For anyone interested, DeepCool reached out to remind me they DO have a blackout version of this called the AK620 ZERO DARK. Its so BEAUTIFUL: www.deepcool.com/products/Cooling/cpuaircoolers/AK620-ZERO-DARK-High-Performance-CPU-Cooler/2022/16124.shtml - Mike
A lot of big outlets don't review the newest revision of gear like this, it's refreshing. It's this kind of content that brought me to tech RUclips in the first place
@@htr5372 that is not fair, nobody can test everything. I can say that you didn't test snap-on, iskra, matco, tone, etc etc, we can go on like this forever.
@@GitHubStiizz that guy is super dumb, he is going the same in project farms video (one with ratcheting screwdriver test). Harassing him and acting smart although he isn't...
I've been using the AK620 since a month now and I can confidently say that the performance is far better than my earlier Cooler master Ml240 AIO cooler. I used to get temps between 70 to 75 deg C using the Ml240 and now with AK620, the temps are hardly touching 62deg C. With continuous gaming sessions of 3 to 4 hrs also I'm getting max temps of 62 deg. I know its not fair to compare AIO and air cooler but hey I've been on that train, and switching to AK620 has made a huge difference for me. Kudos to my mate audi_rj for suggesting AK620👌
for those who are looking to get this cooler here is a warning. this cooler (more likely the fans) produce whine/hum under certain RPM. For me 1200-1300 (60%) is when the hum becomes the loudest and sometimes around 30% fanspeed although less noticeable. As of now I set my fan curve to avoid those speeds and deepcool will not send you replacement because they claim this is not a manufacturing defect, it's just how it is. I might have to buy some new fans as replacement.
I've just ordered one, so many thanks for the spoiler. However, I've also ordered two Silent Wings Pro 4 fans to replace the stock ones. The whine problem should be solved, considered that be quiet's fans produce a low pitched hush rather than a hum, which blends way better with their environment. I highly suggest you buy these fans, they're among the best money can buy.
I would love to see you also review the new Thermalright Silver Soul 135 and 110. They look like they could be awesome for people with large SFF cases that outperform their current best options.
@@zeroturn7091 Funny you should ask... at 135mm it fit's comfortably in the mini-tower cases. I think the limit on those is about 138mm. Funny enough, that is exactly what I bought it for.
5:51 You can also mount the fans to the back side of the cooling towers. Not only will it allow for basically unlimited ram height it looks baller as hell.
I did this with my pa120 as raising the front fan still blocks the first 2 ram slots from view for rgb ram. I like the fuma 2 as even with the front fan mounted, it doesn’t block any of the ram slots due to the way the base plate is offset
I’m pretty sure this isn’t recommended. If my memory is correct Noctua and Gamernexus both ran tests like this and found that the 2x pull config resulted in noticeably higher temperatures. Finding that moving the fan up higher above the ram was actually better performance than moving the front fan to the back.
Not in a hurry to replace my trusty UH-12 anytime soon for few degrees, not with my workloads on this setup but I'm really loving the design and performance of the AK620. The white one is pretty damn sexy. I don't really give a hoot about RGB lighting but I think they'd offer this value with one, and offer other colors too. Even as a superficial plating, they would blow the competition out the window. If I was putting up a new build on a budget, with this price tag, this is the pick.
I would've liked to see you take the AK fans and put them on the peerless for the 260w test to see if the fans were indeed the reason for the drop. Great content regardless.
I dont recall the yotuber's name, but there's one who tested the AK620 vs the Scythe Fuma 2 rev. B and stock the AK620 performed better while when both had their stock fans replaced with the same high end fan the Fuma 2 performed better. Is buying a fuma2 and then paying to upgrade the fans though? Id say probably not but maybe it is to you
Deepcool's new AK500 looks really awesome (it seems to have been designed with the new AM5 motherboards in mind (and general motherboards with tall vrms and extremely tall first m.2 slot, like the new Asus X670E ITX shown on gamescom, and some of the ASUS/GIGABYTE Intel Z690/H670/B660 mini ITX boards.
@@HardwareCanucks I see. So maybe it's down to production cost overseas? Actually dunno if Be quiet and Noctua produce theirs overseas? It just feels like Deepcool is taking i e. 10 bucks profit instead other two 30 bucks
I'm a big fan of my $42 Peerless Assassin, but I now wish I had spent the extra 8 bux on this. The Thermalright is excellent, but the Deepcool's fans and small logos are worth the extra. Also, the Thermalright has a bit of a whine/ringing tone at some lower rpm. It could be the fins or the fan, but I bet DeepCool's fin pattern and denser fan blades are less irritating.
The Deepcool AK620 does push the height out to 160mm, whereas the Thermalright PA120 SE version is 155mm. Thermalright also offers the FC140, which uses a 140mm fan, but still manages to be the same height as the AK620. It would be interesting to see how the FC140 does, as it has five 8mm heat pipes.
Thermalrights 140mm version is still cheaper then the AK620 as well... and the PA120 is half the price of the AK620 right now. Thermalright takes a massive W here.
I'm using AK620 on my i5-12600K system and I absolutely love it! Great design, competitive performance, and reasonable pricing. I highly recommend this product.
Great review, am really a fan of the way Mike presents things, it s that mix of getting a certain enthusiasm across whilst having a focus on the facts & test results. This review convinced me to give this cooler a try and change my order paying extra for the white colour option, coz yes, getting white tones right isn t trivial. In my market the AK620 commonly goes for 80ish USD but compared to its competitors the price ratios are the same. I like reduced and serene designs with form following function in mind so the white version of this without the (exaggerated and stupid :p) RGB bling bling hits home for me. Thanks a lot for this one!
