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Hey guys, could you consider reviewing the Thermalright frost commander 140 ? I've heard quite abit about these but would love for you guys to review it before jumping onto the bandwagon
DeepCool has been in the air cooling field for so long. I remember it used to be the "bang for the buck" brand in China. I am so happy to see them managed to survive and even get recognized by GN these days. Hope they can keep it up!
@@ElwoodBluesAK that might possibly be correct syntax or grammar or whatever. But I read it out loud both ways and I nearly had an aneurysm reading it as "the engineering team of the company have a celebration"
Air coolers and cases both have followed the similar trend of being able to get great performance in the 60-70 dollar range, where in the past you had to spend extra on the “premium” brands to get such performance. I also hope this makes the old guards of high end air cooling (Noctua and BeQuiet as two quick examples) make new innovative products that deserve to be priced at ~$100. I love a D15 as much as the next guy, but paying 100 dollars for something that came out in 2014 just feels a little harsh. I am excited for a 140mm version of Noctua’s a12x25 fan, but it has been delayed many times and is now suppose to come out in q3 2022. Next gen d15 is in q4 2022 and I think that will be using the a14x25 (if thats what they call it.)
You are 100% right in that the $60-$70 coolers are finally getting really competitive with the old-guard brands. Here's hoping it keeps Noctua and BQ (and others) on their toes!
@@Real28 maybe harsh is not the right word, but I always want something better in either performance or value. You can match d15 performance for approximately 30 dollars less right now. It’s a double edged sword where you create such a great product right off the bat that its hard to iterate and improve it. Im excited for the next generation d15 that is on their roadmap for q4 2022. It will most likely be using their next generation 140mm fan and I would bet also add a 7th heatpipe like we see on the u12a.
One small nice thing for the NH D15 is that it comes with a tube of NT-H1 thermal paste instead of just a single preapplication of paste on the cooler, and I don't know what other coolers also do that. (Admittedly that's only a value of like, $10).
sweet, i prefer air cooling myself so im glad they're getting better and cheaper bought a fuma 2 based on your reviews a while ago and it's been pretty great as well
I think nvidia's position is that the "Ti" moniker comes from the 2 letter designation of titanium on the periodic table. It's still dumb but hey! You gotta keep up with the cool kids, right?
Well yea obviously if you don't mind spending $100 on a air cooler it is easy to find a good product...he is speaking in terms of actual good AND affordable
my nh-d15 has lasted 3 cpus now, was the king at the time but it seems it's reign is well and truly over. This cooler is basically equivalent for cheaper. seems great.
@@hsavov I can't wait to see and hope black is available at launch, but noctua rarely stays on schedule for their road map. It was supposed to be Q2 2022, my hope is maybe this time next year we may have a d15 v2.
@@pirojfmifhghek566 If the new design can be produced for cheaper, sure it is. Which I hope it is, but I also hope the customer gets a taste of it as well.
Are getting better AND cheaper, that would mean that some of those Air Coolers aren't just overpriced to begin with, since Artic and Scythe for example are around for 10/15+ years easily (at least in the EU) and never were that expensive to begin with.
Been using arctic fans and HSF's since 2000. I Only just switched away from AS5 (kryonaut performs way better). They are good value and in the real world outperform almost everything tested and with the cpu overclocked hard.
They can definitely still be that expensive. It depends on a lot of other factors -- like binning heatpipes (Noctua does this) heavily, which costs more, or having more expensive customer service processes and more generous RMAs that are harder to factor-in.
I'm rocking my Fuma 2 with an overclocked R7 2700. I'm already waiting for my R7 5800x to arrive. It's cheap, quiet and a beast at cooling. I cannot recommend it enough
I really like air coolers. They have the reliability factor. Nowadays i just want my pc to work no problem even if thet means it runs slightly hotter and slower. There comes a point where the consistency of your pc never failing outweighs the small benefits from a better cooler/overclocked part.
@@budgetking2591 It's not hanging on it's screwed in at multiple points. Chance of an AIO leaking is 100 times more likely than an air cooler securely fastened damaging the motherboard.
@@budgetking2591 AIO's don't last very long. Although leaks are kinda rare, pumps dying or water evaporation are real problems with them. There's plenty of air coolers that come within a few celcius of a standard 240 AIO and are much quieter and less money.
Agreed! My NZXT 360 AIO started acting up after just 2 years. I just replaced it with the AK620 and am quite happy. It's air cooling for me from now on.
@@tscottj Facts! my nzxt x63 kraken aio just failed after a year and a half. My first time choosing AIO after coming from air cooling and i'm going back to air cooling. Atleast my air cooler never broke
Now all we just need Gamer Nexus to pit AS500 Plus with AK620 in their review. There hardly any review that pit this 2 beast in a single review. According to indivual review, These 2 cooler seen to pit head to head despite AS500 Plus being a Single Tower Cooler compare to AK620 being a Twin Tower Cooler.
There is something this review does not mention, me ( and other people ) report very bad whine sound between 50 and 60% fan speed, the fan resonate at a annoying frequency and you can hear it trough headphones ...
