• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

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

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
46,283 (7.69/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
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.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 
Joined
Nov 11, 2016
Messages
3,045 (1.13/day)
System Name The de-ploughminator Mk-II
Processor i7 13700KF
Motherboard MSI Z790 Carbon
Cooling ID-Cooling SE-226-XT + Phanteks T30
Memory 2x16GB G.Skill DDR5 7200Cas34
Video Card(s) Asus RTX4090 TUF
Storage Kingston KC3000 2TB NVME
Display(s) LG OLED CX48"
Case Corsair 5000D Air
Power Supply Corsair HX850
Mouse Razor Viper Ultimate
Keyboard Corsair K75
Software win11
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.
 
Joined
Oct 28, 2012
Messages
1,159 (0.28/day)
Processor AMD Ryzen 3700x
Motherboard asus ROG Strix B-350I Gaming
Cooling Deepcool LS520 SE
Memory crucial ballistix 32Gb DDR4
Video Card(s) RTX 3070 FE
Storage WD sn550 1To/WD ssd sata 1To /WD black sn750 1To/Seagate 2To/WD book 4 To back-up
Display(s) LG GL850
Case Dan A4 H2O
Audio Device(s) sennheiser HD58X
Power Supply Corsair SF600
Mouse MX master 3
Keyboard Master Key Mx
Software win 11 pro
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.
Noctua themselves kinda copied the gentle Typhoon :D
1616750040251.png

1616750030288.png
 

Attachments

  • 1616749952504.png
    1616749952504.png
    2.1 MB · Views: 160
  • 1616749957214.png
    1616749957214.png
    2.1 MB · Views: 117
Joined
Mar 28, 2020
Messages
1,632 (1.12/day)
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.
 
Joined
Oct 15, 2011
Messages
354 (0.08/day)
System Name Zabanya
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 3700x
Motherboard Asus X570 Strix-E
Cooling Noctua NH-D15S
Memory 2x 16 GB G Skill TridentZ Neo 3600 MHz CL16
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 2070 Super Gaming X Trio
Storage Seagate Firecuda 520 2 TB, , 2x 18 TB, 3x 20 TB = total 88,71 TB
Display(s) LG 27GP850, LG C1 55 OLED
Case Fractal Design Define 7 XL
Audio Device(s) Onkyo TX NR-646, RHA L1 DACAMP, Sennheiser HD-599
Power Supply Seasonic Prime Ultra Titanium 750 watt
Mouse Roccat Kone XP
Keyboard Corsair Strafe RGB MK.2
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.
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
 
Joined
Apr 26, 2008
Messages
229 (0.04/day)
System Name 3950X Workstation
Processor AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
Motherboard ASUS Crosshair VIII Impact
Cooling Cryorig C1 with Noctua NF-A12x15
Memory G.Skill F4-3600C16D-32GTZNC
Video Card(s) ASUS GTX 1650 LP OC
Storage 2 x Corsair MP510 1920GB M.2 SSD
Case Realan E-i7
Power Supply G-Unique 400W
Software Win 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/the-saga-of-the-little-gem-continues.12877/
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: https://celsiainc.com/resources/calculators/heat-pipe-calculator/
 
Joined
Oct 29, 2016
Messages
76 (0.03/day)
Noctua themselves kinda copied the gentle Typhoon :D
View attachment 193939
View attachment 193940

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.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jul 7, 2019
Messages
821 (0.48/day)
Noctua themselves kinda copied the gentle Typhoon :D
View attachment 193939
View attachment 193940
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.
 

Attachments

  • s-l500.jpg
    s-l500.jpg
    23 KB · Views: 131
Joined
Jul 22, 2010
Messages
103 (0.02/day)
Processor i5 12400
Motherboard Giga b660m ds3h
Cooling CPU AC Freezer 34
Memory Crucial Ballistix 2x8GB 3600 CL16
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 3060TI 8GB GAMING X
Storage Samsung EVO 860 500GB
Display(s) Benq xl2411p 24" 144hz 1920*1080
Audio Device(s) Hyperx headphones + Edifier 2.0 R1850DB
Power Supply Seasonic GC500W GOLD
Mouse Logitech G502 Hero
Joined
Dec 18, 2019
Messages
196 (0.13/day)
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.

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.
The fan blades aren’t as curved as the A12x25 or GT. It’s a different design.
 
