassin ? Thanks
@@ayaa8039it really comes down to the case, to have the fans at the 155mm height the RAM heat spreader needs to be 42mm or lower. But you can raise the fan up higher (increasing the overall CPU cooler height) if the case can support it.
@@HardwareForGamers kinda late to the party. im thinking about buying this cooler for an sff build you think it can be mounted on b660i asus mobo with 2 corsair vergance ram modules of 35mm height with a fun above them without ussues? thanks
Would be awesome if reviewers would mention the airflow direction of included fans also.(or even better if the direction would be noted down by arrow sign as all my case fans have).
Thanks for the review.
Irrelevant question. In general the nice side (face side) is sucking. So to memorize this think about: faces suck. But you can detach the fan and turn it around. Up to you
I just snagged the white argb for 40usd. Props to thermalright for keeping the price low while having exceptional performance and aesthetics
Nice
5 months later it's even cheaper - Just got it for $32!
I bought the Assassine 120 SE mainly for a future upgrade to a 5800x3D. Currently I use it on my 60W R5 5600G. Its fairly warm in my room, summer time, window open, played Cyberpunk 2077 for an hour and the CPU temp just couldnt get past 60°C. I expect similar results with the 5800x3D in the future. Great cooler imo. It can be really tight with the RAMs, but u can still adjust the cooler fan however u want, so if ur case is spacy enough there will never be space issues with the RAm sticks.
Let me know, I'm debating on getting one for my 5800X3d
@@Texasman1992 Got it on my 5800x3D..I thiiiiink it spiked up to like 70+ degrees at some point for half a second, but its usually at around 65+-ish degrees playing Star citizen ( an unoptimized CPU+GPU heavy alpha state game) on a hot summer day, window open (CPU not undervolted!). Sooo its safe to say this cooler is a fkn solid safe bet for about 40-45 bucks..Installations was pretty easy too, just screw it in alternating slowly from side to side and keep pressure on the other side while screwing the other side, so its not screwed in super one sided-ly :)
Gotta add, that I think I have a fairly well optimized air flow in my old PC case, with 2 strong fans at the front, one at the back and one 170mm slow rotating (600rpm) Noctua above the board basically, inside the case door. But nontheless this cooler can easily handle the 5800x3D.
Awesome!!! Thanks for letting me know. I guess I'll have to try this out!!
@@Texasman1992 No worries bro
Got the peerless assassian 120 se black for $35 on amazon and it keeps the very hot 5800x3d while gaming from 60-75c lot of people complain about their 5800x3d reaching 80-90c with AIOs. The only issue is the fan does hit the ram causing me to mount the fan like 1/2 a cm higher than the heatsink in order for it to fit properly.. and I only have gskill non rgb ram with small a small black heatsink.. so just keep in mind for those with larger heatsinks that are all tall.. this is a HUGE cooler.
It is a big boi, gl hf.
Yeah, i was super suprised how little room there was for RAM. Ruined my setup. I will probably have to buy AIO or maybe a single tower dual fan.
Surprisingly little difference between the TRs. Doesn't seem worth the extra price and size over the other 2 single fan ones. Thanks for the comparison
Surprisingly the AK120 is more expensive in my country so I guess I'll go with this one
Both are great CPU coolers. So yeah get whichever one is less money.
I just bought this cooler in white for $34. It is an insane value.
Nice review. I'm quite happy with my PA120-White.
Very nice!
Just got this cooler and it is really good for the price, and very quiet.
7:00 what may be happening is that they're churning out different models and then are possibly going to discontinue the models that don't do well while (hopefully) improving and jacking up the prices of those that get more popular.
Nice. Thank you.
Thanks 👍
Nice review
Will you review the Thermalright FC140 CPU cooler in the future? Im planning to build my first PC and Im between the Thermalright PA 120SE and FC140 for my 12700k.
It will be out tomorrow 5:00am est.
10/12/2022 Amazon USA Peerless Assassin 120 SE is $35.90!! Talk about a killer deal! I would easily pay $65 for these like I did some time back with the Scythe Fuma 2 before rev 2 and their new $90 price tag. With the 12900k and equal noise (35db and 40db) This beats it hands down. Don't care about noise? CRANK up the fans even further and the temps go even lower. I have seen videos where the Noctua D15 and Dark Rock Pro 4 beat it by 5-7* running benchmarks and 260+ Watts but in gaming? it's a tie with the ThermalRight taking a 1-2* lead in my rig anyways. (I had covid and a week to kill so yeah.... tweaked both pc's and delivered the 12400 to the gal-pal. All 3 have this cooler and in 1, I replaced an AIO 240 and this has far better temps and less noise.
if you buy one today it now includes the LGA1700 mounting kit
omg thanks for this man i ordered this like an hour ago and then watched this and checked my motherboard to see and it turned out to be a 1700, this was great man you saved me some stress
Thank you. Subscribed!
