Phanteks PH-TC14PE 140mm UFB (Updraft Floating Balance) CPU Cooler

Pros: I ordered this after reading some of the reviews here on the EGG and also doing some Youtube watching on this monster.

I was an avid water cooler fan and have built a few high end water cooling systems. I found that after a while, the water cooled systems have problems with reliability.
I've even used almost all the closed systems from most of the major companies and found that water cooling is too maintenance intensive for most computer users. Most just want to turn it on and go.

Water systems have pumps which in my experience don't last much over a year. Some brands last a bit longer but overall, they will need to be replaced sooner or later. Watching the quality of the coolant and worrying about leaks is another reason why I decided to go with air cooling for good.

I was looking for a good air cooler and did some research on which one was the best. I was considering the Noctua NHD14 and also this. It was a matter of a coin toss.

The Ph-TC14PE won the toss and so installed it in my new FX8350 AMD build.

First, it is big. Fits fine in my Corsair Haf X case. It is quiet! I can hardly hear it running. It looks great. It comes in several colors. It is really easy to install. Fits most AMD and Intel motherboards and comes with everything you need including a fairly good thermal paste.

And it works! I found this air cooler to be very effective in removing heat from the CPU.

Mine is set up a bit differently as I am pulling cold air from the outside of the case via the rear case fan (Noktua 14 inch), then the Two Phantek supplied fans and finally, a Noctua 12 inch NF-F12 fan which is a tad bit smaller than the Phantek fans and allows for it to fit over the Ram slots without having to go with low profile ram.
I also run two 200MM Coolermaster fans at the top of the case to expel any hot air quickly.

My temperatures are in the low 20C's at idle and at full 4.2 Ghz, do not go above 40C. I am sure that with overclocking, it will be higher, but even so, I see results from others that show that this works almost as good as a higher end self contained water cooling system.

No,the Phantek PH-TC14PE probably won't be as cool as a high end water cooled system at maximum overclock, but it does not require a lot of worry about if it will leak and worry about the pump dying in the middle of the night and frying your $300+ CPU. Plus it does cool good enough to keep just about any CPU overclocked nearly as cool as any custom water cooled setup. Face it, you are not going to need to worry about 4 or 5 degrees C warmer than a water cooled set up.

The unit itself come with all mounting brackets for Intel and AMD although the AMD kit that comes with it requires to use the factory back plate on the mother board.

Coming from a high end custom water cooling system, with the PH-TC14PE, you don't need any darned stinking hoses!!!!! No leaks and no worry about pump failure.

Cons: It is big so it will not fit in all cases. It is big enough to interfere with the ram so plan on using a smaller 12 inch Noktua or some other reliable fan on the end of this monster.

Figuring out how to use the fan clips is new to me so it tool a while. Once I figured it out, it was easy.

The little black clips for mounting the fan can fly across the room and can get lost.

Has some sharp edges that can cut you if not careful.

Other Thoughts: I like this cooler a lot. After having a few problems with water cooling, I sure am glad that they have come up with a better way to air cool with this cooler. For me, it would be between this and the Noctua.

It does resemble the Noctua version a little but according to some, not all, it cools a bit better too.

The one biggest plus this system has is that it comes in different colors. It looks pretty impressive especially with the 4 fans lined up in a row on this thing as I have it set up.

Overall, I recommend the Phantek PH-TC14PE. It may not have the absolute coolest of air cooling system temperatures, but it is in the top three and with the colors available, it is the coolest no matter what!

Pros: Why would anyone watercool unless you are going for high overclocks or have a tiny case when you have this as an option.
Cools my stock i7-3930K in the 25 C idle - 37C loaded range while gaming.
Probably could cool an old VW Beetle...

Cons: Need a big case (Corsair Graphite has tons of extra room - maybe 2 - 3 inches of clearance on side panel) and low profile memory (Vengeance LP fits fine underneath). Just do your homework and everything fits with no problems. You want air? This is it.
Should have gotten the blue to match my motherboard and memory, but hey - I'm a guy - didn't think of that until I was installing it.

