Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE

Did a ton of research on which dual tower CPU cooler to buy and determined this was the best option in the price point. Performs excellent, looks great. Would recommend to anyone who doesn’t want water cooling

Squilliam12 · 2025-11-28 · via amazon

This thing is amazing in cooling! I just ran OCCT CPU+RAM stability test for a full hour and my 9800x3d hit 69.25C max. The average temp over the hour test was 60.58 C finishing the test at 66.4°C under stress. This is a fantastic result for air cooling! I used the included thermal paste with the cooler. I used to always buy Arctic Silver 5 so it hurt me a bit knowing my tried and true wasn't going in, but the cooler has such good reviews I trusted them. It was worth it. I 100% recommend this over AIO because there's no chance of water fault or pump break down. I had an AIO in my last build from 2017 and it was a clean look, but this round I am older and not too concerned with RGB. I got a nice glass side case with good fans. Running 3 intake fans on the front (120mm), 3 intake fans on the bottom (120mm), 2 exhaust on the top (140mm), and one exhaust on the rear (140mm). Super quiet setup. Loving this 9800x3d and this cooler! Thank you! Would buy again 5/5

Master Mason · 2025-04-18 · via amazon

So I was unfamiliar with an appropriate cooler to go with when I built my pc in June 2025. I "cheaped out" and got a smaller Coolermaster initially. When I noticed my processor, 9800x3d, peak once to 95 Celcius, I was concerned, and did some research. I was going for cool temps, but didn't want to fool with water cooling. This fan gets the job done and a great price! My cpu doesn't go above the low 70's anymore when gaming (I play BF6, Arc Raiders, etc.). I love it!

Dayton W Crabtree Jr · 2026-02-06 · via amazon

I picked this cooler up as an "upgrade" from the original Phantom Spirit SE. For me the upgrade was that it has a blacked out look compared to the original that fits my case asthetics better. The TLDR for those looking for performance info is that this is a very good cooler, but if you are keeping it stock, the Phantom Spirit 120SE will outperform it slightly for less money in general, unless you are willing to run the EVO fans at top speed (very loud). The big advantages to this EVO version are the improved appearance (if you want a blacked out look) and a little RGB on the fans. Having said that, if you are looking for top tier air cooling performance then swapping out the fans on this cooler for BeQuiet! Silent Wing Pro 4s will get you probably the best air cooler you can buy right now. The cost of the Silent Wings fans will definitely eliminate the cost effectiveness of this cooler however. For some reason the Silent Wings pair very well with the cooler block, better than the fans it comes with for sure. You can run them at low speeds with a good fan curve and get great cooling performance. This isn't just my experience, some reviewers like Hardware Canuks have done much more testing than me and see the same results. On the other hand, the EVO's heat sink seems to be exactly the same block as the original PS 120SE, so unless you care about the black appearance, you can save a few bucks, get the 120SE, and wind up with the same performance using the Silent Wings. I'm using it with a 5800x3D and it keeps up just fine. Even when bench-marking the CPU to hit 100% load under an extreme stress test load for 20+ minutes, the cooler keeps my CPU in the mid 80s and always feels almost cool to the touch, so it's not heat saturated. The 5800x3D is known to be a hot running chip for the AM4 generation, so I would say it keeps up very well! In gaming loads it averages in the low 70s for almost every AAA modern game I play, with an occasional micro spike into the upper 70s. Older games it rarely gets above the low 60s and the system idles in the mid 40s when doing basic things like web browsing and watching videos. Very pleased with the Phantom Spirit family of coolers in general. As I said, my reason for getting the EVO was really just the aesthetics. If top performance without tinkering is your goal then just get the 120SE. If you want a better looking (subjectively speaking) cooler that does almost as well out of the box, or don't care about setting your fans to max speed and volume, then this could also be a good fit. If you want top tier air cooling get either one based on looks preference and slap a couple silent wing pro 4s on it. You'll be glad you did!

Ravenant211 · 2024-04-20 · via amazon

This thing is absolutely incredible. Stepped out of a slightly older Corsair iCue H100i (170 bucks). Yeah, this just works better somehow. Its INCREDIBLY dense but the size is appreciably smaller than an NH-D14/15 (120mm vs 140mm); yet somehow also works better than those as well. Running P95 on all cores, small fft for over an hour; 9800x3D chip... I max out at 71c stabilized. The fans dont even go to 100%. Intel Burn test (another benchmark) spikes to 79c, but drops down to 74c, but this is a niche scenario. Even then, thats a great result. Outside of artificial loading on benchmarks, I havent been able to get the fans to even spin up to an audible level. This thing is honestly incredible. I dont see myself ever ordering another AIO cooler again over this thing. The aesthetics of this thing are amazing as well; it just LOOKS nice. The machining on the base plate is flawless; there are no gaudy pipe tips sticking out. Installation was incredibly easy and very secure feeling, providing a satisfying snug fitment. Id give this thing 6/5 stars if I could possibly do that. Ive used dozens of coolers on many builds over the last couple decades; this thing is incredible. I can not think of a scenario this device wouldnt be appropriate in, outside of some itx builds, and thats purely form factor.

Sam · 2025-06-02 · via amazon

Best Buy

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VALUE SCORE

Price

$20

Price

$23.99