Put the white AK620 into my white Torrent - lovely and cool. Really built well - I even showed the cooler to my girlfriend and said "look at that engineering" - she was nonplussed to say the least.
Really underrated brand, I just bought 4 of their 120mm fans and they are really nice and only $3.50 each... I'd prefer no paint on the aluminium coolers, white is the worst colour for what we are trying to achieve.
This is my favorite dual tower cooler for the aesthetics. also, there’s now a zero dark version of you want an all black look although it is a fair bit more pricey.
thanks Mike, it's amazing how much value there is right now for cooling solutions at all price points. The Toughair 310 going for €33 and the Peerless Assasin for €50 both at Amazon Germany, with the AK400 going for €42 in Amazon UK...and I can find the NZXT Kraken X63 for €100 in my local (Ireland) market new in box 🙂 really good prices all round
The AK620 has almost same price as the D15 or Dark Rock Pro here, so only the Peerless Assassins makes sense when comes to budget, it cost a half of all these three.
On Taobao, there are many 10-20USD air coolers that perform equal or better than 50-80USD non-Chinese brands, I think it's just because much cheaper production cost
Got a PA 120 SE yesterday. Waiting for it to come in, im excited, gonna swap the fans for actic p12s. I imagine it will perform identically to this because the fans are similar spec. Thanks for putting the word out!
That thing is really boss. I went with a PA120 black and I love it, but it only came down to the fact that I used Thermalright products 20 years ago and they were great then as well. I am really happy with the PA120, but looks like I'd also be happy with the AK620 too.
Using Ak620 and gentle typhoon just lying around there together, I noticed that the stock fan was more than enough for 5800X with max load. It did not exceed 65C at all. 5800X has the issue of heating up even more than Ryzen9s, but Ak620 just handles it like a king. I use it with Lian Li O11 Air mini, the white looks very good with that case let me tell ya'll.
Loved the review! I especially appreciated the small detail of the ram height clearance, that's very helpful info. Would you consider a DeepCool CG560 case review?
@@darryljack6612 Thank you for getting back to me. At the time I asked the question, I Bought one for my brother to switch from water cooling, he immediately seen results. He dropped 20° from his 240 rad. He no longer thermal throttles. 😀
You're killin' it in cpu cooler reviews! I much prefer your presentation and benchmarks than gamers nexus. Testing across wide DB ranges and heat load of upto 260W paints a complete picture of the coolers performance, it's strengths and weaknesses. This is how it should be done!
I'm really stoked about using one of these in a white themed build! I know Noctua is generally regarded as the king of air coolers, but dang, I just can't get behind that "brown on brown on silver" look! It's like a poorly designed 80's car with brown on brown interior and chromed to wazoo on the outside! Really digging the clean look of the white AK620!
Would like to see the AG620 added to the mix as it’s supposed to be a slightly cheaper version. There’s also the thermalright frost spirit 140 and frost commander 140 which are also fantastic price to performers
For me and Amazon we have a love/hate relationship. Hate that their prices are sometimes the worst but love the convenience of being a prime member, Free same-day shipping+coupons is what keeps me coming back. I’m impatient and hate waiting more than 3 days for shipping. My local stores think that the worst rated is worth 3x more than msrp.
I would like to personally thank you, Mike I selected Thermalright PA120 after this review, because of the fact that it had stronger fans, but ended up using Noctua NF-A12x25 instead in black color. I am easily cooling i9-13900k, like I am running Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360mm AIO, it's incredible. I speculate this configuration with those fans, on A620 as well...will beat out NH-D15 by Noctua. The fin density is nice on Thermalright or Deep Cool, and I am glad there is an alternative to Noctua NH-D15. I feel the spacing on that unit is the cause for the turbulence, and that's a no-go for me. The close placement of fans on A620 and PA120 is what keeps the turbulance next to zero.
I've been a Noctua guy for at least six years. Last month, I decided to experiment with the AK620 Zero Dark. The difference in cooling between the AK620 and the DH15 is not statistically significant. Fans are quiet, even when cranked. And frankly, it's drop dead gorgeous. At less than half the cost of the Noctua, it's one heck of a bargain.
@@salvationbygracethroughfaith Even manually cranked to 100%, I definitely can't hear the CPU cooler over the GPU fans. It may help that the glass side panel is facing my seating position. Left to the stock fan curve, I have yet to see my CPU temps exceed 50C with the fans at 60%. Yes, my Noctua DH15 was quieter... But at double the cost. I spent the savings on a larger SSD. Sadly, retirement comes with a limited budget. ;)
One thing I didn't like about the AK400/620 is I can't get Lian Li Uni fans mounted onto them. I wish they had the brackets that the Hyper 212 EVOs have.
It'd be nice to add those AK620 fans to other tests like radiators & other heatsinks. Their model name is FK120 and only costs $9. If they can keep up with NF-A12x25's & Gentle Typhoons(or get 1-2c close in noise normalised tests) they easily beat Arctic P12's for best value fan.
Hello! I ordered this cooler with these components: GPU: Gygabite RTX 4070 192-bit 12GB Windforce OC CPU: Intel i7-13700K Motherboard: Gygabite Z790 UD AX RAM: Kingston Fury Beast DDR5 6000 mhz 2x16GB PSU: MSI MPG A850G 850W SSD: Samsung 990 PRO 1TB Case: Sharkoon TG6 RGB ATX Because this CPU cooler is so big and covers the RAM, I decided to buy the RAM without RGB lighting. Also my case has already 3 x 120 mm fan in front, 3 x 120 mm on top and one in the back. Those fans are RGB. Because of this I decided to buy all components without RGB and leave only the fans of the case to make the light. The GPU, of what I've seen, has only a little bit of lighting... It will look nice like this or do you consider it will be better to change before I get the components, to buy RGB RAM, the gaming version of the GPU which has cooler RGB, take out the 3 fans on the top of the case and put a liquid cooler. Please help!