On a personal note I hope you keep making videos like these for a very long time. My dad was REALLY into computers back in 2008-2012 ish where he broke into top 10 of overclocking speeds in the world. I remember how crazy happy he was about that. This was before LN2 stuff was a thing. Anyways he past away 3 years ago and everytime I watch one of your videos I think man I wish I could have shown my Dad one of Steve's videos. Keep up the good work. - Fan for Life, David
For Noctua to be able to keep the nh d15 around they have to make new brackets to include in new sales of the cooler. Really outside of the really good design of the cooler it really is nothing special with it. It is really strange that Noctua give the new mounting brakets out for free and not charge for it. But really it comes down to 3 things. (+ good cooler) 1. Intel being a monopoly giving us 5% improvements in architecture only for like a decade as AMD fail to fight for there products as usual. 2. For Noctua they have to keep making mounting possible with there old cooler designs to sell them to new pc builds. Since why design a new cooler from the ground up just for Intel's 5% socket changes every dam year or whatever. 3. Due to 1 and 2 they keep there really good cooler in production and know that there really is no reason for anyone to buy anything better other then water coolers. And since they are going to make brackets anyways they do the right thing and make a hunk of metal not obsolescent due to a stupid socket change! And really my 7 year old or whatever nh d15 has not ONES left the 6700k it got married to. It was so easy to install that it did not even need to be lifted up to mess with the mounting system. It was just put onto the CPU and it has stayed there ever since. Only reason I got to get it off there is if the mobo or CPU fail. Agen. Reason 1. 5% improvements are NOT a reason to get a new bracket from Noctua. But the quality and good design to last a decade is a good reason to like Noctua. So you get a free set of mounting brakets every 3 years? 5 years? Yea good that Noctua do that but I really rather spend 10 dollars and pay for the brakes. Really what they should be commended for is making good stuff and not needlessly change or greed about for profit. Makes me want to replace my Noctua fans before there is a problem since I remember I even got them in my system in the first place. ;) And how old they are without a single problem with them! Noctua is loved for being good and sensible. Even if the colors might upset some. It is why people stick with them. Sensible products. Really all of this is more down to Intel and AMD. And how nothing changed in the CPU world for soooo long. It is first now and Ryzen we might see a need in buying new coolers due to CPU needs. At last... We might have to be forced away from the D15 due to real progress soon. And ques what cooler brand gets loyalty.
My Thermalright Macho RevB is still kickin ass and taking names at 7 years and 3 CPU upgrades. It cost me (Looks at Amazon invoice) $52. I *might* need to look at replacing the fan in a few years, but that's not a huge deal.
Would you consider testing some Thermalright coolers such as the Frost commander 140, Le Grand Macho or the Silver Arrow IB-E Extreme? I remember back in the C2Duo C2Quad days Thermalright were on top with the Ultra Extreme 120 and the IFX-14 which had a mini cooler for the back of the cpu socket, I had both. Wondering if they still live up to their old reputation out of nothing more than curiosity. Haven't seen any of their stuff in years but the website shows some interesting looking coolers.
I second this. I've had some thermalright coolers in the past. The 8mm heatpipes and interesting design of their new coolers have no real reviews online.
I have a Termalright True Spirit 120 Rev. 2 Plus. I got less than a year ago. Cools my OC 9700k running at 4.9 ghtz at full load will get 69c of gaming non stop. Idle at 30c.
I got this cooler for my 7800X3D courtesy of a Micro Center employee recommending it. That employee is a legend. I definitely remember his name, and I’m definitely going to thank him next time I see him for the great recommendation both here and for the rest of the parts I needed for my PC.
@@Matty89 It's good. It's not as quiet as my brother's water cooled PC. However it's far from distracting. Bear in mind I also have a Lian Li Lancool 3 case with the stock fans, if you go with that you'll get a pretty good noise level in my opinion.
@@GdBearman I did a quick test through Cyberpunk 2077, so this isn't comprehensive but I still played with near maxed settings in areas with lots of NPCs so the CPU wasn't given a free ride. Peak temperature was 77 Celsius. Bear in mind I'm using the Lancool 3 case with the stock fans, and I haven't configured any sort of fan curve myself. I also have an RTX 4080 Super. I don't have any sort of torture workload set up or scientific temperature testing like GM, based on what I do personally test it was able to easily handle one of the heaviest games I own.
Air coolers for life! I ditched the AIOs in both my builds and went air cooled again. I just prefer the safety in less moving parts that can degrade, and destroy components haha.
I was going to debate a bit and offer a point of contention about the degrade….. then I remembered my huge stack of AIO’s I have with many from 120 thin/thick core, 240/280 twins to a few 360 and even some hacked 480’s and yeah man I have to agree. We all remember the thermaltake issues with their corrosion. I take the biggest issue with the coco blocking on Austek owning the patent on pump design that has made the industry stagnant on future development. I often wonder how good the systems could be if companies didn’t have to deal with royalties probably preventing development on better systems. Good point. I always loved my air coolers; even the old school Zalman round style coolers. Those were dope.
@@blech71 That patent is set to expire soon, though, pretty sure. So don’t worry, they’ll be stagnant in the other direction as everyone uses the same design, haha.
