PS120 is an interesting cooler. It should do well for its size. I really like the way they are tuning this new gen of coolers.

 

Phantom Spirit looks cool. I always wondered why Thermalright never bothered to put their TL-B12 fans on more of their coolers. Their CLC units I think are begging for those B12 fans.

 

cant wait to see how the phantom spirit performs against the deepcool ak620

 

I am curious how it does against FC140 even though PS120 has less mass. Should be a decent bit better than PA120 either way.

 

I am curious how [PS120] does against FC140 even though PS120 has less mass. Should be a decent bit better than PA120 either way.

Me too. I've been watching Peerless Assassin prices to see if a too good to pass up opportunity to swap out the NH-U12A tower comes up but the black version's been stubborn. And, since the NH-U12A is 7x6mm, it's now more interesting to swap to the Phantom Spirit. In principle, anyways—PA120 holiday markdowns here border on tempting.

This launch also makes me wonder when we might see the Frost Spirit and Commander iterate to new bases and AGHP gen4. Maybe a launch next year sometime.

Their CLC units I think are begging for those B12 fans.

You're in luck then since Thermalright AIOs stratify by stock fans with the upper mid tier probably being as good as AIOs get for the moment.

• Frozen Horizon: TL-B12 Extrem
• Frozen Fusion and Frozen Magic Scenic v2: TL-B12 or TL-B14
• Frozen Magic and Aqua Elite: TL-C12
• Frozen Notte: TL-E12 (pretty interesting fan as it's a 120 mm Silent Torpedo version)

Downside is no block fans and the rads are all the usual 27 mm, so not as competitive with Arctic's Liquid Freezer IIs as they could be.

It's less clear to me why Thermalright doesn't use TL-B12s as stock fans on dual tower air coolers, either in the Phantom Spirit-Frost Tower-Peerless Assassin range, as Frost Spirit-Frost Commander front fans, or maybe on a Burst Assassin SE. Seems like Thermalright doesn't mind pricing up with the Ultra 120EX Rev.4s—possibly Noctua's high NH-U12A pricing leaves them feeling there's lots of room for that—but likes to get their dual towers in comfortably below the A620, Fuma 2 Rev.B, NH-D15(S), and NH-D12L.

 

• Phantom Spirit 120 SE (English, Chinese): 7x6mm AGHP gen4, TL-C12B v2, 125 x 135 x 154 mm

i am curious where did you see they were using a newer generation of heatpipe

 

Cooler TDP ratings need to be taken with a large dose of salt.

Cooler TDP ratings are only number of heatpipes in cooler times heatpipe TDP ratings. 6mm heatpipe are rated 40 watt and 8mm heatpipe are rated 60 watt.

Multiply number of heatpipes by watts TDP rating and you have cooler's TDP rating.

No consideration for heat transfer from base to heatpipe, from heatpipe to fins, or from fins to airflow.

 

Decided to do some dimensional drawings to compare of Phantom Spirit 120 SE, Peerless Assassin 120 and Frost Commander 140. Not all measurements are accurate as some are scaled from drawing. Phantom Spirit 120 fin count also taken from drawing. Phantom Spirit 120 front view is my own, so again may not be very accurate.

 

Decided to do some dimensional drawings to compare of Phantom Spirit 120 SE, Peerless Assassin 120 and Frost Commander 140. Not all measurements are accurate as some are scaled from drawing. Phantom Spirit 120 fin count also taken from drawing. Phantom Spirit 120 front view is my own, so again may not be very accurate.

View attachment 2588491

Just wish that Thermalright sticks with slightly lower height measurements, for smaller cases.

Having the same height measurements as the 140 series is ridiculous. They should be made slightly smaller for those looking to fit inside troublesome cases.

Lots here on this forum have wasted money on good-looking cases, that will never take a 154 or 158 mm cooler. Would've been nice to fit one of these coolers if it was around 140mm or just under, in height .

Sick and tired of being forced to get another AIO instead of a decent Thermalright cooler.

 

Well this is some awesomely nerdy cooler talk. Just saw this thing pop up on Amazon US today for $37.

 

The Phantom Spirit 120 SE's had North America/United States availability since January (Thermalright Direct 3, Newegg). Amazon being Amazon, everybody gets a different price—US$ 41 (Thermalright Direct 2) and 40 (THERMALRIGHT.EUR) for me, 39 and 38 for some price trackers, and around €64 if you're in Europe and want to order from Amazon United States via Amazon Germany.

Both the Phantom Spirit 120 SE and Frost Tower 120 have been on Ali for a while. Steep markups make the Frost Tower 120 more expensive than the Frost Spirit or Commander 140, enough so for now that a Phantom Spirit plus two TL-C12 pros might well cost less. Ali Phantom Spirit pricing goes a little lower than Amazon's but shipping for most readers here will probably put them into the €/US$ 60 range.

(As usual for Thermalright, most listings are for PS120SE and FT120, so searching for Phantom Spirit or Frost Tower can miss them.)