For all viewers here: please don't expect the same wattage performance with other CPUs. The surface and heat per surface is very different. My 10900k would reach 100C+ when running with 260W on my Dark Rock Pro 4 not easy peasy 83 as with the tested 10980XE . A 12900k reaches 100 with even much lower wattages. Ryzen 7 chips also have a compete different behaviour at much lower wattages especially the 5800X3D.
@@mikkelkirketerp4884 depends on your setup. My 10900k is undervoltet and overclocked to 5.0 All Core running at 195W in a Meshify 2 case. Prime 95 runs with 240 on my Dark Rock Pro 4 and that's the maximum it handles while cooling under 100C during summer months and 26C room temp. So Dark Rock Pro 4 is fine as long as you don't wanna go above that 240W or have a very air tight case. If I would buy again I would take the Noctua NH15 for the little bit extra head room. But right now I'm thinking to tune my Dark Rock Pro 4 with a Silent Wings 4 120mm High Speed fan. Noise is really nice of the DRP4.
@@mikkelkirketerp4884 I’ve got a scythe fuma 2 revision B on my 10900k. Running stock speeds, unlocked turbo durations, and a little bit of undervolting, it sits at about 79-80 degrees under full synthetic load 4.9ghz all core boost, pulling 185 watts. Dead silent while it does it too, and lets me keep clearance for my tall RGB ram lol. I used the included scythe thermal paste and screwdriver for installation as well, which is pretty good paste and a very good screwdriver. Didn’t even have to take the fans off to install. Just slap it in there with the fans on it.
I brought this last week and replaced the fans with the fans that come with the Noctua NH-U12S Redux fans x2. Having the 5800X, using the stock fans, my max temp in Cinebench was at 80c. I replaced the fans with the Noctua ones I had and saw a 5c drop. This is quite an impressive cooler for the price.
Just bought one of these for my 5800x3D. Under 100% lead it only hits 75c. My old cooler (NZXT Kraken Z53) would hit 90c under nearly any load. Not to mention the fans that come with the ak620 and quite good. Even with open back headphones, and an open case, I can't hear them at 80% or about 1500rpm. I bought 3 more of the exact same fans for my case cause they're so good! Just wish they sold them separately in white, as of right now, they're only in black.
Thanks for this. Just wondering if using the deepcool fans on the thermalright would result in similar results to rule out of it’s mainly the fans or a combination of the heat sink and fans. Deepcool doesn’t seem to sell those particular fans on its own. I rewatched the pa120 video and with the gentle typhoon, it was at 89 degrees at 260w vs the ak620 being 85 in this video with the same fans so it seems like the ak620 is a better suited heatsink for higher heat loads
There is a version named ag620 , basically the same thing without those two top covers , instead of a thermal paste tube it has a thermal paste pouch , and no screw driver. Everything else is same. It sells for 50$ in india. And the ak620 is 63$ so for 13$ savings it's worth it to us. . And absolute no brainer against something like nhd15 which is about 100$. Even smaller than the nhd15.
So much reviews and no one testet it with single fan setting - asking myself what kind of temp difference it will be. Would be really interesting (and compared to the new ak500). Nice review though!
i love new competition . Corsair and noctua have a decent reputation but these guys make the same if not very similar fans with better/equally designed coolers. I concede the NH-D15 has some extra cooling in the heat pipes that just cant be reached for some reason.
@@htr5372 so why don't they beat the nh-d15 in cooling performance? I was looking at the chart data. I mean that the gas/fluid they use performs better in this result.
They Do look nice and clean in white. I am a long time Noctua user & do like and use ThermalRight since the ultra 120 Extreme Tru Copper (I still use it just because it's awesome & looks cool). I'd like to try the new Peerless RGB White for my recent socket 1200 to cool a i9-10850K OC but it's hard to find tested or confirm measurements for these. I stuck with Noctua NH-D15 (D14 fits) because it was or is tested w/ enthusiast boards we use. I've noticed when Noctua introduces an upgrade it is with an ASUS top model in mind as even their GPU cooling. I guess that's what you pay for. And their trusted & quiet fans. They just last. I have many in service since 2005.
I think the AK400 in black is sexier. 🙂 What happened to the teal-coloured fans? They make the cooler look so much better; it's too white in standard clothing.
I just swapped my MasterLiquid AIO that came with my cyberpower pc with the Scythe Fuma 2 Rev B. My cpu temps on Hell Let Loose on the AIO hit 92°C, but now sitting at 55-60° with the Fuma.
Seeing these dual-tower air coolers, I really want to know how the ID-Cooling SE-207-XT against these heavy hitters. Such an exciting market to compete in!
A month ago I bought a Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 for $38 and after watching your review I understood that I've made the best choice. And this comparison once again confirmed that. DeepCool costs almost twice the price of PA120 but never delivers any noticeable difference in real world performance.
Gr8 review, thanks for the details but I really do consider Thermalright Frost Commander 140 with the same price tag as 120mm dual towers. May be u should include and renew the benchmarks for Frost Commander 140 ?
Bought a Peerless Assassin for 42.70€. The AK620 is anywhere between 60 and 70€ here. My now 3 years old Noctua NH U12S is not coping well anymore it is just not as big of a heatsink as these new coolers and its pretty much maxed out at 100W CPU power it really has to spin the fan up for temps to stay below 85C on my Ryzen 5 3600. I also have a 2700 and it has more headroom on that CPU and I got it to 130W with the same temps since the cores on the older Ryzen Processors are dead center underneath the heatspreader now with the 3600 the hotspot has moved substantially into the small core CCD in the upper left corner of the chip looking down from above onto it mounted in a motherboard. The IO Die is in the center. I will have to see how large the coldplate of the Peerless is and how much of an offset is possible. Because that seems to significant affects temps on CPUs with a hotspot offset from the center.