Ive used 120mm, 240mm, 360mm on both GPU and CPU; and never failed a component like that the way you describe. The only problems i had with water was the custom build which often required more maintaince then these plug and play things. From a performance standpoint, water beats aircooling day and night.
@@blech71 I'm still rocking my Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B that I got with my previous computer build in 2011. When I upgraded to my current build in 2020 it came along for the ride, though I did swap out the original blue LED fan with a Phanteks RGB fan that I modded to fit, and I used a graphite thermal pad this time around instead of thermal paste. Still cools my 9700K like a champ, though, idling at ~10ºC over ambient and hitting ~50ºC over ambient running Cinebench or Prime95.
YES. I have the PA-120. Overclocked 5800X sitting under 30° idle, 53°-58° while gaming, and 72°-78° on stress tests. Take these tests with a grain of salt, because my ambient is 20° (Canada) and I hooked up another fan at the back of it. Bought the grey one on sale for $38, and Amazon made a mistake and sent me the more expensive black one (which I wanted) that cost $55.
Or for some extra umph, the Thermalright FC140 with its 5x8mm heatpipes should be quite a bit better than any air cooler in this category besides the likes of the Dark Rock Pro 4 or many 280mm aio's
I have a 360 AIO now, but I used a Noctua NH-D14 for 10 years and 3 CPUs. I just sold it as part of a rig in a Cooler Master Storm Sniper Black Edition case with my old Ryzen 9 3950X to a buddy and he says the system is really quiet. Big air coolers generally work really well without making too much noise.
I had a D15 for a long time "downgraded" to a U12A for easier system building and better compatibility. When noise normalized its no better or worse than my D15 anyways.
Big thanks for the info on the case compatibility. I was going the pair the digital version with an NZXT H6 flow one. Technically it could hold that, but only with 1 mm to spare. I am not taking chances and will go for a montech king 95 instead.
i have matx mobo and having problem to remove & install the gaps between my ak620 & gpu is around 1 inch. imagine just to remove the gpu i have to go through take off the cpu cooler + fan clips & repaste thermal paste again. nowdays as gpu is thicker it block my pcie gen2 for wifi card .
I'm loving the $25-$35 air cooler market right now. There are several extremely efficient coolers in that price range that cool sub 110W CPUs well enough.
The deepcool Gammaxx GTE V2 is worth looking at too imo, I'd love to see your take on it. It can be found heavily discounted in Europe for around €20-€25 and seems to perform only slightly less well than the Hyper 212 evo
The gigantic graphics cards and the gigantic air cooler structures are testament as to why the motherboard should always be positioned parallel to the ground. It's really silly to continue stacking this shit vertically, and fighting gravity with every component.
Returning my Noctua Redux and picking this up. With a $10 dollar coupon @ Amazon, it's $50 (redux) vs $55 dollars (ak620), for a pretty significant performance difference. Not justifiable going with the Redux given the pricing and data
and yet here i am still using Xigmatek Thor in 2023 for 14 years going 15 . sometimes i felt why i bought this cooler since it so reliable i felt kinda cursed.. i can't find any reasons to change it. XD. trust me when u use a product for > 10 years you will get bored of it.
The deepcool ag620 (the version with no top cover but same fan) is selling for 50$ in my country & the ak620 going for 62$ . So for that to beat the nhd15 (100$) & match up with aios that sell for 100-200$ is fkn impressive.. ag400 is going for 22$ and that too beats some more pricey air coolers. So i am sure this cooler will sell like hot cakes. Deepcool is already becoming a very popular brand in my country due to their agressive pricing and quality.
Installed mine this morning. This thing is a beast. Fits my tower perfectly and my CPU seems to love it. I *think* this is the first thing I've bought specifically because you reviewed it. Good times.
me too just arrived today! loving this HSF kinda want to buy fk120 3 in 1 fans for my case since i have deepcool aesthetic build but i think its new fan i only see korean reviews with it :(
The AMD TDP calculation is very bad, but it does have power in it. TCase is going to be a function of power and in physics we would consider power being in the equation as a result. The issue is not that power isn't there, but that it isn't controlled for. They would need to fix power and measure TCase, but they don't do that which makes their formula arbitrary.
You should check out the thermalright peerless assasin 120 cooler. Its a dual tower air cooler that runs $50 or so. I have one cooling my ryzen 5600x cpu and it does pretty well.
I'm cooling my 5800X (OC) with it. Locked it at 50% fan speed (90% when it reaches 75°)...And I NEVER heard it ramping up. I hooked up another fan at the back though (from day one...More for the looks than the performance).
@@shane250 yea I like to have my temps for CPU and GPU up while I'm gaming and I've never had it go over 70C. And the fans are actually very quiet. I used to use only Corsair h60 liquid coolers and this is far more quiet than that.
The more I look at these coolers the more ridiculous they seem. They're huge, heavy, get in the way of everything, are a pain in the bum to clean, kind-of awkward to install, etc. etc. I think my next cooler will be liquid.
And from there you will pay out the butt, deal with maintenance and face the very real risk that one day it will leak and possibly take your entire pc with it. Better think long and hard about that one.
