Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 EVO

[crazyeyesreaper]

Thermalright is on a mission to dominate the CPU air cooling market with the Phantom Spirit 120 EVO. This cooler offers top-tier performance and exceptional value, with a sleek design that, as a package, outshines the competition, making the Phantom Spirit 120 EVO a beacon of excellence in PC cooling.

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[P4-630]

One of the best air coolers you can get ATM if it size-wise fits in your case/build that is...

 

[oxrufiioxo]

@freeagent Would be proud.

 

[KellyNyanbinary]

Other companies simply cannot compete.

 

[Onasi]

Yeah, that’s kinda why so many people wanted a TR cooler in the charts for so long. It establishes a benchmark for pretty much anything else on the market to overcome. And it also makes a lot of products look downright pointless.
Hell, I would go as far as to say that there are, for most people, now essentially just three options for CPU cooling - a TR air cooler, an Arctic AIO and custom water if you want to be fancy. Pretty much everything else seems like just straight up worse or very niche choices.

 

[Rais]

I'm speechless, they're setting a new bar and it's very far.

very proud of my silver soul 135

 

[phanbuey]

My next cooler.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

This cooler appears to be made in the same company as the Deepcool coolers. It is equivalent to Deepcool Ax620 cooler (which exists in a few versions). I am using this cooler now in AG620 version (with flattened base) and I got 83°C with 14900K at 220W - maximal temp over all cores.

I tested Deepcool Assassin IV cooler and it could cool 300W - this cooler has a precision milled base with truly flat part.

How to check flatness of CPUs and coolers - INK and OPTICAL INTERFERENCE methods

I see that Arctic published nice illustration of the Intel CPU mounted in the socket with normal mounting mechanism and with mounting frame:

www.techpowerup.com

 

[P4-630]

a precision milled base

You'll find this with every other (premium) cooler...

 

[Fungi]

No money spent on marketing is probably how they keep their prices so low, but it's getting really hard to keep track of Thermalright coolers given how many models they have and how often they release new versions.
That said, I love the look and size of the PA 120 Mini (Silver Soul) and it's definitely a top candidate for future builds.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

"continually raising the bar lowering the prices for others to follow..."

Fixed that for you

(at least i hope.... Noctua and BeQuiet cant be too happy with TR eating up more market share)

 

[freeagent]

Other companies simply cannot compete.

They never could, even back in the day

This cooler appears to be made in the same company as the Deepcool coolers

i thought so too last year or the year before, but from what I can see.. no.

but it's getting really hard to keep track of Thermalright coolers given how many models they have and how often they release new versions.

I think they are trying to gauge the market to see what people like and what they don’t.

I have had the Evo for the last few months, and when I am not running their AIO, I fall back to this cooler. It can take a T30 in the center without spreading the towers, and nice and comfy with the stock fan clips. Very nice.

 

[Chrispy_]

Am I imagining a TPU review of the Peerless Assassin SE120? I see it in the charts but can't see it in the reviews list....

i thought so too last year or the year before, but from what I can see.. no.

Indeed, these are definitely different products to the AK620. I don't buy the AK620 any more because it's not that cheap and I found the fans to be poorly balanced in all of the samples I bought over a two month period.

 

[Space Lynx]

@crazyeyesreaper any chance we will get a ThermalRight Frost Commander 140 air review? I love mine, and I know @freeagent bathes with his sometimes he loves it so much...

lol jk

but on a more serious note Tom's Hardware has the FC140 as the best air cooler on the market beating everything else and going close to AIO's. just wondering what your review would show is all

 

[Sithaer]

Crazy that this thing is like ~90 $ where I live for some reason. 'basically double of whats listed here in the review'
Thats like 240 AIO price around here, about the same as Arctic's 240 Liquid Freezer III.

Tho Thermalright's air coolers aint that common here either, at least harder to find than most of the other brands. 'thats why I have a budget ID cooling one instead'
Obviously I'm not in the market for one but since I kept hearing how good these Thermalright coolers are for the price I was curious and checked just now

 

[P4-630]

Crazy that this thing is like ~90 $ where I live for some reason.

€ 59,90 here in NL EU

 

[Double-Click]

PA-120 has entered the chat!

 

[wheresmycar]

We asked for these reviews and we go them! THANK YOU @crazyeyesreaper

Glad to see the increased static pressure and airflow EVO variant hitting the charts

I've already gone though a few of these standard/RGB PA and PS coolers and each time excellent results on all respective platforms. TR's earned a tag line: "Once you go ThermalRIGHT you can't go ThermalWRONG"

@225W (air coolers) the PS-EVO beats the Dark Rock Elite, the D15 is nowhere to be seen lol I wasn't expecting the DR-elite being beat.... that's a new record for half the cost.

Unfortunately for me i'm still more in favour of AIO aesthetics and my recent ALFIII 360 does come out ahead both in performance and more importantly (for me) lower noise levels so there's that!

 

[Space Lynx]

We asked for these reviews and we go them! THANK YOU @crazyeyesreaper

Glad to see the increased static pressure and airflow EVO variant hitting the charts

I've already gone though a few of these standard/RGB PA and PS coolers and each time excellent results on all of the respective platforms. TR's earned a tag line: "Once you go ThermalRIGHT you can't go ThermalWRONG"

@225W (air coolers) the PS-EVO beats the Dark Rock Elite, the D15 is nowhere to be seen lol I wasn't expecting the DR-elite being beat.... that's a new record for half the cost.

