Dissatisfied With Current AIO - Buy a different one or go Air?

[Mussels]

If the fans ramp doing simple things, then the cooler is having a hard time.

On my 5800x, single threaded load like shaking my mouse really fast would cause higher temps than R23 - because it runs higher voltages into one core, the heat density caused spikes since the temp readings are 'hotspot' rather than an average.

controlling the fan curves was the key there, keeping them more or less flat - hysteresis settings are the other method, with a spin up/down delay if the board has it.

 

[Gmr_Chick]

If you have room for a small air cooler, I promise you will love the Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120SE. It is 154mm tall, and will handle your CPU with ease. I promise you will love it. If not, I will pay for it so you are not out of cash because of my recommendation.. and you can turn around and flip it

Phantom Spirit 120 SE – Thermalright

Hmmm..... My only question is how come this one: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 CPU Cooler has a different top than the one in the link you gave me? I actually kinda prefer the one I linked (looks cleaner) but I'm just a bit confused as to why the one in my link has top covers, but the one listed on the web-site doesn't even though they are the same cooler.

 

[maxfly]

The 1st one is the SE the one you linked isn't (same heatsink on both). The tops and fans are the only differences iirc, too sleepy to double check again

No idea why Thermalright does the whole SE thing tbh. They're always priced the same for the most part.

 

[AsRock]

On my 5800x, single threaded load like shaking my mouse really fast would cause higher temps than R23 - because it runs higher voltages into one core, the heat density caused spikes since the temp readings are 'hotspot' rather than an average.

controlling the fan curves was the key there, keeping them more or less flat - hysteresis settings are the other method, with a spin up/down delay if the board has it.

Or if it works for them, Fan Control.

 

[tabascosauz]

Hmmm..... My only question is how come this one: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 CPU Cooler has a different top than the one in the link you gave me? I actually kinda prefer the one I linked (looks cleaner) but I'm just a bit confused as to why the one in my link has top covers, but the one listed on the web-site doesn't even though they are the same cooler.

The regular PS120 is brand new, haven't seen it before. Probably explains why specs are scarce. But it's related to the PS120SE the same way the PA120 and PA120SE are related - no top plate. I think there might be fan differences between PA120/PA120SE (SE lacks any rubber pads), but PS120/PS120SE have the same fans.

In either case, the top plate adds a few millimetres (~3mm) but for most cases it should be fine.

Phantom Spirit 120 – Thermalright

www.thermalright.com

 

[Gmr_Chick]

The 1st one is the SE the one you linked isn't (same heatsink on both). The tops and fans are the only differences iirc, too sleepy to double check again

No idea why Thermalright does the whole SE thing tbh. They're always priced the same for the most part.

You're telling me! My head hurts just wading through all their coolers with minute differences.

The regular PS120 is brand new, haven't seen it before. Probably explains why specs are scarce. But it's related to the PS120SE the same way the PA120 and PA120SE are related - no top plate. I think there might be fan differences between PA120/PA120SE (SE lacks any rubber pads), but PS120/PS120SE have the same fans.

In either case, the top plate adds a few millimetres (~3mm) but for most cases it should be fine.

Yeah, I'm so confused between the SE and non SE versions of their coolers. They maybe need to cool it with all the SKUs.

@freeagent - OK, ya twisted my arm. I'll give the Phantom Spirit a whirl. But I'm slapping a couple of their TL-S12 halo ARGB fans on it. Remember now, you gave your word that if I didn't like the cooler, you'd cough up the cost for it

 

[tabascosauz]

You're telling me! My head hurts just wading through all their coolers with minute differences.

Yeah, I'm so confused between the SE and non SE versions of their coolers. They maybe need to cool it with all the SKUs.