There is one thing I was wondering about the pressure test, and I know this might sound funny, but some pans are designed in such a way that their bottom is not perfectly flat and accounts for the material expanding under heat - that is, as soon as the pan is hot, the bottom does get flat. Is something like this possible in the world of CPU coolers heatsinks, too, and does the pressure test account for that?
with a 3k computer build in my future I was thinking of going with AIO because I don't trust myself to make a custom cooler loop. But... Also I kind of dislike AIO coolers because I never know if they are actually clean or not... while with a fan cooler It's straight to the point.
When comparing it to the Fuma 2, it's also worth mentioning that the Fuma 2 is neatly designed to fit it into smaller cases or with big RAM modules. It's offset backwards with a thinner fan on the front so it will fit in basically any build, unlike the AK620.
Ayyy good timing! I'm just planning out a new PC upgrade and saw this exact cooler pop up PCPartpicker and was wondering what the performance was like as it seemed like a pretty good value, especially with prices having crept up a bunch for many of the higher end air coolers here in Canada. Thanks GN!
Running my 12700k on a NH-D14. I think I'm going to blow the budget and go full loop. Thr NH-D14 is the predecessor to the D15. Not sure the thermal difference. Also not even sure I'm using the fans it came with, they are brown and noctua but it's been so many years. Also no longer have the fan mounting brackets and used loose wire to affix them. All in all the D14 runs the 12700k in games at a silent level. I'm just bored.
Marketing shenanigans aside, I think Deepcool is a really competitive brand. I've bought 2 Assassins for different builds and currently use their Castle 360EX for my current i9-12900K build and I'm genuinely shocked how good the cooling was for the price. I think it's worth checking out, because I was about to spend an extra $100-$150 on other brands just purely for thermals but due to complications with the build, I bought the Castle on a whim just for something that would work, and I'm keeping it because it's just good enough for me.
You expect with a decent name and idea behind the brand that they would stick to what made them popular to begin with! So it's nice to see that customers of theirs give them a good shout out where possible. That's worth 10 Google reviews imo, a personal recommendation from a peer. They will notice this in future, and start paying marketing guys to be friends with us here and sell us shit :D
Agreed. Ive always kinda liked Deepcool`s products and was truly saddened to see GN discover what they did about the Assassin III. Such a weird way for Deepcool to lose face over such a small thing to lie about. Im currently using a Deepcool AS500 PLUS in my build and couldn`t be happier with it. Extremely quiet, good thermal performance and a very competitive price tag.
On your closing thoughts you said they (The DC one and the FUMA2) are basically the same and ones should choose based on Brand and aesthetics. However, the HUGE difference that made me go with the FUMA was the slim front fan. It is the only 2 tower 2 fan that keeps 4 ram modules compatibility and have good performance. Combined with good prices it is one of it’s kind.
@@GamersNexus That’s correct. With Low Profile RAM, some works. But what I meant was that is the only one that not cover the RAM modules. Meaning you can choose any stick, including RGB ones (for more FPS)
I’ve been very happy with air cooling lately. I’m a big fan of their cheapness and peace of mind. Between Scythe, Noctua, Be Quiet, etc. Sound has never been much of an issue and I like not having to worry too much about radiator positioning when building. Honestly compared to the best AIO’s, the best air coolers are maybe going to be 10C hotter tops at max loads. But how bad is that temp even at max loads in most situations? Not usually a problem. Also you’d be hard pressed to find a worthwhile air cooler ever over $90-100. And more likely can get a great one at $50-60. Unless you’re running crazy loads often and for long amounts of time on top level parts, or doing heavy overclocking, I’d recommend air cooling. Even then depending on where you live you could get by fine with air cooling.
I literally just bought this air cooler on Saturday for a 5950X upgrade for my son. Bought it due to lack of local stock for decent Noctua coolers on the shelf. And it is doing a better job then my Noctua N15S (single fan version) cooler on my 5950X for my development machine.
Slightly cheaper, other than that these sinks/fans haven't changed literally a single bit at all in about a decade since they became popular. I wouldn't exactly call saving 40$ on a critical pc component "impressive".
I founded at $49 dollars at Amazon so I grabbed. Thanks for the review because I order a Noctua, cancell that order and order the deepcool. It was 10 dollars cheaper than the Fumma2
I was about to buy the Deepcool AS500 Plus until I saw this review, and decided to splurge and go for the AK620 since there wasn't much of a price difference (I paid SGD$95 = USD$70 for the AK620). It's working great with my 5950X, very pleased with it so far. Thanks for the thorough review!
@@TON-ob7ib I'm getting 40-50 during normal Windows usage and 65-75 in gaming, occasionally maxing out at about 80 if running something like a stress test.
@@tscottj Damn, Those temps are going strong for an air cooler that beats a lot of AIOs, considering the fact that most people get an AIO or do custom looped systems to keep their 5950X under 60. You made a great purchase! Also I apologize for responding after a long time
Thanks for the review. Have you considered separating the testing and results for the air coolers vs the AIOs? Also, I would definitely like to know if there is a reason why Be Quiet air coolers have basically disappeared from most of these roundups. In any case, I like the performance shown here from the Deepcool Cooler and would definitely consider it for future builds.
I've got one of these and the mounting hardware for the am4 mobo has two tiny posts that you screw the cooler too. One snapped clean off with little to no pressure being applied. Seems like a lot of reviewers are complaining about the same thing here lately. They told me they were going to charge me to ship out a single replacement bracket. I'm sending it back and getting something else.
