Corsair A115 Review - An Air Cooling Surprise

The Corsair A115 claims to do everything that the A500 didn't: this is supposed to be the best air cooler on the planet right now. We put that claim to the test vs. the Noctua D15, Thermalright Phantom Spirit, Peerlerss Assassin and a lot more coolers on both Intel LGA1700 and AMD AM5 platforms.
Buy items in this video from Amazon at the links below:
Corsair A115 - geni.us/CORSAIRA115
Thermalright Phantom Spirit - geni.us/PS120SE
Thermalright Peerless Assassin - geni.us/PA120SE
DeepCool AK620 - geni.us/AK620WH
ID Cooling A620 - geni.us/FROZNA620
ID Cooling A720 - geni.us/FROZNA720
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - Corsair Air Cooler Memories
0:55 - Now THIS has Potential!
2:33 - Sponsor Spot (TERRA)
3:03 - Corsair A115 Price...
3:45 - Still Something Missing
4:29 - ALMOST Perfect Memory Clearance
4:50 - Fan Acoustics
5:42 - Intel 180W Temperature Testing
6:25 - Intel 253W Temperature Testing
7:07 - Intel No Limits Temperature Testing
7:33 - Intel GAMING Temperatures
7:58 - Absolutely TITANIC Results but....
8:48 - Ryzen 5 7600X Temperature Testing
9:18 - Ryzen 7 7700X Temperature Testing
9:58 - Ryzen 9 7950X Temperature Testing
10:18 - Ryzen GAMING Temperatures
10:55 - Vindication for Corsair?
Check out the Fractal Terra (Sponsor) - geni.us/TERRASILVER
GET MERCH ►hwcstore.com
SUBSCRIBE ►bit.ly/SubHWC
Review unit provided free of charge by Corsair. This video is sponsored by Fractal. As per Hardware Canucks guidelines, no review direction was received from manufacturer. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
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#corsaira115 #hardwarecanucks

[@panvrek8952]

Ladies and gentlemen, the ONLY channel that separately tests AMD cpus, for air coolers. Thank you, once again

[@DaMoK7757]

It's so baffling to me how there are all these fantastic 100€+ Air Coolers from Noctua, Corsair, Deepcool etc. and then comes along multiple Thermalright coolers, who perform the same or even better for up to 1/3 of the cost

[@HanmaHeiro]

The only questionable thing about the Thermalright air coolers is their longevity. Meaning, could the air coolers fail due to poor material choices? It's unlikely since TA has been around for like a decade

[@HardwareCanucks]

Thermalright is using their coolers & AIO's as loss leaders to gain market share right now. Its why the market is being flooded by them.

[@chubbysumo2230]

​@@HardwareCanucksconsidering that thermal right has been around for a very long time, I doubt they are lost leaders at this point. Both thermal right and deep cool are well-established brands, they just don't charge premium for their name

[@xr250rdr68]

​@@HanmaHeiro Closer to 25 years. They were super popular in the early 2000s with their full copper heatsinks. There's not much to fail on a heatsink over time, however their fans are definitely not rated for the same MTTF as Noctua fans.

[@emken0206]

Not only comsidering price but also size which is way more Important to me I got a pretty small case which cant fit these big 160mm+ coolers

[@gregharder2765]

The format for these videos is fantastic and that "Back to Mike" countdown saves me every single time.

[@HardwareCanucks]

Thanks! We aim to make these as user friendly as possible.

[@nhoffman0677]

I've looked at these charts so many times with the air cooler series reviews, and I'm just always amazed at Thermalright's price to performance.

[@AshtonCoolman]

My Peerless Assassin was such a great purchase. It's humming along just fine on my 7700X.

[@remoshka777]

My Peerless Assassin was such a great purchase. I have 7900X :)

[@evilleader1991]

My phantom spirit 120 is such a great performer on my 5800x3d rig that it replaced my Noctua D-15 and I sold that one for profit!

[@DanielH212MC]

Holy shit, never seen such a big difference between Intel and AMD cooling performance before.

[@HardwareCanucks]

The ID Cooling A720 and new be quiets fall into that category as well.

[@realzyxtomatic]

But what on Earth is causing the difference? I see the Noctua D15 on those graphs being pretty consistent across platforms, so what is it about the A115 that just can't absorb the heat on AM5? Something about the mounting brackets? Paste application? (Just tossing out ideas here. It's not making sense to me.) edit: I just read up on the offset mounts for Noctua coolers to compensate for the AM5 hotspots. The A115 must surely have a similar issue, so perhaps some sort of offset mount for the A115 would help?

