Introduction
It has been a few years since we last had a Thermalright product on our desk for review. We are not sure what happened along the way, but we are happy to see that Thermalright is back at it, making CPU air coolers again. Our mind immediately jumps to the likes of the Le Grand Macho, Silver Arrows, and the True in its various forms was likely the most successful cooler at that time! All we can hope is that their disappearance from the market has not changed anything within the company, and they are still in the game to make fantastic air coolers for the masses! What we have for you now is the Frost Commander 140 from Thermalright. True to the motto "double is better", the new CPU air cooler from the manufacturer Thermalright is not exactly compact, but unsurprisingly it should be able to score with first-class cooling performance. The heart of the whole construction are the two stacks of 53 fins each, which are connected to the base of the heat sink, which is also made of nickel-plated copper, via a total of five 8 mm thick nickel-plated copper heat pipes. A 120 mm fan takes care of the air supply, which transports fresh air through the first stack at a speed of 1,850 revolutions per minute, where it is received by the second fan, which is 140 mm larger and rotates a little slower at 1,800 RPM and passed through the second block. Both fans have a liquid bearing and are included in the scope of delivery. Thanks to the fasteners that are also included, up to three 140 mm models can be installed on the cooler. Thermalright offers its cooler in many finishes, as we have seen in the brand's other cooler reviews. The Frost Commander 140 is no exception. Thus, it is possible to choose it in white, black and in a “normal” version. It is this last option that Thermalright sent us.
The specifications chart we see is taken directly from the product page and covers everything one would need to know about the Frost Commander 140. In terms of socket compatibility, the Frost Commander 140 covers all current sockets that are likely to be installed by customers in the target group. On the AMD side that would be the AM4/AM5, on the Intel side the cooler fits boards with sockets 115x/1200/2011 and 2066/1700.
Packaging & Contents
On the front side we have the reference of the cooler, as well as an image of it. The support for the LGA1700 is specified.
The specifications of the heatsink and the powerful fans are printed on the back.
On the sides we have the main features of the cooler. On the right side we have everything related to the fans as well as the premium look of the radiators.
While on the left side, Thermalright dwells on the heat pipes and the nickel-plated copper cold plate.
Removing the cooler an inner packaging from the box shows that Thermalright takes appropriate measures to ensure our sample showed up in near-mint condition. There is a box of hardware on the bottom of the stack, with foam separating it from the tower. At the top of the stack is another piece of foam to keep the cooler away from the box, and as for the fan, it is behind the tower in this image and is again separated with a thin layer of foam.
Assembly instructions are located in the accessories box.
The cooler package includes mounting kits for installing it on Intel and AMD processors, brackets for fixing fans and a Y-cable. In addition, the cooler comes with Thermalright TF7 thermal paste with a very high declared thermal conductivity of 12.8 W/m°K. Interestingly, this is not the most efficient thermal interface from Thermalright, as the company has TF8 thermal paste in its range, the thermal conductivity of which is declared at 13.8 W / m ° K.
An separate box containing LGA1700 backplate and wrench.
A Closer Look
The Frost Commander 140 is a dual tower cooler. It is therefore made up of two aluminum radiators, crossed by five 8 mm heat pipes.
The size of the radiator is 121mm x 140mm x 158mm, and the size of the radiator with fan is 146mm x 140mm x 160mm.
The Frost Commander 140 has 53 aluminum cooling fins per side, for a total of 106 fins, each fin is 0.4mm thick, and the fin pitch is 1.8mm. The two sides of the heat dissipation fins are aligned in the way of "Fin Buckle", the spacing is consistent and neat, and the fin structure is stronger to prevent the situation of one high and one low when the pressure is applied during installation. In addition, the heat dissipation fins are deburred, and the edges are rounded.
At the top, a metal cover that covers the end of the heat pipe is applied, and a blue color similar to the anti-vibration pad at the corner of the cooling fan is used to create a sense of unity. The logo is engraved in the center of the cover to enhance its identity. In fact, the ends of the heat pipes are hidden under these plates, which gives a very clean rendering.
The heat pipes and the cold plate are made of copper, but covered with nickel. The Frost Commander 140 uses five 8mm AGHP anti-gravity heat pipes. The AGHP heat pipes add more capillaries and enhance the capillary liquid return effect. Whether the radiator is placed horizontally or vertically, the thermal conductivity will not be affected. The heat pipe is connected to the heat dissipation fins by reflow soldering process, which is more tightly attached and fastened to the heat dissipation fins than the general "wearing FIN", and it will not be easy to loosen after a long time of use. The cold plate receives a nice finish, although we notice some traces of machining, nothing serious in itself. The Frost Commander 140 has a welded copper base, which is made of C1100 pure copper.
It uses a dual-fan combination of one TL-D14X and one TL-C12 Pro-G. One is a 14cm fan and the other is a 12cm fan. The combination of a large and a small dual fan is more conducive to compatibility with memory of different heights. They have a gray dress with anti-vibration corners in a darker gray. They have nine blades with the brand logo in the center. The TL-D14X fan size is 140mm x 152mm x 27mm, supports 12V voltage input and PWM speed control, the maximum speed is 1,800rpm, the maximum air flow is 95.5 CFM, the maximum air pressure is 2.25 mm H²O, and the maximum noise level is 30.2dBA. The TL-C12 Pro-G fan measures 120mm x 120mm x 25mm, supports 12V voltage input and uses PWM for speed control, with a maximum speed of 1,850rpm, a maximum air flow of 82 CFM, a maximum air pressure of 2.1 mm H²O, and the highest noise level It is 29.6dBA.