Love the content, not trying to take anything away, but does anyone test these coolers with the SAME fans on each of them instead of the stock manufacturer ones? I think that would be a great indicator of the performance of the technology itself in the coolers when you take the fan variable out of it, and it can run alongside the "noise normalized" tests. One love.
I like that you swapped fans. Maybe you wanna do some more experiments. I always wonder what would new Silent Wings 4 120mm High Speed do on my Dark Rock Pro 4 with the extra 900rpm and much higher air pressure.
Hi hardware canucks, could you take a look at Thermalright Frost Commander 140? I'm genuinely curious how does 5 8mm heatpipes compare to the general flagship 6 6mm heatpipes for air coolers, by math it should cover more surface area so wish you could do a test out of it. It is also relatively inexpensive and has quite decent aesthetics for an air cooler.
With typical pc cases where the motherboard is vertical not flat, i would prefer an air cooler push the airflow up and out the top of the case. Because heat rises. Which is generally why I stick to liquid cooling via AIOs. Currently rocking an cooler master 360mm aio and it keeps my 3950x ridiculously cools.
I have the predecessor to the Deepcool AK400, the Deepcool GAMMAXX 400. I got lucky and caught it on sale on amzn for $15 bucks! I have it cooling a ryzen 2600X (a 95 w tdp cpu) and it's performance is very satisfactory. The stock wraith spire just got to be to noisy. Compared to that, the GAMMAXX 400 is a whisper.
For anyone interested, DeepCool reached out to remind me they DO have a blackout version of this called the AK620 ZERO DARK. Its so BEAUTIFUL: www.deepcool.com/products/Cooling/cpuaircoolers/AK620-ZERO-DARK-High-Performance-CPU-Cooler/2022/16124.shtml - Mike
where is this version available in Canada? I've just received the regular AK620 this morning because I didn't know a black one existed :|
please review the vetroo u6pro
Just to add, the AK620 Zero Dark is now available on the US Amazon website. About 115$ CAD total. Just ordered mine yesterday
@Pepe Grillo actually ive received mine yesterday morning. It was 116$CAD total
@Pepe Grillo my condolences. At least you have warm weather lol
A lot of big outlets don't review the newest revision of gear like this, it's refreshing. It's this kind of content that brought me to tech RUclips in the first place
@@htr5372 that is not fair, nobody can test everything. I can say that you didn't test snap-on, iskra, matco, tone, etc etc, we can go on like this forever.
@@htr5372 roflolmao, nice argument. Just as I thought, nothing smart to say or counter with since I utterly destroyed your claim
@@htr5372 no, I didn't prove your point, you proved my point. Too bad you are to ignorant to see that.
@@riba2233 When you exposed someone so hard they erased their existence. Hahaha
@@GitHubStiizz that guy is super dumb, he is going the same in project farms video (one with ratcheting screwdriver test). Harassing him and acting smart although he isn't...
Bought the Ak620 and 5900X for a combined $400 a few weeks ago. Absolutely insane value
How is it handling the 5900x?
can it cool the R9 5900X and how are the temps?
What do u think of deepcool as 500 plus?
Brian Buckley what's the temp and noise at full load?
@@princekittipon6510 the as500 gives about the same performance as the ak620 . According to reviews
Always good seeing Mike with a new cooler. Keep up the good job!
Thanks!
@@HardwareCanucks what do u think of deepcool as 500 plus? I think its better than noctua
Bro that white ak620 is a work of art
unique looking fan blades. Good to know they perform great
I've been using the AK620 since a month now and I can confidently say that the performance is far better than my earlier Cooler master Ml240 AIO cooler. I used to get temps between 70 to 75 deg C using the Ml240 and now with AK620, the temps are hardly touching 62deg C. With continuous gaming sessions of 3 to 4 hrs also I'm getting max temps of 62 deg. I know its not fair to compare AIO and air cooler but hey I've been on that train, and switching to AK620 has made a huge difference for me. Kudos to my mate audi_rj for suggesting AK620👌
Love hearing real-world results.
Water cooling outside of custom loops has been even more decimated by these cheap, cool and quiet parts.
Sorry for asking a year later lol, but I also have an ML240 AiO and just ordered an AK620. What CPU do you have? I'm currently running a 5800X3D.
for those who are looking to get this cooler here is a warning. this cooler (more likely the fans) produce whine/hum under certain RPM. For me 1200-1300 (60%) is when the hum becomes the loudest and sometimes around 30% fanspeed although less noticeable. As of now I set my fan curve to avoid those speeds and deepcool will not send you replacement because they claim this is not a manufacturing defect, it's just how it is. I might have to buy some new fans as replacement.
I've just ordered one, so many thanks for the spoiler. However, I've also ordered two Silent Wings Pro 4 fans to replace the stock ones. The whine problem should be solved, considered that be quiet's fans produce a low pitched hush rather than a hum, which blends way better with their environment. I highly suggest you buy these fans, they're among the best money can buy.
So you suggest a AIO over regular coolers?
I would love to see you also review the new Thermalright Silver Soul 135 and 110. They look like they could be awesome for people with large SFF cases that outperform their current best options.
I have the SS 135 and love it! Wish there were more reviews online huhu
Love the recommendations! Keep 'em coming!
But does it fit in an Optiplex 3020?
@@carlosmolina292 Yeah, I was really interested in it but couldn't find any reviews, so I just bought it for a project.
