PC Components

DeepCool AK500 in review – A new upper mid-range air cooler

DeepCool launched a few new air coolers last year that were very convincing. First, the DeepCool AK620 dual-tower cooler was launched, which brought the upper performance class into an affordable range. This was followed by the DeepCool AK400, a compact entry-level model that offers strong performance at a small size and affordable price. Now we have a new cooler on test with the DeepCool AK500, which is supposed to cover the upper mid-range. With this test, we want to clarify where the large single-tower cooler sorts itself and how the performance ratio looks like to its two siblings.

Specifications

Size 127 x 117 x 158 mm
Heat Pipes 5x 6 mm
Compatible bases Intel 115x / 1700 / 1200 / 20xx
AMD AM4 / AM5
Fan 1x 120 mm DeepCool FK120
Fan type Fluid Dynamic Bearing
Fan speed 500 – 1850 RPM
Static fan pressure 2.19 mmAq
Fan volume ≤28 dB(A)
Fan power consumption 1.44 W
Price € 61.89 *
Price optional second fan DeepCool FK120 € 16.89 *

Packaging

In terms of style, the packaging of the DeepCool AK500 is along the same lines as the AK620 and the LS720. A brown cardboard box is covered with a white cardboard frame with product imprint. Overall, a serious-looking design. Inside, you look head-on at the fan already attached to the heatsink. This is in a white foam for protection. Next to it is a small box with all the accessories and mounting hardware.

Scope of delivery

  • Extensive accessories
  • Mounting hardware for modern mainstream sockets

Apart from the cooler with the pre-assembled fan DeepCool FK120* itself, the DeepCool AK500 comes with the manual of course, the use of which is highly recommended for assembly. Otherwise, there is the mounting material for the current AMD and Intel sockets. There is one bag each for AMD and Intel, then knurled nuts for mounting, which are necessary for both sockets. There is also an IKEA-style long screwdriver and a small tube of thermal paste for mounting. A low-speed adapter that reduces the voltage arriving at the fan is also included. Last but not least, a second set of brackets to hold a second fan is also included.

Mounting hardware for the DeepCool AK500
Mounting hardware and instructions of the DeepCool AK500

Design

  • Large heatsink with single fan
  • Design elements match sister models

The design of the DeepCool AK500 speaks the same language as its sister models. An aluminum heatsink with a nickel-plated base plate and five nickel-plated heat pipes match the familiar color scheme of the regular models. A white version is also available in line with the other two DeepCool coolers. On the top, the heatsink is again covered with a dark cover plate with a fine square pattern.

Like the AK400, the DeepCool AK500 from this review is a single-tower cooler, but is significantly larger in size. From the AK620, the DeepCool AK500 inherited the better fan and nickel-plated contact plate. However, the AK500 only comes with one fan. In terms of design, the heatsink is asymmetrically shifted to the rear so that it doesn’t get in the way of tall RAM bars. Thus, in terms of design and price, it initially appears similar to the be quiet! Shadow Rock 3, but the DeepCool AK500’s fan is a more pressure-optimized and faster-spinning model. Therefore, its heatsink can be built with more fins in a denser arrangement.

It should also be mentioned here that the DeepCool AK500’s 158 mm installation height gives it an advantage over be Quiet!s competitor Shadow Rock 3, which at 163 mm just doesn’t fit in some cases.

Workmanship

  • Robust workmanship
  • Good fan clips

The workmanship of the DeepCool AK500 passes the test. The fins are solid and do not bend easily and are also interlocked, which increases stability. The brackets for the fans hold onto them well and you don’t need too much force to mount them. The mounting material is made of metal and also makes a good impression. The corners of the fan are fully rubberized, which should reduce vibration noise. However, some dust quickly sticks to them as well. Overall, the build quality of the DeepCool AK500 is consistently good and offers no cause for criticism.

Installation

  • Relatively easy installation
  • Fan and cover must be removed prior to installation
  • Heat transfer compound is not pre-applied
  • The large heatsink makes it difficult to see

The installation of the DeepCool AK500 went quite easily in the test. The backplate – for Intel the supplied and for AMD the standard model – is attached to the motherboard with thumbscrews. The matching brackets (metal rails) are placed on these and tightened with knurled nuts. You only have to pay attention to the mounting direction, but an arrow on the brackets points in processor direction and the instructions also show the correct direction.

Now you need to remove the black cover on the heatsink (pull it up without tools), exposing a hole through the fins through which you can reach one of the screws for mounting. The pre-assembled fan is also removed to expose the second screw. At the contact area, the protective sticker must be removed and the thermal paste is applied to the processor. Now the heatsink is placed, taking into account the asymmetrical design. So it should “lean” away from the RAM slots.

With the screwdriver you should now go through the hole in the heatsink and screw the screw to the thread on one of the brackets until the screw just grabs. Now do the same on the other screw. All in all, this is not very easy – especially if the mainboard is in a case. In this case, the view is somewhat limited by the large heat sink. Once both screws have been tightened, you should tighten them alternately by a few turns until you reach the stop on both sides.

Now you can reattach the fan to the DeepCool AK500 heatsink and tighten the black cover over the fins. Last but not least, don’t forget to also attach the fan’s cable to the corresponding CPU fan header on the motherboard.

Test system and test procedure

  • Testing the DeepCool AK500 with one fan, with one fan and low-speed adapter, and with two fans
  • Comparison with DeepCool AK400, AK620, Enermax ETS-F40-FS and AMD Wraith Spire

The Ryzen 5 3600X of the test system has a power consumption of around 18W at idle in the DeepCool AK500 test and under Cinebench load it draws around 78W. The idle temperature was always measured after the system had run for ten minutes without operation. An average value of a measurement time of one minute was taken. Afterwards, the system was continuously loaded by Cinebench R23 and after eight minutes of warm-up time, a one-minute measurement of the average temperature was taken again. The case fans were statically set to 34% of power in order to not influence the result through automatic adjustments. In addition, the low speed ensured that the case fans had little influence on the loudness measurement.

