In the next comparison, we look at the default cooler performance as they come out of the box with their bundled fans. Coolers that come with no fans have been coupled with Noctua’s NF-P12 or fans that the manufacturers intended their coolers to be used with.


Looking at the default configurations all the coolers come in, the Phanteks goes straight to the top by matching the Noctua NH-D14 under load and being marginally better at idle (0.25C). Even with the fan speed reduced, the PH-TC14PE held up well, being a mere 0.5C behind the Thermalright Silver Arrow and matching the likes of the Frio with its substantially faster and louder fans.


The heatsink proves to be highly efficient by generating the best results when coupled with two of Noctua’s NF-P12s. The Thermalright Venomous X follows by a substantial gap.


With two SWiF2-120Ps, the Noctua still proves to be king but the Phanteks is still a very good performer.


With NF-P14s, Noctua once again retains its lead followed very closely by the Phanteks.


Passively, our previous champion the Thermalright Silver Arrow loses its crown to the Phanteks PH-TC14PE which leads by a delta of 0.75C. It also generates very impressive idle temperatures, low enough to bring many other coolers with fans to shame.