Joined
Apr 26, 2008
Messages
229 (0.04/day)
System Name 3950X Workstation
Processor AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
Motherboard ASUS Crosshair VIII Impact
Cooling Cryorig C1 with Noctua NF-A12x15
Memory G.Skill F4-3600C16D-32GTZNC
Video Card(s) ASUS GTX 1650 LP OC
Storage 2 x Corsair MP510 1920GB M.2 SSD
Case Realan E-i7
Power Supply G-Unique 400W
Software Win 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/the-saga-of-the-little-gem-continues.12877/
You guys are too worried about the fans when what matters most is the heatsink.
 
Joined
Jan 28, 2021
Messages
845 (0.73/day)
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.
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.
 

freeagent

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Sep 16, 2018
Messages
7,421 (3.67/day)
Location
Winnipeg, Canada
System Name Altered Beast
Processor AMD R9 5900X/5800X3D
Motherboard Asus Crosshair VIII Dark Hero
Cooling Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 EVO, 1x T30
Memory 2x8 G.Skill Trident Z Royal 3200C14, 2x8GB G.Skill Trident Z Black and White 3200 C14
Video Card(s) Zotac 4070 Ti Trinity OC
Storage WD SN850X 2TB, SN850 1TB, SN770 1TB - Asus Hyper M.2, 2x SN770 1TB
Display(s) LG 50UP7100
Case Fractal Torrent Compact RGB
Audio Device(s) JBL 2.1 Deep Bass
Power Supply EVGA SuperNova 750w G+, Monster HDP1800
Mouse Logitech G502 Hero
Keyboard Logitech G213
VR HMD Oculus 3
Software Yes
Benchmark Scores Yes
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..
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2006
Messages
4,884 (0.76/day)
Location
Hong Kong
Processor Core i7-12700k
Motherboard Z690 Aero G D4
Cooling Custom loop water, 3x 420 Rad
Video Card(s) RX 7900 XTX Phantom Gaming
Storage Plextor M10P 2TB
Display(s) InnoCN 27M2V
Case Thermaltake Level 20 XT
Audio Device(s) Soundblaster AE-5 Plus
Power Supply FSP Aurum PT 1200W
Software Windows 11 Pro 64-bit
Nah, 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.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jan 28, 2021
Messages
845 (0.73/day)
Thermalright 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.
 
Joined
Jul 16, 2014
Messages
8,115 (2.29/day)
Location
SE Michigan
System Name Dumbass
Processor AMD Ryzen 7800X3D
Motherboard ASUS TUF gaming B650
Cooling Artic Liquid Freezer 2 - 420mm
Memory G.Skill Sniper 32gb DDR5 6000
Video Card(s) GreenTeam 4070 ti super 16gb
Storage Samsung EVO 500gb & 1Tb, 2tb HDD, 500gb WD Black
Display(s) 1x Nixeus NX_EDG27, 2x Dell S2440L (16:9)
Case Phanteks Enthoo Primo w/8 140mm SP Fans
Audio Device(s) onboard (realtek?) - SPKRS:Logitech Z623 200w 2.1
Power Supply Corsair HX1000i
Mouse Steeseries Esports Wireless
Keyboard Corsair K100
Software windows 10 H
Benchmark Scores https://i.imgur.com/aoz3vWY.jpg?2
I really like this cooler, the fan choice will make it perform better than other similar coolers with two 120mm fans.
 
Joined
Jun 27, 2017
Messages
243 (0.10/day)
Processor Intel i5-13600k
Motherboard MSI MEG Z690i Unify
Cooling Deepcool AN600
Memory G.Skill Ripjaws V F5-5600J2834F32GX2-RS5W 64GB
Video Card(s) Asus RX6800XT TUF
Storage Samsung 980 Pro 500GB x2
Display(s) Samsung U32H850
Case Louqe Raw S1
Audio Device(s) Denon PMA-50
Power Supply Corsair SF750
Mouse Logitech MX Master 3
Keyboard Microsoft Surface
Software Win 11 Pro
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
 