@freeagent - OK, ya twisted my arm. I'll give the Phantom Spirit a whirl. But I'm slapping a couple of their TL-S12 halo ARGB fans on it. Remember now, you gave your word that if I didn't like the cooler, you'd cough up the cost for it

SE = cheap cost-optimization

But with the PS120 specifically it just looks more like a stylistic choice since the fans are the same. The PA120SE was cheap, but there's no real price savings to be had with the PS120SE.

Besides, in North America you have to wade through a dozen Amazon listings of varying price, all from thermalright, for just a single model of TR cooler, so pretty much all these coolers might as well be at the same MSRP.

 

[freeagent]

I am so sorry

Thanks guys

 

[Mussels]

Or if it works for them, Fan Control.

I prefer a solid basis in the BIOS so the do what they should even without software - nothing makes an OS install more fun than fans making your ears bleed

Edit: what the hell did i mean by basis? Default? Basic? base, perhaps?

 

[AusWolf]

I prefer a solid basis in the BIOS so the do what they should even without software - nothing makes an OS install more fun than fans making your ears bleed

Couldn't agree more - whatever you can do in the BIOS, do in the BIOS. Having rainbow puke RGB bollocks during a Windows reinstall is annoying enough.

 

[Pictus]

I prefer a solid basis in the BIOS so the do what they should even without software - nothing makes an OS install more fun than fans making your ears bleed

The advantage of https://getfancontrol.com/ is that we can make the case fans react to both GPU and CPU temperature.

 

[AusWolf]

The advantage of https://getfancontrol.com/ is that we can make the case fans react to both GPU and CPU temperature.

I do that by setting them to respond to "system" temperature. As my GPU dumps more heat into the chassis, the system temperature (whatever that means) rises.

 

[Waldorf]

@Mussels
didnt have a single AM4 board (all x570 tho), that required anything like defaults (etc), to flashback.
done multiple times, and most rigs didnt even power more than the usb port (until flashback was finished).
the Gb stuff sometimes didnt even clear any previous settings when using defaults, so it wouldnt even have helped, when i had overdone tuning.

@Gmr_Chick
if you looking to just get an aio, use it as is, the artic 280 is one of the best when looking cost/perf.
does come with AM5 (offset) mount, if its old stock from other sellers (not Artic), they will send you a mounting kit.

but on the long run, more options to fix/upgrade, i would get the alphacool 280 (not the extreme).
unlike most others it has a copper rad, and you can use it as aio (for now), but it allows for swapping stuff/refill/change of fluid etc.

only the rad and quick connect (hose) is left now..

slimy loop

 

[Chrispy_]

Never tested but people complain about AK620 fans having resonance.

https://www.google.com/search?q=AK620+resonance

Can confirm.
Resonance is a (mild) problem on most dual-fan coolers, but the Deepcool fans were particularly bad in the batch of six AK620s that I bought. They were likely all from the same batch but I have seen enough complaints to think that it's just normal for that fan design and nothing particular to the batch I bought.

 

[FoulOnWhite]

I do that by setting them to respond to "system" temperature. As my GPU dumps more heat into the chassis, the system temperature (whatever that means) rises.

I have all my fans connected to an AQ OCTO, linked to the water temp, works a treat.

 

[Pictus]

If you have room for a small air cooler, I promise you will love the Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120SE. It is 154mm tall, and will handle your CPU with ease. I promise you will love it. If not, I will pay for it so you are not out of cash because of my recommendation.. and you can turn around and flip it

Phantom Spirit 120 SE – Thermalright

Looks very good!
No resonance from the TL-C12B V2?

 

[freeagent]

Looks very good!
No resonance from the TL-C12B V2?

Yup it’s a good cooler, better than PA120 and FC140 like I have said from the start

Even better when you use T30s..

No resonance on the stock fans..

 

[tabascosauz]

Yup it’s a good cooler, better than PA120 and FC140 like I have said from the start

Even better when you use T30s..

No resonance on the stock fans..

