Twelve CPU Air Cooler Roundup
Phanteks PH-TC12DX
The folks over at Phanteks provided a 120mm tower cooler for the round up. The Phanteks PH-TC12DX features dual PWM fans along with four 6mm heat pipes. The kit also provides a universal mounting system to facilitate installation on most of the motherboards available today.
Specifications
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Brand
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PHANTEKS
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|
Type
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Heatsinks and Fans
|
| Colors | White / Black / Blue / Red |
| Material | Copper (Base and Heat-pipes), Nickel Plated Aluminum (Fins and Top Cover) Patented P.A.T.S (Physical Anti-Oxidant Thermal Shield) Patented C.P.S.C (Cold Plasma Spraying Coating) |
| Fan Model | PH-F120HP PWM Premium Fan |
| Fan Size | 120 x 120 x 25mm |
| Fan Compatibilities | 120 x 120 x 25mm (2pcs) |
|
Bearing Type
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UFB (Updraft Floating Balance) Bearing
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|
Blade Geometry
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Nine Blades with MVB(Maelström Vortex Booster) Design
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Speed (RPM)
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600 – 1800 RPM ± 10%
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Max Airflow
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23 – 68.5 CFM
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|
Max Air Pressure
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0.39 – 2.07mm H2O
|
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Acoustical Noise
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21.9 – 27.6 dB(A)
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Input Power
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2.16W
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Current (Ampere)
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0.18A
|
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Rate Voltage
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12V
|
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MTBF
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>150,000 h
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Heatsink Dimensions (LxWxH)
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126 x 57 x 157mm (without fans)
126 x 107 x 157mm (with dual fans) |
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Package Dimensions
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220x163x173 (LxWxH)
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|
Scope of Delivery
|
1x PH-TC12DX Heatsink
2x PH-F120HP PWM Premium Fans 8x Fan Clip Adapters 4x Rubber Bar, 4x Fan wire clips (PH-F120HP Fan’s Accessories) SoliSku Mounting Kits for Intel and AMD (Stock back-plate required) 1x Y Fan Splitter (4pin) 1x PH-NDC Thermal Compound 2x Phanteks PH-TC12DX User’s Manual |
|
Warranty
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5 Years.
|
 |
 |
The packaging for the Phanteks PH-TC12DX is very similar to that of the PH-TC14CS. The cooler comes in four different colors. The back of the box details the features and a little history of this cooler in 10 different languages.
All packed away in the box is the cooler, two fans, instructions, an AMD installation kit, an Intel installation kit and the accessories package. There is also a PWM splitter cable included to run both fans off of one motherboard header.
The Phanteks PH-TC12DX measures in at 120x120x25 mm. The aluminum fins are attached to the nickel plated copper heat pipes.
The fin spacing is wide enough to see through and should allow sufficient airflow to allow the cooler to effectively cool the CPU.
The base of the cooler is polished, but not to a mirror finish. There are minor machining marks present on the surface of the base.
However, the base is polished enough to give a reflection. The reflected lines show that the base is flat and should make good contact with the heat spreader of the CPU.
The Phanteks PH-TC12DX comes with two PWM fans. Depending on the kit, there are four color of fan blades available.
The Phanteks fans that come with the PH-TC12DX feature blades that use the Maelstrom Vortex Booster design. The design allows for increased airflow by creating a vortex behind the fan and producing less noise while doing so. These fans are rated at 23-68.5 CFM and 21.9-27.6 dBA.
Installation of the Phanteks PH-TC12DX is similar to the installation of the PH-TC14CS. The difference being that the retention brackets are now installed in the manner shown above.
When attaching the cooler to the retention brackets tighten the screw down until it is snug. There is not a need to really crank down on them.
With both fans installed the Phanteks PH-TC12DX is narrow enough to allow usage of all four memory slots on our 1150 motherboard. The memory has a very tight clearance between the fan and the heat spreader on the memory, but should still fit without any issues.
Installation is complete, and thanks to some minor changes to the wire retention clips for the fans installation of the fans is much simpler. The fans are set up in a push/pull configuration where the fan facing the memory side of the board is pushing air through the cooler and the fan on the back side of the cooler is pulling the air to the back of the PC case. Phanteks likes long cables on the fans and there is plenty here. For our testing I did use the included PWM splitter.
The Phanteks PH-TC 14PE take us back to the test bench next.
