current best air coolers

Captain Newmackwa said:
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Source: TR PA120 hardware canucks review


I know this looks like cherry picking but big 140mm dual tower coolers like the D15 still have their place for cooling CPUs with higher TDPs as they still perform better at above 250W. Below that, for sure, diminishing returns kick in and coolers like the PA120 offer unbeatable value.
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True, but their big dual 140 frost commander isn't on that list for only $55.

The big Noct is still overpriced.
 
With som many other reviewer tests showing PA120 being slightly better than NH-D15 or both being near equal or PA120, I have to wonder why this review shows D15 so much better.
 
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doyll said:
With som many other reviewer tests showing PH120 being slightly better than NH-D15 or both being near equal or PA120, I have to wonder why this review shows D15 so much better.
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Probably depends on the wattage tested at. Sure, at some point a 120 tower is going to tap out compared to a significantly larger 140.
 
NightReaver said:
Probably depends on the wattage tested at. Sure, at some point a 120 tower is going to tap out compared to a significantly larger 140.
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I will agree it does have a little difference, but in my experience at 250w it was nothing to maybe 2c difference, not 5c. More of same size heatpipes does improve perform, but same number heatpipes in coolers with 120mm fans on 120mm finpacks vs 140mm fans on 140mm finpacks cooled within a couple of degrees of same temps .. well within testing margin of error.

GamersNexus testing at 198w noise normalised at 35dB has PA120 56.4c (fans 1165rpm) and NH-D15 (fans 1020rpm)at 58.6c.

I'm not saying test you posted is not accurate and truthful. 5c difference could easily be result of PA120 base not mating as well to CPU as NH-D15 base did.

As far as I know GamersNexus is only reviewer checking cooler base to CPU IHS mating.
 
doyll said:
I will agree it does have a little difference, but in my experience at 250w it was nothing to maybe 2c difference, not 5c. More of same size heatpipes does improve perform, but same number heatpipes in coolers with 120mm fans on 120mm finpacks vs 140mm fans on 140mm finpacks cooled within a couple of degrees of same temps .. well within testing margin of error.

GamersNexus testing at 198w noise normalised at 35dB has PA120 56.4c (fans 1165rpm) and NH-D15 (fans 1020rpm)at 58.6c.

I'm not saying test you posted is not accurate and truthful. 5c difference could easily be result of PA120 base not mating as well to CPU as NH-D15 base did.

As far as I know GamersNexus is only reviewer checking cooler base to CPU IHS mating.
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I didn't post it :D Just noting that it was specifically a high wattage test.
 
Captain Newmackwa said:
View attachment 577793View attachment 577794
Source: TR PA120 hardware canucks review


I know this looks like cherry picking but big 140mm dual tower coolers like the D15 still have their place for cooling CPUs with higher TDPs as they still perform better at above 250W. Below that, for sure, diminishing returns kick in and coolers like the PA120 offer unbeatable value.
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Indeed. PA 120 is a small cooler though. FC140 exists.

And so does Le Grand Macho RT with its 320w TDP, 90w Passive using 7x 6mm pipes.

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/thermalright-le-grand-macho/6.html

They also had True Spirit 140 Power with its 360w TDP and 6x 8mm pipes.
 
doyll said:
I will agree it does have a little difference, but in my experience at 250w it was nothing to maybe 2c difference, not 5c. More of same size heatpipes does improve perform, but same number heatpipes in coolers with 120mm fans on 120mm finpacks vs 140mm fans on 140mm finpacks cooled within a couple of degrees of same temps .. well within testing margin of error.

GamersNexus testing at 198w noise normalised at 35dB has PA120 56.4c (fans 1165rpm) and NH-D15 (fans 1020rpm)at 58.6c.

I'm not saying test you posted is not accurate and truthful. 5c difference could easily be result of PA120 base not mating as well to CPU as NH-D15 base did.

As far as I know GamersNexus is only reviewer checking cooler base to CPU IHS mating.
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The difference between the two videos is that Hardware Kanucks uses Intel and Gamers Nexus uses AMD. So you can take that with whatever CPU you use and hopefully apply it. Thermalrights I believe are better with the AMD processors. I'm still rocking the prism on my 5700x but just going to order the PS 120 SE today.
 
NVM, just ordered the Frost tower 120. Will let you guys know how it goes. There's no reviews on it out there yet so hopefully I can post some results for you.
 
