Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 EVO

[dalekdukesboy]

My next cooler.

I read this review early, and found one of these on eBay and immediately ordered it. I’m actually excited to go back to a simple air cooler on my x79 setup and ditch dual rads that are currently blocked and/or my pump is faulty and don’t feel like bothering to fix it!

 

[KaitouX]

Thermalright isn't offering free mounting hardware upgrades that allow a solid 10 year old cooler to work on newer platforms.

But they do have the mount upgrades for most of their coolers right? Just not for free? At least I believe I saw a AM5 mount that was compatible with their Ultra line, which are like 18 years old at this point.

 

[Aretak]

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.

There will still be suckers customers who will pay twice as much or more for the Noctua name on the box when it comes to air coolers, and people generally just buy whatever AIO they like the fancy disco lights on the most in my experience. It's nice that there are genuinely great price/performance options available for those willing to do some research however.

 

[Airisom]

This level of performance out of a 120mm dual tower under $50 is insane. TR is singlehandedly saving the air cooling market.

 

[Scircura]

Do you happen to know the minimum RPM to start these TL-K12 fans, or to maintain their spin?

 

[Chrispy_]

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!

I've bought a dozen AK620 and about 30 Thermalrights in the last 12 months, though I've not bought the Digital version, just the original AK620.

If you want to spend money on pretty lights and a temperature readout then go for the Deepcool. It's not the best cooler, or the quietest but it'll keep an i9 or Ryzen9 in check if that's what you're after.
If you want to spend less money on the better cooler, then you already know the answer.

Personally, I don't care about temperature readouts from the CPU cooler's display. I'm not looking at my CPU cooler, I'm looking at my screens. There are loads of free utilities that give you that anyway - CoreTemp, Ryzen Master, OCCT, HWInfo, MSI Afterburner overlay, Radeon Gaming overlay - Hell, AMD Link even lets you send that info to your phone app so you can use your phone as a hardware monitoring screen.

This level of performance out of a 120mm dual tower under $50 is insane. TR is singlehandedly saving the air cooling market.

The PS 120 EVO is their fancy, overpriced version with a $10 price bump that accounts for RGBLED fans. The actual heatsink is just the PS120 SE (edited from PA120 SE, which was wrong).

A couple of other sites have already reviewed both the PS120 and the PS EVO and it turns out (as expected) that the non-RGB fans are better and cheaper. Remember, if there are RGBLED lights on a fan, they use up space that's could have been used for larger fan vanes.

 

[wheresmycar]

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

only £42 here in the UK. Hungary prices seem hungry for TR

 

[megaclite]

Frost Spirit 140 is still the best value/perf
I don't know how it can cost laughable $28
Maybe Thermalright wants to destroy other companies

 

[wheresmycar]

A couple of other sites have already reviewed both the PA120 and the PS EVO and it turns out (as expected) that the non-RGB fans are better and cheaper. Remember, if there are RGBLED lights on a fan, they use up space that's could have been used for larger fan vanes.

My understanding was, in addition to the RGB element, the EVO fans are of a more premium variety. At the cost of noise levels; 25% faster spin, increased air pressure, marginally improved airflow, etc. The inner fan casing ring around the blades is also flat compared to the non-EVO angular design. I wonder if the flat ring design is a performance driven variation in the positive or a negative one to secure some of that RGB in the plastic.

 

[claster17]

The actual heatsink is just the vanilla PA120 with different cosmetic top caps.

Almost. The PS120 has an additional heatpipe over the PA120.

 

[adilazimdegilx]

It's good to finally see the proper Thermalright air cooler review here after basically harassing you in every other air cooler review to do so (Sorry for that btw) But we were right, right? In current market TR is unmatched on price / performance and it does that while sitting at the top of the performance chart.

It is also weird that TPU and HWCanucks posted the EVO video on the same day. A happy coincidence and a good way to start the day for me.

 

[TechLurker]

Now that you have a contact in Thermalright, it'd be nice to see their TL-B12 reviewed at some point, which are their own rivals to the legacy Gentle Typhoons and the A12x25s.

 

[ghazi]

This is really surprising. It's rare nowadays to see a great product launch like this, priced below rather than above the competition. At this point there's no reason to buy any brand of air cooler other than Thermalright.

 

[squallypo]

I've bought a dozen AK620 and about 30 Thermalrights in the last 12 months, though I've not bought the Digital version, just the original AK620.

If you want to spend money on pretty lights and a temperature readout then go for the Deepcool. It's not the best cooler, or the quietest but it'll keep an i9 or Ryzen9 in check if that's what you're after.
If you want to spend less money on the better cooler, then you already know the answer.

Personally, I don't care about temperature readouts from the CPU cooler's display. I'm not looking at my CPU cooler, I'm looking at my screens. There are loads of free utilities that give you that anyway - CoreTemp, Ryzen Master, OCCT, HWInfo, MSI Afterburner overlay, Radeon Gaming overlay - Hell, AMD Link even lets you send that info to your phone app so you can use your phone as a hardware monitoring screen.


The EVO is their fancy, overpriced version with a $10 price bump that accounts for RGBLED fans. The actual heatsink is just the vanilla PA120 with different cosmetic top caps.