T30 supremacy

These coolers are so friggin cheap, the cooler is an add-on to the fans, not the other way around lol

 

[Vya Domus]

Resonance is not caused by the fans themselves but rather by the fact that they all run at the exact or close to same RPM, it can solved by plugin them in different headers and use a slightly different fan curve so that the RPM never matches.

 

[Pictus]

Yup it’s a good cooler, better than PA120 and FC140 like I have said from the start
Even better when you use T30s..
No resonance on the stock fans..

Here lapping the FC140 baseplate improved performance, a T30 too.

 

[freeagent]

Here lapping the FC140 baseplate improved performance, a T30 too.

T30s on FC140 are pretty tiny, and don't even cover the pipes, but 2x 140s is going to be too much for some cases that have taller ram. I could run 2x NF-A14 3Ks and it is pretty good..

I felt no need to lap either of my FC140s. I have the Grey and the White. Both we awesome for me and my hardware. But PS120SE has their Gen4 heatpipes, and they are awesome imo.. cant wait to see what they do with them on a big cooler.

 

[Space Lynx]

T30s on FC140 are pretty tiny, and don't even cover the pipes, but 2x 140s is going to be too much for some cases that have taller ram. I could run 2x NF-A14 3Ks and it is pretty good..

I felt no need to lap either of my FC140s. I have the Grey and the White. Both we awesome for me and my hardware. But PS120SE has their Gen4 heatpipes, and they are awesome imo.. cant wait to see what they do with them on a big cooler.

I feel no need to lap my FC140or use anything other than the two stock fans which are doing a great job. I just played God of War and shadow of tomb raider ultra 1440p no fps cap, and she didn't even break 62 Celsius, default fan curve. I let the x3d cache scream and the Frost Commander said, no baby here have some bubbletea while you chill

 

[Kapone33]

I feel no need to lap my FC140or use anything other than the two stock fans which are doing a great job. I just played God of War and shadow of tomb raider ultra 1440p no fps cap, and she didn't even break 62 Celsius, default fan curve. I let the x3d cache scream and the Frost Commander said, no baby here have some bubbletea while you chill

Honestly the fan that I think about when I see these Fans are the Scythe Kamikaze line. It served as a great way to chop vegetables lol.

 

[Gmr_Chick]

The PS120 + the 2 TL-S12's I ordered for it came in today. Positive experience thus far, as everything was properly protected in a thick layer of foam. I'll be putting this little dude in my rig tomorrow and then the experiment can begin!

 

[Chrispy_]

Resonance is not caused by the fans themselves but rather by the fact that they all run at the exact or close to same RPM, it can solved by plugin them in different headers and use a slightly different fan curve so that the RPM never matches.

Tried that, but it didn't help. I even tried removing the second fan altogether and just running the center fan and confirmed for me that it wasn't phasing resonance between the two fans for the AK620, but between the poorly-balanced fans running through the resonant frequency of the heatsink itself.

The heatpipes attaching each fin stack to the clamped baseplate have their own oscillation harmonics and unless you run a manual, fixed fan speed that doesn't pass through the troublesome RPM range, you'll always hear it as the fan speed varies up and down through the speed range.

It would probably be fine if Deepcool's AK-series fans weren't poorly-balanced, or if the heatpipes were staggered rather than in a neat line in the same plane as the oscillation of the imbalanced fans. I wanted to like the AK620 because it looks and feels like a good bit of hardware - the fans certainly feel premium enough, but their lack of balance was really very noticeable, something I discovered when re-using the AK620's fans on some Thermalright SI-100 coolers.

The PS120 + the 2 TL-S12's I ordered for it came in today. Positive experience thus far, as everything was properly protected in a thick layer of foam. I'll be putting this little dude in my rig tomorrow and then the experiment can begin!

For such cheap coolers, the Thermalright stuff of late has been impressive - both in terms of performance, and in quality of packaging.

I don't know if it's the same company as I used to be but prior to the last few years, Thermalright used to be very high-end air cooling that I last used in the mid 00's (Ultra 120 and XP-90).