Founded in 2007, German company Cougar has a large lineup of peripherals, from CPU coolers to keyboards and gaming chairs! Companies like Noctua are known for their “solid” browns, while Cougar is known for having orange accents on many of their products, especially orange fans (not here).
On our test bench is Cougar’s new Forza 85, which features a thick single-tower radiator. Forza 85 tamed Intel’s 12900K, our best cpu cooler list? We’ll have to do some testing to confirm, but first he’ll show you the specs provided directly by Cougar.
Cougar Forza 85 Specifications
| cooler | Cougar Forza 85 Air Cooler |
| Manufacturer’s suggested retail price | $69.90 USD |
| Dimensions with fan | 85×135×160mm |
| Gross weight | 958g without fan, 1160g with fan |
| Socket compatibility | Intel Socket LGA 115X / 1366 / 1200 / 1700 / 2011 / 2066 |
| AMD AM4 / FM2 / FM1 / AM3+ / AM3 / AM2+ / AM2 | |
| Rated noise level | Up to 31.68dBA |
| heat pipe | 6×6mm |
| CPU block | nickel plated copper |
Packing and inclusions
Cougar’s Forza 85 comes packaged in a fairly typical medium-sized box, about 6 inches on each side, with protective foam and cardboard.
Package includes:
- heatsink
- 1x 120mm MHP120 fan
- Mounting clips for 2x 120mm fans
- Mount for all modern CPU sockets including LGA1700, TR4 and AM4/AM5 motherboards
- thermal paste
- user manual
Installation of cooler
Installing the Cougar Forza 85 was easy. First, secure the backplate to the motherboard using standoffs and mounting brackets. After applying the thermal paste, press the heatsink onto the mounting bracket and tighten the screws attached to the heatsink. You will need a long Phillips screwdriver to install the cooler. You’ll need to run a screwdriver through the radiator to access his one of the mounting screws. It would be nice if the Coucar box included something simple.
What is the difference from other coolers?
Thick radiator with vacuum tunnel design
The Forza 85 has a thick 85 x 135 mm tower radiator to transfer heat away from the CPU. The heatsink is designed with a 90-degree inverted shape of his fin ends, which closes the air from the sides of the radiator. In theory, this creates different air pressure levels across the cooler, increasing airflow to maximize cooling.
Height 160mm or less
Unlike many large air coolers, the Forza 85 is just 160 mm (6.3 inches) tall. This means it can be installed in most available locations without problems due to height discrepancies.
Cougar MHP120 Fan
Coolers are more than just size and surface area. Fans have a significant impact on cooling performance and noise levels. The Forza 85 includes a single black 120mm MHP120 fan with a mighty 4.24mm H2O static pressure. A unique feature of this fan is the built-in fan splitter. This is useful when adding another fan on the other side of the cooler.
| model | MHP120 |
| size | 120×120×25mm |
| fan rotation speed | 600-2000RPM±200RPM |
| air flow | 82.48 CFM ± 10% |
| air pressure | 4.24mm H2O±10% |
| noise level | Max 31.68dB(A) |
| lighting | none |
test configuration
| cooler | cougar forza 85 |
| Comparison Coolers Tested | BeQuiet Pure Loop 2 FX |
| Cooler Master ML360 Flux | |
| Cougar Poseidon GT 360 | |
| Deep Cool LS520 | |
| CPU | Intel i9-12900K |
| motherboard | MSI z690A-Pro DDR4 |
| case | keep quiet!silent base 802 window |
| PSUs | Deep Cool PQ1000M |
New test configuration
| cooler | cougar forza 85 |
| Comparison Coolers Tested | BBeQuiet Pure Loop 2 FX, 360mm AIO |
| Cooler Master Master Liquid PL360 Flux 360mm AIO | |
| DeepCool LS520, 240mm AIO | |
| Cougar Poseidon GT 360, 360m AIO | |
| CPU | Intel i9-12900K |
| motherboard | MSI z690A-Pro DDR4 |
| case | keep quiet!silent base 802 window |
| PSUs | Deep Cool PQ1000M |
We test the Cougar Forza 85 with Intel’s Core i9-12900K. Due to the increased heat density of the Intel 7 manufacturing process, as well as changes to core and component layouts, Alder Lake CPUs are more difficult to cool than their predecessors in the most heat-intensive workloads. This is the cooler that kept previous generations like the i9-10900K nice and cool to keep Intel’s i9-12900K below his Tj max (the highest temperature before the CPU starts throttling). It means that you may have a hard time. Many coolers I’ve tested can’t keep the i9-12900K below TJ max when power capping is lifted for workloads like Cinebench and OCCT.
Keep in mind that there are many factors that can affect cooling performance. Your system’s motherboard can affect this. There are motherboards on the market with CPU sockets that do not comply with Intel’s specifications, which can cause distortion and poor contact with the CPU. The case you use also affects the cooling effect.
With this in mind, we rate CPU coolers on a scale of three.
Tier 1: These coolers are able to keep the i9-12900K below TJ max at most loads without enforcing power limits. I believe only the best liquid coolers meet this criteria.
Tier 2: These coolers can apply a CPU power limit of 200W to keep the i9-12900K below TJ max. I believe most liquid and air coolers meet this criteria.
Tier 3: These coolers can apply a CPU power limit of 140W to keep the i9-12900K below TJMax.
test method
To test the limits of a cooler’s ability to dissipate heat, we run two major stress tests. cine bench When OCCT 10 minutes each. This may be a short amount of time, but it’s enough to push most coolers (air and liquid) to their limits.
While stress testing in Cinebench, I ran with the power cap removed and a 200W CPU power cap applied. In this test setup with MSI’s Z690 A Pro DDR4 motherboard and Be Quiet’s Silent Base 802 case, only the best coolers can pass the Cinebench test when the power cap is lifted.
Do not test OCCT without power capping. Because when I try this, the CPU package consumes over 270W, instantly throttling even the best of his AIO coolers. Instead, we test at 200W to give the cooler a chance of passing. We also include the 140W results to provide closer data for lower-end CPUs such as AMD’s Ryzen 5600X and Intel’s i5-12400.