A couple of other sites have already reviewed both the PA120 and the PS EVO and it turns out (as expected) that the non-RGB fans are better and cheaper. Remember, if there are RGBLED lights on a fan, they use up space that's could have been used for larger fan vanes.

thoughts on this then? because what he says on the video the heatsink is actually different in terms of the cooler fins on the evo.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

I have no idea where you guys got the idea that DeepCool and Thermalright are different products made by a different company. MADE means physically produced, not rebadged. Try to examine the coolers one more, this time more carefully, including the packaging.

 

[GreiverBlade]

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

and if you can get it at the price the review got it ...43$~ is not accurate even with taxes and custom fees

the only retailer in switzerland that has it in stock : 136 chf ... european retailer have it a bit better : 59.90€ for Proshop.de
the SE is 58.30chf it's a bit better priced but the Evo would be, almost, perfect ....

i suspect it's because of Noctua ... for Switzerland, : "retailer see a cheaper offering doing better than Noctua" => "retailer make the cheaper offering price go 3 time higher"

well Amazon.be ... 48ish € almost tempted ... tho the RAM clearance would be a pain ... unless i swap the front fan to the back.

 

[Techconix]

Finally, reviews for the PS EVO 120 are pouring in. This cooler's been out for a few months (maybe a year?) now and I've been waiting for reviews. Good to know that my cooler was a good buy, despite me buying before reviews came out.

 

[phanbuey]

and if you can get it at the price the review got it ...43$~ is not accurate even with taxes and custom fees

the only retailer in switzerland that has it in stock : 136 chf ... european retailer have it a bit better : 59.90€ for Proshop.de
the SE is 58.30chf it's a bit better priced but the Evo would be, almost, perfect ....

i suspect it's because of Noctua ... for Switzerland, : "retailer see a cheaper offering doing better than Noctua" => "retailer make the cheaper offering price go 3 time higher"

well Amazon.be ... 48ish € almost tempted ... tho the RAM clearance would be a pain ... unless i swap the front fan to the back.

Or if you intake from the back and exhaust out of the top - that's another way to drop a few C. X3D chips can benefit from this quite a bit since they don't put out that much wattage but they do get hot.

 

[TheDeeGee]

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.

And zero money spend on R&D helps as well.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

And zero money spend on R&D helps as well.

What do you mean? SOMEBODY in the supply chain needed to spend the money and it ended up in the product cost. If the good cooling performance is partly caused by some better type of heatpipes, one good moment is that the heatpipe manufacturer may be supplying the pipes to many different industries and the R&D cost gets dissolved nicely.

BTW it is very good to see coolers on the market, which have better cooling performance than coolers by Noctua, which are at least twice as expensive. Or thrice. Competition is always good and benefits consumers.

 

[AnarchoPrimitiv]

Anybody using this EvO 120, a Peerless Assassin, or Peerless Assassin SE in a Lian Li O11 (first gen)? I've been told that the Peerless Assassin SE will in the O11, but can anybody personally confirm that one of these three fit?

 

[Chomiq]

Hello. I dont know how to say it but this cooler and ID-Cooling FROZN A720 are the same product except the fans. Down to every detail are the same piece of aluminium every screw every clip and spacer. I dont know what OEM makes them maybe ID-Cooling makes them for Thermalright or the other way who knows. I my country the Thermalright costs about 10€ more so i picked ID-Cooling FROZN A720 and lost the tiny RGB lights. The fans are very good and silent in my opinion. It cools my 14600k at 42-46 in idle or light tasks and about 80-85 in heavy tasks and games. I dont use a contact frame so maybe with a contact frame the temps will drop.

Clearly identical designs. Even down to mounting hardware:

/s

 

[P4-630]

View attachment 344074
View attachment 344078

Clearly identical designs. Even down to mounting hardware:
View attachment 344080
View attachment 344079

/s

That's not a 100% straight tower I see...

 

[Chomiq]

That's not a 100% straight tower I see...

You get what you pay for:

 

[Chrispy_]

Hello. I dont know how to say it but this cooler and ID-Cooling FROZN A720 are the same product except the fans. Down to every detail are the same piece of aluminium every screw every clip and spacer. I dont know what OEM makes them maybe ID-Cooling makes them for Thermalright or the other way who knows. I my country the Thermalright costs about 10€ more so i picked ID-Cooling FROZN A720 and lost the tiny RGB lights. The fans are very good and silent in my opinion. It cools my 14600k at 42-46 in idle or light tasks and about 80-85 in heavy tasks and games. I dont use a contact frame so maybe with a contact frame the temps will drop.

Incorrect. The A720 isn't even a 120mm-class cooler, it's a 140mm-class cooler that is similar (but also not identical) to the TR FC140. I'll assume you meant the FROZN A620 which looks visually similar to the PS 120 EVO

THG's photos of the FROZN A620:



TPU's photos of the PS 120 EVO:



JFC. Where do I even start?

• Different fin shape at the sides
• Different fin shape on the front
• Different number of heatpipes
• Staggered row of heatpipes vs straight line of heatpipes
• Different fin count
• Different dimensions
• Different mounting accessories
• Similar but cheaper-looking mounting bar on the A620 that uses screws instead of solder.
• Different top caps to the fin stacks, made out of different materials and attached differently.

Realistically, the only thing that's similiar is the approximate design and colour.