Is the PA120SE enough for Ryzen 7 7700x?

[Lavox]

I'm currently building a pc that has the Ryzen 7 7700x as its CPU, I'm not planning to do any overclocking, but I am getting alot of comments from my friends that I should just spend more for an AIO or Liquid Cooler but I don't really like Liquid coolers and would prefer standard Air Coolers, my budget doesn't allow for me to get premium coolers like AK620 or Assassin IV.

So is the Peerless Assassin 120 SE good enough to cool my Ryzen 7 7700x or should I go for a cheap Liquid Cooler like AIGO Darkflash DX-240?

[Tan3l6]

Peerless Assassin 120 SE  is more than enough. Meaning it should keep quite low temps, given enough air-flow in the case.

[tkitch]

PA 120 SE is a great cooler.  It'll work on a 7700x no problem.  (it's not THAT hot of a CPU) 

[GuiltySpark_]

More than enough. 

 

9 minutes ago, Lavox said:

premium coolers like AK620 or Assassin IV.

The PA120 and its variants perform better. 

[RevGAM]

14 minutes ago, Lavox said:

I'm currently building a pc that has the Ryzen 7 7700x as its CPU, I'm not planning to do any overclocking, but I am getting alot of comments from my friends that I should just spend more for an AIO or Liquid Cooler but I don't really like Liquid coolers and would prefer standard Air Coolers, my budget doesn't allow for me to get premium coolers like AK620 or Assassin IV.

So is the Peerless Assassin 120 SE good enough to cool my Ryzen 7 7700x or should I go for a cheap Liquid Cooler like AIGO Darkflash DX-240?

Unless you are doing really intense,  heat-generating stuff, you don't need a water cooler. PA/PS120 or FC/FS140 are great, as are the DC AK620 and Assassin IV... and several more. 

[Hinjima]

26 minutes ago, Lavox said:

I'm currently building a pc that has the Ryzen 7 7700x as its CPU, I'm not planning to do any overclocking, but I am getting alot of comments from my friends that I should just spend more for an AIO or Liquid Cooler but I don't really like Liquid coolers and would prefer standard Air Coolers, my budget doesn't allow for me to get premium coolers like AK620 or Assassin IV.

So is the Peerless Assassin 120 SE good enough to cool my Ryzen 7 7700x or should I go for a cheap Liquid Cooler like AIGO Darkflash DX-240?

I use an NH-D15 ( 2-3c better temps than the PA120 at most ).  My NH-D15 is at 24% constant fanspeed and I cool my 7700x without any issues
Reason for the low fanspeed is lower noise levels as I am sensitive to fan noise. 

[Agall]

21 minutes ago, Hinjima said:

I use an NH-D15 ( 2-3c better temps than the PA120 at most ).  My NH-D15 is at 24% constant fanspeed and I cool my 7700x without any issues
Reason for the low fanspeed is lower noise levels as I am sensitive to fan noise. 

Why my PC has its fans at 100%, in another room  

 

49 minutes ago, Lavox said:

I'm currently building a pc that has the Ryzen 7 7700x as its CPU, I'm not planning to do any overclocking, but I am getting alot of comments from my friends that I should just spend more for an AIO or Liquid Cooler but I don't really like Liquid coolers and would prefer standard Air Coolers, my budget doesn't allow for me to get premium coolers like AK620 or Assassin IV.

So is the Peerless Assassin 120 SE good enough to cool my Ryzen 7 7700x or should I go for a cheap Liquid Cooler like AIGO Darkflash DX-240?

PA 120 SE is plenty for a 7700x. When it comes to air coolers, as long as you're operating within the TDP spec, they'll be fine. Exceeding the TDP spec of an air cooler can result in heat pipe dryout, where the internal phase change is just oversaturated and can't condense.

 

Water cooling is mostly there to increase the heat exchanger's surface area and operates with dramatically higher heat capacity. That allows it to scale larger than the area near the socket since you're transporting heat, and mitigate fan spiking that might occur with a heat sink of lower heat capacity.

[Lavox]

Thanks for the replies guys, I was feeling really scared that if I get the PA120SE my CPU will run into heat issues, tysm

[Agall]

7 minutes ago, Lavox said:

Thanks for the replies guys, I was feeling really scared that if I get the PA120SE my CPU will run into heat issues, tysm

PA120SE is really as good as its made out to be. Sure, an NH-D15 is physically larger with potentially quieter running fans, but you're not getting that much more performance if any out of it for significantly lower case and motherboard compatibility. NH-D15 probably reaches diminishing returns with its size comparably.

 

The options in between just can't beat the $35 asking price of the PA120SE. Where Noctua's coolers shine as the best air coolers is with the support, but you're spending sometimes 3x as much to get that when you could otherwise just get another cooler for less.

 

In my case, the NH-D15 is the only air cooler with 1st party AM5 offset and direct die modifications. PA120SE simply wouldn't work without significantly more risk and a lot of engineering to do an extreme modification like that.