I appreciate it, thanks.
I picked up the base color (Grey) PA120 for $33 on Amazon prime day. I literally canceled my white version I ordered couple days to get the $30 discount which is great.
That's a good price
I just bought this cooler and I didn't know it would cover up my ram. Do you think it's okay to move the fan to the back part of the heatsink? I want my ram to show up because I have white ARGB ram for aesthetics
There shouldn't be really any difference in the temperature, but it will be a bit louder at max fan RPM.
Picked a white one up for 36usd shipped
As it uses existing backplate then it should work with AM5 then.
Yes it should.
thanks for the vids
Glad you like it.
Love the video, thanks for the installation guide, though you did skimmed out on how to put the fans but I’m pretty sure a little reading would figure that out
this one only cost 35$ in my country, along with the Burst Assassin 120 - 6 heatpipes - 1 tower around 30$
Them both are the best choice
Nice, thanks for sharing.
How tall can the ram be before it touches it?
late reply but apparently 42mm
41.50 usd. got 3 bucks off.. it's fantastic! within 2*c of a noctua D15 on a 12400
on 12700 (no limits) it's still within 2*c of the noctua d15
That's a pretty good price 👍
@@HardwareForGamers I liked it so much i purchased 2 more for my other pc and for the gal-pal's ancient 4690k (she's getting a 12400 soon but doesn't know it! =) )
i7-12900k benchmarks run toasty right about 90*C. Gaming? No worries at all! Lian Li 011 air mini (Thing is NOT a mini! lol) , 2x140mm fans intake (stock), 1 rear (stock) and 1 top rear (Arctic P12) exhaust fans. I can see where a larger Noctua D15 would be better if I ran benchmarks all day pulling 240++ watts (Ahem...260)
90c when gaming, damn! You must be overclocking that thing to the max.
What's the difference between the PA120SE and the PA120? Which one is better?
SE: 50 fins, 155mm height, heatpipes stick out on the top
normal: 53 fins, 157mm height, heatpipes have a cover on the top
Excellent content! Friend which air cooler would you recommend for R75800x3D ( 160 mm) ... I didn't want a water cooler ... thank you very much! 👍(I thought about,AK 500 /AG 500).
I haven't tested the AK 500 yet, but I have heard good things. The AK 500 is more money than the peerless assassin. I do think the peerless assassin will perform better temperature wise, but will be louder...
@@HardwareForGamers OK . There are many models of this thermalright brand ... here in my country we have few tests. There is the PS 120 SE Fantasy that I was looking at ... on Aliexpress it is at a great price ... and the AK and AG too ... I will research more and more to make a reasonable purchase for the R7 5800X3d...and follow your videos...thank you very much for your attention and response...sorry for my bad english... 👍
@@alexrezende1307 PS 120 SE is the newest version with one extra heatpipe. If you can get it at a good price or the same price you should get as it's 7 heatpipes vs 6.
Just ordered the white rgb one for 50$ cad shipping and taxes in. That's like 35$ and its just going on a 4th generation i5. I am betting super good Temps
hi , i use it in white color /rgb for an I9 13900K and really fine !!
Cool
Great review! In case you still have the cooler, could you please confirm by measuring the height yourself? I Know it says 155mm, but I see the heatpipes are taller than the fans in the top. I want to buy this cooler for CM NR200 and 155 is really marginally fitting. Thank you!
yeah that's pretty tight... you also need to think about RAM clearance. the 155 mm is to the top of the heat pipe/ fan.
It fits with the tempered glass panel. If it doesn’t clear, you can put the second fan over the IO panel. I removed the shroud. As it will be covered anyways
Just bought it for 32 USD... decided to get another one. Noctua D15 is great in my other PC but price-to-performance just isn't there.
I can get two ThermalRight for 65 USD or I can get two Noctua D15 for 300 USD :-/
I know you did a fc140 fan swap vid....could you do a similar video with this 120mm cooler?
I would if I could, but I can't. I don't have the cooler anymore.
