Pliers on PCs: Phanteks PH-TC14PE, one of the kings of cool.

So today in the mail delivered to me by DHL was my new Phanteks PH-TC14PE. I went with the blue version simply because I have a MSI board, and blue LED lighting (for the most part) in my rig. It comes in a fairly large and impressive box showing off all the different colors it could have came with instead of the blue.

The Phanteks PH-TC14PE Box

The reason I chose the Phanteks over a Deepcool Gamer Storm Assassin, a Noctua NH-D14, a Thermalright Silver Arrow, and a Thermaltake Frio Extreme, is simply because the heat-sink comes in a number of different colors. Not only does the heat-sink itself come in different colors but the fan blades are color coordinated to go along with the color of the heat-sink. The different color choices are red, orange, blue, silver and black. I think it would have been nice if they manufactured one in green, but at least the black one will go with a plethora of different gamer color configurations so if you happen to have an odd colored motherboard (either the heat-sinks on the motherboard are a color not featured or the ram heat-sinks are), or a different colored LED setup, you aren't going to be completely left out.

Phanteks PH-TC14PE Top of Box indicating which version was purchased

Like other heat-sinks on the market, the Phanteks comes with mounting hardware for any current generation CPU socket. For AMD it fits on FM1/AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2 and for Intel it fits on LGA 1155/1156/1366/775 and also even comes with some additional hardware to fit on LGA 2011. I really like how nowadays you can pretty much pick any heat-sink and it's almost guaranteed to fit on your motherboard, unlike years ago when everything was socket specific. I was fairly impressed with the way everything was boxed up and nice and tidy. When I was done with it though, everything was everywhere simply because I needed to catalog and sort everything due to the packaging on the plastic bags tearing and everything mixing together. Luckily Phanteks includes a very extensive manual indicating all the hardware required for installation in four languages (English, French, German, and Spanish) contained on two pages (double sided for English/Spanish and German/French). I would have liked to see all the languages that were featured on the box as manuals (missing are Italian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, and Nederlands) but at least they got four major ones down anyway. The pictures are a fairly good indicator though as to what to do anyway, so it's not 100% necessary, but if someone had to read the manual for clarification they may be stuck if it's one of the languages not included.

Contents of the Phanteks Heatsink Box

English and German Manuals

French and Spanish Manuals

The two included fans have a really interesting design to them that I have never seen before in person. First starting at the frame, it's a design I have only seen on the Xigmatek XAF fans (where instead of it being a standard square frame, the corners are cut off). The overall quality of the frame is excellent with next to no flex at all. I was quite impressed with this, because from first glance I was a bit skeptical of the 3 bracket arrangement, but as they have used fairly thick plastic (could possibly be polymer) to keep everything intact. Instead of the normal four brackets running from the outside frame into the middle where the motor is housed, Phanteks design implements 3 brackets of which are Y shaped to help with rigidity but allow for more optimal airflow as there is less overall area being blocked (in my opinion) by unnecessary plastic. That being said, I'm sure that there isn't TOO much of a difference of airflow between it and conventional fans, but just something I'm theorizing on. The metallic colored Phanteks sticker looks very impressive and if I ever had a third fan installed on the heat-sink, seeing that logo shine would be an impressive sight. One thing I wish that Phanteks would consider changing is having the frame be a different color than white (possibly a shade of blue that exactly matches the heat-sink's specific color). That being said, the white does give a nice contrast to the aqua blue fins and the steel blue fan blades.

Back of one of the included Phanteks fans

The blade designs of fans are something a number brands have started experimenting with. The Phanteks design allows the fans to be a bit more rigid and also keep it's own balance under higher speeds and larger air pressure without warping. Another company that has a similar design is on the new Zalman SF series rig fans. I believe that the polymer style plastic also helps keep it's shape under pressure, as they have next to no flex when trying to bend them. The shape of the teeth allow it to cut through the air a bit with the slight notch cut out in the rear of the tooth to expand that air in order to keep it's CFM performance up.

Front of one of the included Phanteks fans

The braided cable protecting the fan connector cable is of very nice quality and has a rubberish feel to it. I expect that it will perform quite adequately to protect to cable from unnecessary damage should there ever be anything of the sort. Although the fans are in a 3 pin arrangement, Phanteks also includes a PWM adapter which makes the fans run at 700-1200RPM, and a fan splitter to connect two fans to in order to use the PWM adapter. The PWM adapter itself is wrapped in plastic shielding (similar to something you would find on an Ethernet cable) and isn't terribly flexible. I wish that the Y adapter would have came braided as well but I probably won't be plugging the fans into my motherboard or using either of the included adapters anyway so it's not as big of a deal.