@@zeroturn7091 Funny you should ask... at 135mm it fit's comfortably in the mini-tower cases. I think the limit on those is about 138mm. Funny enough, that is exactly what I bought it for.
5:51 You can also mount the fans to the back side of the cooling towers. Not only will it allow for basically unlimited ram height it looks baller as hell.
Good point but be careful with vrm heatsinks. Those are getting bigger with each new generation and could run into the same problem
I did this with my pa120 as raising the front fan still blocks the first 2 ram slots from view for rgb ram. I like the fuma 2 as even with the front fan mounted, it doesn’t block any of the ram slots due to the way the base plate is offset
I’m pretty sure this isn’t recommended. If my memory is correct Noctua and Gamernexus both ran tests like this and found that the 2x pull config resulted in noticeably higher temperatures. Finding that moving the fan up higher above the ram was actually better performance than moving the front fan to the back.
@@WARnTEA Correct. The fans are much less effective in a pull configuration. They should be mounted to blow air over the heatsink.
@@WARnTEA with the AK620, the tests done with this config only had a difference of 1c within margin of error.
Thank you Mike for actually checking the comments and did what we've asked!!
Positive or negative I try to read every one. -Mike
Not in a hurry to replace my trusty UH-12 anytime soon for few degrees, not with my workloads on this setup but I'm really loving the design and performance of the AK620. The white one is pretty damn sexy. I don't really give a hoot about RGB lighting but I think they'd offer this value with one, and offer other colors too. Even as a superficial plating, they would blow the competition out the window. If I was putting up a new build on a budget, with this price tag, this is the pick.
I would've liked to see you take the AK fans and put them on the peerless for the 260w test to see if the fans were indeed the reason for the drop.
Great content regardless.
I dont recall the yotuber's name, but there's one who tested the AK620 vs the Scythe Fuma 2 rev. B and stock the AK620 performed better while when both had their stock fans replaced with the same high end fan the Fuma 2 performed better. Is buying a fuma2 and then paying to upgrade the fans though? Id say probably not but maybe it is to you
Deepcool's new AK500 looks really awesome (it seems to have been designed with the new AM5 motherboards in mind (and general motherboards with tall vrms and extremely tall first m.2 slot, like the new Asus X670E ITX shown on gamescom, and some of the ASUS/GIGABYTE Intel Z690/H670/B660 mini ITX boards.
This is the end game cooler for me!It's so beautiful!
I love the aesthetic. I think I’ve found my new CPU cooler
DeepCool like companies is what I love in tech space - not greedy in profits!
Always support little guy.
DeelCool is actually much, much larger than you might expect.
@@HardwareCanucks I see. So maybe it's down to production cost overseas? Actually dunno if Be quiet and Noctua produce theirs overseas? It just feels like Deepcool is taking i e. 10 bucks profit instead other two 30 bucks
I'm a big fan of my $42 Peerless Assassin, but I now wish I had spent the extra 8 bux on this. The Thermalright is excellent, but the Deepcool's fans and small logos are worth the extra. Also, the Thermalright has a bit of a whine/ringing tone at some lower rpm. It could be the fins or the fan, but I bet DeepCool's fin pattern and denser fan blades are less irritating.
The Deepcool AK620 does push the height out to 160mm, whereas the Thermalright PA120 SE version is 155mm. Thermalright also offers the FC140, which uses a 140mm fan, but still manages to be the same height as the AK620. It would be interesting to see how the FC140 does, as it has five 8mm heat pipes.
The AG620 which doesn't have the heat pipe covers is 157mm btw
Thermalrights 140mm version is still cheaper then the AK620 as well... and the PA120 is half the price of the AK620 right now. Thermalright takes a massive W here.
FC 140 is noisy.
I'm using AK620 on my i5-12600K system and I absolutely love it! Great design, competitive performance, and reasonable pricing. I highly recommend this product.
does it sag a little bit because of its size?
Nope. Not that we saw
that's the best looking dual tower cooler IMO
Great review, am really a fan of the way Mike presents things, it s that mix of getting a certain enthusiasm across whilst having a focus on the facts & test results. This review convinced me to give this cooler a try and change my order paying extra for the white colour option, coz yes, getting white tones right isn t trivial. In my market the AK620 commonly goes for 80ish USD but compared to its competitors the price ratios are the same. I like reduced and serene designs with form following function in mind so the white version of this without the (exaggerated and stupid :p) RGB bling bling hits home for me. Thanks a lot for this one!
No problem! Thanks for the compliments
Put the white AK620 into my white Torrent - lovely and cool. Really built well - I even showed the cooler to my girlfriend and said "look at that engineering" - she was nonplussed to say the least.
Really underrated brand, I just bought 4 of their 120mm fans and they are really nice and only $3.50 each... I'd prefer no paint on the aluminium coolers, white is the worst colour for what we are trying to achieve.
Hoping to see a Thermalright FC140 review in the future as well!
It's not just in Canada. It's all over the world. Basically, the real sales are very rare.
This is my favorite dual tower cooler for the aesthetics. also, there’s now a zero dark version of you want an all black look although it is a fair bit more pricey.
Thank you! I was waiting for this review and went ahead and bought both coolers white and silver.
Let us know how you like them!
thanks Mike, it's amazing how much value there is right now for cooling solutions at all price points. The Toughair 310 going for €33 and the Peerless Assasin for €50 both at Amazon Germany, with the AK400 going for €42 in Amazon UK...and I can find the NZXT Kraken X63 for €100 in my local (Ireland) market new in box 🙂 really good prices all round
The AK620 has almost same price as the D15 or Dark Rock Pro here, so only the Peerless Assassins makes sense when comes to budget, it cost a half of all these three.