Thank you for review. I ordered MSI B500M Mortar +5600X. I want to order 120 SE. But i afraid of installing on this motherboard. Is there any issues with VRM radiator on Mortar and 120 SE?
The MSI B550M mortar is a really good mobo with good VRMs there's no issues with using PA120 SE on it.
Duuuude! Test this again with a 13900k!!! Holy hell! same DB is nearly the same as a D15, turn up the fans and it beats it!!!
im getting the PA120 SE ARGB White for a Ryzen 7 5800x, will it keep it cool?
Edit: I have done my set up and all, and this cooler is awesome, with the 5800x limited to 4,2ghz it runs at 50°C and the max I've seen in CPU intensive games (Cyberpunk, GOW, etc..) 60°C. ASUS optimized mode from an asus TUF/ROG mobo makes this cpu have really good performance. Before asus optimized mode CPU would go up to 73°C at 4,8Ghz, and with asus optimized mode CPU would go up to 60°C at 4,2Ghz
for gaming? Yes, the 5800x putting out around 100-110 watts when gaming.
@@HardwareForGamers Yes, Im happy to hear that!
Why did you omit the Frost Commander from the test? Just a reminder you had said you would test them against each other lol. I apologise if you had and I missed it. Thanks
My frost Commander 140 review - czcams.com/video/zekdwziDE4w/video.html
Thank you for this video, I am very interested in this CPU cooler. 😊 But unfortunately only a cooler with 157mm fits in my case. And in every video I see that you have to position the fan further up because of the RAM and then it's significantly more than 157mm or. 🤔
3:12 They are the only one with the fan flush at the top how did they do that. 😊😁
If you're RAM is 42 mm or lower it can fit. But if your room is taller than 42 mm then it won't you'll have to lift the fan up.
@@HardwareForGamers Many thanks for your quick reply, that's really great. Ah ok so it must not be higher than 42mm. Did you measure from the mainboard to the upper edge of the ram. Or how exactly should I measure it. ? 😊
I have an Asus TUF B450M Pro Gaming motherboard, and 2x 8GB Crucial Ballistix DDR4 3200MHz Ram.
@@kingcoolengel yes pretty much, you should be able to just measure the RAM not in the motherboard and add 1-2 mm.
@@HardwareForGamers ok then i will do it like this. 😊
I measured roughly and I measure from the mainboard to the ram 41.5 mm so that should fit.
So that should work, I hope. 😊 Thank you for your help. 👍😊
I find it hard to believe RAM clearance is 42mm, my RAM is 44mm and i had to install front fan about 1cm higher up on the tower than what is meant to. I believe my temps is bad bc of this sadly.
i'm gonna use this instead of my intel cooler
That will be one hell of a step up, gl hf.
@@HardwareForGamers Thanks man!!
Surely its better to mount the fans where they were designed to be mounted and not the opposite side covering your ram? Pretty sure the outside fan is supposed to be a pull, not push. Not sure if it affects performance but it would definitely affect my beautiful RGB ram ;)
This was done on a different cool but should still be helpful czcams.com/video/ESx5xFRKUsY/video.html
@@HardwareForGamers Awesome video thanks. I think your video claims that push/pull is better performance so I will be able to see my ram and get the better performance too!
Unless I misunderstood :S
@@Veganarchy-Zetetic better performance at the cost of more noise yes. The PA is a twin tower cooler, so there should be an even larger performance difference between push/pull and just push.
@@HardwareForGamers All this performance reduction to make the fans quieter is ridiculous imo. Put the loudest jet engine fans on my cooler and if people don't like the noise they can just turn them down and have hotter CPU's. So sick of buying underperforming CPU coolers for over £100 just because they are quieter...
Is there a way to use this cooler if I have 44mm RAM sticks? Adjusting the fan? What would the impact on performance be?
Yes you can adjust the front fan. The performance impact would be minimal. Just make sure the case has sufficient CPU cooler clearance for the total adjusted height.
Was this updated since the video? Just ordered this because says LGA1700, but video says to buy separately. Hoping it arrives with the appropriate hardware.
did it?
Got the arctic 34 esports duo and just upgraded to 13600k , would this pa 120 cooler be a worthy upgrade or should I save some and get a 360 aio?
