Friday, March 26th 2021

Thermalright Frost Commander 140 is a Large Dual Fin-Stack Cooler Out to Snack on AIOs

by
btarunr
 Discuss (44 Comments)
Thermalright unveiled its new flagship air cooler, the Frost Commander 140. This massive "D-type" dual fin-stack cooler is designed for conventional tower-type builds. With a height of exactly 160 mm, the cooler might scrape the side-panel of most mid-tower cases. Two equal-sized stacks of 53 aluminium fins, each, are skewered by five 8 mm-thick nickel-plated copper heat pipes that make indirect contact with the CPU through a mirror-finished nickel-plated copper base. There are two fans included with the cooler, a smaller 120 mm fan pushes fresh air into the first fin-stack while a larger 140 mm fan between the two fin-stacks conveys this air through the second fin-stack. Mounting clips are included letting you mount up to three fans that are up to 140 mm in size.

The included 120 mm fan, TL-C12, turns at speeds of up to 1,850 RPM ±10%, pushing up to 82 CFM of air, at up to 2.10 mm H₂O static pressure, and up to 29.6 dBA noise output. The larger included 140 mm fan, a TL-D14X, does up to 1,800 RPM, up to 95.50 CFM airflow, 2.25 mm H₂O static pressure, and is as loud as 30.2 dBA at top speed. Both fans feature fluid-dynamic bearings. With its fans in place, the cooler measures 140 mm x 146 mm x 160 mm (WxDxH), weighing exactly 1.34 kg (1 kg heatsink + 340 g for the two fans). CPU sockets supported include AM4, LGA1200, LGA115x, and LGA2066. The company didn't put out thermal performance numbers, but could offer the Frost Commander 140 as an alternative to entry/mid all-in-one liquid CPU coolers. The company didn't reveal pricing.

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44 Comments on Thermalright Frost Commander 140 is a Large Dual Fin-Stack Cooler Out to Snack on AIOs

#1
nguyen
Wow those fans look very much like the Noctua NF-A12 ones, I guess Thermalright and Thermaltake copied Noctua's homeworks.
Still Thermalright is an amazing cooler brand though.
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#2
dyonoctis
nguyenWow those fans look very much like the Noctua NF-A12 ones, I guess Thermalright and Thermaltake copied Noctua's homeworks.
Still Thermalright is an amazing cooler brand though.
Noctua themselves kinda copied the gentle Typhoon :D

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#3
watzupken
I've tested a couple of these giant coolers, namely, Scythe Fuma 2, and BeQuiet Dark Rock 4 Pro, and agree they are on par in terms of cooling effectiveness of most 240 AIO coolers. However, the flipside of using such massive coolers is that they tend to cause quite a bit of inconveniences because it may obstruct ram and SSD slots, and also makes connecting/ disconnecting some cables very tricky. In the case of the Dark Rock 4 Pro, it was so close to my graphic card that I was not able to eject my graphic card from the PCI-E slot since I can't get to the eject mechanism. So while this Thermalright cooler is bigger and should ideally cool better, I am not sure if I would recommend such a big cooler, especially to people that like to change parts in the PC quite often.
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#4
shilka
watzupkenI've tested a couple of these giant coolers, namely, Scythe Fuma 2, and BeQuiet Dark Rock 4 Pro, and agree they are on par in terms of cooling effectiveness of most 240 AIO coolers. However, the flipside of using such massive coolers is that they tend to cause quite a bit of inconveniences because it may obstruct ram and SSD slots, and also makes connecting/ disconnecting some cables very tricky. In the case of the Dark Rock 4 Pro, it was so close to my graphic card that I was not able to eject my graphic card from the PCI-E slot since I can't get to the eject mechanism. So while this Thermalright cooler is bigger and should ideally cool better, I am not sure if I would recommend such a big cooler, especially to people that like to change parts in the PC quite often.
As far as i can tell the Be Quiet Dark Rock 4 Pro is not asymmetric like this new Thermalright Frost Commander 140 or the Noctua NH-D15S
I have an NH-D15S and the asymmetric layout gives me just enough room to reach the PCI-E lock but the normal D15 would like you say block all acces to the lock
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#5
theGryphon
Technically, 5x8mm should perform better than 6x6mm heat pipes. It also makes more sense to me in terms of airflow performance.
Last time I've seen this setup was the Phanteks dual-tower cooler and it had great performance indeed.
So, I'm curious how this one compares to the Noctua cooler, using the same set of fans...

Edit: celsiainc.com/resources/calculators/heat-pipe-calculator/
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#6
MaMoo
dyonoctisNoctua themselves kinda copied the gentle Typhoon :D

Still have quite a few of the Gentle Typhoons in service. One of the quietest fans with a very good performance. Noctua was really good at marketing itself, like Bose. Thermalright wasn't, but their designs like the XP-series, HR-series and I think the U120 predate Noctua's equivalents historically. I still have that as well.
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#7
TechLurker
dyonoctisNoctua themselves kinda copied the gentle Typhoon :D

