Thermalright Frost Commander 140 review, cools better than any other air cooler for 13700k cpu's

[nomdeplume]

As far as I am aware the FC140 even beats the newest Noctua double tower cooler too.

On AMD, possibly. Still feel the concern I qualified remains valid though. Low fin density equating with lower thermal capability than other coolers no matter how proficiently your fans ramp up. Meaning throttling your cpu sooner and recovering slower.

 

[DirtyDingusMcgee]

Keeps my 5800x nice and cool. idle's at like 26, normal to moderate use 30s and 40s, and heavy use or extended gaming will warm it up to upper 60s , prime 95/max temp at like 75, but never sees 80.

This rig is very similar to my 7700x/x670 rig, but is 5800x/b550, also micro atx torrent instead of full. She's a wee bit dusty, but she's got plenty fans and is a fine work computer.

 

[tabascosauz]

Got distracted looking at newer models enough to forget about this and thread I started on PS120 Evo. Where the quote below was mined from.

Passed over FC140 a few times after coming across reviews that didn't paint a very good picture of it against something like Mugen BE the only place it actually matters, high heat and fan speeds. Hard to imagine not getting the best possible heatsink and fan setup for AMD or Intel. Adding 30mm fans does bring final cost up near same level as the more expensive options. Given their strength I have a concern about the less than dense fin stack on FC140 mirroring reviews when the issue is forced with more extreme pressure and airflow.

Have opinions on TR as top tier coolers changed in the last year or so?

As far as I am aware the FC140 even beats the newest Noctua double tower cooler too. I am curious now though, @freeagent does the FC140 have an offset mounting kit for the 7800x3d that you know of? Or would it matter?

Unless you really need the DIMM clearance, I probably wouldn't buy any of the old 140s (FC140, FS140) at the moment. PS120 EVO is their new product and the fans might be decent enough

freeagent said a while ago that the FC140 has been dethroned for a while by the 120s and I'm not surprised. If a PA120 can match its performance then I'm sure the odds are in the PS120EVO's favor.

Their new products are the PA140 and RP130. I'm not sure how exactly they stack up to one another, but tbh neither looks like a flagship. They are 6 heatpipe coolers but they revert to the 6mm ones used for PA120/PS120. Still waiting on a true flagship dual tower. RP130 has the new fan though, PS140 has cheap fans.

Royal Pretor 130 WHITE – Thermalright
Peerless Assassin 140 BLACK – Thermalright

Of course, if you need it for the low price, then there's nothing wrong with getting a FC140.

I don't think TR has made any offset brackets, but it's not exactly a deal-breaker either. Might make more of a difference for a 7950X3D.

You know what is nice though? TR's contact frame. Screw the trash tier IHS design.

 

[freeagent]

@freeagent does the FC140 have an offset mounting kit for the 7800x3d that you know of? Or would it matter?

I am not aware of one, but I really don't think it is needed.. but I could be wrong.

 

[Space Lynx]

I am not aware of one, but I really don't think it is needed.. but I could be wrong.

I just found this.

https://www.reddit.com/r/sffpc/comments/18qtsc4

I am kind of tempted to give this a try.

 

[nomdeplume]

Of course, if you need it for the low price, then there's nothing wrong with getting a FC140.

Let me formally distance need it for a low price from You buy the *best cooler* for it's heatsink and throw 30mm fans on it.

I'd largely reached the same conclusions as you without any real evidence. Must've missed freeagent stating the FC140 was losing ground or I wouldn't have bumped this. At least Space Lynx appears to have gotten some on topic value out of it.

With CU/X3D releases so near I'll start a new thread examining where the needle is.

 

[Onasi]

Actually, what IS the hierarchy of TR coolers? Is there even any? They spam SKUs so often and at such close price points that it honestly seems impossible to fully grasp their model range other than the usual “PS120 good”. At least a decade ago I had a firm understanding of what sits where, now… not so much.
Their AIO range isn’t much better. Is Grand Vision or Frozen Warframe better? No idea. The specs are close.

 

[Chomiq]

Actually, what IS the hierarchy of TR coolers? Is there even any? They spam SKUs so often and at such close price points that it honestly seems impossible to fully grasp their model range other than the usual “PS120 good”. At least a decade ago I had a firm understanding of what sits where, now… not so much.
Their AIO range isn’t much better. Is Grand Vision or Frozen Warframe better? No idea. The specs are close.

Don't think there's any hierarchy to it. Back in the day Macho was their top line, now it's just throwing everything out as quickly as possible and seeing what performs well. Their air coolers are pretty much all aiming for $40-45 price range max so it doesn't help either.

 

[A Computer Guy]

I just found this.

https://www.reddit.com/r/sffpc/comments/18qtsc4
View attachment 367812

I am kind of tempted to give this a try.

If you can't get that to work you can also try Thermal Grizzly's offset bracket. I like Noctua's solution better but that requires 2 point cooler mounting instead of 4 unless you can get real creative with the empty mounting holes.

Thermal Grizzly's mounting solution might have limitations on AM5 depending on board compatibility like in my example shown here.

 

[GamerGuy]

I've been a fanboy of Thermalright since the old AXP days, but kinda lost track of them through the years because, well, they kinda fell off the map. But when I saw how cheap yet quite cost effective they were, I fell right back into the Thermalright camp. Here's my cheap ass PA-120 SE on my 2nd rig, cooling an R9 5900X...

Well, some might say that my getting the PA-120 SE does not make me a fanboy, but who else buys a PS 120 EVO and have it on standby for when their 360 AIO bites the big one? That's the 5700X3D I'd gotten on the side, it's being cooled by the AIO in my main rig.

 

[freeagent]

I think they were trying to gauge the market to see what people liked, they arent dropping a new cooler every week anymore. As for their AIOs, I think most of them are the same, just different fans. The Notte style seems to have a higher pump speed than the newer style square covers do, but the round ones are older.. so I don't know.

PS can hang with FC because it has 7x6mm gen 4 pipes, where the FC is still on their gen 1 pipe, but in 8mm flavor. What is different inside? Couldn't tell you.

I do like their AIO though. Aqua Elite is the same as Frozen Edge, different pump cover and fans.

 

[nomdeplume]

Certainly they played the market to see what sold and then started doing % price bumps to it.

Right now it seems they are avoiding declaring a mentally limiting best option in favor of letting word of mouth filter between the best options for use case. Correct me if I'm wrong but all announced coolers have been released for this product cycle. 130mm options directly before both companies release new gen of cpu is interesting.

 

[freeagent]

These coolers are pretty good.

By that I mean 143w PPT on 5800X3D, and 180w PPT on 5900X running semi passive, just the stock Torrent fans up front, that is it.

FC140, and PS120SE/EVO. PA120 was not as comfortable, and is why it sits on my 5600X while taking everything it can dish out.

 

[nomdeplume]

These coolers are pretty good.

By that I mean 143w PPT on 5800X3D, and 180w PPT on 5900X running semi passive, just the stock Torrent fans up front, that is it.

FC140, and PS120SE/EVO. PA120 was not as comfortable, and is why it sits on my 5600X while taking everything it can dish out.

All three (two actually) of those have run semi-passive or one specifically?

 

[freeagent]

All three (two actually) of those have run semi-passive or one specifically?

I have run all 3 semi passively with all 3 of my CPUs.

PA120 struggled with my 5900X with fans.

Edit:

By struggled, I mean at full load, not daily stuff.

And by full load, I mean all that the socket will allow with PBO