Unfortunately for me i'm still more in favour of AIO aesthetics and my recent ALFIII 360 does come out ahead both in performance and more importantly (for me) lower noise levels so there's that!

yeah Noctua has a lot of catching up to do, especially with that premium price tag.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

Am I imagining a TPU review of the Peerless Assassin SE120? I see it in the charts but can't see it in the reviews list....

Indeed, these are definitely different products to the AK620. I don't buy the AK620 any more because it's not that cheap and I found the fans to be poorly balanced in all of the samples I bought over a two month period.

@crazyeyesreaper any chance we will get a ThermalRight Frost Commander 140 air review? I love mine, and I know @freeagent bathes with his sometimes he loves it so much...

lol jk

but on a more serious note Tom's Hardware has the FC140 as the best air cooler on the market beating everything else and going close to AIO's. just wondering what your review would show is all

No Peerless Assassin review, it's very similar to the EVO and an older offering. I opted to test the newest cooler I could get from them. So technically I / Techpowerup bought both coolers. Added one to the chart so Thermalright had some representation and once I had a moment I actively reviewed the EVO.

As of now I am sitting on at least 7 cooler samples and a Mini-PC while working 2 other jobs thankfully my back is getting better. (had x-rays, did physical therapy, chiropractor etc over the last 9 months. The first scans etc were so bad they thought I would need a back brace and eventual surgery thankfully I have recovered quite well and that worst-case scenario is no longer a threat.) As of a couple of weeks ago, I was able to get down on the floor and do a push-up for the first time in said 9 months.

I haven't even had the time to rebuild my dying daily-use rig same as in my system specs. I bought a 7800X3D nearly a year ago along with board memory etc. But haven't had the time to actually build it. Because shifting the software over setting up all the different tools etc is a nightmare. That said, something has to give since my rig is getting progressively worse (IMC on the CPU is degrading rapidly 3666 MHz now down to 2133 for stability and max CPU clock is down to 4.4 to maintain stability even with custom water.

That said, reviews will keep coming and I now have a proper contact at Thermalright so hopefully as time goes on I will be able to acquire new samples.

As for others saying no other air cooler is in the conversation. I will just say this. Thermalright isn't offering free mounting hardware upgrades that allow a solid 10 year old cooler to work on newer platforms. They don't have the visual appeal of say Be quiet! etc. Do I think paying $100+ for better looks is worth it? No, but considering I also build systems locally as a side gig I can argue with customers all day or I can build what they ask me to build, and most of the time it is RGB equipped with AIOs with displays or they want fancy looks, etc. I have regulars who trust my judgement to build them a proper rig without wasting money but people seem to love spending extra for fancy stuff even if it performs worse.

 

[JasBC]

I'm glad TR is hopefully forcing other companies to lower their prices, all air-coolers have ballooned in pricing to absurd levels imho. Would't buy one myself though, I think they look like ass. . . give me a unified cover for both towers, then we're talking.

 

[Garrus]

Yeah, that’s kinda why so many people wanted a TR cooler in the charts for so long. It establishes a benchmark for pretty much anything else on the market to overcome. And it also makes a lot of products look downright pointless.
Hell, I would go as far as to say that there are, for most people, now essentially just three options for CPU cooling - a TR air cooler, an Arctic AIO and custom water if you want to be fancy. Pretty much everything else seems like just straight up worse or very niche choices.

You forgot the $10 base Arctic cooler. That is the cheapest cooler you can buy for AM5 Some of use just set a TDP limit and move on!

Seriously though in Canada I don't think there is any point in buying anything except for Thermalright from Amazon.

 

[squallypo]

i feel currently against the wall between these choices (money not being an issue) :
ak620 digital
thermalright phantom spirit SE 120
thermalright phantom spirit EVO 120

if i want better aesthetics ak620 digital hands down, but if i want better performance either of the thermalright versions, so hard to pick here... perhaps someone could share a personal experience between these coolers for me, thanks!

 

[dj-electric]

Thermalright is quite deep into what i would describe as the greatest hardware company's comeback of all time.

 

[jonup]

As for others saying no other air cooler is in the conversation. I will just say this. Thermalright isn't offering free mounting hardware upgrades that allow a solid 10 year old cooler to work on newer platforms. They don't have the visual appeal of say Be quiet! etc. Do I think paying $100+ for better looks is worth it? No, but considering I also build systems locally as a side gig I can argue with customers all day or I can build what they ask me to build, and most of the time it is RGB equipped with AIOs with displays or they want fancy looks, etc. I have regulars who trust my judgement to build them a proper rig without wasting money but people seem to love spending extra for fancy stuff even if it performs worse.

I hear you on people wanting what they want and not caring about spending a few extra bucks. I need to take your advice and not waste my time on trying to convince them. The ones that can't be bothered and let me pick up the setup are the best customers and the easiest to get paid and deal with.

As for the looks, I jazzed up my FC140 with TL-M12 in the middle and TL-M12-S. Now it looks like an overpriced noob's cooler