Review Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 is da bomb for Intel CPUs!!!

[Indus]

Ok so I have a 12600k and was running a coolermaster hyper 212 black edition. It was fine originally but during the recent heatwave my computer got like 20 bsod's. Couldn't figure it out but then I thought maybe it's temp related.. checked hw mon and sure enough 103-105C and I went F _ _ K!

What worked great for 2 years wasn't going to work anymore despite me constantly blowing dust and lint out and generally keeping it clean.

Got myself a Thermalright Peerless Assassin with 2 Noctua NF-P12 fans (both blowing intake) and I'm like holy smokes! From 105C and crashing.. it's now down to 88C peak under max gaming load. Averaging more like 82-84. So almost a 20C difference.

Don't underestimate the dual tower coolers or Peerless Assassin 120 anymore especially if you hate water cooling for the super hot Intel cpus.

Hope that helps anyone having random bsod crashes or random reboots due to overheating!

 

[aigomorla]

Thermalright always made great sinks..

However they didn't keep up with the bling or gamers theme, hence why they sort of fell out of grace.
But they tried to make a comeback a bit too late, and now other companies like Bequiet and sit there with them.

But i own a couple of Thermalright sinks, and i love every one of them.

However my main cooling will always be a fully customed liquid cooling system, because, well, nothing is better then when you build it yourself to fit the exact demand you need.

 

[In2Photos]

The Thermalright is a great cooler but I suspect that if you are seeing ~20 degree difference from your 212 there was an issue with the paste.

 

[CP5670]

Thermalright used to be top tier 15 years ago and had the same reputation as Noctua today, but I rarely hear about them now. I actually didn't even know they were still around.

 

[gdansk]

Thermalright are my go to because of the low cost.

One problem is they have so many models and variations that I think many consumers here in NA skip over them despite many of their models also being best-in-class.

But I had a 12600K being cooled by a ID Cooling IS-55, a low profile cooler that can't be as good as a Hyper 212, and it still didn't reach 103-105c. So perhaps there was another contributing factor. A Hyper 212 should do better than that.

 

[Blazer7]

Thermalright used to be top tier 15 years ago and had the same reputation as Noctua today, but I rarely hear about them now. I actually didn't even know they were still around.

Thermalright always had good reputation but not as good as Noctua. The difference was always the fans where Noctua is unrivaled.

However they do make quality coolers. I've used some of their early all copper coolers and I still use an SI-128 with a Noctua 120mm in my HTPC. Never had heat problems with any of these machines.

 

[igor_kavinski]

A similar issue I had with my 12700K which I managed to solve by thermal paste application and clamping down the heatsink unnervingly hard: https://forums.anandtech.com/thread...engine-games-and-others.2617728/post-41250953

Having my 12700K beat a 14600K makes me feel good I suppose.

 

[Indus]

The Thermalright is a great cooler but I suspect that if you are seeing ~20 degree difference from your 212 there was an issue with the paste.

I considered that and reapplied it, cleaned the old hsf fins, fan and still had the same problem (although not as much). I think it was the ambient temperature caused by the heatwave since the hyper 212 was stable and cool earlier on.

Not trying to poop on hyper 212 as I spent $50 on it and it was my HSF of choice, but dual towers are clearly a better improved design and even with a higher ambient of a heatwave.. they have more cooling ability than the single tower cooler would provide.

I'm planning on moving the hyper 212 evo to my old ryzen 1600 HTPC which doesn't get as hot as Intel cpus do.

 

[Indus]

Having my 12700K beat a 14600K makes me feel good I suppose.

Lets be honest.. a 14600k is a 12600k+++++++. Your 12700k can still kick major butt! Infact I wouldn't probably even think of upgrading till the 24700k comes out

 

[Blazer7]

I’ve heard great things about the Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120! It's awesome to see it getting some love for Intel CPUs. How’s the noise level and overall cooling performance? Considering one for my next build, and this looks like a solid option!

Gamer's Nexus have a couple of charts for noise/performance. The Assassin is among the top air coolers they've tested. It may even deserve the top spot if you take price into account. The Noctuas are definitely far more expensive.

https://gamersnexus.net/megacharts/cpu-coolers

 

[Indus]

I’ve heard great things about the Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120! It's awesome to see it getting some love for Intel CPUs. How’s the noise level and overall cooling performance? Considering one for my next build, and this looks like a solid option!

I swapped out the fans for noctua so totally silent.