Will you be just gaming? Planning on undercoating or overclocking? The esports duo is a pretty okay cooler have you run any tests with it to see if you even need to upgrade?
those are 42 mm exactly? or they're 42.2, or 42.6... ?
mine are 42.2 mm so im doubting about it XD i know i can pull up a little bit one of its fans but still want to know to be prepared to it, thank you
🧐.... I'm going with 41.9
@@HardwareForGamers XD thank you, i will need to pull up a fan a little bit. thank you bro
I have Peerless Assassin too, just recently bought. But why the led blink at random? Is it faulty product or could you tune with software. Also, my Asrock Polychrome couldnt control the Led, any help?
Do you have the RGB connecter plugged directly into the motherboard or do you have a RGB hub?
@@HardwareForGamers yes, the ARGB connector from the fan plugged directly into ARGB slot on the motherboard.
@@achmadramdhan3629 do you have or does the motherboard have any other RGB or ARGB LEDs Polychrome can control?
@@HardwareForGamers I have asrock B660m steel legend. The software to control RGB is Asrock Polychrome. My RGB components are Thermalright Peerless Assassin, Corsair Vengeance RGB RS, and the motherboard itself. Sadly, Asrock Polychrome only detect and control light on the motherboard loll
hi please for the 5600X is better the pearless 120 SE or the ASSASSING KING 120 SE thank you
The 5600x would be pretty similar to the 87 watt testing, so both will work. I would get which ever is cheaper in your area.
@@HardwareForGamers the king 120 is 15 euro cheaper, so no point going for the pearless
Is the system for gaming or will you be rendering? If you're gaming there will be a 1-2 C difference, if you're rendering there might be a 3-4 C difference.
@@HardwareForGamers just normal usage with sometipmes games
"Temperature testing"
Shows noise...
wtf
so, my rams are 51MM tall, this cooler ain't gonna fit?
Just snagged one of these for $35
That's a good price
This is $38 CAD right now... That's around $28 USD.
Compatible with lga 1700 socket?
Yes
Months later... Overkill for 12400.. very nice! Pisser is, Cant use cpu tempt to adjust fan curves in bios because it too friggin cool... 12700k cranked to it's arses and... i had some bad temps the first day with benchmarks then? it just dropped like..what the hell! So we did an arctic aio280(fatboy) with a 13700k vs this.. okay the arctic blew its arse off YET... Want to game and not spend $120? THIS is your baby! (or the newer model which has one more heat pipe) this will chill a 13700k at 5.7 all core or 5.8, 2 core, 5.7 4 core...you get the drift. she bangs within 3*c of a Noctua d15 with dual fans and so much smaller size! wslightly louder? Yep! smaller fans.. less than half the cost.. i swear, I sound like an arctic shilling but i'm not! This is the most HOLY HecK bangs for the buck coolers ever made! ( i've been drinking, pardon my typo's) So we tried to kill it.. 13900k... uh, don't run prime 95 kids.. just, no.. gaming however? Not a friggin issue! Cyberpunk 2077 1080p, 360fps, 4090.. 13900k oc'd to 5.9 all core???.... gaming? No problem at all. It hit 85c a few times then dropped to high 60's low 70's and we pushed this beotch!! Benchmarking? Yeah., 100c/ did that on purpose asap knowing it would. OC'd and gaming however with a 4090? in a few benchmarks this came out better (3x out of 10) better than the D15. half the cost? much less weight? This thing is a beast! i have the newer version arriving this week to see how much better it is! i suspect it;'s about thew same but may be even better with benchmarking as that runs a cpu into hell! or at least i do =X.
13900K @ 5.9 all cores hole FUCK...
Have this cooler and the issue I have is that the fan covers one of the ram sticks preventing air flow to it. This causes it to be about 10c hotter than the other stick. If you OC your ram, this could be an issue.
Better then amd stock cooler for my 5600x (gpu) is nvidia 3060 12gb OC?
Yes...
Should I go with this one, the FC 140 or the DeepCool AK620 ?
What CPU do you have? What will you be doing?
@@HardwareForGamers I have an R5 5600X, just gaming and some 3D modeling, no OC. I know it's a bit overkill but I'm thinking long term and future upgrades I can do.
@@mozydiaz8296 if that's the case I would recommend going with an assassin king 120 (so you won't have RAM clearance issues) or the peerless assassin 120 if you want a bit more cooling.
