Review Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 EVO Review: This isn’t a competition. This is a massacre.

[eastcoast_pete]

Agree that the performance is impressive, especially for the price. I wonder if the results would be similar on AMD CPUs? Is the contact area of the Evo slightly convex? Asking because the heatspreaders of Intel CPUs (including Raptor and Alder Lake) tend to be slightly concave, and a right, slight convex shape of the heatsink's contact plate would help with a good, tight fit. Heatspreaders of AMD CPUs tend to be slightly convex, so a convex shaped contact plate of a heatsink would worsen the fit somewhat. And, especially with the Chiplet setups of Ryzens, having the contacts of the heatpipes located right over the hotspots can also make a difference.

 

[Albert.Thomas]

@Albert.Thomas thanks for the review. I've been sensing a passing of the torch lately from Noctua to Thermalright as top pick amongst the enthusiast crowd (along with DeepCool). But is there anything else we need to be aware of besides performance? Quality control, after sales support, and perhaps even industrial practices?

(Noctua, BeQuiet, and Cooler Master dinosaur user here)

My one concern about Thermalright's products are the longevity of the fans - something I am unfortunately not equipped to test. But it's not a huge concern given the low price of the unit.

 

[Albert.Thomas]

Agree that the performance is impressive, especially for the price. I wonder if the results would be similar on AMD CPUs?

While this review doesn't feature results with Ryzen, my review of the original Phantom Spirit 120 does include benchmarks with AMD's Ryzen 7 7700X.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermalright-phantom-spirit-120-review

TLDR: The original Phantom Spirit 120 performs well with AMD's Ryzen 7700X. This upgraded version will do even better.

 

[Darkbreeze]

$42 vs $100+, and 2C cooler AND quieter? Yes, that's a massacre.

I could not agree more. The question in that equation though is whether that performance is noise normalized, and if so, does it still hold up, because the D15 has not been the best cooler around for a long time, BUT, it IS if we are comparing at just about any specific decibel level.

 

[TechLurker]

I've been sensing a passing of the torch lately from Noctua to Thermalright as top pick amongst the enthusiast crowd (along with DeepCool). But is there anything else we need to be aware of besides performance? Quality control, after sales support, and perhaps even industrial practices?
[/QUOTE]

The funny thing is that Thermalright has long been a sleeper even during the age of Noctua dominance. Plenty recommended their older Macho, Spirit, and Assassin series of coolers as budget options that provided anywhere from 75% to 95% of the performance of a near-equivalent Noctua cooler for 1/2 the cost, and that was even with the old school fans. Once people used the savings to throw in a GT or A12x25 or a 140mm Noctua in place of the stock fan, performance ranged from 90% to 105% depending on review and platform.

Heck, it's still overlooked that Thermalright has managed to market some GT-alikes in both 120mm and 140mm for around 10-12 US dollars per fan, with various reviews putting the 120mm close to the classic GT and A12x25 in certain scenarios and the 140mm as better than most regular Noctua 140mm fans in static pressure optimized scenarios. Granted, Noctua has been dragging their butt on an "A14x25" variant that even Thermaltake beat them to punch with their Toughfan Pro 140s.

I don't mean to diss Noctua, they did set the bar for modern performance case fans, but it's taken them forever to update their selection while other companies moved in with similar-performance heatsinks and fans but for much cheaper, and in Thermalright's case, they've focused on performance at a budget.

 

[ilukey77]

This cooler works well on the 7800x3d 80 to 82c hotter climate R23 allcore !!

 

[Lucky_SLS]

^ yup, I concur!

 

[TheHerald]

Have you considered testing some of the best / popular air coolers with phanteks T30 equipped and see what happens?

 

[RolandOlifant]

No way I would buy this vs a Hyper 212 Evo which $30 $12 cheaper and has excellent cooling (C2Q Q9650@3.8Ghz and i7 920@3.8Ghz with temps maxing at 79C ).

 

[RolandOlifant]

My one concern about Thermalright's products are the longevity of the fans - something I am unfortunately not equipped to test. But it's not a huge concern given the low price of the unit.

