The Champ: 41 Thermalright Peerless Assassin CPU Cooler Review & Benchmarks
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Date: 2023-03-13
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Comments and reviews: 15
Hovengold
The key differences between the PA 120 and PA 120 SE are:
-The PA 120 SE is 2mm shorter (157mm vs 155mm) and 30g lighter (730g vs 750g) than the PA 120 per the manufacturers specs. This is due to the fact that it has 3 less fins and lacks the plastic covers on the towers seen on the PA 120 SE, making it an easier fit in SFF cases like the NR200. However from my experience both will fit in the NR200 with the mesh panel attached.
-The PA 120 SE includes TL-C12C PWM Fans vs the PA 120 which comes with TL-C12 PWM Fans. Both fans are the same dimensions, provide the same air flow/pressure, use the same bearings, and operate at the same noise levels. The only difference is that the TL-C12C fan is 15g lighter (120g vs 135g).
-If you are interested in what the fan letters and numbers mean, I found this information on a reddit post. Example: TL-C12CW-S
C - Quality/Tier (B > C Pro > C > R)
12 - Size (height and width)
C - Clockwise Rotation
W - White
S - ARGB
Other Numbers and Letters
015 - Size (depth, used for a slim fan)
D - Round Corners (120mm spacing)
R - Reverse Airflow (not the same as clockwise rotation)
B - Black (no letter for color is usually gray)
L - RGB
I just bought both the white and black ARGB variants of this cooler the other day and was wondering what the difference was between the SE and non SE. This information is what I gathered from about 5 minutes of googling and it appears there is negligible difference between the two so just go with whichever is cheaper.
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The key differences between the PA 120 and PA 120 SE are:
-The PA 120 SE is 2mm shorter (157mm vs 155mm) and 30g lighter (730g vs 750g) than the PA 120 per the manufacturers specs. This is due to the fact that it has 3 less fins and lacks the plastic covers on the towers seen on the PA 120 SE, making it an easier fit in SFF cases like the NR200. However from my experience both will fit in the NR200 with the mesh panel attached.
-The PA 120 SE includes TL-C12C PWM Fans vs the PA 120 which comes with TL-C12 PWM Fans. Both fans are the same dimensions, provide the same air flow/pressure, use the same bearings, and operate at the same noise levels. The only difference is that the TL-C12C fan is 15g lighter (120g vs 135g).
-If you are interested in what the fan letters and numbers mean, I found this information on a reddit post. Example: TL-C12CW-S
C - Quality/Tier (B > C Pro > C > R)
12 - Size (height and width)
C - Clockwise Rotation
W - White
S - ARGB
Other Numbers and Letters
015 - Size (depth, used for a slim fan)
D - Round Corners (120mm spacing)
R - Reverse Airflow (not the same as clockwise rotation)
B - Black (no letter for color is usually gray)
L - RGB
I just bought both the white and black ARGB variants of this cooler the other day and was wondering what the difference was between the SE and non SE. This information is what I gathered from about 5 minutes of googling and it appears there is negligible difference between the two so just go with whichever is cheaper.
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hollywoodmeow
if any zoomers are sitting here going thermalright? who? , well two decades ago, they spearheaded the innovations in heatpipe and finstack design that every other air cooling company like noctua, deepcool, etc now relies upon.
before i built my first water loop in 2009, all i would use was thermalright. they were hands down the best heatsinks out there - the competition from coolermaster, zalman, and thermaltake wasnt even close. i had an SI97 and then an SI120 cooling my san diego 3700, x2 4400, then an opteron 165 before i finally put a phenom 1055t under water and left air cooling behind.
also they make nvme heatsinks now - i use the HR-09 and it works great. the company may not be the undisputed performance champ anymore, but they deserve to be recognized
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if any zoomers are sitting here going thermalright? who? , well two decades ago, they spearheaded the innovations in heatpipe and finstack design that every other air cooling company like noctua, deepcool, etc now relies upon.
before i built my first water loop in 2009, all i would use was thermalright. they were hands down the best heatsinks out there - the competition from coolermaster, zalman, and thermaltake wasnt even close. i had an SI97 and then an SI120 cooling my san diego 3700, x2 4400, then an opteron 165 before i finally put a phenom 1055t under water and left air cooling behind.
also they make nvme heatsinks now - i use the HR-09 and it works great. the company may not be the undisputed performance champ anymore, but they deserve to be recognized
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Gofr5
If you're looking for future coolers to test, I have been curious how Bequiet's Pure Rock 2 FX stacks up against other single tower coolers. I've seen some other videos on it which show it not being too bad, but wanted to get your guys' expertise on it whenever you can. I know they have a non-rgb version which you guys tend to prefer, but the fan on the two versions are different beyond the rgb, with the rgb version supposedly being the better fan.
Anyway, thanks for the hard work guys. Always appreciated. This was another great look at another great cooler that I have been potentially eyeing. (Twin tower coolers covering up my rgb ram make me sad though despite their better performance, hence my interest more in single tower.)
