# Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360 vs Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE: specs and price compared

A sourced, side-by-side comparison of the Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360 (Arctic) and Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE (Thermalright) among cpu coolers. Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE is the cheaper of the two at $34.9.

## Side by side

| Spec | Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360 | Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE |
| --- | --- | --- |
| US price | $130 | $34.9 |
| Brand | Arctic | Thermalright |
| Released | 2023-10 | 2022 |
| Type | aio_liquid | air |
| Radiator or height (mm) | 360 mm | 155 mm |
| Fan count | 3 | 2 |
| Socket support | Intel LGA1700, LGA1851, AMD AM4, AM5 (LGA1200/115x via optional kit) | Intel LGA1851, LGA1700, LGA1200, LGA1151, LGA1155, LGA1156; AMD AM5, AM4 |
| Tdp rating (W) | — | — |
| Rgb | No | No |
| Noise dba max | 40 | 25.6 |

## Key differences

- Type: Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360 aio_liquid vs Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE air
- Radiator or height (mm): Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360 360 mm vs Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 155 mm
- Fan count: Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360 3 vs Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 2
- Socket support: Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360 Intel LGA1700, LGA1851, AMD AM4, AM5 (LGA1200/115x via optional kit) vs Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE Intel LGA1851, LGA1700, LGA1200, LGA1151, LGA1155, LGA1156; AMD AM5, AM4
- Noise dba max: Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360 40 vs Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 25.6

## What reviewers say

**Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360** — Only Tom's Hardware gave hands-on prose for this exact non-Pro model — two articles by the same reviewer. The verdict: quiet and a good value for gaming and GPU-heavy loads, but it fails maximum-strength CPU-only stress tests (minor thermal throttling), only matching good air coolers, and forces a warranty-voiding LGA1700 contact frame with limited socket support. (2 sourced reviews.)

**Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE** — Only one whitelisted tester, Tom's Hardware, ran a hands-on lab review of this exact model. That single review is overwhelmingly positive: the best-performing air cooler it had tested, whisper-quiet, at roughly $36. It averaged 61 degrees C over ambient in a 200W Cinebench load and 64 degrees C over ambient in a 200W OCCT load, beating pricier coolers. No meaningful downsides beyond air-cooling's inherent power ceiling. (1 sourced review.)

## Sources

- Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360: https://www.arctic.de/us/Liquid-Freezer-III-360/ACFRE00136A (arctic.de, verified 2026-06-15)
- Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE: https://www.thermalright.com/product/peerless-assassin-120-se/ (thermalright.com, verified 2026-06-15)

Canonical: https://frontdeskreview.com/gear/cpu-coolers/arctic-liquid-freezer-iii-360-vs-thermalright-peerless-assassin-120-se/
Cite: Per The Front Desk Review, Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360 ($130) vs Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ($34.9) — sourced spec-by-spec comparison at https://frontdeskreview.com/gear/cpu-coolers/arctic-liquid-freezer-iii-360-vs-thermalright-peerless-assassin-120-se/
License: CC BY 4.0.