The braided cable and connector of the included Phanteks Fans

The 3-pin female end of the PWM adapter

The 4-pin male end of the PWM adapter

The fan splitter adapter (to make two fans install on one fan header)

The fan splitter plugged into the PWM adapter

Moving on to mounting hardware, the required AMD hardware is fairly simple by comparison to the Intel set. The AMD hardware uses the motherboard's stock backplate in order to mount the heat-sink to the CPU. Phanteks includes four plastic studs, four socket screws, and the two strip adapters required to mount the heat-sink onto the motherboard, and it's a fairly simple installation. Simply remove any retention bracket used by the stock heat-sink, put the four plastic studs over the four holes on the motherboard, put the strip adapters on, and finally install the four screws (which are Phillips head or cross head by design) into the stock back plate. Then you would insert the heat-sink (with it's retention bracket installed) on to the CPU and screw down the retention bracket. Unfortunately, AMD only gets the choice of having the heat-sink mounted in a "blowing out the back" configuration, where as with Intel, you get the choice of either having the airflow directed out the back, or directed out the top. I won't be using the AMD hardware though as I will be installing it on my Z68A-GD80 (G3) motherboard which uses the LGA 1155 socket.

The included AMD hardware for the PH-TC14PE

The Intel hardware is a bit more extensive in number of parts included. You get a near universal backplate for all the different sockets (except the LGA 2011), four socket screws, four screw nuts, four plastic studs (which are colored black to help differentiate between the AMD and the Intel ones), two strip adapters, and four socket screws for the LGA 2011. Every socket except the LGA 2011 requires the included backplate. The LGA 2011 uses the stock LGA 2011 motherboard retention plate instead. The universal backplate comes drilled with 3 different hole dimensions. They clearly indicate on the back of the plate as to which number is for which socket. Simply install the four socket screws into the universal backplate according to which socket you have, insert the backplate onto the motherboard, put the four included BLACK plastic studs (if you use the white ones they are of a different height and will not allow the heat-sink to seat correctly), insert the two strip adapters onto the posts sticking out from the plastic studs, and then screw on the four screw nuts (which are also Phillips head design). As I mentioned earlier, you can install the heat-sink either in the airflow out the back or out the top dependent on how you orientate the two strip adapters. Installing them parallel to the expansion slots on the motherboard orientates it to a blow out the back, and installing them perpendicular to the expansion slots orientates it to an exhaust out the top (which you should only do if you have top exhaust fans). The manual also indicates clearly as to how each orientation of the strip adapters effects the mounting of the heat-sink.

The included Intel hardware for the PH-TC14PE

The back of the included PH-TC14PE Intel backplate

On to the heat-sink itself, it has an impressive look to it even while still in the box. Two finx cover the tops of the heatpipes with the Phanteks embossed on the top. It's heatpipe covered design makes it look a fair bit more aesthetically pleasing to the eye (at least in my opinion). It comes packaged very nicely, with the two fan contained cardboard boxes on the outside and the accessory kit box on the inside, keeping the fins of the heat-sink protected all around the outside until you remove it from the box. Unfortunately, my specific heat-sink had some fins showing a bit of paint wearing off in the middle where the accessory box was located, however as this will be covered by a fan I'm not too worried about it.

(with a cardboard wall folded away and all accessories removed)
How Phanteks PH-TC14PE heat-sink comes packaged in the box

The slight scuffing on the heat-sink fins

The embossed Phanteks logos on the top fins

The heat-sink is a bit more of an aqua-colored blue than a royal blue. The color might be a bit more suited with an ASUS board (such as the P8Z68-V Pro) than a MSI board in this case, but I'm not too worried as most of the area where my motherboard heat-sinks are located will end up being covered by the Phanteks heat-sink anyway. One interesting feature of the heat-sink is that there is a middle divider on both sets of the fins which is oriented in front and behind of the middle heatpipe. I speculate that is is to also help with directed airflow through the fins. The Phanteks heat-sink comes equipped with five 8mm heatpipes that are plated with nickel. The undersides of the fins on the heat-sink appear to be matte finished (to avoid certain amounts of friction possibly?) but are of the same color as the rest of the heat-sink. Although this heat-sink's heatpipes are not HDT (heatpipe direct touch) designed, the base is of a good design and should help a fair bit with conducting heat and transferring it to the pipes efficiently.The base of the heat-sink is is completely flat and very shiny but has the standard not entirely smooth looking finish, however it will not bother me as no other reviews have reported any problems with the finish of the base.

Bottom of the PH-TC14PE heat-sink

So as a thermal benchmark perspective, here are the following specifications of my system as it stands right now during these tests:
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Processor: Intel Core i7 2600K @ 4.5Ghz, 1.38v
Motherboard: MSI Z68A-GD80 (G3)
Memory: Patriot Memory G2 Series PC3-12800 9-9-9-24 @ 1600MHz
Video Card: (EVGA and PNY) GTX 460 SLI @ 800Mhz Core/1600Mhz Shader/1900Mhz Memory
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 80+ Gold 750W Power Supply
Hard Drives: Patriot Pyro 60GB SSD + WD Caviar Black 1TB HDD + WD Caviar Black 2TB HDD
Optical Drive: LG DVD-RW
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Case: Coolermaster CM690 II (with optional side window installed)