[@winebartender6653]

​@@realzyxtomaticOff set mounts definitely help(especially with what I'll say next), but the biggest contribution is a convex coldplate, which is not what you want for AMD. It creates poor contact pressure (if much pressure at all) at the hottest point (where the CCD chiplits attach to the ihs) when mounted without offset brackets. On Corsair's product page for this cooler, 'convex cold plate' is the top bullet point lol.

[@realzyxtomatic]

@@winebartender6653 Ah, I'd guess the convex curve apex is right in the middle of the cold plate, so the areas around it will have less pressure. Since the AM5 hotspot is off center, that makes a convex cold plate pretty useless. Fascinating.

[@reinulf656]

He said "concave" in the review. Did he mean convex? I was thrown off at that point in the review....

[@brianrobinson3961]

Thank You for all the Super detailed Air Cooler testing!

[@demyso663]

Corsair really needs a reality check on pricing decision, anyways thanks Mike for another stellar review.

[@MemphisMG86]

even if it has been said many times before. THANK YOU for testing both cpu parties!

[@KenOtwell]

The Phantom Spirit is virtually tied in performance on Intel for 1/3rd the price. And it blows it away on AMD. I'd love to see this tried using the CPU frame for AMD, I bet it would improve dramatically.

[@vipercrazy9910]

I had to remove my air cooler from my 7800x3d to install my upper m.2 drive, their was very obvious vertical bending of the IHS with the way the TIM looked, although no one ever shows any improvements when installing a contact frame on AM5.

[@ishaansaral502]

The contact frame makes no difference for AM5. More of an aesthetic thing for AM5.

[@The_Opinion_of_Matt]

I was looking to upgrade when AM5 released. Bought parts two months after launch. Saw the reviews and took note of their recommended cooling, a.k.a. as much as possible. I bought a Ryzen 7900X, checked what size cooler would fit in my case. Was surprised to find a 420mm AIO would fit. So a bought a Arctic Liquid Freezer 2 420mm A-RGB because it was pretty much the same price as the 320mm one.

[@doc-cle1247]

Thx again for this absolute terrific work😘

[@leftcoastfunk]

Honestly with the growing differences in IHS and actual cpu die design between Intel and AMD, cooler manufacturers really should start designing separate products for each side of the aisle. Sure, the "offset" mount add-on for some coolers is an effective (ish) band-aid, but it's still a "fix" to a problem that exists. In an ideal world, the product you buy would be tailor-made to work properly on the product you bought it for. Obviously this would have it's downsides too - such as requiring someone to buy a new cooler if jumping between the red team and the blue team, but the upside would be that you know you're buying the right cooler for your needs every time. I think if manufacturers were really allowed to reasonably do this, we'd almost immediately see better performing coolers on both sides since they wouldn't be limited by having to try to make it work on both at the same time

[@G.J.Uytdewilligen]

This is what I came here to say, and you have already said it. Straight up facts.

[@HanmaHeiro]

I dunno about better performance on both sides. I feel like most manufacturers would go after Intel first and AMD second. Kind of how much we've seen the offsets made available

[@renelackner3081]

Seems like this cooler from Corsair is already starting this trend but is not labeled as such. Would be nice (from a buyers perspective) if it would be indicated on the boxes on which platform a given CPU cooler performs the best w/o going online and doing multiple hour long research.

[@kyoudaiken]

Nope. The IHS has to go entirely. This thing has held back cooling for 20 years now.

[@DEJ915]

Thermalright did make some AMD specific models before they came up with the new line and started selling direct but I guess they didn't sell. (also their old distributor nan's was horrible)

[@pedramkavian]

I bought a Noctua NH-U12A about 3 weeks ago. It runs absolutely smooth without any noise.

[@user-xl6yo5dr6p]

Even at max speed?

[@pedramkavian]

@user-xl6yo5dr6p If you mean the noise, you can already see the results in this video. It works really smoothly. Once you have it in your hand, you're gonna understand what quality it has. I haven't had any other air coolers and this is my first time buying an air cooler. After a lot of research I decided to buy a Noctua. I'm absolutely satisfied with it.