Joined
Jan 3, 2015
Messages
2,873 (0.85/day)
System Name The beast and the little runt.
Processor Ryzen 5 5600X - Ryzen 9 5950X
Motherboard ASUS ROG STRIX B550-I GAMING - ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero X570
Cooling Noctua NH-L9x65 SE-AM4a - NH-D15 chromax.black with IPPC Industrial 3000 RPM 120/140 MM fans.
Memory G.SKILL TRIDENT Z ROYAL GOLD/SILVER 32 GB (2 x 16 GB and 4 x 8 GB) 3600 MHz CL14-15-15-35 1.45 volts
Video Card(s) GIGABYTE RTX 4060 OC LOW PROFILE - GIGABYTE RTX 4090 GAMING OC
Storage Samsung 980 PRO 1 TB + 2 TB - Samsung 870 EVO 4 TB - 2 x WD RED PRO 16 GB + WD ULTRASTAR 22 TB
Display(s) Asus 27" TUF VG27AQL1A and a Dell 24" for dual setup
Case Phanteks Enthoo 719/LUXE 2 BLACK
Audio Device(s) Onboard on both boards
Power Supply Phanteks Revolt X 1200W
Mouse Logitech G903 Lightspeed Wireless Gaming Mouse
Keyboard Logitech G910 Orion Spectrum
Software WINDOWS 10 PRO 64 BITS on both systems
Benchmark Scores Se more about my 2 in 1 system here: kortlink.dk/2ca4x
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.
 
Last edited:

freeagent

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Sep 16, 2018
Messages
7,421 (3.67/day)
Location
Winnipeg, Canada
System Name Altered Beast
Processor AMD R9 5900X/5800X3D
Motherboard Asus Crosshair VIII Dark Hero
Cooling Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 EVO, 1x T30
Memory 2x8 G.Skill Trident Z Royal 3200C14, 2x8GB G.Skill Trident Z Black and White 3200 C14
Video Card(s) Zotac 4070 Ti Trinity OC
Storage WD SN850X 2TB, SN850 1TB, SN770 1TB - Asus Hyper M.2, 2x SN770 1TB
Display(s) LG 50UP7100
Case Fractal Torrent Compact RGB
Audio Device(s) JBL 2.1 Deep Bass
Power Supply EVGA SuperNova 750w G+, Monster HDP1800
Mouse Logitech G502 Hero
Keyboard Logitech G213
VR HMD Oculus 3
Software Yes
Benchmark Scores Yes
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..
 
Joined
Oct 29, 2016
Messages
76 (0.03/day)
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..
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 http://thermalbench.com/2017/05/25/darkside-gentle-typhoon-1150-rpm-120-mm-fan/3/
 
Joined
Dec 29, 2010
Messages
3,439 (0.71/day)
Processor AMD 5900x
Motherboard Asus x570 Strix-E
Cooling Hardware Labs
Memory G.Skill 4000c17 2x16gb
Video Card(s) RTX 3090
Storage Sabrent
Display(s) Samsung G9
Case Phanteks 719
Audio Device(s) Fiio K5 Pro
Power Supply EVGA 1000 P2
Mouse Logitech G600
Keyboard Corsair K95
Noctua themselves kinda copied the gentle Typhoon :D
View attachment 193939
View attachment 193940
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...
 
Joined
Jan 28, 2021
Messages
845 (0.73/day)
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...
Funny side note; 'Frost Commander' sounds like a boss in act V of Diablo II.
 
Joined
Mar 10, 2015
Messages
3,984 (1.20/day)
System Name Wut?
Processor 3900X
Motherboard ASRock Taichi X570
Cooling Water
Memory 32GB GSkill CL16 3600mhz
Video Card(s) Vega 56
Storage 2 x AData XPG 8200 Pro 1TB
Display(s) 3440 x 1440
Case Thermaltake Tower 900
Power Supply Seasonic Prime Ultra Platinum
It may beat an aio, but it should for the fact it it is 3 times the size.
 
D

Deleted member 205776

Guest
Still has better fan clips than the Dark Rock Pro 4.
 
Joined
Mar 7, 2010
Messages
953 (0.19/day)
Location
Michigan
System Name Daves
Processor AMD Ryzen 3900x
Motherboard AsRock X570 Taichi
Cooling Enermax LIQMAX III 360
Memory 32 GiG Team Group B Die 3600
Video Card(s) Powercolor 5700 xt Red Devil
Storage Crucial MX 500 SSD and Intel P660 NVME 2TB for games
Display(s) Acer 144htz 27in. 2560x1440
Case Phanteks P600S
Audio Device(s) N/A
Power Supply Corsair RM 750
Mouse EVGA
Keyboard Corsair Strafe
Software Windows 10 Pro
You 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..
 
Top