Our Verdict
87%
Monstrous cooling for a very reasonable price, but bear in mind that its trio of 140mm fans and 420mm radiator will require a large PC case to house it.
If you want the very best CPU cooling possible without venturing into the expensive world of custom water-cooling gear, then a large 420mm AIO cooler, such as the Thermaltake TH420 V2 ARGB Sync, offers a great compromise. It has a massive 420mm radiator and three 140mm fans. Not only that, but its price of just $140, makes it reasonably priced for such a large AIO liquid cooler too. The question is, has Thermaltake cut corners, or is this massive cooler really a bargain?
The size of the Thermaltake TH420 V2 ARGB Sync size is both its biggest benefit and its biggest hindrance. You’ll need a very large case to house it, with its massive 420mm radiator requiring at least 456mm of clearance from end to end, and you’ll need to be able to secure its three large 140mm fans too. A trio of 120mm fan mounts is common enough in a PC case, but it’s relatively rare to find three 140mm fan mounts in the roof or front of a case.
Amazingly, the TH420 V2 ARGB Sync also only costs $140, despite its massive cooling capacity, although this does result in a lack of frills. You do still get ARGB lighting on its fans and pump, though. Both look great, and the pump features a rotating light display so you can easily orientate it once installed.
There’s no RGB controller included, so you’ll need to use your motherboard’s RGB headers for the lighting, although the Thermaltake’s RGB and fan power cables can thankfully be daisy-chained. Even so, there’s no getting around the fact that you need to find space to route a lot of cables with this cooler.
The TH420 V2 ARGB Sync has very long tubes too, so it can cater for large cases, but strangely, it’s not compatible with AMD Threadripper CPUs, only Intel’s aging LGA2066 platform when it comes to HEDT chips. As you’d expect, though, it’s compatible with AMD Socket AM5 and AM4, as well as Intel LGA1700 and LGA115x sockets. Installation is simple on all of these CPU sockets, and it uses the stock mounting clips on AMD motherboards, allowing you to install the pump in a few seconds.
Thermaltake TH420 V2 ARGB Sync Intel LGA1700 temperature
We’ve not seen our Core i7-13700K test chip drop below 80°C in our stress test before, but the Thermaltake TH420 V2 ARGB managed a super-low result of 76°C on this CPU at load, thanks to its massive cooling capacity. It did prove to be quite noisy at full speed, but this exceptional cooling is available if you need it.
Thermaltake TH420 V2 ARGB Sync AMD Socket AM5 temperature
Sadly, this monster cooler didn’t result in cooler temperatures with our AMD Ryzen 9 7900X, which as usual rocketed up to 95°C in our stress test. However, the CPU was able to boost as high as we’ve seen, with some lesser coolers seeing 100MHz or so cut from the boost frequency in multi-threaded load tests. As a result, if you’ll regularly be throwing these kinds of workloads at your Ryzen 9 CPU, the TH420 V2 ARGB has plenty of cooling headroom to enable it to boost.
Thermaltake TH420 V2 ARGB Sync noise level
Dropping the load back to our motherboard’s PWM fan control mode, and using our medium load test, saw the noise level cut from very unpleasant levels to just 34dBA, which undercuts the 35dBA we recorded with the Antec Vortex 240 ARGB.
If you’re looking for a cooler that can be quiet while still offering superb cooling, then this is definitely it, although you may want to tune your motherboard’s fan control system in the EFI in order to avoid full fan speeds. Thankfully the pump is also quiet, but if the rest of your PC is near-silent, you can occasionally pick out the odd gurgle from it.
Thermaltake TH420 V2 ARGB Sync Pros and cons
Pros
- Great value for money
- Excellent cooling
- Snazzy RGB lighting
Cons
- Massive size limits case compatibility
- No Threadripper support
- Lots of cables to tidy
Thermaltake TH420 V2 ARGB Sync specs
The Thermaltake TH420 V2 ARGB Sync specs list is:
| Intel sockets supported | LGA1700, LGA115x, LGA1200, LGA2011, LGA2066 |
| AMD sockets supported | Socket AM5, Socket AM3, Socket AM2 |
| Dimensions with fans (mm) | 456 x 140 x 52 (W x D x H) |
| Fans | 3 x 140mm |
| Stated noise | 35dBA |
| RGB lighting | Yes |
| Extras | None |
Thermaltake TH420 V2 ARGB Sync price
The Thermaltake TH420 V2 ARGB Sync price is just $140, meaning it costs less than many smaller coolers. It offers great value for the cooling power on offer.
Price: Expect to pay $140 (£130).
Thermaltake TH420 V2 ARGB Sync review conclusion
If your case can house it, the Thermaltake TH420 V2 ARGB offers exceptional cooling for the money, and it can also be fine-tuned to still offer competitive cooling at extremely low noise levels, thanks to its large radiator capacity and 140mm fans.
Its cooling performance was able to outstrip that of the Noctua NH-D15 and NZXT Kraken Elite 360 RGB, easily taming our Ryzen 9 7900X and Intel Core i7-13700K test chips – it’s a great choice for expensive, high-end CPUs. You even get great-looking ARGB lighting in this $140 package. Just be sure to avoid this cooler’s maximum fan speed if you’re not a big fan of noise.
If your case doesn’t have room for this mammoth AIO cooler, or you’re looking for a different cooler design, make sure you read our full guide to the best CPU cooler, where we take you through all the best options at a range of prices.