On Taobao, there are many 10-20USD air coolers that perform equal or better than 50-80USD non-Chinese brands, I think it's just because much cheaper production cost
And no r&d cost since most copy from western designs
@@GGray. ye, that too
Got a PA 120 SE yesterday. Waiting for it to come in, im excited, gonna swap the fans for actic p12s. I imagine it will perform identically to this because the fans are similar spec. Thanks for putting the word out!
I got a PA 120 for my dads 12600K. That thing is a monster for only $40. Cools it no problem with a 5.1ghz overclock. I fricken love that cooler lol.
That thing is really boss. I went with a PA120 black and I love it, but it only came down to the fact that I used Thermalright products 20 years ago and they were great then as well. I am really happy with the PA120, but looks like I'd also be happy with the AK620 too.
The PA120 is a great cooler
Just changed out to the Thermalright Peerless Assassin for €40 and the Deepcool is €75 so went for price / performance winner. Great videos Mike.
Using Ak620 and gentle typhoon just lying around there together, I noticed that the stock fan was more than enough for 5800X with max load. It did not exceed 65C at all.
5800X has the issue of heating up even more than Ryzen9s, but Ak620 just handles it like a king. I use it with Lian Li O11 Air mini, the white looks very good with that case let me tell ya'll.
Mine under 20/30% load gets up to 80°C , guess I got a broken cooler then... Damn
thermal paste application really matters.@@jamarcus_OG
Loved the review! I especially appreciated the small detail of the ram height clearance, that's very helpful info. Would you consider a DeepCool CG560 case review?
I have one inside of my itx rig for my 5900x, Its so great for the price and keeps my temps cool
How cool?
@@austinellis6461 sry i know this like a month old, at full load with my 5900x in my itx case (the musetex t2) it stays about 60-70 degrees
@@darryljack6612 Thank you for getting back to me. At the time I asked the question, I Bought one for my brother to switch from water cooling, he immediately seen results. He dropped 20° from his 240 rad. He no longer thermal throttles. 😀
@@austinellis6461 That's great to hear, it really is that great of cooler especially given the price
You're killin' it in cpu cooler reviews! I much prefer your presentation and benchmarks than gamers nexus. Testing across wide DB ranges and heat load of upto 260W paints a complete picture of the coolers performance, it's strengths and weaknesses. This is how it should be done!
And just half the length of the video
I'm really stoked about using one of these in a white themed build! I know Noctua is generally regarded as the king of air coolers, but dang, I just can't get behind that "brown on brown on silver" look! It's like a poorly designed 80's car with brown on brown interior and chromed to wazoo on the outside! Really digging the clean look of the white AK620!
I have this cooler for a few months now, it's completely silent with my undervolted R7 5800X.
Would like to see the AG620 added to the mix as it’s supposed to be a slightly cheaper version. There’s also the thermalright frost spirit 140 and frost commander 140 which are also fantastic price to performers
The AG620 I believe it region specific but I'll look into it!
For me and Amazon we have a love/hate relationship.
Hate that their prices are sometimes the worst but love the convenience of being a prime member, Free same-day shipping+coupons is what keeps me coming back.
I’m impatient and hate waiting more than 3 days for shipping. My local stores think that the worst rated is worth 3x more than msrp.
running those with the front fan on is just a disservice to the look of that beautiful heatsink. That metal design just looks so good!
i really hope that the make a complete black version of it
See the pinned comment. It's called the Zero Dark
thank you for this review. i appreciate the honesty, i was wary of using an air cooler again but no more!
Great video. Now we need to see the cooler master MA624 to keep adding to those charts!
I would like to personally thank you, Mike
I selected Thermalright PA120 after this review, because of the fact that it had stronger fans, but ended up using Noctua NF-A12x25 instead in black color. I am easily cooling i9-13900k, like I am running Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360mm AIO, it's incredible.
I speculate this configuration with those fans, on A620 as well...will beat out NH-D15 by Noctua.
The fin density is nice on Thermalright or Deep Cool, and I am glad there is an alternative to Noctua NH-D15. I feel the spacing on that unit is the cause for the turbulence, and that's a no-go for me. The close placement of fans on A620 and PA120 is what keeps the turbulance next to zero.
Good choice!
I have the AS500 Plus , amazing performance, silent, fits with any kit of ram, and a little of rgb
I bought AS500 Plus White and it's on its way to my home... Hopefully, I'm not going to regret it.
Love the Crappy tire "sale" reference
I've been a Noctua guy for at least six years. Last month, I decided to experiment with the AK620 Zero Dark. The difference in cooling between the AK620 and the DH15 is not statistically significant. Fans are quiet, even when cranked. And frankly, it's drop dead gorgeous. At less than half the cost of the Noctua, it's one heck of a bargain.
@@salvationbygracethroughfaith Even manually cranked to 100%, I definitely can't hear the CPU cooler over the GPU fans. It may help that the glass side panel is facing my seating position. Left to the stock fan curve, I have yet to see my CPU temps exceed 50C with the fans at 60%.
Yes, my Noctua DH15 was quieter... But at double the cost. I spent the savings on a larger SSD. Sadly, retirement comes with a limited budget. ;)
I have a black one on my 12600k. Lovin' it!
I have a white AK620 on my Ryzen 9 5950X, with a RTX 3070, in the Thermaltake Tower 100, and while running R23 I don't see temps over 80c.
Just ordered the white version, should arrive same day....! Thanks for the video!
Good choice!
It’s a nice cooler, I’ve got two! I would really like an all black version though.
why dont use a aio u like big fans ?