Why don't you test the Silver Soul Black cooler from Thermalright. It's really interesting for smaller system with a height of only 135 mm and a 120 mm fan placed in the middle of the dual tower with 6 heatpipes ?
I love air coolers! Even though some high end AIOs and custom liquid cooling can get better temps than high end air coolers, they, high end air coolers, are usually close enough to not be worth the price increase of the AIOs or Customs and the fear I have of having liquid in my computer case even if the chance of leaking is small I still rather have air coolers. :)
I almost busted up laughing at work when Steve introduced the fan as the "F**K120." Luckily, enough of my coworkers are tech-head like me and would have laughed as well.
Can you please do a Thermalright cooler? I've seen no major channels do any of the giant thermaltake towers like the le grande macho or the ARO amd specific coolers. I know they might not send you the cooler but they seem to have a good prices for the claims. And some of them claimed to be semi passive, no fan needed under a certain tdp, way before the new noctua.
I am currently on a R5 3600, planning on upgrading to the 5800X3D when it comes out, so I'm very interested in getting a quality air cooler. Looking forward to the other reviews coming up! _Thanks, Steve._
@@leothehuman_9476 And why would you? I cant help but scoff when I see these people upgrading their already good PCs that fulfill all of their needs just because corporations convinced them that they are missing out by not consooooming their brand new shiny parts.
@@mr.dingleberry4882 I don't know, follow or am interested in any CPU cooler company, I hate capitalism and everthing in the PC industry, but I'm forced to be in it because I need a new PC for work. I just need a good CPU cooler and cooling system in general to don't have my CPU over 50°C when under heavy load, actually I don't even have the computer and I'm still unsure if I should buy a 5600g. I think I'll probably buy a laptop in the end. Right now I'm on a 2011 laptop but I'm forced to get a new PC because I need it for work, I have even upgraded to an SSD but it just isn't enough. I need a better CPU. And I'd like the best possible cooling system on it because my needs are as low temperatures as possible, to make the computer last as long as possible. And no, there is no way of upgrading my laptop CPU since it's one of the most powerful models in that socket, the best CPU I can put in it would be about 5% faster and costs 100€, also not speaking about how hard and risky it is to change the CPU. The RAM too is already at its maximum possible supported by the motherboard, so my laptop is not upgradeable and I need a new computer for work. With my laptop at the moment I'm having a hard time working, I'm seriously forced to buy a new computer right now.
@@leothehuman_9476 Ok, listen up. The only reason I would ever buy a laptop over a desktop PC is if I was a student on a campus, and I needed it to be easily transportable. Many laptops by design have an inferior cooling capacity compared to desktop PCs. This results in thermal throttling, and a decrease in speed in your otherwise capable CPU. So if longevity and optimal performance are your priority, there is no better option than going with a desktop PC. Also, judging by your current PC I assume that your work is not heavily GPU dependent. This is a good thing, as that allows you to completely omit a dedicated GPU from your build, reducing the size and the COST (all caps) of your system. You couldn't have made a better choice than considering a 5600G for this. Not only is it an extremely capable 6 core 12 thread CPU, but due to its powerful iGPU many consider it suitable for light-medium gaming. Oh, it also recently got a price cut to 150 euros where I live. And it comes packaged with a very good Wraith Stealth cooler. Seriously, no other chip provides this much value. I have first-hand experience with it, and I cannot praise it enough. Here is an idea as to what a complete 5600G build could look like: ruclips.net/video/BYlZPjxoxHs/видео.html Note that the build above is based around a mini-ITX motherboard. Motherboards and cases for a form factor this small can get more expensive compared to a bit larger builds. If that is a problem for you, I would get a micro-ATX motherboard instead, like an MSI MAG B550M Mortar (amazing mobo for 5600G, but you could go cheaper), paired with a smaller case that supports a micro-ATX form factor and has great airflow, like MATREXX 40 or NX200M. You can of course use any case, I just found these to be high quality for the price with excellent thermals. Pair this with 2x8GB of CL16 3200mhz ram sticks (dont forget to use the high-speed profile in the bios!) and you got yourself the best business PC you could imagine. If any of this is unclear I'm here to help and of course, there are many great 5600G guides on the internet.
Holy shit, one of these coolers that's actually priced normally in Canada for once? How novel. Usually when you talk about these coolers and their price I go check here in Canada and they are like exchange rate + 50% extra. This is the first one that seems to just be a straight exchange rate.
It's not good enough for that, I suggest a good AIO. It's worth mentioning that you can reduce the power limit on 12900K significantly (thus, the temps too) for a negligeable performance loss. In that case, it will probably be able to cool it...we've seen it handles 200W load, so it's doable.
This is the review I was looking for. I wanted to use something that looks monolithic for my build. Thank you Steve and the whole Gamers Nexus team. Kudos as always.
Bought this and loved it for about a month. Severe resonance issues with the fans at certain RPMs after about 35 days of ownership. I've seen quite a few others complaining about the same thing. Deepcool support acts like they don't know it's an issue but will send you new fans without question. Wish I would have known that because there are realy very little people talking about it with how popular AIO's are now.
