Overclocked sound performance to finish off the tests. The Phanteks PH-TC12LS is well down the chart when it comes to the overclocked idle performance, but the load performance puts it in fourth place.
For a HTPC low profile cooler, this is a really good result. With a little cooling fan profile adjustments the average user should be able to lower the stock and overclocking temperature results with a slight loss in sound performance.
Conclusion
As a standard CPU cooler the Phanteks PH-TC12LS is a good stock replacement from a performance standpoint. For looks alone, it’s a very minimal design, but it’s all well thought out and presented. We had no mounting issues, though it’s going to clash with memory that has tall heat spreaders installed. As a low profile cooler it works really well. Any HTPC that has a mid-range and higher CPU will benefit from having this cooler installed.
Phanteks PH-TC12LS
There isn’t really anything about this cooler that we didn’t like. If we had an HTPC or small form factor system build we would consider this cooler. In addition, there will be a lot of systems out there that will have a colour scheme that will match or be complemented by this cooler and based on the performance in our tests, a custom motherboard fan profile should see this cooler cope with all small form factor needs, and maybe a few more.
Phanteks PH-TC12LS CPU Cooler Review
Package - 8
Performance - 8
Price - 8.2
Consumer Experience - 7.5
7.9
As a standard CPU cooler the Phanteks PH-TC12LS is a good stock replacement from a performance standpoint. For looks alone, it's a very minimal design, but it's all well thought out and presented. We had no mounting issues, though it's going to clash with memory that has tall heat spreaders installed. As a low profile cooler it works really well. Any HTPC that has a mid-range and higher CPU will benefit from having this cooler installed.