They can bring good airflow and air pressure performance, effectively drive the airflow through the cooling fins, and reduce the friction sound of the bearings and extend the cooling time. In addition, the second-time dynamic balance dispensing correction and iron shell, copper shaft and steel core materials are used, which can greatly improve the stability and service life of the fan.
Installation Process
The installation of the Frost Commander 140 is one of the simplest installations of CPU coolers on the market. Simply press the backplate against the motherboard, use the thumb screwmounts to secure it, add the brackets, and then use the screws to secure the cooler to the brackets. I really wish more manufacturers would adopt a similar configuration.
The cooler does not block the first 16x PCIe slot.
The heatsink has more clearance for the RAM height as can be seen in the picture. But this clearance gets limited with the front 120mm fan. But the height of the fan can be adjusted making more room for the RAM but increasing the overall height of the cooler.
The height of the cooler is 158mm. Keep this in mind while planning your build with respect to the PC Chassis as the chassis should have support for the CPU cooler’s height of a minimum of 159mm or so.
On the AMD side of things, it is simple and easy, and the overall design removes a multitude of miscellaneous parts used by their competitors. The installation on Intel is just as easy. In general, everything here is well thought out and works as expected.
Performance
The tests are carried out with an AMD Ryzen 7 2700X processor installed on an ASUS TUF Gaming B550M-PLUS (WI-FI) motherboard . The processor is locked at 3700 MHz on all its cores with a Vcore at 1.05 V at first, then it goes to 4000 MHz / 1.25 V and finally 4200 MHz / 1.35 V. Temperatures are retrieved with HWiNFO , while the processor is loaded with RealBench for thirty minutes. Finally, the noise pollution measurement is taken 12 cm behind the radiator in a room measured at 29.6 dB(A).
Right out of the gates, Thermalright moves towards the front of the field. At 19 Delta, it lands Thermalright and the Frost Commander 140 in third place overall, yet it is the top air cooling solution in the chart. With a 0.1 Delta gap to the InWin SR24, it isn't the largest of margins, but compared to the NH-D15S or the AK500, the difference is 1 and 1.6 Delta, respectively. While not amazingly better, comparing MSRPs puts Thermalright well into the lead over Noctua.
Adding more speed and voltage, delivering more heat to the Frost Commander 140 was of little consequence regarding how well it performs. Again, Thermalright takes top honors for air cooling of a CPU in our charts. The difference to the big-named options increased slightly, favoring Thermalright and this Frost Commander 140 over many high-end, high-priced solutions.
We ran another test with our CPU overclocked to 4.150GHz and the Frost Commander 140 is seen doing an impressive job as well in keeping the temperature in around 35 Delta.
The Thermalright Frost Commander 140 is not the best of the bunch when it comes to limiting the noise levels, but the 36dB we heard at Idle from the fans is tolerable. Those who need that last degree of performance expect to pay the penalty for doing so. With 12V supplied to the Frost Commander 140 fans, the Intake capped at 1850 RPM, while the second fan got to 1800 RPM. Pulling out the sound meter once more, we saw 48dB on the meter, which is well into noisy, and almost into the range of droning.
Final Thoughts
Over the last few years, we have missed Thermalright and the long list of impressive CPU coolers. We had inclinations that maybe they were bought out and turned into a money-making machine, but whatever transpired, we don't care. We do care about that even with their absence, Thermalright has not lost their sense of direction, and the tagline on the box is not just a holdover from years past. The nostalgia is real, and we applaud Thermalright for making a comeback, and delivering us something worth your attention! They have given us a cooler with low temperatures, and undoubtedly high performance. On the other hand, the two fans attached to the Frost Commander 140 were a bit louder under full load situations, and they emitted a more audible sound during operation. This is probably the one smudge on an otherwise great performing air cooler. Build quality is great, with no bent fins or problems to speak of. The other issue for some will be the lack of ARGB lighting. However, the understated design, simple heatsink covers, and 8mm nickel-plated copper heat pipes still result in a visually appealing design. Also, for those who want a cooler that is just plain easy to install, Thermalright has you covered. The mounting hardware is one of the simplest and easiest to work with I have used on both AMD and Intel mainstream sockets. Clearance issues should not be a concern, as there is sufficient space for most memory kits this fan may hang over. To top everything off, the Frost Commander 140 from Thermalright is affordable. While contending blow for blow with a few $100 coolers and surpassing $80 options, the fact that the Frost Commander 140 will set you back only $86-€65 makes the purchase that much better. Sadly, there is one small issue, and that is availability. While we were able to locate it at one site (newegg), out of the six we checked, with any connection to the Thermalright Frost Commander 140, only one shows stock inside the US.
Thermalright kept us waiting, but after seeing what the Frost Commander 140 can do, we can say the wait was worth it. Thermalright's Frost Commander 140 is a stellar dual-tower cooler that offers an attractive blend of performance, looks, and ease of installation.
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