It's not that low vs a Hyper 212

 

[drjohnnyfever]

That thing looks ridiculously huge, but I can see it being very good when coupled with this fans. I think the fans are the real winner here, powerful yet quiet 120mm that can be mounted on many things.

They have the same dimensions, without fans, but the design of the S model was apparently altered to enable the fan to sit lower, thus reducing the final height by 5 mm. I'm not sure what other changes might've been made.

BTW, I think they missed an opportunity to harness a bit more of their fan(s) airflow by allowing part of the fan frame to extend beyond the heatsink profile. If I had one of these coolers, I'd tape something over the gap, on the exhaust side, so that all of the downstream air was forced to go through the fin stack.

Regarding the size, I was a little worried when it came out of the box, but it was actually a perfect fit for the reason @bit_user suggests in my situation. I used it on a MSI Pro Z790-A WiFi board. The fins of the cooler end just short of the back panel controls heatsink and over the vrm heatsink. I only thought about noticing it after reading the above comments. I thought with the air flow that some of the heat rising from the vrm heatsink would be funneled into the second fan while the ending point of the heat sink would allow some of the exiting air in an over the components and heatsink for the back panel parts. And then the back case fan pulling it all out of the case. The case is a Musetex ATX Y6.

 

[mhmarefat]

Thank you for review.
Sorry for stupid question but does anyone know if I put these fans on another cooler (in particular Thermalright Peerless Assassin), will I get almost the same cooling performance and also lower noise output?

 

[35below0]

Thank you for review.
Sorry for stupid question but does anyone know if I put these fans on another cooler (in particular Thermalright Peerless Assassin), will I get almost the same cooling performance and also lower noise output?

It's not a stupid question. The fans are sold separately if you want them, and can be used anywhere as long as the size fits.
But the question of how well they will work is more difficult to answer because you are asking about the performance of a modified cooler.
I can only guess, but my guess would be your cooler would work a little better.

Just be aware that the same cooler used on two different CPUs or identical CPUs at different workloads would produce different results. Cooling efficiency and noise would be different. So with that in mind, if you mix and match different cooler parts, you won't know what the result is going to be until you test it yourself.
I don't expect it to be bad is all.

 

[Loadedaxe]

A good 2C cooler than a Noctua D15 is a massacre? Talk about hyperbole.

half price and better cooling than the leading air cooler manufacturer.....uhhhh, maybe not a massacre, but certainly a deep blow.

 

[pohemi]

No way I would buy this vs a Hyper 212 Evo which $30 $12 cheaper and has excellent cooling (C2Q Q9650@3.8Ghz and i7 920@3.8Ghz with temps maxing at 79C ).

I'm surprised the Hyper 212 Evo is even still in the list, so that's saying how long-lasting the design has been even with the revisions.

That being said...comparing 212's performance on 16+ year old chips to the Phantom Spirit on current gen is apples to oranges. And the nominal price difference...the 212 comes with one fan vs dual with the Phantom Spirit.

Also, I'm not sure where you are finding the 212 Evo @ $30 either, TBH. I don't think you are using honest pricing comparison. It's never been that low for the Evo V2, or even the V1.

 

[systemBuilder_49]

After a long research phase I ended up buying the ID cooling se-224 single Tower cooler in 2021 because it was the best single Tower RGB cooler available for AM4 (newer model se-224- XT is poor, however, be careful!). But I recently upgraded from a 5700g to a 5950x and needed more cooling.

I got my 5950x / SE-224 to score 45,500 on CPU benchmark which is the average score (using fast memory) and realized my PC was undercooled!

When I read about the Phantom Spirit 120 dual Tower non-EVO RGB cooler beating almost every other cooler I took the plunge & paid $41 (AMAZON) & installed the RGB version in my machine and suddenly my machine ran 6% faster 47,500 on cpubenchmark.com!

I'm a 3x Noctua U14 buyer - never again! The D15 has lots of limitations (one color only, no RGB, enormous) and is losing its crown as "the best"...

I'm a total believer! This is a report of success from field testing!

 

[NedSmelly]

My one concern about Thermalright's products are the longevity of the fans - something I am unfortunately not equipped to test. But it's not a huge concern given the low price of the unit.

