PC Components

DeepCool AK620 in test: An affordable high-performance air cooler

DeepCool has been around since the mid-90s and, being based in China, is able to develop products at a reasonable price – all the while being independent and releasing products that stand out. DeepCool has gained some special attention in recent years by entering the high-end air cooler space with a more serious approach than previous models. In this way, they are providing some movement and competition in an area dominated by Noctua and be Quiet! First up in 2020 was the Assassin III, a massive 140mm dual-tower cooler, until 2021 when the slightly more compact DeepCool AK620 was announced with its 120mm dual-tower design. We are now testing this one in tandem with the AK400, a much more affordable 120mm single-tower cooler newly released in 2022. The AK620 was initially released in black, but a white version has also been available since 2022.

So now we test the general performance, clarify which cooler is better for which case and take a look at the competition.

DeepCool AK620 specifications

Socket Compatibility Intel LGA2066/2011-v3/2011/1700/1200/1151/1150/1155 / AMD AM4
Overall dimensions 129×138×160 mm
Heatsink dimensions 127×110×157 mm
Weight 1456 g
Heatpipes 6x Ø6 mm
Fan dimensions 120×120×25 mm
Fan speed 500~1850 RPM±10%
Fan Airflow 68.99 CFM
Air Pressure 2.19 mmAq
Loudness per fan ≤28 dB(A)
Fan type Liquid Bearing (Fluid Dynamic Bearing)
Fan power consumption 1.44 W (per fan)
Price € 76.89 * (black), € 67.72 * (white)

Packaging and scope of delivery

In contrast to the design of previous packaging, the box of the DeepCool AK620 looks much more adult and less playful. The familiar turquoise color has given way and the new logo also adorns the box. When you open the box, you can see the front of the cooler, which is completely pre-assembled with fans and protected by foam. Above it is a box with the mounting material. Inside you’ll find mounts for Intel systems of all Core-i generations, now including LGA 1700, and for the larger LGA 2011 and 2066 sockets. In addition, the included brackets are compatible with current AMD sockets like AM4 and AM5. Other things in the box are a Y-splitter for the fans to be able to operate both via one header, a small tube of thermal paste without a more precise designation and a screwdriver in the style of those supplied by Noctua. You will look in vain for a printed manual: here, a small card is included that refers to the DeepCool website (also directly with QR code, if you are using a cell phone), where the manual can be found in digital form.

Design and workmanship

The DeepCool AK620 looks classy with its covers for the ends of the heatpipes, which are almost seamless with the fans, which are emphatically square. The view of the completely assembled cooler with its two fans looks almost as square. This results in a very harmonious picture, which was not quite the case with the larger Assassin III, for example.

The fans are DeepCool FK120s with Fluid Dynamic Bearing, which at the time of review creation also appeared on the market individually or in packs of three, at least in black, to pull off a consistent style in the case. The fans look quite sturdy and torsion-resistant, but the plastic used looks quite standard, especially on the fan blades. The corners of the fans are made entirely of rubber, so as to dampen vibrations in all directions. One disadvantage of the rubber, however, is that it is not quite easy to clean from dust and these dusty corners somewhat disrupt the otherwise very classy impression that the cooler makes.

The heatsink itself looks neatly equipped with its six 6mm heatpipes and these distribute the heat to the closely spaced fins. A special feature of the fins is that they do not end smoothly, but form a kind of 3D pattern of squares. This may be a purely optical gimmick that does not affect the performance, but the pattern gives a noble impression. The copper heatpipes are nickel-plated and thus have the same hue as the aluminum fins, which ensures that the black-silver look is not interrupted by a third hue. The contact surface to the processor is also nickel-plated copper, distributing heat evenly across the heatpipes. What’s not available on the DeepCool AK620 is RGB lighting, which doesn’t fit the no-nonsense, classy concept and also would have driven up the price without any practical performance boost.

Installation

The installation of the AK620 is relatively simple. First, you should remove the fans. For Intel systems a custom backplate is included, for AMD you use the factory backplate. The procedure is similar, but for Intel and AMD there are different parts in a plastic bag each. The backplate is screwed on with spacers from the front first. This is a different procedure than we know from Noctua, for example, or from the smaller DeepCool AK400, where the brackets are screwed on directly with screws and a loose spacer, thereby securing the backplate at the same time. When mounting the AK620, the backplate is directly secured with the spacers and the further work is less fiddly. Now the brackets are placed on the spacers and screwed tight with knurled nuts. Now the thermal paste can be applied and the final mounting is identical to Noctua coolers: With the supplied long screwdriver is turned between the two lamellar towers the fixed nuts, which tighten on the screws on the brackets. Here, first one until it grips a bit, then the other until it grips and then always alternate a few turns until you are at the stop – then the cooler sits well. Now the fans can be clipped back in place, which is pretty easy with the DeepCool coolers and fortunately the clamps sit well on the fans as well.