[@Hydra_X9K_Music]

​@pedramkavian Yeah I got a NH-U12A cooling my Ryzen 7 5800x3D, and that, along with other noctua fans in a Corsair 4000D Airflow case, keeps it cool at around 39 C idle and high 50s low 60's under load. And that's with the quiet fan curves in my motherboard

[@user-xl6yo5dr6p]

@Hydra_X9K_Music when u say these kinda stuff you need to tell the ambient temperature

[@sagheerkhan1826]

Very informative detailed review.

[@riba2233]

love your cooler videos, they are really great :) I almost forgot about their previous disaster lol

[@Trian1618]

i'd realy like to see a roundup of low profile cooler on AM5, amazing review as always

[@MadridistaFrieren]

I'm pretty sure Mike already done that. If i remember correctly the tittle is " low profile coolers vs Ryzen" they all got bodied btw.

[@liptonx]

Hi. Insofar as timewise makes sens, I think a lot of us would appreciate a testing of this cooler on the AM4 platform. At least 5800x3d numbers. Many thanks for the awesome content.

[@upgrade1373]

Thanks for that AM5 section, Noctua here I come!

[@Pictus_Invictus]

Thank you for the review! Thermalright has a new and unknown flagship, Thermalright Frost Vortex 140 SE. Strange, no information in the Thermalright site, but in some shops...

[@HardwareCanucks]

Another week another new Thermalright cooler.....but the FV is simply a Frost Spirit with TR's newer (and VERY loud) high performance fans.

[@deviousnate7238]

I appreciate how you show the difference between AMD and Intel CPU testing! I hope that standard spreads among all air cooler reviewers.

[@kensg]

Always good indept reveiw..thank you

[@Caesar2001]

Thermalright phantom spirit kills all the competition, I bought the evo for 50 usd

[@Falawyn]

Hello great video as usual I don't know if it's out already where you live, but i would love to see the performance of the new Thermalright phantom spirit EVO

[@HardwareCanucks]

We have one.

[@576turky]

man u sent me to the skies then chopped my wings with the amd side

[@Haddley333]

Fantastic review. Something isn't right when testing on AM5. Maybe corsair needs an offset bracket like noctua offers? I was ready to get this cooler due to aesthetics and performance. Back to the drawing board...

[@itsdeonlol]

The design is really nice!

[@Gurvtz]

great review

[@coolcat23]

Are you sure the A115 will perform excellently across the whole Intel platform? You did not test it with more than one CPU, did you? Great job of uncovering the weakness for AM5; I wonder what the underlying factors are. Is it alignment with hot spots? Is it the shape of the heat spreaders? Understanding what causes the massively different performances for the Intel CPU vs the AMD CPU would help illuminating on which range of CPUs the performance can be expected to be good (or bad).

[@mikeyhope7577]

the scythe and thermalright air coolers are so impressive for their price.

[@Liesthroughisteeth]

A concave base (presumably filled with TIM) isn't going to conduct heat as well as a flat base having more actual contact surface area against the CPUs heat spreader is it?

[@dinospumoni8255]

Phantom Spirit 120 is an amazing cooler. I hope you guys review the upcoming Frost Vortex 140 by TR as it's supposed to be their new flagship.

[@squatch545]

Mike, can you please do a review of the Alphcool Apex Stealth metal fans?

[@getder389]

I would love to see Endorfy coolers here as well.

[@johnedison04]

You might check and review also the Cooler Master MA824 stealth

[@krjal3038]

Aw man, I had such high hopes for this one after the strong start. Last year I decided to move to AM5 after more than 14 years on Intel platforms and for the price of shipping an offset bracket my old NH-U12A is handling a 7800X3D far better than I ever expected. It's summer now in Australia and while it spins up a bit on a all-core render load I'm getting less than 65°C while gaming and fans are inaudible. Part of that is the great power efficiency of the chip but that doesn't mean I can't keep an eye out for an upgrade and maybe even keep the fans quiet under high load. Sadly this corsair cooler isn't it.

[@McBane.]

Was the ma824 unavailable for testing in this? would love to see this in future comparatives.

[@ytQrash]

The Intel 12th gen (and newer) IHS bends which causes a lack of contact in the center. I would expect an Intel-optimized cooler to be convex to fill this gap, not concave. Also, a convex shape would give poorer contact with an AMD processor's flatter IHS and off-center cores.

