These are the Best CPU Air Coolers Right Now

The best CPU coolers in 2023 for both Ryzen 7000 AM5 and Intel 13th gen are actually from the past. But from the Noctua NH-D15, Themralright Peerless Assassin, be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4, DeepCool AK620, Noctua NH-U12A and Scythe Fuma 2 Rev.B, is there one that's the best all round air cooler for CPUs right now?

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COOLERS:

TIMESTAMPS
0:00 - Why Now?
1:02 - Let's Meet the Best Coolers Right Now
3:36 - Sponsor Spot
4:05 - Ryzen 7000 & Intel 13th Gen Changed the Game
5:06 - 2023 CPU Cooler Benchmark Methodology
6:10 - Power Level Testing on Intel 13th Gen
6:55 - Understanding our Charts
7:37 - 180W Thermal Testing
9:15 - 180W Clock Speed Comparison
9:40 - 253W Thermal Testing
10:49 - 253W Clock Speed Comparison
12:08 - EXTREME Heat Thermal Testing
12:46 - EXTREME Heat Clock Speed Comparison
13:32 - Dark Rock Pro 4 WTF!?!?
14:49 - GAMING Thermal Testing
16:29 - GAMING Framerate Comparison
17:01 - The Best CPU Coolers Right Now ARE....

Review unit provided free of charge by the companies mentioned or purchased by Hardware Canucks. This video is sponsored by Lian Li. As per Hardware Canucks guidelines, no review direction was received from manufacturer. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

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[StefandeJong]

It's astounding how good of a value the Thermalright Peerless Assassin is, especially at it's $40 (!!!) pricepoint.

[stephenxs]

Finally someone reviews a thermalright.

[maiwson]

buying the NH-D15 a couple of years ago was the best decision I've ever made.
Free upgrades for new platforms, incredible performance and fast support make it the best of the best - its now in my 4th build.

[marty]

I'm glad Thermalright is making a comeback.. they were THE one to get back in the day, their huge solid copper coolers were fantastic. Looks like they're getting back in the game these days. I'm glad to see it.

[attafwrd]

Bought NH-D15 (non chromax) early 2015, been using it for i7-4790K, i7-6700K, i7-8700K, Ryzen 7 3800X. Now serving Ryzen 9 5900X.
Got mounting upgrades for free via Noctua support (SecuFirm2).
RMA'd push faulty fan (1x A15) without questions circa 2020.
All shipped to Indonesia free of charge.
This beast's warranty (6y) was only beaten by my PSU warranty (Seasonic Snow Silent 1050W, 7y) that bought around 2014.
Still using both of them now. Cost when bought are justified by their performance & longevity.

[XxTheMetalistxX]

A "fan normalized" chart would be an amazing addition to these reviews. Would love to see their performace with T30's & the budget option P12's.
Also adding Liquid Freezer II 280/360 to the chart would be a super useful for the average person trying to decide between air & AIO.

Great video btw, <3.

[cinnabarsin]

It's really a good time to be in the air cooling market, you've got a bunch of really good options from being able to get the 1% best at any cost all the way down to a (just as good) cooler and case full of (nearly as good) fans for the cost of a Noctua cooler.

[grumpyolddude]

DeepCool AK620 is a BEAST! I have it on my 5800X3D, and it hardly ever sees 70-75C regardless of load.

[cszolee]

I'm surprised that Thermalright gets so little recognition. They were around at the very beginning, and it was TR that had the first heatpipe and then later heatpipe tower cooler way back in the early 2000s.

[phero]

I put a Phanteks T30 onto my Dark Rock Pro 4 and it's insane how much better it is now. Highly recommend since the cooler is really held back by the stock fans.

[aledark]

My Peerless Assassin is chilling the hell out of my 12700K. I love it. Also you can control the RGB using signal RGB. What a beast.

[Cooper]

I use two BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro TR4's on a dual AMD EPYC workstation, absolutely amazing never see CPU temps above 40c with only the single middle fan installed. In a Fractal Torrent EATX case.

[theeeves]

I bought the PA120 for a 5600x that I installed a few days ago. I was actually confused at how quiet my PC was compared to before. 3600x with a stock cooler was SO loud, not to mention went from about 72-79C underload on the 3600x to 50C underload on my 5600x.

[Jikangire]

I have been using the same Noctua NH-D15 since the Ryzen 7 1800X came out. I've since upgraded to a Ryzen 7 5800X, and then a 5800X3D, and the same NH-D15 has been able to cool them all without issue! I absolutely love Noctua and the fact that their air coolers can beat most, (not all), water cooling AIOs!

[Rhamses]

Bought the PA120 RGB version for my 13600k based on your initial review of it, it has NOT disappointed! My motherboard allows my 13600k to pull up to 288w (I’ve only ever seen it pull about 230 in R23), and in gaming workloads my 13600k sits in the mid 50s. Running a 10 minute Cinebench R23 pass saw a peak temp of 92* and just under 23000 point multi core score. The Peerless Assassin is an absolute unit of a tower cooler, I can’t recommend it enough!

[MDFGamingVideo]

Just built a Zen 4 7700x for my brother with an Arctic Freezer 34 E-sports Duo. Tuned PBO UV/OC with a 135w max power limit (138 is default) and ended up 5.75 GHz peak boost, 5.15 GHz all core, MAX temp was 92c during Prime95. Rock solid stable. The Freezer 34 Duo (2 fans) is a very good, very economical, and very compact cooler that gets within a few degrees C of the NH-D15. Wish you had included it in this review.

[chrisbullock]

That Dark Rock Pro 4 is my all time favorite. Kept my 5800X cold! Now keeping my wife's 7900X nice and cool

[roopyphelsenburg]

Great, finally there is a big comparison of the most popular coolers. Special thanks for the tests at 13900K.
And it would be great if you pay attention to such models as Thermalright Frost Commander 140 (vs D15) and Thermalright U120EX REV.4 (vs U12A).

[skosko]

With the BQ Dark Rock Pro 4 cooler, there are also additional brackets in the packaging that are made for standard 120mm fans. So you can mount any 120mm fan you want. (Have NF-A12 on mine)

[Zaber]

Loving this air cooler content recently, it’s the best of its kind out there. Would love to see these top air coolers compared to different AIOs for reference.