Heat-sinks being compared:
Zalman CNPS10X Flex w/ two Silenx iXtrema Pro 120x25mm fans and Arctic Cooling MX-4 Paste
Phanteks PH-TC14PE w/ included Phanteks PH-F140TS fans and Phanteks PH-NDC Paste
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I was previously using a Zalman CNPS10X Flex equipped with two Silenx iXtrema Pro 120mmx25mm fans (which run at 1400RPM/14dB/72CFM) and was getting around 36-38 degrees on almost idle (my computer isn't truly on idle as I run several Counter-Strike: Source servers, a Minecraft server, and a Day of Defeat: Source server) and up to 72 degrees (peaked) on full load using Prime95 (with the balanced setting for a half hour to provide a simulated load on the system). The ambient temperature measured in the room was approximately 23 degrees Celsius. The thermal paste I used was Arctic Cooling MX-4 I believe. Don't entirely remember as it was over 2 years ago now and I never got around to renewing the thermal paste simply because I was planning on getting a new heat-sink anyway so it would have been a bit of a waste of paste. Remember, you should try to renew the thermal paste on the heatsink every year or so to have the best possible heat conduction. I suspect the hotspotting is because of the mounting of the heatsink itself, as when I originally installed it, it was a bit of a difficult mounting procedure by comparison to the Phanteks, but it could also possibly be uneven thermal paste application. The Phanteks (equipped with the two included Phanteks fans which run at 1200RPM/19dB/78CFM) were getting around 36-37 degrees on almost idle (same situation as with the Zalman) and up to 64 degrees (peaked) on full load using Prime95 for a half hour with the same ambient temperature in the room (23 degrees Celsius). I used the included Phanteks thermal paste as I wanted to gauge how good of performance the entire kit would have on my system. When it comes to measuring a heat-sink's performance, I don't average out the cores on the system, I state the highest core (as it could be either a thermal pocket issue, an uneven base etc. and I want to see real world performance, not a delta). Idle was pretty much the same, but under load you can definitely tell that the Phanteks is a much better cooling solution as it dissipates the heat much quicker and more efficiently than the Zalman. The temperature difference could be from a number of factors including heatpipe size (the Zalman has five 6mm heatpipes vs the five 8mm heatpipes of the Phanteks), the thermal paste used (MX-4 vs PH-NDC), the size of the fans installed (120mm vs 140mm), the design of the heat-sink (single tower Zalman vs twin tower Phanteks), the convection difference between the heat-sinks (the Zalman has the fans sitting further away from it's front and rear surface where as the Phanteks is nearly right against and the size of the fins on the heat-sink (dimensionally different).

Zalman CNPS10X Flex Idle

Zalman CNPS10X Flex Load

Phanteks PH-TC14PE Idle

Phanteks PH-TC14PE Load

One other thing to note about the above temperature pictures is that the system was reporting different power draws for the CPU, however the exact same tests were ran as well as the same programs open. While on the subject of cooling, Phanteks markets the heat-sink and fans with certain patented features. The heat-sink itself has what is called P.A.T.S. (Physical Antioxidant Thermal Shield) which is marketed as a shielding which will "greatly increase the cooling performance and reliability while deflecting other thermal radiation from other heat sources, such as the GPU, South Bridge, North Bridge, etc.". According to Phanteks, they report that the shielding functions better in an enclosure (or closed environment such as a rig) rather than a tech station (or open bench build) in "extreme conditions". Personally, I doubt this does a whole lot in a computer scenario unless you really pushed the CPU to the limit generating a lot more heat than 64 degrees. That being said, the feature is included at no additional charge so it's not really a bad thing. The second thing they market on the heat-sink is C.P.S.C. (Cold Plasma Spraying Coating Technology). According to Phanteks box the "brand new techologic forming deposit that displaces heat onto corresponding metals at a quicker rate" allows it to enhance the thermal conductivity of all the soldered surfaces of the heatpipes (soldered where the fin meets the heatpipe) through copper deposits. I could possibly see this as actually having an effect on the cooling as different materials conduct better or worse in terms of heat. Finally the last thing Phanteks markets is U.F.B. (Updraft Floating Balance) bearings and M.V.B. (Maelstrom Vortex Booster) blades on the fans. These are supposed to allow the fans to achieve "massive airflow and perfect dynamic balance to reduce noise level" which in my opinion is a good thing but one thing I want to clarify on this is that the slight fin design on the blades help keep the blades rigid under high speed (prevent vibration on the middle axis).

In conclusion, the Phanteks PH-TC14PE is an excellent CPU cooler. That being said, it is a bit of a steep price tag. It cost me 136 dollars roughly from Amazon.com (currently unavailable in Canada and I paid for mid-class shipping). Had I payed for lower shipping, it would have came out to 128 dollars roughly. A CNPS10X Flex costs roughly 50 dollars but does not come with a fan (originally designed for passive cooling). Add on a couple of performance fans and you're looking at around 100 dollars roughly including tax and shipping. Compared to it's brethren on the market that are dual tower design (such as the Noctua NH-D14 which costs roughly 127 dollars from Newegg.ca including tax and shipping) it is fairly competitively priced. That being said, the Phanteks is the only one that sports different colors to coincide with your color theme. Is it worth the extra few dollars for a colored heat-sink? You be the judge. I'll leave you with pictures of me installing the heat-sink into my system.