Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 Vision MAX Review: Budget Air Cooling's Best Kept Secret

Thermalright has been quietly dominating the budget CPU cooler space, and the Peerless Assassin 120 Vision MAX might be their most impressive offering yet. At $57.69, you're getting a dual-tower air cooler with ARGB fans and—wait for it—an LED display on the cooler itself that shows system stats. In an era where AIOs are pushing $100+, this cooler delivers 90% of the performance at half the price.

The "Vision" in the name refers to that little screen, which can display CPU temperature, clock speeds, or custom images. It's a gimmick, sure, but it's a well-executed one that adds personality to a component category that's been functionally identical for years. More importantly, the actual cooling performance holds its own against coolers costing twice as much.

The dual-tower design with two 120mm ARGB fans provides excellent heat dissipation. During testing with a Ryzen 7 7700X, temperatures stayed well within safe limits even under sustained all-core loads. The 157mm height fits most mid-tower cases, though you'll want to verify clearance if you're running a compact chassis.

The ARGB implementation is solid—colors are vibrant and the effects are smooth without the stuttering you see on cheaper implementations. The LED display is controlled via Thermalright's software, which is surprisingly polished for a budget brand. Installation uses a spring-loaded mounting system that's significantly easier than the bracket-and-screw approach many coolers still use. Six heat pipes transfer heat efficiently from the CPU to the dual radiator stacks.

The Noctua NH-D15 ($109) is the gold standard for air cooling, but it costs nearly double and lacks the ARGB and LED features. The DeepCool AK620 ($59) is a direct competitor in price and performance, though it misses the Vision MAX's LED display. Against the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 ($89), the Thermalright offers similar performance with more visual flair at a lower price. For $57.69, it's hard to find a cooler that does more.