[@MaheerKibria]

The thermal paste tube is a non-issue. But, I have mixed feelings about the lack of a paper manual. I feel from an ecological standpoint that not having it could be good but at the same time, you have a decently big box where you could print the manual. I have a love-hate thing with Corsair. I don't think their fans are too expensive because I personally think they have the best unified lighting ecosystem out there since they are one of the few that can integrate with motherboards as well as with some GPUs so you can run a single software for your entire build. This means I am ok spending extra for their fan if RGB is going to be a focus of my build. They have some really good performing reasonably priced custom water cooling parts. I just don't like their design direction aesthetically.

[@boonedawg1506]

I wish there were more coolers that are this good at or under the 150mm height. This cooler is impressive!

[@MadridistaFrieren]

Noctua Nh-d12L?.

[@ranggiarohmansani]

I found some interesting review of Jiushark JF200, I know they're not easy to get there, but in my country Thermalright is almost double the price compare to US, so I'm thinking about to get it, found interesting review and the performance is on par if not better than Peerless Assassin by writer of Toms Hardware but unfortunately the test only on Intel, Gamer Nexus put Jiusark low profile HSF on best performing list already, maybe JF200 will be interesting for you to test? thank you!

[@kostasag.2520]

Have a general question for your tests….are you using the thermal paste included with each cpu cooler in your tests? I mean it would be nice to see how each combo performs…

[@HardwareCanucks]

No we use a standardized thermal compound mostly to account for the multiple mounts we do with coolers like this one that have pre applied compound.

[@HeavyDevy89]

My AK620 from DeepCool is fantastic on my 7800X3D. Such a great cooler for an amazing price.

[@MadridistaFrieren]

What's the highest temps you got with the cooler?. I'm Planning to buy the ak620 white digital

[@SLiX-thatguy11m-]

Ive been an Air Cooler advocate for a while, but since I'm jumping to AMD from Intel, I'm starting to consider AIOs. Any chance we'll get some comparisons for AMD AM5 between Air Cooling and AIO.

[@boi9433]

can you please test the silverstone FHP141 , its an old 140mm fan but its 38mm thick xD

[@gladiumcaeli]

Please do a review on the JiuShark j13k diamond Mini

[@chuckthomas1872]

I had one of the A500's and it was great, unbeatable at the crazy 24.99 I paid for it.. just the fans and the cool screwdriver alone made it worth it..

[@fisher_price]

You really got to review Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 EVO

[@AchPc-hj2ww]

I want a review about that too 😢

[@Qyoon]

i went from, "wow corsair made a great cooler this time !" To "nevermind they rushed it again" when i saw the AMD results. For that price, it's disappointing.

[@IQDESTRUCTOR]

the cooler looks real nice but the price is so behind-the-times/tone-deaf to the market and pricepoint. great engineering but in terms of value, this thing's getting demolished unless the price gets cut.

[@riaden13]

Do you think there might be a single fan version? Just asking, thanks for the great video as always.

[@HardwareCanucks]

Judging from the response, the issue would be one of price. Even at $50, a single fan, single tower heatsink would be overpriced based on the alternatives.

[@kurtego]

Hey guys, quick request can you re-test the thermalright coolers but replace the fans with the arctic p12 max (white as it's better) please I'm interested to see if this is better or worse.

[@DaGhostToast]

I wonder if an offset mount would help with those AMD numbers

[@taomahNEGEV]

TR Phantom Spirit 120SE kicks arse again.

[@Shankovich]

What's the issue with AM5 mounting? Trying to look it up but not getting a lot of clear answers on reddit and etc.

[@Pienimusta]

Seems really great, but then you have Phantom Spirit for less than half.

[@TheKalkara131]

Air cooling aficionados, I come bearing a question: I'm planning on building my mother a new pc in the Fractal Terra, and need help on a cooler. I want to use the upcoming 8700G from AMD, so it has to be AM5 compatible. I'm leaning NH-L12S. Any other ideas?

[@InnocentiusLacrimosa]

Just look at the coolers in this review. There is a section for AM5 coolers around 9:20 mark.

[@fabio.loureiro94]

Can you guys please test the new TR PS EVO? It has upgraded fans and bearings at pretty much the same price

[@HardwareCanucks]

The problem is those fans are also known for being louder across their entire RPM range.

[@mattdagger1480]

Ahh. At the price I'll stick to my peerless assassin with phanteks t30 fans. The ones you all said wouldn't fit lol. But two cps and a year later still fits and performance is amazing

[@tattooedsailor8666]

How are T30's compared to stock? One of my fans went out and I'm looking for a replacement.