Performance and comparison

To be able to rank the performance of the DeepCool AK620, we did a comparison with other coolers – once the smaller sister model DeepCool AK400 was used, but also the much more expensive Noctua model NH-D12L, which is also a dual-tower 120mm air cooler. This one was also equipped with a second fan for fairness. Lastly, the DeepCool AK620’s fans were to be put to the test by counter-testing the cooler’s performance and volume with the very expensive and powerful Noctua NF-A12x25. So the question is: is this upgrade worth it and is it an upgrade at all?

Tests were conducted on two processors for the DeepCool AK620. These are once the AMD Ryzen 5 3600X and once the Ryzen 9 5950X. The Ryzen 5 3600X of the test system has a power consumption of around 18W at idle and under Cinebench load it draws around 78W. The Ryzen 9 5950X was run without overclocking, so it draws around 22W at idle and around 120W under load. The idle temperature was always measured after the system had run for ten minutes without operation and an average value of a measurement time of one minute was taken. Afterwards, the system was continuously loaded by Cinebench R23 in all-core mode and a one-minute measurement of the average temperature was taken again after eight minutes of warm-up.
The case fans were statically set to a low speed in order to not influence the result through automatic adjustments and the low power was chosen to provide sufficient airflow, but still let the coolers work intensively – this also ensured a low influence of the case fans on the volume measurement. The case fans of the test computers were never adjusted, but the processor cooler fans were adjusted for two tests. Once 50% PWM for quiet operation and once 100% PWM for the highest possible performance. The results were then adjusted for room temperature, so the values are given as a delta – the difference between room temperature at the time of measurement and the measured temperature. The overall system volume was measured at a base room volume of 36 dB at a distance of half a meter from the case.

The first test was performed with the Ryzen 5 3600X:

Test on Ryzen 5 3600X Delta idle temperature Delta Cinebench temperature Volume
DeelCool AK400 50% PWM 9.3° C 50.0° C 38 dB
DeepCool AK400 100% PWM 9.2° C 48.0° C 41 dB
DeepCool AK620 50% PWM 8.6° C 47.8° C 39 dB
DeepCool AK620 100% PWM 8.4° C 46.0° C 44 dB
DeepCool AK620 with Noctua NF-A12x25 50% PWM 9.1° C 48.2° C 39 dB
DeepCool AK620 with Noctua NF-A12x25 100% PWM 8.4° C 45.9° C 42 dB
Noctua NH-D12L 50% PWM 8.8° C 48.7° C 39 dB
Noctua NH-D12L 100% PWM 8.7° C 46.7° C 42 dB

This is where the DeepCool AK620 performs impressively. That it beats the AK400 is no surprise, but it even beats the much more expensive Noctua NH-D12L performance-wise while remaining decently quiet at medium fan speeds. Clearly – the focus of the Noctua is on another aspect and that is the physically more compact form with significantly lower installation height. It is also surprising that changing the fans to the Noctua NF-A12x25 does not make a significant difference. Performance-wise, the fans are within the range of the measurement tolerance, with the original FK120 fans tending to be ahead in the lower power range. Only at full power are the Noctua fans noticeably quieter, but who runs their coolers at full power?

Next, the test was run on the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, with the AK400 excluded from this test:

Test on Ryzen 9 5950X without overclocking Delta idle temperature Delta Cinebench temperature Volume
DeepCool AK620 50% PWM 9.0° C 37.4° C 39 dB
DeepCool AK620 100% PWM 8.5° C 33.9° C 44 dB
DeepCool AK620 with Noctua NF-A12x25 50% PWM 7.9° C 37.5° C 39 dB
DeepCool AK620 with Noctua NF-A12x25 100% PWM 7.5° C 34.1° C 42 dB
Noctua NH-D12L 50% PWM 10.1° C 40.1° C 39 dB
Noctua NH-D12L 100% PWM 9.3° C 36.7° C 42 dB

It can be noticed that despite the higher power consumption, the heat in this processor is better distributed and can therefore be dissipated more effectively. Apart from the fact that the numbers are significantly different from the 3600X, the result goes in the same direction: the Noctua NH-D12L is beaten by the DeepCool AK620 and the performance difference between the factory FK120 fans and the slightly quieter Noctua NF-A12x25 is negligible, even if the latter resulted in lower idle temperatures in this test.

Summary of the DeepCool AK620 test

The DeepCool AK620 offers an impressive performance that is fully in the premium segment. The build quality is solid, the look is stylish, the installation is simple, and the fans are surprisingly effective. For the price called for this, the cooler is definitely worth a recommendation. However, it is not necessarily necessary for mid-range CPUs; for example, a cheaper cooler like the AK400 is perfectly sufficient for a Ryzen 5 or Core-i5.

DeepCool AK620

Workmanship
Design
Installation
Performance
Value for money

94/100

The DeepCool AK620 looks classy, is easy to install, strong and really cheap for its build and performance. It does not offer much room for criticism.

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 has been around since the mid-90s and, being based in China, is able to develop products at a reasonable price – all the while being independent and releasing products that stand out. DeepCool has gained some special attention in recent years by entering the high-end air cooler space with a more serious approach than … (Weiterlesen...)

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