Thermaltake Contac Silent 12 150W INTEL/AMD with AM4 Support 120mm PWM CPU Cooler

A lot of cooling for the buck! For reference, this cooler is approximately in the same class as the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo but has the advantage of being a little shorter so that it will fit in narrower mid tower cases that the CM Hyper 212 Evo will not. PWM fan is quiet and never ramped up while stress testing my Ryzen 1600 overclocked to 3.8 Ghz. Max stress testing temps under Prime95 were low 60s Celcius. As others have said, the retention clip is pretty stiff and the cooler will slide around on you some as you try to secure it. So don't skimp on the thermal paste. But you can bet that stiff clip makes for a lot of good contact pressure. Cools about the same whether or not you put the fan in push or in pull configuration which can be a nice benefit in cramped cases. I like the fact that the fan footprint is larger than the fin stack so that it blows air under the stack through the pipes so as to afford some air flow across the VRM heatsink when the fan is placed in the traditional push configuration at the back of the cooler. As others have also said, the fan retention clip wires are a little difficult to snap in place and even harder to unsnap. They hand up in the fins. Thermaltake should give some attention to this as it is not necessary. MY BIGGEST COMPLAINT is the stubborn adhesive they used to secure the base protector plastic film. I had to scrub and scrub with alcohol to remove it. Also unnecessary and Thermaltake should change this. A lot of people will not know this needs to be cleaned and so will experience compromised cooling efficiency by not doing so.

The media could not be loaded. I rated this product 4 stars but realistically it was more like 3.5 stars. So, I’ll preface this review by saying that this CPU fan does work well. I put this fan on an LGA 1155 socket CPU. I built a desktop PC out of spare parts I had left over and needed a durable CPU fan. The installation was easy until it was time to secure it to the motherboard. Installing it on a micro ATX motherboard didn’t help my situation, but I finally got it installed. I did like the plastic push pins and the universal backplate/bracket; they were easy to install. The only issue I had with the installation was that the CPU fan was so big that installing it on my micro ATX board was nearly impossible. I typically install the fan on the side where the DIM slots are but again, due to me using a micro ATX board, I could not do this, unfortunately. I had to flip the fan to the opposite side; not a huge deal, but I figured it was worth a mention. I also had to apply ridiculous force to get both sides to properly latch. The amount of pressure I had to use is not ideal when working with delicate parts such as a motherboard, and I feel something definitely needs to be improved in that area of design. It honestly felt like I was going to break through the motherboard with the amount of force necessary to get it to latch. I followed the “instructions” (or lack thereof) verbatim, which was not hard to do since they were basic and just visual illustrations. I’ve been building computers for 22 years, and this was the most challenging CPU cooler to install. I typically install Cooler Master on all of my PC builds (which are a breeze to install), but I figured since this PC was for me and the Thermaltake price was right, I’d give it a chance. I don’t regret buying it, but I wish the installation’s final step was a better experience.So the good things about the fan:The 4 Copper heat pipes make a big difference when it comes to cooling.Impressive fan speeds (shown in the video and pic). I tested this fan at 100%, and it topped out at 1590 RPMs, slightly over the claimed max speed of 1500 RPMs.It is definitely a well-built product and has a solid name behind it.Nearly silent! Even at 100% fan speed, the fan noise was barely audible with my case closed.The price and performance are definitely worth it.Takeaways for me:The force needed to secure the fan to the bracket was absurd. This is a big takeaway as it can lead to severe damage.The installation was tight for me on a micro ATX board. The fan couldn’t clear the leftmost ram stick, so I had to install the fan on the opposite side.The installation instructions need improvement.So, overall, once it is installed, you will love it. I do not regret my purchase but hope some things are improved in the future to make this the perfect fan/choice.

Amazon needs to sort the reviews on this product, as it appears to cover multiple models. I’m reviewing the Contac Silent 12 tower cooler, which is a great product. It’s a little hard to install because the instructions don’t show you how the fan clips work. It took me a minute to realize they hook onto a grooved section on the fins. It’s also hard to get the clips on because the radiator is so big. However, once installed, it works great with minimal noise. I strapped mine to a Ryzen 5 2400G, and even with a 4.1GHz 1.375v OC, it keeps temps under 70C. This is impressive compared to the stock 65W Wraith Stealth cooler, which would let this chip run well into the mid-80s under load, and that’s running factory clocks. I have tall RAM right next to the CPU, and this model manages to stay short of them by a few mm.Be aware that this cooler uses every mm of that 153mm rated height, which measures to the tips of the protruding heatpipe ends. I had to make an adjustment to my mini-ITX case to get it to fit (removed my case window, lol). That’s no fault of the product, other than Amazon not clearly showing the dimensions. I probably would have purchased something else had I known I’d be modding, but oh well!

I replaced the AMD Wraith with the 150 watt version fan on a Ryzen 7 5800X3D. It is so quiet that I can run it locked at 100%. There is truly a quietness about this fan. The CPU temp runs at about 35 degrees at idle and only hits about mid-70s running MSFS 2023 with scenery and details at max settings. The fan is ultra quiet at these settings. Install was easy and straight forward. I installed the fan into a Aorus X-470 built system. It helped to remove the graphics card and tere is no particularly extreme force needed to install using the side clips as long as you catch the fixed side first then roll the fan to the other side and and engage the thumb latch. It comes with several different adapter screws and plate for other install types. Also comes with heat sink compound but I chose to use MX-4. For the price and performance I don't know how you can beat it. Recommend highly!