[@simoSLJ89]

6:59 So it's like a D15, but 10 years later. Great :D

[@Dr.WhetFarts]

Aircooling can't be improved further. Any high-end cooler is waste of money. If you use low watt CPUs, but PA120 and if you want actual good cooling, go AIO or custom water.

[@simoSLJ89]

@@Dr.WhetFarts everything in the world can be improved. Next D16 will be better, of course. 10 degrees better? Of course not. But 2, 3, maybe 4? Of course.

[@Kyleplier]

Yeah I was considering the A115, until I saw its AM5 performance. The Noctua NH-D15 is still top tier. The cooler you can keep your components, CPU included, the better off they’ll be. It’s why Gaming Laptops that are heavily used would be lucky to get over 3 years of daily use, especially when the temps run 95°C under full load.

[@docbugsy]

Are you ever going to review the MasterAir MA824 Stealth?

[@HardwareCanucks]

Likely not. We will see though.

[@Allhopeforhumanity]

Is the AM5 issue due to the concave baseplate, or can it be improved with offsetting?

[@Zordonzig]

offset mounting could easily improve performance by up to 3 degrees on average. Both Noctua and Arctic include it as an option on all their coolers now. Every other company needs to get on board with offset mounts.

[@maozedowner5915]

Offset helps. It's problem is that the heat source are very centered around specific part of the IHS which causes coolers to have way less direct heat pipe contact surface area. That's why they produce way less heat than Intel but somehow just as hard to cool.

[@AlphaMachina]

I lapped the concaved cold plate on my Deepcool AS500 to make it work with my 5800X3D. It was running hot, only to realize that the mounting surface was just a small area right in the middle of the IHS. Went from 800 > 1000 > 1200 > 1500 > 2000 > lapping stone (probably around 6000) > polishing compound. Made it nice and flat, and brought it to a near mirror finish. And it works perfectly fine now. Keeps the 5800X3D at 30c idle, and it never really goes above 50c in games.

[@Zordonzig]

@@AlphaMachina that's great, but the 5800X3D is AM4. AM5 CPUs are a different issue.

[@AlphaMachina]

@@Zordonzig It's the same issue, of the cold plate of the heat sink not lining up with the chiplets under the IHS. It might be different spacing, but the same issue across AM4 and AM5. You lap the cold plate to make it flat so that it aligns with a wider area on the IHS, covering more of the chiplets. Period. It doesn't matter if it's AM4 or AM5. People are simply offsetting the coolers so that the smaller surface area of the concaved cold plate aligns with more of the chiplets under the IHS. It's two different ways to combat the same problem.

[@joshuachristiansen2626]

So it struggles on AM5 How is it on AM4? AM4 chips as far as I know, Run much cooler then AM5, Does it react any different to air coolers like this? Or is it a similar story?

[@HardwareCanucks]

The AM4 CPUs are quite different when compared to AM5. The IHS is thinner and it transmits heat more efficiently, despite a very similar chiplet layout for the Ryzen 5000 series.

[@xaratemplate]

Is a water-cooled fan better for the cpu?

[@Loonistrator]

Man, this was going to be my choice for my upcoming AM5 build, but those AM5 results are atrocious. Looks like it's going to be the AK620 instead. As others have mentioned, kudos for testing both platforms.

[@Ivlodded]

now thats surprising

[@kyoudaiken]

There's a typo on one slide at 10:18 where it says CPRSAIR :D

[@bensonspov]

So I am running a Ryzen 9 5900x and I am looking at replacing my old AIO with a air cooler and looking at TRPS120, PA120 (or the SE versions not sure which one to get). So do you guys have a recommendation on which one to get? FS140? PS120? PA120? or one of the 120SE version? I'm honestly lost. I'm leaning towards a PS120 but any suggestions will be great!

[@HardwareCanucks]

Personally I like the PA120 White but that's just me....

[@jinliang43]

Why frost spirit better than frost commander? Both are almost identical but frost commander has one more 8mm heat pipe and more powerful fans

[@markdavenportjr5129]

FINALLY I can build me a all out corsair air cooled build. Sure liquid cooled aio's is cool and all but I prefer my air coolers anyday over liquid. :)

[@toaster98]

I wish i had watched some of your reviews BEFORE i went out and bought a Dark Rock Pro 5 for my 7800X3D...