Same issues. Bought this cooler for a month the performance has been great. But there seemed to be a random humming noise especially during low loads that rattle my brains making it unbearable. Only after a few weeks then I finally managed to pinpoint the issue to its fans (i initially place my suspicions on my seasonic psu/gigabyte mobo). Adjust the rpm from 800-1300, the humming noise is ever present just quieter/louder. Bought pair of Noctua A12x25 fans on impulsive and my cooler has been silent since then, giving back peace to me. I suppose Arctic P12 PWM PST should also do the job (i have them as case bottom intake fans), abit at a higher decibels but much much more acceptable noise/frequency as compared to stock cooler fans. This combo end up being more expensive than Noctua D15 Chromax Black, imagine the savings I thought I will get with AK620.
Well, you two guys and few other on whole world complaining among thousand of happy user with this product i call success. Plus i would like to mention that twin tower is what it count. Fans are expendable and its cheap and quick to replace. And it work better than some lot expensier models on market. Enough for me. Imagine if only few cases of failed Mercedes destroy that automobile company. Shit happen and you are among less lucky persons on this world. This is excellent cooler. Cheers
I’ve seen a couple. One was an sff small cooler, one was a normal smallish tower cooler, and the others were radiators for open-loop water cooling. Don’t remember the models of any of them though
As usual, great review and a pleasure to watch - keep up the good work! Nontheless, I would like to make some suggestions I think would make your videos even better: 1) When showing the pressure maps, could you show them side by side with the direct competition (in terms of price) and maybe a good/bad example? This would make it easier to quickly evaluate the results, especially for first-time viewers that haven't seen a lot of your cooler tests but are interested in the reviewed product. 2) Could you test the coolers with a standardized fan(s) so we can better evaluate whether the cooler itself is good/bad or if it's just the fans that are good/bad? Like with the Chinese dragon cooler recently, it would be a great deal to buy a cheap but good cooler, replace the crappy fans and to match or even beat the performance of a pricier one. 3) Could you give a short sound example of the fan/cooler at different speeds (50/75/100%)? Noise level is one thing, pitch is another: two fans/coolers can have the same volume in terms of dBA, but one may be more annoying to the human ear than the other because of the specific sound it produces. 4) When reviewing an air/liquid cooler, could you chart the test results against other coolers of the same type and only later show how it compares to other cooling solutions? I would argue that someone in the market for a tower cooler isn't really interested in how it compares to a 360 or 420 AIO and vice versa - usually you know what you want or need and just want to know witch one is the best. By throwing all in one chart you make it really hard to quickly judge the product and basically force the viewer to pause the video and go through the chart line by line to find and compare similar products. It also would be great to have roughly the current street pricing or MSRP next to each product in the chart, this would make it even easier to evaluate the different coolers.
Check out our Cooler Review Playlist to see full reviews of these coolers and more: ruclips.net/p/PLsuVSmND84QtyyYcalFch402w3ypcp1TQ
The best way to support our work is through our store: store.gamersnexus.net/
We have a new behind-the-scenes Patreon video up! www.patreon.com/gamersnexus
We also made a walkthrough of our current noise testing setup on our new side channel: ruclips.net/video/lyrKSurmzvw/видео.html
We opened and demoed our new Acoustic Chamber here: ruclips.net/video/n97ot-gXXVw/видео.html
Yep, I am for form as a consequence of function too
Can I send you my Thermalright ARO M14G to test? I feel they have no representation umongst popular reviewers.
Hey guys, could you consider reviewing the Thermalright frost commander 140 ? I've heard quite abit about these but would love for you guys to review it before jumping onto the bandwagon
There is a new version of the scythe fuma2 with faster fans you guys should check out
Does anybody have any thoughts on Cooler Master Masterair Maker 8?
whenever GN releases a positive review, I like to think that the engineering team of the company has a celebration
And marketing unpuckers their assholes.
DeepCool has been in the air cooling field for so long. I remember it used to be the "bang for the buck" brand in China.
I am so happy to see them managed to survive and even get recognized by GN these days. Hope they can keep it up!
It's a third party plural, "have a celebration".
Lmao more like a sigh of relief
@@ElwoodBluesAK that might possibly be correct syntax or grammar or whatever. But I read it out loud both ways and I nearly had an aneurysm reading it as "the engineering team of the company have a celebration"
2:05 Good to know I wasn't the only one thinking those were called fu*k 120s
The NEW 3090 Ti
Sounds like a gang slogan
‘F*ck 120’ 👉🏿👌🏿
Air coolers and cases both have followed the similar trend of being able to get great performance in the 60-70 dollar range, where in the past you had to spend extra on the “premium” brands to get such performance. I also hope this makes the old guards of high end air cooling (Noctua and BeQuiet as two quick examples) make new innovative products that deserve to be priced at ~$100. I love a D15 as much as the next guy, but paying 100 dollars for something that came out in 2014 just feels a little harsh. I am excited for a 140mm version of Noctua’s a12x25 fan, but it has been delayed many times and is now suppose to come out in q3 2022. Next gen d15 is in q4 2022 and I think that will be using the a14x25 (if thats what they call it.)