But the original fans weren't that bad! Infact most cpu fans now are very silent unlike delta fans of 20 years ago.

 

[Shmee]

Yeah I got one, seems to work quite nicely on my 5800X3D. I also like the RGB fans they include with the ability to daisy chain additional fans, so I ordered a 3 pack of RGB 120mm TR fans, and they were nice and inexpensive just like the cooler.

 

[bigboxes]

Back in 2008, I bought my first Thermalright heatsink. I believe it was a TRUE 120. That thing was a beast. And very expensive. Plus, I valued quiet over o/c and slapped a Noctua 120mm fan on that sucker. That sent the total price over $100! That was back in 2008. I built another rig with what I learned in 2009 and purchased another Thermalright. In 2014, I went to liquid cooling. As you can see by the Gamers Nexus charts, the liquid cooling are top performers. But in 2021, I decided I could have a more reliable cooler if I went back to air. Having a 5950X, I chose the Noctua NH-D15 with 2 x 140mm Noctua fans. I love how quiet (and reliable) my HSF is. You can't beat the price on that Peerless Assassin though!

Here's my old TRUE 120 from back in the day. It's a heavy hunk of aluminum!

 

[bba-tcg]

Back in 2008, I bought my first Thermalright heatsink. I believe it was a TRUE 120. That thing was a beast. And very expensive. Plus, I valued quiet over o/c and slapped a Noctua 120mm fan on that sucker. That sent the total price over $100! That was back in 2008. I built another rig with what I learned in 2009 and purchased another Thermalright. In 2014, I went to liquid cooling. As you can see by the Gamers Nexus charts, the liquid cooling are top performers. But in 2021, I decided I could have a more reliable cooler if I went back to air. Having a 5950X, I chose the Noctua NH-D15 with 2 x 140mm Noctua fans. I love how quiet (and reliable) my HSF is. You can't beat the price on that Peerless Assassin though!

Here's my old TRUE 120 from back in the day. It's a heavy hunk of aluminum!

I still have about 10 of the TRUE 120s around here.

 

[bigboxes]

I still have about 10 of the TRUE 120s around here.

Ten... ROFL. It like my FFL when he said he had 17 ARs.

 

[bba-tcg]

And those are off retired i7 9xx processors. If I could get mounting kits for them for modern CPU sockets, I'd still be using some of them.

 

[bigboxes]

To be fair, I may have another TRUE somewhere. I do have a Thermalright in my HTPC in the living room.

 

[bigboxes]

And those are off retired i7 9xx processors. If I could get mounting kits for them for modern CPU sockets, I'd still be using some of them.

Right. The one pictured above was for an i7 920. But that wouldn't fit into the HTPC case. So, I got this 200mm low profile HSF.

 

[Racan]

I don't know why people keep recommending the Peerless Assassin 120 when Thermalright has a newer better performing model, the Phantom Spirit 120 with one extra heat pipe (7 vs 6).

 

[Brainonska511]

I don't know why people keep recommending the Peerless Assassin 120 when Thermalright has a newer better performing model, the Phantom Spirit 120 with one extra heat pipe (7 vs 6).

I think most people's recommendations are open ended: Peerless Assassin 120 or the equivalent newer model. Thermalright just has too many models to keep it all straight.

 

[Shmee]

I did a build with TR Phantom Spirit, but I noticed it didn't come with RGB fans, like the Assassin did. So if you want the lights, there is that.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Gamer's Nexus have a couple of charts for noise/performance. The Assassin is among the top air coolers they've tested. It may even deserve the top spot if you take price into account. The Noctuas are definitely far more expensive.

https://gamersnexus.net/megacharts/cpu-coolers

When I bought my first PA 120 the price gap between it and the PS 120 was pretty big. I was so impressed with the PA for $30 at the time, that I stopped even shopping around after that. Someone here had to tell me about the PS 120 getting so close in price to even be aware of it again.

That GN review made the PA so popular the PS is sometimes less expensive now.

 

[Blazer7]

I'm in the middle of a new AM5 build and I plan on going air cooled again. I could use my NH-U12P with a mounting kit (I have one at hand), but I could still use my rig for other tasks or demote it and use it as an HTPC. I was considering Noctua’s DH-15, then their new over-engineered G2 but the PA/PS 120 makes the DH-15s a bad choice.

What’s the RAM clearance of the PA/PS 120 like?

It would be great if they could cutch up with Noctua's support on compatibility.