EK also copied the GTs somewhat, going with the larger hub motor and directly comparing their Vardars to GTs (despite fewer blades). Heck, they were the first to push into the niche when Scythe stopped marketing them and a Canadian shop took over via the Darkside GTs (updated with PWM for some models). Rather than trying to improve on the concept (like Noctua did), EK went with RGB and wider RPM range.
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#9
MDWiley
I don’t know much about thermalright and their history in the PC market, but they seem to make pretty cool products. I’d be interested to see a radiator/static pressure fan if they ever go that route.
nguyenWow those fans look very much like the Noctua NF-A12 ones, I guess Thermalright and Thermaltake copied Noctua's homeworks.
Still Thermalright is an amazing cooler brand though.
The fan blades aren’t as curved as the A12x25 or GT. It’s a different design.
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#10
theGryphon
You guys are too worried about the fans when what matters most is the heatsink.
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#11
Operandi
MaMooStill have quite a few of the Gentle Typhoons in service. One of the quietest fans with a very good performance. Noctua was really good at marketing itself, like Bose. Thermalright wasn't, but their designs like the XP-series, HR-series and I think the U120 predate Noctua's equivalents historically. I still have that as well.
Nah, its not just marketing, Noctua puts a lot of R&D into their fans.
You guys are too worried about the fans when what matters most is the heatsink.
The fan is easiest thing to cheap out on so its often times the differentiating factor.
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#12
freeagent
Some of you guys probably haven't been around long enough to know but.. TR was making high end heatsinks before Noctua was in the HSF game. They all copy each other. TR was a pioneer, and did not patent anything.. the first time I saw a Noctua review, it looked like they used many of TR's manufacturing and design techniques. I know a lot of people put Noctua on a pedestal, but it really is uncalled for.

Just know that they all copy each other. It could be a dimension, a technique, a plating, whatever..
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#13
Zubasa
OperandiNah, its not just marketing, Noctua puts a lot of R&D into their fans.


The fan is easiest thing to cheap out on so its often times the differentiating factor.
Thermalright is known for making good quality fans with good bearings in them for a long time.
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#14
Operandi
ZubasaThermalright is know to make good quality fans with good bearings in them for a long time.
Didn't mean to imply otherwise, just stating the Noctua puts a lot of their own development into their fans and that the fan is often times an afterthought.
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#15
DeathtoGnomes
I really like this cooler, the fan choice will make it perform better than other similar coolers with two 120mm fans.
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#16
aktpu
I have owned 3 Thermalright coolers, they all have been awesome. If I'll ever go back to case that allows large tower cooler, I'll probably get this or some version of Macho
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#17
Tomgang
Nice to see a new dual tower cooler. But it doesn't change my cooling plans for 5950X... When I actually can buy that dam thing that is.

My cooling plan is a Noctua NH-D15 Chromax black and then throw stock fans over my shoulder and mount some noctua industrial ippc 3000 rpm fans on it and let it sit on some thermal grizzly kryonaut extreme paste. I really can't think of a much better air cooling solution than this that also fits my black/dark themed pc build.

But make no mistake, I had a thermalright ultra 120 extreme single tower cooler on a I7 920 DO and that worked great.
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#18
freeagent
I just tried to find one, not too hard admittedly.. none yet. I will try it out.. hopefully it comes with TF8 or TFX. I could use some more..
Posted on Reply
#19
MaMoo
freeagentSome of you guys probably haven't been around long enough to know but.. TR was making high end heatsinks before Noctua was in the HSF game. They all copy each other. TR was a pioneer, and did not patent anything.. the first time I saw a Noctua review, it looked like they used many of TR's manufacturing and design techniques. I know a lot of people put Noctua on a pedestal, but it really is uncalled for.

Just know that they all copy each other. It could be a dimension, a technique, a plating, whatever..
I still have an old TR XP-90c that with some simple DIY hardware, is still in use. I also have a U120 Extreme. Noctua is great too, and I have their D15, but I'm old enough to remember TR's rise to fame.

On the other hand, the Gentle Typhoons are still very competitive fans and come out on top in some uses, see thermalbench.com/2017/05/25/darkside-gentle-typhoon-1150-rpm-120-mm-fan/3/
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#20
thesmokingman
dyonoctisNoctua themselves kinda copied the gentle Typhoon :D

There are a couple threads here discussing this. Anyways, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery as they say. That look that Nidec built was function over form but now since it's such a legend it lives on as form over function. Oh the irony.

On topic, the 140 fans on this cooler still looks anemic if you compare it to the Nidec motor size vs blade length. That's the fundamental problem with 140s, bigger blades same 120 motors...
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#21
Operandi
thesmokingmanThere are a couple threads here discussing this. Anyways, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery as they say. That look that Nidec built was function over form but now since it's such a legend it lives on as form over function. Oh the irony.

On topic, the 140 fans on this cooler still looks anemic if you compare it to the Nidec motor size vs blade length. That's the fundamental problem with 140s, bigger blades same 120 motors...
Funny side note; 'Frost Commander' sounds like a boss in act V of Diablo II.
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#22
moproblems99
It may beat an aio, but it should for the fact it it is 3 times the size.
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#24
Dave65
theGryphonYou guys are too worried about the fans when what matters most is the heatsink.
Well.. Drama!

Also if this beat an AIO id gladly switch..
Posted on Reply
#25
Caring1
OperandiDidn't mean to imply otherwise, just stating the Noctua puts a lot of their own development into their fans and that the fan is often times an afterthought.
Hell no, if I have to spend at least $30 per fan I am making sure I get decent ones up to the job.
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