@@vitroz4585 not a ‘fan’ of AIO’s. Much prefer the simplicity and reliability of a good air cooler.
there is an all black version but it hard to get
@@deepcoolalan7060 sounds like I’m going to be buying my third then!! 😎
One thing I didn't like about the AK400/620 is I can't get Lian Li Uni fans mounted onto them. I wish they had the brackets that the Hyper 212 EVOs have.
It'd be nice to add those AK620 fans to other tests like radiators & other heatsinks. Their model name is FK120 and only costs $9. If they can keep up with NF-A12x25's & Gentle Typhoons(or get 1-2c close in noise normalised tests) they easily beat Arctic P12's for best value fan.
Yeah, this would make a great video. Ak620 with different fans, even 1 push Fantecks T30 and 1 pull NF12x25, would be great !@
Ohhh yessss, another CPU cooler video with Mike 👍🔥
Thanks!
FYI, Thermalright has bigger coolers that perform better than the PA120 and they are cheaper than the AK620. It's the FS140 and the FC140.
Great video! I loved this part at 10:18, it was so smooth how the logo ended upside. I'd like to know how you did that shot
It's a reverse motion shot. :)
@@HardwareCanucks Thanks! Did you happen to use canned air to spin the fan?
Speaking of the Deepcools fan, you should add them to the list of fan to review in a next fans review
Deepcool are fucking legends at this point I mean WOW
Hello! I ordered this cooler with these components:
GPU: Gygabite RTX 4070 192-bit 12GB Windforce OC
CPU: Intel i7-13700K
Motherboard: Gygabite Z790 UD AX
RAM: Kingston Fury Beast DDR5 6000 mhz 2x16GB
PSU: MSI MPG A850G 850W
SSD: Samsung 990 PRO 1TB
Case: Sharkoon TG6 RGB ATX
Because this CPU cooler is so big and covers the RAM, I decided to buy the RAM without RGB lighting.
Also my case has already 3 x 120 mm fan in front, 3 x 120 mm on top and one in the back. Those fans are RGB.
Because of this I decided to buy all components without RGB and leave only the fans of the case to make the light.
The GPU, of what I've seen, has only a little bit of lighting...
It will look nice like this or do you consider it will be better to change before I get the components, to buy RGB RAM, the gaming version of the GPU which has cooler RGB, take out the 3 fans on the top of the case and put a liquid cooler.
Please help!
For all viewers here: please don't expect the same wattage performance with other CPUs. The surface and heat per surface is very different. My 10900k would reach 100C+ when running with 260W on my Dark Rock Pro 4 not easy peasy 83 as with the tested 10980XE . A 12900k reaches 100 with even much lower wattages. Ryzen 7 chips also have a compete different behaviour at much lower wattages especially the 5800X3D.
Absolutely it depends on the chip. For example our 5950X runs cooler than our 5800X.
So what should i get for my 10900k - the freezer ii 280?
@@mikkelkirketerp4884 depends on your setup. My 10900k is undervoltet and overclocked to 5.0 All Core running at 195W in a Meshify 2 case. Prime 95 runs with 240 on my Dark Rock Pro 4 and that's the maximum it handles while cooling under 100C during summer months and 26C room temp. So Dark Rock Pro 4 is fine as long as you don't wanna go above that 240W or have a very air tight case. If I would buy again I would take the Noctua NH15 for the little bit extra head room. But right now I'm thinking to tune my Dark Rock Pro 4 with a Silent Wings 4 120mm High Speed fan. Noise is really nice of the DRP4.
@@mikkelkirketerp4884 I’ve got a scythe fuma 2 revision B on my 10900k. Running stock speeds, unlocked turbo durations, and a little bit of undervolting, it sits at about 79-80 degrees under full synthetic load 4.9ghz all core boost, pulling 185 watts. Dead silent while it does it too, and lets me keep clearance for my tall RGB ram lol. I used the included scythe thermal paste and screwdriver for installation as well, which is pretty good paste and a very good screwdriver. Didn’t even have to take the fans off to install. Just slap it in there with the fans on it.
Awesome, cheap and well performing dual 120 towers are always welcome on the market!
I'd like to see the Jonsbo HX7280 tested with all 3 included fans tested, even against watercoolers.
I second that, also love the look of the HX7280
The AK620 looks so clean!
I brought this last week and replaced the fans with the fans that come with the Noctua NH-U12S Redux fans x2. Having the 5800X, using the stock fans, my max temp in Cinebench was at 80c. I replaced the fans with the Noctua ones I had and saw a 5c drop. This is quite an impressive cooler for the price.
Just bought one of these for my 5800x3D. Under 100% lead it only hits 75c. My old cooler (NZXT Kraken Z53) would hit 90c under nearly any load. Not to mention the fans that come with the ak620 and quite good. Even with open back headphones, and an open case, I can't hear them at 80% or about 1500rpm. I bought 3 more of the exact same fans for my case cause they're so good! Just wish they sold them separately in white, as of right now, they're only in black.
i bought this yesterday😁 and it´s great!👍(white)
Thanks for this. Just wondering if using the deepcool fans on the thermalright would result in similar results to rule out of it’s mainly the fans or a combination of the heat sink and fans. Deepcool doesn’t seem to sell those particular fans on its own.
I rewatched the pa120 video and with the gentle typhoon, it was at 89 degrees at 260w vs the ak620 being 85 in this video with the same fans so it seems like the ak620 is a better suited heatsink for higher heat loads
They do sell the black fans for the AK620. They're FK120's. $10/per on Amazon.
Thank you! Now that I just bought a PA120... 😆
Same here... :D
There is a version named ag620 , basically the same thing without those two top covers , instead of a thermal paste tube it has a thermal paste pouch , and no screw driver. Everything else is same. It sells for 50$ in india. And the ak620 is 63$ so for 13$ savings it's worth it to us. . And absolute no brainer against something like nhd15 which is about 100$. Even smaller than the nhd15.