Would this cooler let the 7600x stay at the max boost clock and keep it cool
To simple answer your question, yes this cooler will likely let a 7600x "stay" at max boost but no it will not keep it "cool". Because it all depends on the motherboard and what settings are being used. I'll try and keep this as simple as I can, If the motherboard is set for max performance it will boost the CPU until the CPU or VRM reach max temperature then it will lower the boost slowly to keep temperatures below or at max limits. Meaning it doesn't matter what cooler you have it will always be at or near 95c.
If the motherboard has an eco mode or if you manual under volt to use less power and voltage the CPU will reach max boost with less heat. Silicon lottery will play a big part of how well the CPU does with this.
what lga1700 mounting kit should i buy for this
this one amzn.to/3PP96NY
The 3 I have purchased came with LGA1700 brackets
Haha, the 3 I have purchased that's awesome.
@@HardwareForGamers I was so impressed with the first I decided to spiffy up some other pc's and see if it would do better. The 240aio literally lost by 2-3*C and I thought.... "Well hell! let me try this on everything!!!" as $41 USD for a cooler is even cheaper (current USD prices) than a 212evo which was our "go to" for over 10 years.
@@bullyakker The LGA1700 mounting hardware was included in the box? So who is right... or is it a gamble on amazon...
Cant its fan can be moved higher for RAM clearance pls let me know…i have team force xtreem argb rams with have 4.9 cm height😢
Yes the fans can be set higher, but the cooler will not be as efficient.
@@HardwareForGamers actually in my area the Burst assasin and this dual tower one are exactly same to same price. So which one i should take? BA or this dual tower with adjusted front fan? Even if it takes performance hit i think it wld still be better and future proof to have a dual tower cooler. Having the same price what u suggest?
@@bhavyamalik3239 if you're planning on only gaming and it does depend on which CPU you are using, you'd likely be able to use only the center fan on the peerless assassin.
Is kingston furry beast too tall for this
May i know if tforce delta R will bump on the fans?
how tall are the heat spreaders on the Delta R?
This guy reminds me of my friend Eqwanox from Boston lol
...🤷♂️
Cry me a river all cpu coolers in sweden are expensive almost 1/3 of the price of the cpu like 5600 it´s just a joke now when every thing starts to get so expensive from food to electiric
sorry to hear that... That's pretty 💩
Only Asian countries get the cheapest fans, after them comes USA
So yeah, expensive fans (especially good ones) are a thing since last 20 years
Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 around $60 here in Middle East (include TAX), still, cheaper than Be Quite ($110)
does it come with the
LGA1700 mounting kit?
2:53
@@HardwareForGamers woah thx
Is it compatible with
AM5 ???
Yes
Good for overclocking 12700k?
Yes, but it might get a bit on the hotter side if you're doing long renders.
@@HardwareForGamers
Frost commander 140 would be better?
@@jxsilicon9 if you're looking to do long renders, yes. If you're looking to play games then it won't matter.
will these work on am5?
Yes, am4 and am5 use the same mounting hardware.
with an i5 12400f is it good?
I would think so
bruh its so big i dont want it to cover my rgb ram
Then get the Assassin King 120
@@HardwareForGamers too late bro 😭
@@bruhlyssaa then use just the middle fan??
@@HardwareForGamers its possible?
@@bruhlyssaa Yes... The CPU temperature will go up a bit, how much does depend on the workload, but yeah.
For the love of FUCKING GOD, please, PLEEEEEEASE DON'T BUY buy inferior "SE" model!!!! It's NOTABLY worse than the non-SE/vanilla version despite not costing any less at online PC DIY part retailers!
Not only is it SIGNIFICANTLY uglier & cheaper looking, BUT it ALSO totally lacks the rubber vibration dampeners found on the normal model's nicer fans making it run louder! In addition, it has -3x less heatsink fins (50x vs the non-SE's 53x, aka ≈6% less)!!!
Not to mention the blatantly obvious aesthetic/appearance downgrades like the total lack of any heatsink stack cover plates or the MASSIVELY cheaper looking fans (even ignoring their total lack of vibration dampeners!). 🤷
And when you consider they are basically ALWAYS either the exact same price, or as of right now on Amazon the superior non-SE model is actually $7 CHEAPER ($33 vs SE's $40) basically NO ONE but OEM's/system integrators should EVER be buying the cheapo SE model!!!
In fact, the latter bulk order customers are the only reason that the cost-reduced PA120-SE model EVEN EXISTS AT ALL! It provides basically the same level of raw cooling performance in a cheaper to make and thus sell in bulk package, even if it's louder & uglier while actually doing so.