Pros: Big flawless heatsink design
Sleeved pwm wires
Large clearance for ram


Developers of this cooler, I would like to to ask if we can exchange the 140MM fans for 120MM as my G.Skill Ripjaws makes me have to raise the big 140MM up and it extends outside my Phantom 410 case. This is a big issue and I would like to close up my case. Overall I do like this heatsink alot and it was worth all of it over my old Freezer 13. You guys did a nice job 9.7 out of 10

Cons: Not all white like shown in picture
Wont allow me to close case

Other Thoughts: Im in the process of bonding the thermal compound.
I would have tooken a egg off for the side panel issue but I guess its my fault for not knowing how oversized the fans are. I also feel a victim of false advertisment since in the pictures it clearly looked all white:(

Pros: N/A

Cons: Doesn't even come close to clearing my G.Skill RAM memory on an ASUS Maximus motherboard. I am not sure it would fit even if I removed the heat spreaders on the RAM which I won't do with high performance RAM. Stupid design.

Other Thoughts: I wasn't sure about ordering this cooler, but after making some measurements base upon other reviews I thought it would fit. And being a high performance cooler, I expected it to be compatible with a high performance motherboard and RAM. NOT, don't even bother if you want to cool your RAM.

Pros: Do its job and is silent !

Cons: Its a big cooler, be advised.

Other Thoughts: This cooler keep my I7 3820 under 60°c while gaming and the processor is clocked 4.2ghz.

Pros: Quiet even at full speed. Easily overclocks my I5-3570k to 4.2ghz [idle 32C/load 56C]. Installed with no problems. Kudos to the manufacturer. Well worth the money.

Cons: None.

Other Thoughts: Distances.

You'll want a case with about 180-190mm minimum from motherboard mounting plate to sidepanel. This is a huge heatsink. You'll want the extra distance over the 160-170mm incase you need to shift fans up to clear taller ram.

There's about 29-32mm clearance for RAM to bottom of the fan with the fans splitting difference for top bottom on the heatsink.

Bottom of the heatsink to top of the motherboard seems to be about 51mm.

A decent safe maximum RAM height is about 35mm. You might be able to scrape 38mm with some fiddling. I'd guess with the fans all the way up an absolute maximum RAM height of 40mm might be possible, but keep in mind there's a good chance the heatsink will be resting on top of the ram. You'll also need an extra wide case for this to work, or you'll have to move a fan to a pull position on the otherside of the heatsink.

Hope this helps... be well everyone.

Pros: Extreme cooling capacity
Very well built
Nice mounting system, good thermal paste
Looks like it came from NASA
Dropped my i5-2600k temps 25c at 4.4MHz over my Corsair H60
Looks great if you have a window in your case

Cons: Not a con as such but, While the heat sink will clear the ram slots, the 140mm fan will overhang them. If you have tall ram heat sinks the front fan will have to be moved up on the heat sink. I have Patriot Intel Extreme Master ram and had to move the fan up .5 inch to get it to clear. Will probably get some low-profile ram at a latter date.

Other Thoughts: Make sure you measure first as this heat sink the the biggest you can buy. My case (Fractal Design Define R4 ) holds it easy, but it's 9.5" wide with no side fans.

Pros: Had this cooler for about 7 months now, ran prime95 and intelburn test. Never went above 45 degrees Celsius at 50% fan speed, really cool.

Cons: I have a NZXT Source 210 mid case, its barley fits, you can see a bulge where the heat sink is on the side panel

Pros: I did extensive research before purchasing this product, and was glad to see it lives up to the hype. Temperature deltas are very impressive.
Installation is easy, the instructions are very thorough and helpful.
Includes a 3-pin splitter and PWM adapter so that both fans can be plugged into a single PWM header on your motherboard or fan controller.
The fans are very quiet, and the spacing of the fins means that running the fans at a lower RPM will not have a noticeable effect on cooling performance.

Cons: See other thoughts.

Other Thoughts: It's bulky, so make sure you measure your case and RAM height beforehand. It fits perfectly in my case with 3mm of clearance between the top of the fans and my side panel.

Pros: My stock cooler was real bad. I would hit 90 C temps on full load with my i5 2500k. Now I have it OC'ed to 4.5 ghz and I barely hit 60 C on full load. My idle temps are around 28 C. When I'm gaming I'm in the 40s. I didn't think I could get these temps with just air.

Cons: Just like everyone has said it can be a little tight. The ram I use is G.Skill Ripjaws X, so everything fit ok. It can be real loud, but I use a program called Speedfan to slow the fans and keep the noise WAY down. I don't even hear it anymore. Even with Speedfan like I said I idle at 28 C. You just have to setup it to increase fan speed when your load increases. Just have it has a startup program and you'll have no worries about sound.

Other Thoughts: If you're considering buying this just make sure it fits and then buy it! It's worth every penny.