Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB CPU Air Cooler,6 Heat Pipes CPU Cooler, Dual TL-C12C-S PWM Fan

I recently installed the Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB in my build and I’m extremely pleased with the results. A few highlight points: With 6 heat-pipes and a dual-tower heatsink, this cooler handles high thermal loads surprisingly well for the price. It supports both Intel (LGA 115x/1200/1700) and AMD (AM4/AM5) sockets out of the box — easy to integrate into different systems. It is impressively quiet. According to the official spec the noise level tops out at ~25.6 dBA, which means minimal fan noise in daily use. The ARGB lighting is a nice bonus for anyone who cares about aesthetics, and it does not seem to compromise performance. My experience in use: Installation was straightforward (with the back-plate and mounting brackets included). After setup I noticed lower idle and load temperatures vs the stock cooler, and the system remained quiet even under sustained load. It also had good clearance around my RAM slots and GPU (always good to check fit in your case). In terms of value vs performance, this cooler really stands out. Minor note: You’ll want to check your case’s CPU cooler clearance, the heatsink is ~155mm tall. Also, if you’re doing extreme overclocking or very high-end CPUs at 300 W+ loads, this may not quite match the very top-tier 280/360mm liquid-coolers, but for most builds it gives excellent bang for the buck. Bottom line: If you’re looking for a high-performance air cooler that doesn’t break the bank, the Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB is hard to beat. Highly recommended.

pbourdon · 2025-10-20 · via amazon

Installed this cooler in my PC, and it’s honestly one of the best air coolers I’ve used. Temps dropped significantly compared to my old one, and it’s super quiet even under load. Installation was straightforward, and the ARGB lighting looks clean inside the case. Build quality feels premium, and the fans are smooth and silent. For its price, it’s an amazing value for keeping your CPU cool. It works perfectly as it is compatible with my R9 5900 XT. It has lasted around 2 years since I bought it and looks nice!

Felipe Velandia · 2025-11-14 · via amazon

I have purchased 2 of these so far for different builds. They work and look great. Great build quality and good thermals. Granted, I hardly ever max out one of my CPUs, but it keeps my 12900k cool without issue. My other CPU is less powerful but it gets ran at 100% regularly and also doesn't have cooling problems. As long as this fits in your case, I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a solid, but still budget friendly, air cooler.

JK · 2026-02-19 · via amazon

First off let me start by saying I have built computers before, but am by no means a computer expert. I spent 2 years trying to figure out why my PC experienced so much stuttering and low performance in some games. I bought new GPU's, new CPU's, more RAM, and still the same performance issues. One day I decided to check my temps and noticed they seemed to REALLY high in some games, and almost seem to correlate with drops in performance. That's when I did some research and learned that CPU's tend to throttle themselves when temps are too hot. I bought this hoping it would drop my temps and holy mother of god - it's like I'm gaming on an entirely different set up. The air flow is insane. It dropped my temps by about 10-15 degrees at least. Every game I played was running so much more smoothly and could be ran at higher graphic presets without stuttering or major frame lag. The fan itself is pretty large so make sure you're not putting it in a tiny case, but man its SO worth the price. Installation was pretty simple if you know your way around the inside of a computer. As for noise, I can't hear it at all, its very quiet. I could not recommend a product more if you're experiencing issues with CPU high temps. save yourself the money and hassle of expensive cooling set ups and try this first.

Ricky Tellez · 2025-10-09 · via amazon

Keeps my i7 very cool. 25 to 27° C idling & plenty of headroom under load. Cheap but very effective cooler. Installation was tricky due to it being awkward to get paste on because of it's size & shoe. Also screws have to be turned a lot before contact so you have to screw fast to keep the paste from getting tacky. Was certainly doable though. Fans are very quiet, especially at idle. Downside is it's big, very big. You need small memory or you'd have to put a fan on the back side to use bigger memory sticks. Maybe not for a novice but worth a shot.

FloJay · 2025-10-17 · via amazon

Best Buy

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MSI

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Newegg

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Newegg (Open Box)

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VALUE SCORE

Price

$20