[@MadridistaFrieren]

R.I.P

[@chiptune_]

I couldn't imagine this on an intel platform upgraded with Noctua, Silent Wings, or T30 fans

[@rudy_dstroys1821]

I totally dig the Peerless Assassin

[@Physis_88]

Has HWC tested the Noctua NH-D12L cooler?

[@HardwareCanucks]

Nope

[@vintage0x]

Can someone tell me what the "+ offset" part of Noctua D15 + offset means at 9:40? Is it something to do with the Noctua mounting on AM5?

[@Thrashman138]

Yes, that's eactly right. Google this for more info: "Noctua releases offset mounting for improved cooling performance on AMD AM5 processors"

[@Reyfox1]

Yes...

[@HardwareCanucks]

Here you go: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r161hmqvj8aGoqc

[@vintage0x]

@@HardwareCanucks hey thanks! I'm going to use one with my 14700K + D15!!!

[@luisitopalustre5947]

@@vintage0x the offset is only for amd, on intel it will make things worse.

[@fluphybunny930]

Bought the Phantom Spirit SE based partly on your review. For £30 it makes most other coolers irrelevant.

[@keerthan7558]

What's up with the beeping noise( red dot appears 6:45 for eg) when you highlight the specific points in the graph ? It's kinda annoying

[@HardwareCanucks]

You're the first one to say that. It's an indication of what I'm talking about for clarity's sake.

[@keerthan7558]

​@@HardwareCanucks is that so ? well i was using my headphones at a moderate volume and this noise was bugging me, i thought something was wrong with my headphones. i suppose it is helpful for those who want to know the exact noise level.

[@v0lt1129]

Ordered the original, wasn't too happy with results. Ordered this one for my new 14900K build. Let's find out what it can due with Noctua 140mm 3000rpm fans :3

[@dyslectische]

I have the old one. But my base is just fine and smooth . So not all the old one have this problem than. Work just fine for me on my ryzen 2600x . And for the price i pay for (45euro) its just fine.

[@adrianpavlou]

Can you test it on AM4 as well?

[@HardwareCanucks]

Current Gen platforms are what we've chosen to focus on.

[@Zordonzig]

Extremely disappointing to see Corsair make the same stupid damn mistake bequiet did. AM5 is THE KING of CPU platforms going forward and to ignore performance there is a tragedy.

[@Thrashman138]

Our best option here is and has been NH-D15. Crazy that it's still the king even 10 years after Noctua first released it.

[@Zordonzig]

@@Thrashman138 can't wait to see the performance of the new one once Noctua finally releases it.

[@Thrashman138]

@@Zordonzig Same. I've been excited to see what they've been working on since the announcement last year.

[@tonydalimata]

​@@Zordonzig same , but I've got the d-15 so there probably won't be much need to upgrade. A quote from noctua regarding their engineers gives me much respect towards the company.

[@xXEPIKgamerXx]

"Wow this looks like a really nice 140mm cooler to consider for my AM5 Build especially because it beats the FS 140" *continues to see performance for price* BIG FAT OOF

[@maozedowner5915]

"Hey, new cooler review!" "Welp, still Thermalright at the top of every metrics. It's getting boring."

[@averagetomas5755]

My question would be, is there a third party bracket that would fix this coolers issue with AMD? I like the design but if it will perform poorly on my system there is no point.

[@brent19832009]

Like DJ Khalid said: “and anutha one!”

[@notmatt5864]

lol, I will take the $40.00 thermaltight cooler over the $100.00 one.

[@maozedowner5915]

Actually costs about 20$ on Taobao.

[@maozedowner5915]

@@loomawoeWhat gives you the idea of cheap fans die quickly? Fans are ancient technology, almost all of them are reliable. Most fans die because of failed motherboard but this is computer case not house fans, there's no motherboard on the fan. I never heard any bad reliability reports of Thermalright fans users. Not that there's many people talking about fan reliability tho.

[@noma_rugai]

@@loomawoe Firstly, source of lifespan? Just after a few google searches, a cheap fan would live for 5+ years heck it can even outlive you if you give it proper maintenance, is it turned on 24/7 or not, which orientation it was mounted on, and knowing it's bearing type. A typical fan would last 10+ years. Secondly, after I aforementioned above, 10+ years is enough time where you most likely would change your whole system out and get another air/water cooling for another future socket platform.

[@keonxd8918]

​@@loomawoe replace those fans with arctic P12s or P12 Max and its still cheaper then buying majority of the competition

[@dmac7660]

What about AM4?

[@FromBKI]

What about am4?