Agreed. However, I'm quite glad to have bought a D15 when I did, because it's still useful, and it'll never start leaking and kill a future PC build.
You are 100% right in that the $60-$70 coolers are finally getting really competitive with the old-guard brands. Here's hoping it keeps Noctua and BQ (and others) on their toes!
@@Real28 Dont you get free new retention kits too if needed for a new socket ? From Scythe etc. you have to pay what around 10-15€ ?
@@Real28 maybe harsh is not the right word, but I always want something better in either performance or value. You can match d15 performance for approximately 30 dollars less right now. It’s a double edged sword where you create such a great product right off the bat that its hard to iterate and improve it. Im excited for the next generation d15 that is on their roadmap for q4 2022. It will most likely be using their next generation 140mm fan and I would bet also add a 7th heatpipe like we see on the u12a.
One small nice thing for the NH D15 is that it comes with a tube of NT-H1 thermal paste instead of just a single preapplication of paste on the cooler, and I don't know what other coolers also do that. (Admittedly that's only a value of like, $10).
sweet, i prefer air cooling myself so im glad they're getting better and cheaper
bought a fuma 2 based on your reviews a while ago and it's been pretty great as well
I am pretty happy with AIO
Fuma 2 is the king. For the price and the performance how is it not the king?
Agreed. AIOs just don't last. I bought my Hyper 212 EVO a decade ago and it's never going to die.
@@petervansan1054 same I prefer something that's simple pretty an not a large ugly loud thing in a case, idm replacing my AIO every 5yrs for 200$
@@Anihilationx360 eh maybe, but it looks much cleaner in the case than largeass air cooler
Steve has been spending too much time at Nvidia. Starting to pronounce individual letters as a "word".
"3090 tee ay eee"
I think nvidia's position is that the "Ti" moniker comes from the 2 letter designation of titanium on the periodic table. It's still dumb but hey! You gotta keep up with the cool kids, right?
"thirty ninety TOY"
As a satisfied BeQuiet Dark Rock Pro user, I can say that to me air coolers were never unimpressive :)
Well yea obviously if you don't mind spending $100 on a air cooler it is easy to find a good product...he is speaking in terms of actual good AND affordable
I have the dark rock pro 4 and im amazed what it can handle with no problems
@@Antiquecurtain Same. It's a great cooler :).
As someone who has seen dozens of AIOs getting sticky, clumpy, corroded and failing pumps, air cooling never became unattractive to me.
I wish the Dark Rock Pro was in his list. I would like to see the comparison.
my nh-d15 has lasted 3 cpus now, was the king at the time but it seems it's reign is well and truly over.
This cooler is basically equivalent for cheaper. seems great.
Noctua are putting a replacement for the d15 in Q4 of this year.
@@hsavov I can't wait to see and hope black is available at launch, but noctua rarely stays on schedule for their road map. It was supposed to be Q2 2022, my hope is maybe this time next year we may have a d15 v2.
Is there a reason to retire your current cooler if this one performs more or less the same?
@@pirojfmifhghek566 If the new design can be produced for cheaper, sure it is. Which I hope it is, but I also hope the customer gets a taste of it as well.
@@pirojfmifhghek566 No, not at all. I love my d15. Just saying if I needed a cooler, or am recommending one to someone, the ak620 would be up there.
Are getting better AND cheaper, that would mean that some of those Air Coolers aren't just overpriced to begin with, since Artic and Scythe for example are around for 10/15+ years easily (at least in the EU) and never were that expensive to begin with.
ME : ...[reads "never were that expensive"]
ME : *clicks like*
XDDD
@@DailyCorvid ???
Been using arctic fans and HSF's since 2000. I Only just switched away from AS5 (kryonaut performs way better). They are good value and in the real world outperform almost everything tested and with the cpu overclocked hard.
They can definitely still be that expensive. It depends on a lot of other factors -- like binning heatpipes (Noctua does this) heavily, which costs more, or having more expensive customer service processes and more generous RMAs that are harder to factor-in.
@@GamersNexus how much of a difference binning heat pipes does actually make? (also first time I'm hearing about such thing)
I'm rocking my Fuma 2 with an overclocked R7 2700. I'm already waiting for my R7 5800x to arrive. It's cheap, quiet and a beast at cooling. I cannot recommend it enough
FUMA 2 is good!
that 5800X will set your cooler on fire though, it's got INSANE thermal density issues.
@@Wasmachineman I'm actually running a 5800X with a Fuma 2 and its perfectly fine. Never really gets above 70.
Im using fuma2 in 5900x OC to 4.4ghz (1.188volts), 69-72º cinebench full load. Fuma2 is one of best high performance low noise coolers.
@@LoKuSKus77 78 with all core 4.7 ghz in cinebench but with an 360 aio
I really like air coolers. They have the reliability factor. Nowadays i just want my pc to work no problem even if thet means it runs slightly hotter and slower. There comes a point where the consistency of your pc never failing outweighs the small benefits from a better cooler/overclocked part.
i really prefer a good aio cooler, dont like the idea of having a almost 1kg metal brick hanging on my motherboard.
@@budgetking2591 It's not hanging on it's screwed in at multiple points. Chance of an AIO leaking is 100 times more likely than an air cooler securely fastened damaging the motherboard.