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If you're looking for future coolers to test, I have been curious how Bequiet's Pure Rock 2 FX stacks up against other single tower coolers. I've seen some other videos on it which show it not being too bad, but wanted to get your guys' expertise on it whenever you can. I know they have a non-rgb version which you guys tend to prefer, but the fan on the two versions are different beyond the rgb, with the rgb version supposedly being the better fan.
Anyway, thanks for the hard work guys. Always appreciated. This was another great look at another great cooler that I have been potentially eyeing. (Twin tower coolers covering up my rgb ram make me sad though despite their better performance, hence my interest more in single tower.)
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orfeous
So..
What is a recommended CPU Air cooler that you get most bang for the buck with also low noise levels?
Is it recommended to have a max price at like 40-50 euro?
How do i pick the best cooler for me and my CPU? How do i know which cooler can keep up with my CPU and the heat?
Using a Intel i5-4670K that i have overclocked at 4.3ghz. Loaded with cinebench CPU power package is max 106W and CPU package 82 Celsius max.
Fans about 1500rpm. CPU fan and CPU Optional. Chassis fan 1 an 2 also 1500rpm.
Noctua U9B SE2 push/pull configuration
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So..
What is a recommended CPU Air cooler that you get most bang for the buck with also low noise levels?
Is it recommended to have a max price at like 40-50 euro?
How do i pick the best cooler for me and my CPU? How do i know which cooler can keep up with my CPU and the heat?
Using a Intel i5-4670K that i have overclocked at 4.3ghz. Loaded with cinebench CPU power package is max 106W and CPU package 82 Celsius max.
Fans about 1500rpm. CPU fan and CPU Optional. Chassis fan 1 an 2 also 1500rpm.
Noctua U9B SE2 push/pull configuration
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SleepyTonia
To think I nearly went with a Deepcool AK400/620. Not that they're bad, clearly, but I'm glad that after years of watching Gamers Nexus I did some proper research before buying my CPU cooler. Can't believe it systemically beat the NH-D15 that I thought I would upgrade to one day. Maybe if they significantly update that cooler, but right now? I'm going to take great care of my Peerless Assassin. For what it's worth coming from someone that tends to dislike RGB lighting, the ARGB LEDs in the white model look pretty good!
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To think I nearly went with a Deepcool AK400/620. Not that they're bad, clearly, but I'm glad that after years of watching Gamers Nexus I did some proper research before buying my CPU cooler. Can't believe it systemically beat the NH-D15 that I thought I would upgrade to one day. Maybe if they significantly update that cooler, but right now? I'm going to take great care of my Peerless Assassin. For what it's worth coming from someone that tends to dislike RGB lighting, the ARGB LEDs in the white model look pretty good!
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Fider
Please do the Thermalright Macho HR-02 Rev.B (or Rev. C, don't think there's much of a difference) some time in the future, if you get around to it. I'd really like to see how it compares to more modern CPU coolers, as it is my standard cooler of choice for, oof, I think 10 years now, but I had some clearing issues preventing me from installing a more beefy GPU cooler, so I'm looking for a smaller cooler with similar performance to the HR-02. If only I knew that performance in comparison. :D
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Please do the Thermalright Macho HR-02 Rev.B (or Rev. C, don't think there's much of a difference) some time in the future, if you get around to it. I'd really like to see how it compares to more modern CPU coolers, as it is my standard cooler of choice for, oof, I think 10 years now, but I had some clearing issues preventing me from installing a more beefy GPU cooler, so I'm looking for a smaller cooler with similar performance to the HR-02. If only I knew that performance in comparison. :D
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Scott
Excellent review of an excellent cooler. I replaced an esports Duo with a white PA120 on my 5600x. The PA120 gave me more overclocking headroom and lower Temps with less noise. I now run just the center fan for even lower noise at the cost of 1-2c and that's only if I'm benching. On the 5600x, running the fans any higher than 80% does not improve cooling. That might be different with a hotter cpu but for me I just cap my curves at 80%
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Excellent review of an excellent cooler. I replaced an esports Duo with a white PA120 on my 5600x. The PA120 gave me more overclocking headroom and lower Temps with less noise. I now run just the center fan for even lower noise at the cost of 1-2c and that's only if I'm benching. On the 5600x, running the fans any higher than 80% does not improve cooling. That might be different with a hotter cpu but for me I just cap my curves at 80%
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Guy-Richard
Very impressive stuff from Thermalright. However, I would like to point out that yes, it does beat the Noctua NH-D15, but over time, Noctua is most certainly a durable solution. We have yet to see when the fans on the Thermalright start to act up, get noisier, etc. But at this point, if someone asks me for recommendations, I'll clearly mention the Thermalright or the DeepCool AK620, clearly awesome options for a cheaper price.
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Very impressive stuff from Thermalright. However, I would like to point out that yes, it does beat the Noctua NH-D15, but over time, Noctua is most certainly a durable solution. We have yet to see when the fans on the Thermalright start to act up, get noisier, etc. But at this point, if someone asks me for recommendations, I'll clearly mention the Thermalright or the DeepCool AK620, clearly awesome options for a cheaper price.