Geezer000 said:
The difference between the two videos is that Hardware Kanucks uses Intel and Gamers Nexus uses AMD. So you can take that with whatever CPU you use and hopefully apply it. Thermalrights I believe are better with the AMD processors. I'm still rocking the prism on my 5700x but just going to order the PS 120 SE today.
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Not sure if it's processor or AMD IHS mating better to cooler base than Intel IHS mate to cooler base. And without a print of each we have nothing showing what cause of temp difference is.
Geezer000 said:
NVM, just ordered the Frost tower 120. Will let you guys know how it goes. There's no reviews on it out there yet so hopefully I can post some results for you.
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doyll said:
Not sure if it's processor or AMD IHS mating better to cooler base than Intel IHS mate to cooler base. And without a print of each we have nothing showing what cause of temp difference is.
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Fully understandable. I was just using it as a generalization from all the reviews I've seen. I thought it was a given that different processors react differently as well. One thing I noticed when I went from my wraith prism to a be quiet pure loop 240 is that the temperature only dropped 5° c but the boost clocks for a single and multi-core also went up slightly running CB23. I expected the temperature to go down a lot further going from a Prism to an AIO. This is also a 5700x with -30 on the optimizer and plus 200 boost clock. Will see how this does.
 
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Geezer000 said:
Fully understandable. I was just using it as a generalization from all the reviews I've seen. I thought it was a given that different processors react differently as well. One thing I noticed when I went from my wraith prism to a be quiet pure loop 240 is that the temperature only dropped 5° c but the boost clocks for a single and multi-core also went down running CB23. I expected the temperature to go down a lot further going from a Prism to an AIO. This is also a 5700x with -30 on the optimizer and plus 200 boost clock. Will see how this does.
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Granted, different chips have different heat characteristics and different chip placement under IHS, but I don't remember seeing any direct chip to cooler base test data. I would be interested in seeing how much of temperature difference is actually difference in heat transfer of different CPU chips (of same TDP) is result of differences in heat transfer of different chips thru IHS versus heat transfer thru IHS into cooler base. Of course it would be a lot of work testing original CPUs with IHS and doing pressure prints, then delidding, testing, and doing pressure prints.
 
So, removing the Wraith Prism WITHOUT pulling the CPU out of the socket is impossible!!!!!! oh well, did it anyways....

Now, here are the results. minimal results with the Be Quiet Pure Loop 240 but its the best I have.

All results with -30 core, +200 freq so not exactly perfect conditions but this is what I run my 5700X at all day.

-Pure Loop 240 CB23 - 4625 all core, 4850 single. Max temp 77.8c

-Wraith Prism- 4525 all core, 4800 single, TDC= 87.7, EDC= 146.8, PPT= 135.6. Max temp 83.3c

-Frost Tower - 4650 all core, 4850 single, TDC= 90, EDC= 152.7, PPT= 141.1. Max temp 76.8c

I wish I could get my 5700x above 4850mhz single but thats the [H]ard limit in PBO i guess. The reason I picked the FT120 over any of the other twin tower 120's is because it has the faster fans if I need them and it has more or equal to the best fin stack height.

PXL_20230701_154519254.jpg
PXL_20230701_154529247.jpg
 
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Geezer000​

Frost Tower is definitely doing a good job! Just curious, did you top up coolant in Pure Loop 240?
 
doyll said:

Geezer000​

Frost Tower is definitely doing a good job! Just curious, did you top up coolant in Pure Loop 240?
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Yes, it was topped up. As a note, this temp was taken using HWinfo using CPU(Tdie) which i believe is CPU package on my motherboard sensors. Motherboard sensors also showed CPU as separate which showed at least 10c lower. Not sure which one is correct. Also it was a Prism NOT spire.
 
So even though the temps are better than the AIO, I'm seem to now be less stable and erroring on some cores on corecycler......
 
You are trying to boost too high with your curve. Add more power or lower your curve.
 
freeagentt said:
You are trying to boost too high with your curve. Add more power or lower your curve.
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I'm not sure, looking at the temperature voltage and power targets versus the Pure Loop 240 It shouldn't be doing this. I just changed the core optimizer to -25 on core 6 and it's good now. I guess that's the problem with testing all these temperatures and stuff when you're not on a set multi and voltage.
 
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For anybody with the thermalright coolers, does your cooler ever get warm? I've been running Prime 95 with AVX for the last 10 minutes now and it's only sitting at 86 Celsius but the cooler doesn't even feel warm. Do I have an issue with thermal transfer from the CPU to the cold plate? I don't want to clog up this thread too much, so I'll start a new one.
 