Very interesting. Good to know there are regional differences.
So much reviews and no one testet it with single fan setting - asking myself what kind of temp difference it will be. Would be really interesting (and compared to the new ak500). Nice review though!
Great video! Would've been nice to see charts with fans at max speed though.
We did. Those are the longer charts. The highest decibel reading is the max output.
@@HardwareCanucks Ahhh got it. The chart is labeled as Noise Normalized so that's why I subconsciously thought that.
i love new competition . Corsair and noctua have a decent reputation but these guys make the same if not very similar fans with better/equally designed coolers. I concede the NH-D15 has some extra cooling in the heat pipes that just cant be reached for some reason.
corsair only has rgb and aio stuff.
@@htr5372 so why don't they beat the nh-d15 in cooling performance? I was looking at the chart data. I mean that the gas/fluid they use performs better in this result.
@@htr5372 I only had the info in this video to go off and will absolutely check out this other resource.
Anchoring baby! Paul's Hardware released a video on this topic just recently.
They Do look nice and clean in white. I am a long time Noctua user & do like and use ThermalRight since the ultra 120 Extreme Tru Copper (I still use it just because it's awesome & looks cool). I'd like to try the new Peerless RGB White for my recent socket 1200 to cool a i9-10850K OC but it's hard to find tested or confirm measurements for these. I stuck with Noctua NH-D15 (D14 fits) because it was or is tested w/ enthusiast boards we use. I've noticed when Noctua introduces an upgrade it is with an ASUS top model in mind as even their GPU cooling. I guess that's what you pay for. And their trusted & quiet fans. They just last. I have many in service since 2005.
Awesome review. I'm sold.
I think the AK400 in black is sexier. 🙂 What happened to the teal-coloured fans? They make the cooler look so much better; it's too white in standard clothing.
I just swapped my MasterLiquid AIO that came with my cyberpower pc with the Scythe Fuma 2 Rev B. My cpu temps on Hell Let Loose on the AIO hit 92°C, but now sitting at 55-60° with the Fuma.
Seeing these dual-tower air coolers, I really want to know how the ID-Cooling SE-207-XT against these heavy hitters. Such an exciting market to compete in!
The se 207 xt is an ok cooler, i used it once, it faired well with a 12600k but anything above that it's kinda lacking
A month ago I bought a Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 for $38 and after watching your review I understood that I've made the best choice. And this comparison once again confirmed that. DeepCool costs almost twice the price of PA120 but never delivers any noticeable difference in real world performance.
Almost bought Thermalright Peerless Assassin! I'll opt for this instead.
Let us know how it goes!
Do you know why TR is so cheap? its fan bearing is fake S-FDB and the material is garbage, even can been burned.
Thanks for the review & vid. I Just buy the ak620 digital wh.
a review of its smaller brothers, the ak500 and ak400, would be appropriate
Thank you! Brother
Gr8 review, thanks for the details but I really do consider Thermalright Frost Commander 140 with the same price tag as 120mm dual towers. May be u should include and renew the benchmarks for Frost Commander 140 ?
Me watching this video with unopened boxes of AK620 and PA SE trying to decide which one to return :)
Great video.
Bought a Peerless Assassin for 42.70€. The AK620 is anywhere between 60 and 70€ here.
My now 3 years old Noctua NH U12S is not coping well anymore it is just not as big of a heatsink as these new coolers and its pretty much maxed out at 100W CPU power it really has to spin the fan up for temps to stay below 85C on my Ryzen 5 3600. I also have a 2700 and it has more headroom on that CPU and I got it to 130W with the same temps since the cores on the older Ryzen Processors are dead center underneath the heatspreader now with the 3600 the hotspot has moved substantially into the small core CCD in the upper left corner of the chip looking down from above onto it mounted in a motherboard. The IO Die is in the center.
I will have to see how large the coldplate of the Peerless is and how much of an offset is possible. Because that seems to significant affects temps on CPUs with a hotspot offset from the center.
DeepCool was underestimated!
Also a underrated one is the NZXT T120 (especially if you add another one of NZXTs PWM fans to it)
Love the content, not trying to take anything away, but does anyone test these coolers with the SAME fans on each of them instead of the stock manufacturer ones? I think that would be a great indicator of the performance of the technology itself in the coolers when you take the fan variable out of it, and it can run alongside the "noise normalized" tests. One love.
I was just looking into this cooler :D
I like that you swapped fans. Maybe you wanna do some more experiments. I always wonder what would new Silent Wings 4 120mm High Speed do on my Dark Rock Pro 4 with the extra 900rpm and much higher air pressure.
Hi hardware canucks, could you take a look at Thermalright Frost Commander 140? I'm genuinely curious how does 5 8mm heatpipes compare to the general flagship 6 6mm heatpipes for air coolers, by math it should cover more surface area so wish you could do a test out of it. It is also relatively inexpensive and has quite decent aesthetics for an air cooler.
That thumbnail is gonna attract a certain Dave youtuber
With typical pc cases where the motherboard is vertical not flat, i would prefer an air cooler push the airflow up and out the top of the case. Because heat rises. Which is generally why I stick to liquid cooling via AIOs. Currently rocking an cooler master 360mm aio and it keeps my 3950x ridiculously cools.
I have the predecessor to the Deepcool AK400, the Deepcool GAMMAXX 400. I got lucky and caught it on sale on amzn for $15 bucks! I have it cooling a ryzen 2600X (a 95 w tdp cpu) and it's performance is very satisfactory. The stock wraith spire just got to be to noisy. Compared to that, the GAMMAXX 400 is a whisper.