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Fishdevil
Would be nice to see a review on SilentiumPC Fortis 5, since it's basically a single tower cooler (albeit a large one) which reaches performance of dual tower ones while being way quieter. And price is also around 50 bucks.
And also Fera 5, which is their cheaper option but seems to be great bang for the buck.
I know SilentiumPC is European/Polish, but I believe those two coolers would slot into your comparisons perfectly
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Would be nice to see a review on SilentiumPC Fortis 5, since it's basically a single tower cooler (albeit a large one) which reaches performance of dual tower ones while being way quieter. And price is also around 50 bucks.
And also Fera 5, which is their cheaper option but seems to be great bang for the buck.
I know SilentiumPC is European/Polish, but I believe those two coolers would slot into your comparisons perfectly
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Flyer-rcplane
One thing I do not get is when the cooler is upright I can see how it works. water rises as a vaper when heated to the top and fall as a cooled liquid back on the CPU.
But when it is sideways all the water is on the side not on the cpu where it needs to be to work or if there is enough water to hit the cpu than only half the cooler might work by vaper to the upper side and cools back down. Do I have this wrong?
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One thing I do not get is when the cooler is upright I can see how it works. water rises as a vaper when heated to the top and fall as a cooled liquid back on the CPU.
But when it is sideways all the water is on the side not on the cpu where it needs to be to work or if there is enough water to hit the cpu than only half the cooler might work by vaper to the upper side and cools back down. Do I have this wrong?
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Alejandro
I'm so glad to see Thermalright make a come back. I remember my good old True 120 (that cost an arm an a leg back then). I believe I paired it with a Sflex fan for around 120...
It's really surprising to see costs come down SO much that now there's heavy fierceful competition that you don't see anywhere else. For all other components (maybe except for nvme's) the rule of thumb is let's all increase prices .
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I'm so glad to see Thermalright make a come back. I remember my good old True 120 (that cost an arm an a leg back then). I believe I paired it with a Sflex fan for around 120...
It's really surprising to see costs come down SO much that now there's heavy fierceful competition that you don't see anywhere else. For all other components (maybe except for nvme's) the rule of thumb is let's all increase prices .
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Marxman
This cooler makes everything else obsolete, basically. At 41, I just don't see any reason to consider ANY other air cooler, ever. The lower-end air coolers are significantly worse, and the higher-cost air coolers like the NH-D15 are worse and more than twice as expensive. I just don't think ANY other cooler is worth considering when this thing is sub- 50.
It's the only game in town, now.
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This cooler makes everything else obsolete, basically. At 41, I just don't see any reason to consider ANY other air cooler, ever. The lower-end air coolers are significantly worse, and the higher-cost air coolers like the NH-D15 are worse and more than twice as expensive. I just don't think ANY other cooler is worth considering when this thing is sub- 50.
It's the only game in town, now.
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Peanut
The cooler I'd really like to see you test next is a solid gold bar. However, as neither Musk, Bezos or Zuckerberg as [relative] Patrons, you could do a theoretical test using mathematics to calculate how long big chunk of thermal mass would last and how effective it'd be initially and sliding efficacy as temps normalize.
For the lols. Embrace the [not technically] click-bait!
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The cooler I'd really like to see you test next is a solid gold bar. However, as neither Musk, Bezos or Zuckerberg as [relative] Patrons, you could do a theoretical test using mathematics to calculate how long big chunk of thermal mass would last and how effective it'd be initially and sliding efficacy as temps normalize.
For the lols. Embrace the [not technically] click-bait!
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StickySli
I recommended this cooler to a friend. I can't say he is happy because his computer has gone back and forth through RMA because there is a part in his computer that is defective and we can't seem to find what part. We are currently trying to figure out the PSU, but haven't heard back from the shop or Cooler Master yet. We are worried that it might be the CPU though. Any help?
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I recommended this cooler to a friend. I can't say he is happy because his computer has gone back and forth through RMA because there is a part in his computer that is defective and we can't seem to find what part. We are currently trying to figure out the PSU, but haven't heard back from the shop or Cooler Master yet. We are worried that it might be the CPU though. Any help?
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DeusWulf
Picked up one of these on amz for about 36. Really hard to beat at that price point. The DeepCool has better aesthetics, but you do pay for it. Jonsbo makes a great looking shrouded twin tower as well (its only on NewEgg from what I can see), but that comes in at around 80. Montech's twin tower comes with some pretty interesting Metal themed fans, that's also in the 70 mark.
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Picked up one of these on amz for about 36. Really hard to beat at that price point. The DeepCool has better aesthetics, but you do pay for it. Jonsbo makes a great looking shrouded twin tower as well (its only on NewEgg from what I can see), but that comes in at around 80. Montech's twin tower comes with some pretty interesting Metal themed fans, that's also in the 70 mark.
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