NightReaver said:
The cooler shouldn't feel warm if the heat is being dissipated.
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I just wasnt sure as to if my temps on the CPU would be lower if it transfered more heat to the cooler thus the cooler being warmer. The heat pipes between the fins and cpu aren't even overly warm.
 
Geezer000 said:
For anybody with the thermalright coolers, does your cooler ever get warm?
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Only on CPUs that put out real heat. The last time I felt a warm CPU cooler was with my heavily clocked X5690 under Le Grand Macho RT, and True Spirit 140 Power. Those two coolers have never been warm with any of my AMD CPUs.

My current FC140s, PA120SE, PS120SE, TRUE Black Rev.4, none get warm on AMD.
 
Geezer000 said:
I'm not sure, looking at the temperature voltage and power targets versus the Pure Loop 240 It shouldn't be doing this. I just changed the core optimizer to -25 on core 6 and it's good now. I guess that's the problem with testing all these temperatures and stuff when you're not on a set multi and voltage.
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Heatpipe coolers flow heat from CPU to air using water in heatpipes. Water boils in evap section of pipe in cooler base. This expansion pushes vapor away from cooler base into finned area of cooler where it cools and condenses into wicking on inside of pipe and is wicked back to base. So if fins get too warm this coolant cycle is impaired.

To check if heatpipes are working touch the pipe where it enters bottom of fins. This is where you can feel some heat. Keep in mind the heat is in vapor in middle of pipe and wicking inside of pipe is cooler, so even here the heat we can feel is much lower than what is flowing out from cooler base.
 
I really only bought that cheap ($134) 7600x for gaming, the Cooler Master RGB cooler that shipped with my 3700x is being used, the thing is hitting 5.4Ghz in stock trim.

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What about the Deepcool AS500? I like it's look compared to the more squared off others. I'm considering going for it.
DeepCool AS500 Plus CPU Air Cooler 5V-3Pin ARGB Sync 220w TDP 5 Copper Heat Pipes CPU Cooler with Dual-Fan Each 140mm PWM 1200RPM 70.81CFM for Intel LGA 1700/1200/1151/1150/1155 AMD AM5/AM4 https://a.co/d/6bHvLhs
 
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xDiVolatilX said:
What about the Deepcool AS500? I like it's look compared to the more squared off others. I'm considering going for it.
DeepCool AS500 Plus CPU Air Cooler 5V-3Pin ARGB Sync 220w TDP 5 Copper Heat Pipes CPU Cooler with Dual-Fan Each 140mm PWM 1200RPM 70.81CFM for Intel LGA 1700/1200/1151/1150/1155 AMD AM5/AM4 https://a.co/d/6bHvLhs
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$70 for that thing? Deepcool must think they are "Asus" with their inflated pricing. 🤣
 
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xDiVolatilX said:
What about the Deepcool AS500? I like it's look compared to the more squared off others. I'm considering going for it.
DeepCool AS500 Plus CPU Air Cooler 5V-3Pin ARGB Sync 220w TDP 5 Copper Heat Pipes CPU Cooler with Dual-Fan Each 140mm PWM 1200RPM 70.81CFM for Intel LGA 1700/1200/1151/1150/1155 AMD AM5/AM4 https://a.co/d/6bHvLhs
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220w on single tower? idkat... looks good though.

jlbenedict said:
$70 for that thing? Deepcool must think they are "Asus" with their inflated pricing. 🤣
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100 canuckistani pesos is insane for a single tower cooler.
 
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xDiVolatilX said:
What about the Deepcool AS500? I like it's look compared to the more squared off others. I'm considering going for it.
DeepCool AS500 Plus CPU Air Cooler 5V-3Pin ARGB Sync 220w TDP 5 Copper Heat Pipes CPU Cooler with Dual-Fan Each 140mm PWM 1200RPM 70.81CFM for Intel LGA 1700/1200/1151/1150/1155 AMD AM5/AM4 https://a.co/d/6bHvLhs
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AS500 is 142×102×164 mm(L×W×H) with 5x 6mm heatpipes looks nice but is way over-priced.
Thermalright Burst Assassin is 124 x W52 x 154 mm with 6x 6mm heatpipes for $19.90 on Amazon
Thermalright Assassin King series are 120x46x148mm with 5x 6mm heatpipes for $17.90-19.90 on Amazon
ID-Cooling SE-226 series are 129×106×154mm (L×W×H) with 6x 6mm heatpipes
ID-Cooling SE-234 series are 126×90×154mm (L×W×H) with 4x 6mm heatppes
 
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can never go wrong with Noctua...it's been my go to air cooler for years...the cooler is gigantic so you need to make sure it fits your case but that's the only slight issue
 
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