 

I would get one.. but I have too many coolers now

I would sell a couple but I think I am a bit of a hoarder.

LGMRT, TS140P, 2x FC140, 2x TRUE, PA120SE..

 

I would get one.. but I have too many coolers now

But, but, how is that possible?

I'm tempted and, looking how the 5950X under the NH-U12A runs, can kind of sort of maybe almost justify rationalize a Phantom Spirit if I work at it. Thing I've been debating is it's just a little more to get a Frost Spirit and unclear how well the Phantom's base and heat pipe changes compensate for it being 120 instead of 140. Realistically, either I buy it and test or wait possibly forever for an adequately controlled review to turn up.

 

Just noticed PS120SE 7x 6mm heatpipe is £56.32 on Amazon UK!
This is the 7x 6mm heatpipe model, not 6x 6mm heatpipe.
Seller is Thermalright EUR

Thermalright PS120SE CPU Air Cooler, 7 Heat Pipes CPU Cooler,Dual 120mm TL-C12B V2 PWM Fan, AGHP 4.0 Technilogy, S-FDB Bearing, for AMD AM4 AM5/Intel 1700/1150/1151/1200, PC Cooler : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Thermalright PS120SE CPU Air Cooler, 7 Heat Pipes CPU Cooler,Dual 120mm TL-C12B V2 PWM Fan, AGHP 4.0 Technilogy, S-FDB Bearing, for AMD AM4 AM5/Intel 1700/1150/1151/1200, PC Cooler : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

www.amazon.co.uk

 

I bought the Phantom Spirit 120SE a few days ago and I've had it installed for about two days now on a 13600K with the Thermalright LGA1700-BCF contact frame. Some impressions compared to the NH-D15s I was using before as follows, both with the same SYY-157 thermal paste. Case is a Meshify 2 Compact with 3x NF-A12s in front, a rear NF-A12 exhaust and a top rear (behind the cooler) NF-A15 as exhaust:

• Coldplate is noticeably flatter compared to convex coldplate of D15s. Its still slightly convex though and not flat flat like AIO coldplates can be. This coldplate seems to work better with the contact frame setup because I'd always get a circular imprint of good contact around the center of the IHS with the D15s, and the surroundings would be a visually thicker layer of paste.
• Noise profile of the D15s is superior to the included TL-C12 fans. Both have the same 1500rpm maximum speed so I was able to use the same fan curve after installation to compare the direct noise profile at the same rpm. I would describe the A15 fan as having a lower pitched hum, especially when transitioning in RPM.
• Temps seem to be improved by an acceptable margin. I didn't have a temperature controlled room (room is managed by central house HVAC), but in short bursts of Cinebench R23 I saw roughly 4-6c lower peak temps on the hottest cores, or 80-82c compared to the 86-87c previously. I suspect the majority of this is down to the improved IHS contact from the flatter coldplate and either the additional heatpipe or the advancements in heatpipe tech itself.
• Smaller size is convenient for working in the case. I can now touch the PCIE latch without resorting to using something to prod at it.

I picked up some TL-B12 fans as well to test on the cooler and those are quieter at iso rpm in terms of the airflow noise than the C12s, but there does seem to be a strange whine/high pitched hum coming when going in and out of the 800-1100 rpm range. Not sure if this is related to motor, bearing, or harmonic resonance from being the same RPM.

I'm pretty impressed by this. It was 46.90 CAD when I bought from Amazon and I think I would've been satisfied if it even matched the D15s temperatures, but exceeding the performance while being smaller and cheaper is a neat trick.

A big reminder that this isn't directly applicable to everyone because of the contact frame making the IHS geometry of the CPU become much flatter. I'm fairly sure this affected the performance of the D15s because other reviewers seem to get better performance with their D15/D15s setups on 13th gen Intel CPUs.

 

Thank you for the comparison.

You used same NH-A15 fan profile for TL-C12. but are TL-C12 actually running same rpm as NF-A15? I ask because it's quite common for different fan models to have different PWM : rpm curves. This means two 1500rpm fans running at 50% setting can be 750rpm on one and 850rpm on another .. or 650rpm. So while NF-A15 and TL-C12 are same rpm, it's very possible they are not same rpm at 50% curve setting.

NF-A15, TY-14x, TL-D14 & TL-D14 design are some of the best made .. makes them hard to match. I wonder how TY-121BP would do? It's 1800rpm 25dBA 77.28cfm 2.70mm H2O with impeller similar to NF-A15. Just might be a good choice.

Curved scythe shaped impellers are notorious for harmonic noises. Even Gentle Typhoons in days of old had the problem.

Again, thanks for your information. Greatly appreciated! Rep!

