Thermalright AXP90 X36 Low-Profile CPU Cooler

Overview

The Thermalright AXP90 X36 Low-Profile CPU Cooler is built for one specific job: keeping a system cool when there's barely any room to spare. At just 36mm tall, this compact air cooler slips into small-form-factor and mini-ITX cases where a typical tower cooler simply won't close the lid. It pairs a slim 92mm fan with four heatpipes, which is a sensible balance for something this short and squat. Rather than chasing flagship cooling numbers, it focuses on fitting into tight spaces without giving up too much thermal headroom. Broad socket coverage too, spanning recent Intel and AMD platforms, so it's not a niche fit limited to one generation of hardware. For anyone building around a compact case, that flexibility matters as much as the cooling itself.

Features & Benefits

Under the hood, this CPU cooler relies on four 6mm heatpipes mated to an all-metal base, and Thermalright uses a secondary reflow soldering process to tighten that contact point, which is where a lot of heat transfer either holds up or falls apart. The backplate fastener system is worth mentioning too, since it spreads mounting pressure evenly across different sockets instead of relying on a few stressed screw points. Noise stays low, with a rated output around 22.4 dBA, so it won't announce itself in a quiet room or office setup. The slim PWM fan can ramp up under heavier loads and settle back down at idle, giving some flexibility without manual tuning. Maybe the most practical benefit, though, is the low-profile shape itself: it stays clear of tall RAM modules and case panels that often clash with taller towers.

Best For

This low-profile cooler makes the most sense for mini-ITX builds where case height is the limiting factor, not raw thermal capacity. It's also a solid match for HTPC or media center setups, where a quiet living room build matters more than chasing benchmark numbers. If you're simply replacing a stock cooler and don't plan on heavy overclocking, this is a straightforward upgrade rather than a workhorse cooler for pushed-to-the-limit chips. Socket compatibility across both modern Intel and AMD platforms means it's not locked to one upgrade path, which is handy if you tend to switch platforms every few builds. In short, it suits people prioritizing fit and quiet operation over squeezing out every last degree of headroom.

User Feedback

Feedback from buyers tends to circle around the same theme: this compact air cooler fits where bigger coolers simply can't, and people building in small cases are often relieved by that alone. Several users mention how quiet it runs during normal browsing, streaming, or office work, which lines up with its low noise rating. Installation gets praised fairly often too, with the backplate making mounting feel less fiddly than expected for such a small cooler. On the downside, a number of reviewers are upfront that it's not meant for sustained heavy workloads or aggressive overclocking, and temperatures can climb faster than with a larger tower cooler under those conditions. Taken together, the consensus is that it does exactly what it promises, as long as expectations stay realistic.