Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB V2 CPU Cooler
Bottom line: The Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB V2 CPU Cooler ($39.51 on Amazon as of 2026-10-07): Dual-tower, 6-heat-pipe design outperforms stock coolers on sustained loads; main trade-off: dual-tower height and width can block tall RAM or side panels.
As an Amazon Associate, SpecPicks earns from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure →
*Price sourced from Amazon.com. Last updated 2026-10-07. Price and availability subject to change.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- ✓ Dual-tower, 6-heat-pipe design outperforms stock coolers on sustained loads
- ✓ Dual 120mm PWM fans push up to 88.89CFM at 1850RPM
- ✓ Rated 29.5dBA lets you tune fan curves for quiet daily use
- ✓ Fits AMD AM4/AM5 and Intel LGA1851/1700 out of the box
Cons
- ✗ Dual-tower height and width can block tall RAM or side panels
- ✗ No AIO liquid option if you want radiator-based cooling
- ✗ Older sockets like LGA1200 and AM3 are not supported
- ✗ 29.5dBA rating is at spec speed; 1850RPM peaks are audible
Manufacturer description
Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB V2is a CPU cooler designed for users who want stronger thermal performance, broader platform compatibility, and a more reliable upgrade over basic stock cooling.Built with adual tower heatsink,6 heat pipes, anddual 120mm PWM fans, thisCPU air coolerhelps improve heat dissipation for gaming systems, workstations, and other desktop builds under sustained daily workloads.The dual120mm PWM fansrun at speeds up to1850RPM, helping provide balanced airflow, stable cooling support, and efficient operation across different usage scenarios.For…
SpecPicks Verdict
SpecPicks scored Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB V2 CPU Cooler using a rating × review-volume × price-fit model applied to published specs and reviews across the cooling & fans category. Compare with similarly-priced alternatives in the cooling & fans category before committing. Judge it on the specification table and the price rather than on sentiment: check the figures that decide your use case, then put it side-by-side with two or three close alternatives in the Compare tool before clicking through.
Common buyer scenarios for cooling & fans of this kind: matching it to an existing build, replacing a failing part, or upgrading from a previous-generation equivalent. Check the spec table below against your current setup — particularly socket / form-factor / power-rating fields — and confirm compatibility on the retailer's listing before purchase. Prices and stock are set by the retailer and may have moved since this page was last updated.
Key Features
- Dual tower CPU cooler with 6 heat pipes and dual 120mm PWM fans helps improve heat dissipation for gaming, multitasking, and other high-load desktop use
- Supports AMD AM4 AM5 and Intel LGA1851 1700 platforms, making this CPU air cooler a practical upgrade for current mainstream desktop builds
- The dual tower heatsink design helps improve heat transfer efficiency and gives this CPU air cooler more stable thermal performance than basic stock cooling solutions
- Dual 120mm×28mm PWM fans run up to 1850RPM with a rated noise level of 29.5dBA, delivering up to 88.89CFM airflow while allowing fan curve control for cooling and daily noise balance
- A high-value upgrade in the Peerless Assassin series, designed for users who want dual-tower cooling, stronger V2 airflow specs, AMD AM4/AM5 and Intel LGA1851/1700 compatibility for mainstream desktop builds
Full Specifications
| Brand | Thermalright |
|---|---|
| Model | PA120-SE-ARGB-B-V2 |
| Voltage | 5 Volts |
| Wattage | 3 watts |
| Material | Aluminum |
| Unit Count | 1.0 Count |
| Noise Level | 29.5 Decibels |
| Part Number | PA120-SE-ARGB-B-V2 |
| Material Type | Aluminum |
| Cooling Method | Air |
| Number of Items | 1 |
| Air Flow Capacity | 88.89 Cubic Feet Per Minute |
| Compatible Devices | Desktop |
| Included Components | PA120 SE ARGB Black V2 CPU cooler，TF7 thermal paste, mounting parts |
| Power Connector Type | 4-Pin |
| Warranty Description | 3 Year Manufacturer Warranty |
| Maximum Rotational Speed | 1850 RPM |
| Item Dimensions L x W x H | 4.92"L x 5.31"W x 6.1"H |
| Full listing title | Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB V2 CPU Cooler, 1850RPM | 6 Heat Pipes, Dual 120mm PWM Fans, for AMD AM4/AM5 and Intel LGA1851/1700 |
Ready to buy?
Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB V2 CPU Cooler, 1850RPM | 6 Heat Pipes, Dual 120mm PWM Fans, for AMD AM4/AM5 and Intel LGA1851/1700 is listed on Amazon. Price, availability, shipping and returns are set by Amazon and its sellers — check the listing for current terms. SpecPicks earns a small commission on qualifying purchases — thank you for supporting independent review work.
*Price sourced from Amazon.com. Last updated 2026-10-07. Price and availability subject to change.
Related Cooling & Fans
More guides & deep dives from the SpecPicks archive
Browse all articles & guides →- RTX 4070 Super vs RX 7800 XT — Which to Buy in 2026
- How to Build a Windows 98 Retro PC in 2026
- The Complete Voodoo5 5500 AGP Driver Guide (2026 Edition)
- Best Retro Handhelds in 2026 — From $35 to $500
- Emulation Hardware in 2026: FPGA, Software, and Cart-Reader Ecosystems
- Best 1440p Gaming GPUs in 2026
- Best Budget Gaming PC Build 2026 — ~$1,000 ($800 on Sale)
More reviews from the SpecPicks archive
Browse all reviews →- Best Upgrades for a DDR4 Gaming PC in 2026
- Building a 1999 GeForce 256 + Pentium III Win98 Rig in 2026
- GLM-5.2 vs Qwen3 on a 12GB GPU: Best Open-Weights LLM for an RTX 3060
- Fish Audio S2.1 Pro Is Free Until July 24 — But Can You Run TTS Locally on an RTX 3060?
- Best Plug-and-Play Retro Gaming Consoles to Buy in 2026
- Sound BlasterX G6 on a Windows 98/XP Retro Gaming PC: What It Actually Does
- Noctua-Style Raspberry Pi 5 NAS Build Goes Viral — What Pi 4 Owners Can Borrow
- Kimi K3 Sold Out the Cloud — Can You Run It Locally?
- AMD Ryzen AI Max 400 'Gorgon Halo': 192GB Unified Memory APU Hits $3,999
- Gemini-SQL2 Tops Text-to-SQL — Can a 12GB RTX 3060 Run Local SQL Models Instead?
- Intel Arc B50 for Stable Diffusion vs RTX 3060 12GB: Which Wins in 2026
- Best CPU Cooler for Ryzen 7 5800X and 5700X in 2026
- Using Claude to Hunt PCI Device IDs on Win98: Voodoo, Audigy, GeForce 4 Ti
- IPEX-LLM + Ollama in Docker on Intel Arc: The 2026 Setup Guide
- Best Sim Racing Wheels and Pedals for PC and PlayStation in 2026
- DwarfStar Distributed Inference: Splitting a Single LLM Across a Home LAN of Mismatched GPUs
- Anthropic's 2GW AMD Deal: Should You Still Run Local?
- Local LLM Image Generators: Best AMD GPUs in 2025
- How to run Qwen 3 14B on Apple M4 Max
- Best GPU Upgrade From a GTX 1050 Ti for Local LLMs in 2026
- AI Bug-Hunting Surged: Running a Local Security-Scanner LLM on 12GB VRAM
- DeepSeek on the US Entity List: What It Means for Local Inference
- How to Host a Quake 3 Arena Server in 2026: Modern Setup for Classic LAN Play
- Build a Motion-Triggered Trail Camera With the Raspberry Pi HQ Camera (2026)
Earliest SpecPicks reviews
Browse full archive →- Best GPU for Llama 3.1 8B (2026)
- Best GPU for Qwen 3 14B (2026)
- Best GPU for Qwen 3 32B (2026)
- Best GPU for Llama 3.1 70B (2026)
- Best GPU for DeepSeek-R1 32B (2026)
- Best GPU for Llama 3.1 405B (2026)
- How to run Llama 3.1 8B on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090
- How to run Qwen 3 14B on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090
- How to run Qwen 3 32B on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090
- How to run Llama 3.1 70B on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090
- How to run DeepSeek-R1 32B on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090
- How to run Llama 3.1 8B on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090