Yes at its RRP it's very hard to justify a Noctua. I can't say I've ever made use of their lifetime free mounting kits. In reply to others regarding the NH-D15: I actually think this is more of an NH-U12A competitor, with their comparable heights and 120mm fans.

 

[Albert.Thomas]

Thank you for review.
Sorry for stupid question but does anyone know if I put these fans on another cooler (in particular Thermalright Peerless Assassin), will I get almost the same cooling performance and also lower noise output?

The Peerless Assassin has one less heatpipe, so even with the improved fan it won't perform as well as the Phantom Spirit

 

[Co BIY]

My one concern about Thermalright's products are the longevity of the fans - something I am unfortunately not equipped to test. But it's not a huge concern given the low price of the unit.

When you have a performance Champion and write a ringing review it seems natural that transitioning that test unit to a long term test is a natural.

"Does this Champion have any weaknesses ? "

It at least gives you a future article that I'd read.

 

[Albert.Thomas]

When you have a performance Champion and write a ringing review it seems natural that transitioning that test unit to a long term test is a natural.

"Does this Champion have any weaknesses ? "

It at least gives you a future article that I'd read.

Long term fan testing is something that I would love to have the ability to do, but even if I had a facility where I could have fans running variable loads 24/7 - is anyone really going to be interested in an article 5-10 years down the line about the longevity of a fan from a decade prior?

 

[35below0]

Possibly. It will give an insight into the longevity of current day products by the same manufacturer.

The same can be learned from complaints or lack of complaints from users who use coolers in normal, non-laboratory conditions, so i guess it's a very niche kind of test to perform.

 

[salgado18]

Long term fan testing is something that I would love to have the ability to do, but even if I had a facility where I could have fans running variable loads 24/7 - is anyone really going to be interested in an article 5-10 years down the line about the longevity of a fan from a decade prior?

The person above using a 212 EVO on a Core 2 Quad probably does. Besides, coolers are 90% physics, so a good cooler could last ages, and be sold for ages as well. Give it proper mounting parts and you could use one for over a decade.

 

[ilukey77]

D15 is a good cooler but if you want Noctua the NH-U12A is just as good in some cases as the D15 for that smaller cooler ..
Problem with the Thermalright pahtom spirit 120 evo is dual tower cooler ..

In my testing the Noctua NH-U12A is just as good as the phantom evo within a few degrees its a catch 22
the phantom is much much cheaper but the Noctua is much much smaller ..

My testing was done on the 7800x3d and in both cases a few degrees difference thats all !!
But 100% recommend both coolers .

This is the thermalright 120 evo using The NH-U12A fans on the gene board with the gen z m.2 mods were needed with the front 15mm fan 25mm to thick..

the Noctua has found its way onto my all intel build with the 14600kf performs okay the 14600kf at idle is cooler but allcore R23 its around 88c may try the thermalright pahantom 120 evo but probably be the same !!

proves the intel CPU's are by default cooler at idle but hotter under load !!

 

[Silentwidow]

@Albert.Thomas thanks for the review. I've been sensing a passing of the torch lately from Noctua to Thermalright as top pick amongst the enthusiast crowd (along with DeepCool). But is there anything else we need to be aware of besides performance? Quality control, after sales support, and perhaps even industrial practices?

(Noctua, BeQuiet, and Cooler Master dinosaur user here)

To be fair, Thermalright used to be the big daddy back in the day of OC. Glad to see them back on their game.

 

[RolandOlifant]

I'm surprised the Hyper 212 Evo is even still in the list, so that's saying how long-lasting the design has been even with the revisions.

That being said...comparing 212's performance on 16+ year old chips to the Phantom Spirit on current gen is apples to oranges. And the nominal price difference...the 212 comes with one fan vs dual with the Phantom Spirit.

Also, I'm not sure where you are finding the 212 Evo @ $30 either, TBH. I don't think you are using honest pricing comparison. It's never been that low for the Evo V2, or even the V1.

I use hypee 212 for initial build testing as well quite frequently; but regardless getting 900+ Mhz OC on air with 4c8t is nothing to be dismissive of. Amazon has the updated version for $30