 

I have noticed that current Thermalright fan listings on Amazon have a "D6" on their name. Maybe a new revision and Thermalright changed/revised something (bearings perhaps). My B12s that I got last year are butter smooth and have no whiny noise. They are my best sounding fans currently. PH-F120MP (original version), PH-F140MP (original version), NF-A15, TL-C14, TL-C14X, TL-D14X, TL-C120PRO, TL-B12. Those are the most recent fans I have used in the last couple of years, with the "best" sounding being the TL-B12 followed by the TL-C(D)14X and NF-A15 (I prefer the overall sound profile on the Thermalright but it has resonance at low rpm and the Noctua does not).

 

PS120SE at Amazon US for $47. Amazon seems to be doing the shipping for a whopping $20.

 

I don't find any PS120SE on Amazon.com

 

Crazy how 2 people can get very different Amazon search results.

Thanks!

 

Crazy how 2 people can get very different Amazon search results.

Thanks!

You probably don't search for Thermalright enough. These days I don't even have to type it, Amazon just knows .

 

So, I guess this is a little wider than PA120? The one thing I like about PA120 is that I can run a Thermalright NVME heatsink for no good reason other than I like the way it looks

It is the only cooler that I have where I can run 2x Thermalright NVME sinks.

 

So, I guess this is a little wider than PA120?

The Thermalright pages specify the same 110mm x 125mm LxW dimensions if you look at the diagrams of both coolers.

PS120 SE:

PA120:

Somewhere along the way Thermalright changed which order they specified Length and Width in the product description text but dimensionally PS120 and PA120 are the same. Which makes PS120 SE a straight upgrade over PA120 (imo).

 

Lol yeah I’m an idiot.. had some beverages last night and forgot how to compute

Maybe I will get one..

 

Is there any FC140 owners here who have PS120SE?

I almost bought it like 3 times today. 50 bucks is a good deal lol..

I am interested in it for its compact dimensions, and slightly higher capacity.

And I want to use a TR nvme cooler on the drive under the CPU but I cant with FC140, but can with PA120SE

 

I only have the FC140, but I would like to see a review comparing them both. By the way it is $40 on amazon right now.
https://www.amazon.com/Thermalright-PS120SE-TL-C12B-Technilogy-Bearing/dp/B0BNH1W546

 

Welp..

 

Can't wait to see how it compares.

 

Me too.. I am running a TR NVME sink on my sons 5600X/B550F system.. and I want to run both sinks on mine, but FC140 is too thick, and so is TRUE Black, at least on my boards. PA120 lets them fit, so PS120SE should too.. I hope

I wonder if it can handle my 5900X at 240/160/190 like FC140 barely can

Should be interesting..

 

Its a good cooler, would recommend

Room for HR09 on the top slot too

I haven't tried my 5900X though.

I also installed 3x TL-C12C-S as well, not a single high performance fan in my build now

Nice and quiet though

Edit:

Tried my 5900X and will be keeping PS120SE installed.. even with just the stock fans it is performing as well as FC140.

 

They are a nice compliment of colors to black top of cooler.

 

As it turns out, PS120SE can handle a 58X3D semi passively.. noice!

Just gotta peel that tape off.. wasn't sure if I was going to keep it like that..

And some numbers while loaded..

 

And not even 24 hours later it’s back to it’s former self

That TL-D14X is just getting in the way right now.. being it tops out at 1850 or so

Its the one plugged into the AIO header.

 

So Peerless Assassin 120 SE w/ 2x Phanteks T30 fans. What is idle rpm, mid-load rpm and full load rpm?

 

Some data from the testing I did a few days ago on my system with a PS120SE, which seems to be about 2 degrees cooler than my PA120, which was also quieter and cooler than my old Noctua D14

I found the stock fans only quiet enough for me at under 800rpm, about 40% speed. Arctic P12 ARGB fans were able to go to 1200rpm for similar noise tolerance and cool much better.
Muchy less motor noise hum.

I recently got some non pro Silent Wings 120mm fans and a 3 pack of Phanteks T30s.
I tried to squeeze a T30 into the middle of the PS120SE, and while it kinda does fit, I can't use the clips to get it in there, and resonance and turbulence noise is a no go....

So two Silents Wings 4 on it is good, but seem to have more motor hum noise than the Arctic P14 ARGB fans.
And you get some inter modulation noises from two similar sound sources in close proximity to each other
Ok to about 950rpm around 60% speed for my noise toleranace late at night.
Cooled about 2-4 degrees better than the Arctic P12 ARGB setup

1 Silent wings in the middle and a T30 on the back cooled a couple of degrees better again.
Both fans running at 850rpm, controlled by Fan Control software, T30 syncing to the SW4 fan with a proportional offset amount, 55% speed for SW4, and 46% for the T30.
System near inaudible from 1m away

I also do not use thermal paste, but a Innovation Cooling Graphite Thermal Pad.
Makes for easy heatsink swapping, just need to spray Isoproponal alcohol on it to keep it in place while mounting
And also does not dry out over time.
I find the temps seem to drop like rock, after the load is lifted, with this compared to thermal paste.
Very fast reactions on/off load

copy and paste from my OneNote page