[@ghostriderx916]

My lowly ag500 isn’t even mentioned 😢

[@InnocentiusLacrimosa]

The Intel vs AMD issue for this moment is kind of fine if you know the purpose you are buying the cooler for. My experience with good air coolers is though that they carry over from build to build and from platform to platform. This big a difference between sockets is a definite no-go if such goals are on mind. I would have zero knowledge how this cooler would perform on the next sockets. It might be terrible for both platforms or switch from working on Intel to working on AMD. It is a complete coin toss - especially if the company behind the cooler has this flippant attitude that "we know about the problem, but are either not working on it, cannot solve it or just do not care".

[@flejmie123]

Would the Am5 results be similar on AM4?

[@HardwareCanucks]

No results would. Improve on AM4

[@marks9233]

If used for Intel CPUs, Corsair did a good job of copying Noctua's ancient, amazing design and Thermalright's excellent products. Thanks for pointing out which models work well on both CPU platforms. Crazy that you have to pick your air cooler based on what processor brand you have. Interesting about the offset for Noctua. I know Arctic's Liquid Freezer III AIO has an offset bracket for Ryzen and has great results with that. One would think that Corsair would have enough product design expertise to consider equal performance on Ryzen. But no one uses Ryzen CPUs... SMH Maybe it is difficult to do a Ryzen offset bracket and maintain component clearances or something. Or they're just a big company with huge bureaucracy and product line, with no real drive to make a truly excellent product. I want to like them, but then their products are just okay. I hope their fans on this cooler are indication of improvements to come for their $50 RGB fans that suck loudly. They do great marketing, product line integration, and distribution though. Thanks for the good data and balanced analysis. I almost thought you were going to sell out at the beginning. I am glad I watched the second half! Ha. 👍

[@fatjawns3671]

Noctua better be cooking up some fire

[@ragiponsoy2289]

AK620, TR and Noctua have the crowns still. Corsair needs to give more time to this department.

[@wingofwinter888]

the title should be: how to not falling in love to phantom spirit and peerless assasin?

[@ishaansaral502]

Honestly what secret sauce makes Thermalright such a strong performer for 1/3 the price? I did notice they are one of the few brands to use 7 heatpipes instead of 6 for the PS120 which might explain it. The fans on them aren't that great honestly but they can be replaced which is nice. There is also a new PS120 EVO with much better fans. The nice thing is the TL-K12 fans they use are around 12 euros and can be retrofit on the PS120 to improve thermals and noise. They use the V2 bearing with a wider rpm range, and look very similar to Noctua's fans. Would be cool if you could get the PS120 EVO and test it to compare.

[@HardwareCanucks]

Its all about the mounting pressure. Their new mounting kit which rolled out with the Peerless Assassin is perfectly tuned for both Intel and AM5 pressure points.

[@nknasi]

I've got a 7800x3d with the PS120 EVO and a TR contact frame. Idle temps are low 40s, gaming temps around 61-62C. I have zero complaints.

[@ishaansaral502]

@nknasi Yeah, same here without the contact frame. It's luckily not necessary for AM5, unlike Intel. The contact frame sadly makes no difference to thermals.

[@fokker1138]

The air cooling manufacturers should start designing their heatsinks with an interchangeable base plate that are optimized for the heat spreaders of the two major players. They they can chase optimizing for both platforms without having to produce two separate lines of product or something that is trying to do both, but not necessarily doing its best for either.

[@InnocentiusLacrimosa]

I doubt that works. If the base plate is interchangeable, you are creating another layer where the thermal transfer needs to happen with thermal paste or liquid metal.

[@fokker1138]

@@InnocentiusLacrimosa That depends on how you're machining it and what additional cost that machining brings. They're not trying to mate two surfaces from different manufacturers. They could also include newer alternatives to traditional pastes (like kryosheet) to remove that as a maintenance item if they do need to include some sort of thermal bridge. It's a potentially less costly alternative to either machining two different lines or just boxing yourself out of one segment of the market.

[@rudy_dstroys1821]

One reason why I stopped purchasing Corsair Products. That response alone really put the final nail on the coffin.

[@NavySeal2k]

And still with all the improvements it is an unsolvable industry problem to apply stickers centered on fans XD

[@eLOZedO]

Still no Cooler Master MA82 in comparison for high end air coolers, kinda kills the whole point of benchmarking :/

[@MadridistaFrieren]

Why are you so obsess with that cooler?