The test was performed in an Enermax StarryKnight SK30 with the factory fans and an additional fan above the processor cooler. The case fans were never adjusted. The coolers, on the other hand, were tested at 50% PWM for quiet operation and 100% PWM for the highest possible performance. The results were then adjusted for room temperature, so the values are given as a delta. This is the difference between room temperature at the time of measurement and the measured temperature. The volume of the overall system was measured at a base room volume of 36 dB at a distance of half a meter from the case.

Comparison coolers were used to rank the performance of the DeepCool AK500. On the one hand, the AK400 and AK620 siblings, and on the other, the AMD Wraith Spire box cooler. Finally, another larger single-tower cooler, the Enermax ETS-F40-FS, landed in the comparison. The DeepCool AK500 was tested in basic features, then with the included low-speed adapter. Lastly with an optionally available second fan (DeepCool FK120) that can be attached with the included brackets.

Performance comparison

Processor Delta idle temperature Delta Cinebench temperature Volume
AMD Wraith Spire 50% PWM 11.7° C 59.5° C 41 dB
AMD Wraith Spire 100% PWM 11.5° C 56.3° C 45 dB
Enermax ETS-F40-FS 50% PWM 9.1° C 49.7° C 38 dB
Enermax ETS-F40-FS 100% PWM 9.1° C 48.5° C 39 dB
DeepCool AK400 50% PWM 9.3° C 50.0° C 38 dB
DeepCool AK400 100% PWM 9.2° C 48.0° C 41 dB
DeepCool AK500 50% PWM 9.1° C 49.0° C 39 dB
DeepCool AK500 100% PWM 8.9° C 46.9° C 41 dB
DeepCool AK500 50% PWM (low-speed adapter) 9.3° C 49.7° C 38 dB
DeepCool AK500 100% PWM (low-speed adapter) 8.9° C 47.7° C 39 dB
DeepCool AK500 50% PWM (2x FK120) 8.7° C 47.9° C 39 dB
DeepCool AK500 100% PWM (2x FK120) 8.4° C 46.1° C 44 dB
DeepCool AK620 50% PWM 8.6° C 47.8° C 39 dB
DeepCool AK620 100% PWM 8.4° C 46° C 44 dB

Analysis of loudness

At a measured volume of 38 dB, which is more common here, it means that the cooler disappears in the basic noise of the case fans. 39 dB doesn’t let you hear the cooler either. From about 41 dB, the cooler stands out noticeably from the case fans. From 43 dB, the coolers are very audible and slowly become so intrusive that I didn’t want to run them at this level in everyday use.

The DeepCool AK500 does very well in the test. In principle, the noise level is very similar to the AK400, but better cooling performance is achieved in the process. The low-speed adapter reduces the fan speed. Actually, you don’t need it if you reduce the speed via PWM. But if you don’t know how to adjust the fans or you want to use automatic fan control to keep the AK500 quiet, you can definitely use the low-speed adapter.

With two fans, the DeepCool AK500 is logically just as loud as the AK620, which comes with two identical fans.

Analysis of performance

  • Performance midway between the AK400 and AK620
  • Stronger than AK400 even with low-speed adapter
  • With a second fan, performance is comparable to AK620

The DeepCool AK500 sits almost exactly halfway between the AK400 and AK620 in terms of performance and price. This makes it virtually perfect for mid-range processors up to the Ryzen 7 series or even an Intel Core i7 (without overclocking). If you use it with a smaller model, like a Ryzen 5 or Core i5, you can definitely use it with the included low-speed adapter. Even with this, the AK500 always remains slightly above the strength of the AK400. With the low-speed adapter, the AK500 even digs into the volume range of the 140mm Enermax ETS-F40-FS cooler. However, in doing so, the DeepCool AK500 also offers stronger performance.

If you can’t decide whether to go for the DeepCool AK500 or DeepCool AK620, you can definitely consider the AK500. With this, the volume is lower and the performance is not that much worse. In most cases, one will be satisfied with this. If the processor is so close to the temperature limit that you need a bit more power, you can get a second FK120 fan and attach it with the brackets that are already included. This way, you can get close enough to the DeepCool AK620 in terms of performance and volume that you end up within the measurement tolerance. With the second fan, however, you are also virtually on par with the big sister model in terms of price.

Conclusion

The DeepCool AK500 shows no real weaknesses in the test. It offers good cooling performance and is quite quiet in use with one fan. The workmanship is good, the optics noble. Only RGB components are not found. If you need more performance than from an entry-level cooler, or want headroom for updates from a cheap processor to a more powerful model, you’ll find this cooler to be a quite solid model. Plus, with an optionally available second fan, you can tease out a bit more performance if you need it.

DeepCool AK500 Test Gold Award

DeepCool AK500

Workmanship
Design
Mounting
Performance
Value for money

91/100

The DeepCool AK500 is a solid, strong and quiet cooler for mid-range to high-end processors.

Simon Lüthje

I am co-founder of this blog and am very interested in everything that has to do with technology, but I also like to play games. I was born in Hamburg, but now I live in Bad Segeberg.

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DeepCool launched a few new air coolers last year that were very convincing. First, the DeepCool AK620 dual-tower cooler was launched, which brought the upper performance class into an affordable range. This was followed by the DeepCool AK400, a compact entry-level model that offers strong performance at a small size and affordable price. Now we … (Weiterlesen...)

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