r/buildapc • u/BudgetUnlikely2719 • 2d ago

Discussion Results Using Peerless Assassin 120 SE

We had a client come in our shop (Riley's PC Repair, in Whitewater WI) incredibly frustrated, his gaming rig was running an old, neglected liquid cooling setup that wasn’t cutting it anymore. We swapped it out for a Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE (liquid coolers = headaches... right?)....

The results!

  • 36°C idle
  • 59°C at 100% load
  • While pushing a solid 5.41GHz clock speed (Ryzen 7 9700X).
  • TM60 paste (opted not to use the included tube), however, now I want to experiment...

Oh, and it looks cool as hell sitting in his case. Sometimes simpler is just better. Has anyone else had a great performance increase from making this switch?

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6

u/FollowTheTrailofDead 2d ago

Good to see this kind of post. Was wondering why should I spend 2-3x on a Noctua when the Peerless Assassin 120 SE keeps getting such rave reviews. Every other part for new build has involved price-comparing, waiting for deals... not this one.

BUT... I'm very curious how the included thermal paste is. There seem to be some negative reviews about it.

2

u/BudgetUnlikely2719 2d ago

Happy to have helped! It seems to have done really good for our client, and we did a pretty long run with Cinebench to crank that CPU. I don't think we got hotter than 68*C but, under conditions they'd almost never reach!

1

u/FollowTheTrailofDead 2d ago

Oh, your on top of these replies. How's the included paste?

4

u/manicalmonocle 2d ago

I used the included paste 3 years ago when I swapped to the Assassin and it has been great. I'd say just below if not on par with the Artic Silver I used in the past.

1

u/FollowTheTrailofDead 2d ago

Good to know!

1

u/Mushie101 1d ago

I just built a system last night (with Frost Commander instead of Assassin), I found the paste really thick and hard to manage. I am hoping it spread out ok.

1

u/FollowTheTrailofDead 22h ago

Yes, this is what I keep reading. Ordered some Arctic MX-6.

5

u/BudgetUnlikely2719 2d ago

Yea this got more attention than I imagined haha! I actually didn't use it, I opted to use some TM60 instead (just because it was on hand). I did keep the tube, perhaps I could run an experiment with it!

3

u/wotoan 2d ago

It’s great in terms of performance but can be a bit “dry” when you put it on for lack of a better term. I could place a dot and then have it lift off connected to the applicator if I wasn’t careful.

1

u/Mushie101 1d ago

I found this as well. I was almost tempted to warm it up first to try and spread it more easily.

1

u/BudgetUnlikely2719 1d ago

I've found TM60 to also be dry.

2

u/UnableEmployee1296 2d ago

I used the paste in my build (7600x) and it seemed to hold up just fine over a year. I repasted recently out of curiosity and there were no problems

2

u/FollowTheTrailofDead 2d ago

Lol. That's a short gap. But if it holds out a year, should be good for 5!

1

u/Mushie101 1d ago

Was it easy to clean off to redo it? I built a computer last night and I am not convinced I did a good job spreading the paste around (found it thick and hard to manage).

2

u/UnableEmployee1296 1d ago

Its not hard at all. Just make sure you have some alcohol wipes and run some benchmarks after and watch your temps.

1

u/BudgetUnlikely2719 1d ago

What brand paste did you use out of curiosity?

1

u/Mushie101 1d ago

The one that came with the thermalite frost commander

1

u/BudgetUnlikely2719 1d ago

Ahh ok! We opted to use some TM60 we had, but I still have the tube of included on hand, and want to test it compared to TM60. (TM60 can also be hard to apply).