Is the Peerless Assassin 120 SE actually good enough or just a compromise?

Question

Putting together a new build and the RAM prices have basically eaten my whole budget alive. 32GB of DDR5 alone is close to $389 right now, which is insane. So I'm looking at cooling and the Peerless Assassin 120 SE keeps coming up at like $35 retail, and every single recommendation thread just names it on repeat. Part of me is suspicious... can a cooler that cheap really trade blows with the brand-name dual towers, or am I going to regret not spending more here?

toastycomponents · Accepted Answer

GamersNexus ran it against the premium dual towers in their lab and it kept pace on temps. It really shines above 105W, peaking in that 125 to 150W band. Spend 3-4x and you get a quieter cooler, nicer finish and better warranty. The temps come out about the same

needmorehz · Answer

I've got the Phantom Spirit which is the same family basically. Zero complaints. Runs my chip cool and I literally NEVER hear it

alexc · Answer

honestly the cooler is fine, its the RAM prices mugging us all