@@budgetking2591 AIO's don't last very long. Although leaks are kinda rare, pumps dying or water evaporation are real problems with them. There's plenty of air coolers that come within a few celcius of a standard 240 AIO and are much quieter and less money.
Agreed! My NZXT 360 AIO started acting up after just 2 years. I just replaced it with the AK620 and am quite happy. It's air cooling for me from now on.
@@tscottj Facts! my nzxt x63 kraken aio just failed after a year and a half. My first time choosing AIO after coming from air cooling and i'm going back to air cooling. Atleast my air cooler never broke
Why isn't it mentioned how overpriced the Noctua D15 is at $100? It's a terrible value and not even quieter than others.
Now all we just need Gamer Nexus to pit AS500 Plus with AK620 in their review. There hardly any review that pit this 2 beast in a single review. According to indivual review, These 2 cooler seen to pit head to head despite AS500 Plus being a Single Tower Cooler compare to AK620 being a Twin Tower Cooler.
There is something this review does not mention, me ( and other people ) report very bad whine sound between 50 and 60% fan speed, the fan resonate at a annoying frequency and you can hear it trough headphones ...
Up
On a personal note I hope you keep making videos like these for a very long time. My dad was REALLY into computers back in 2008-2012 ish where he broke into top 10 of overclocking speeds in the world. I remember how crazy happy he was about that. This was before LN2 stuff was a thing. Anyways he past away 3 years ago and everytime I watch one of your videos I think man I wish I could have shown my Dad one of Steve's videos. Keep up the good work. - Fan for Life, David
I am sorry for your loss.
Rip
Rip, your dad sounds like a badass
I hope my son will think of me the same you do with your pops. May he rest in peace, God bless
I mounted ak620 upside down, does it matter? Dc logos are on the top
"Aging" nh d15 still kick ass of this modern coolers. You could buy one 10 years ago and still use it. To me thats the value
a friend is still using his Thermalright IFX-14 since release in 2007
Totally agree my son is useing a d14 on his 11th gen intel
For Noctua to be able to keep the nh d15 around they have to make new brackets to include in new sales of the cooler. Really outside of the really good design of the cooler it really is nothing special with it. It is really strange that Noctua give the new mounting brakets out for free and not charge for it. But really it comes down to 3 things. (+ good cooler)
1. Intel being a monopoly giving us 5% improvements in architecture only for like a decade as AMD fail to fight for there products as usual.
2. For Noctua they have to keep making mounting possible with there old cooler designs to sell them to new pc builds. Since why design a new cooler from the ground up just for Intel's 5% socket changes every dam year or whatever.
3. Due to 1 and 2 they keep there really good cooler in production and know that there really is no reason for anyone to buy anything better other then water coolers. And since they are going to make brackets anyways they do the right thing and make a hunk of metal not obsolescent due to a stupid socket change!
And really my 7 year old or whatever nh d15 has not ONES left the 6700k it got married to. It was so easy to install that it did not even need to be lifted up to mess with the mounting system. It was just put onto the CPU and it has stayed there ever since. Only reason I got to get it off there is if the mobo or CPU fail. Agen. Reason 1. 5% improvements are NOT a reason to get a new bracket from Noctua. But the quality and good design to last a decade is a good reason to like Noctua.
So you get a free set of mounting brakets every 3 years? 5 years? Yea good that Noctua do that but I really rather spend 10 dollars and pay for the brakes. Really what they should be commended for is making good stuff and not needlessly change or greed about for profit. Makes me want to replace my Noctua fans before there is a problem since I remember I even got them in my system in the first place. ;) And how old they are without a single problem with them! Noctua is loved for being good and sensible. Even if the colors might upset some. It is why people stick with them. Sensible products.
Really all of this is more down to Intel and AMD. And how nothing changed in the CPU world for soooo long. It is first now and Ryzen we might see a need in buying new coolers due to CPU needs. At last... We might have to be forced away from the D15 due to real progress soon. And ques what cooler brand gets loyalty.
My Thermalright Macho RevB is still kickin ass and taking names at 7 years and 3 CPU upgrades. It cost me (Looks at Amazon invoice) $52. I *might* need to look at replacing the fan in a few years, but that's not a huge deal.
@Steve D same here. I even added another NF-F12 fan to the front because why not. 😍
How does it compare to Dark Rock Pro 4?
A blackout version of this or the fuma 2 would be an instant buy from me lol.
@@deepcoolalan7060 i will definietly buy white
@@deepcoolalan7060 I have a d15 blackout and like it, I have a few friends that like it but not enough to pay $110.
What, you mean like Trudeau in college?
@@deepcoolalan7060 i hope that it doesn't cost more than the original one, like other brands.
Something like a BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 should suit your bill.
Would you consider testing some Thermalright coolers such as the Frost commander 140, Le Grand Macho or the Silver Arrow IB-E Extreme?
I remember back in the C2Duo C2Quad days Thermalright were on top with the Ultra Extreme 120 and the IFX-14 which had a mini cooler for the back of the cpu socket, I had both. Wondering if they still live up to their old reputation out of nothing more than curiosity. Haven't seen any of their stuff in years but the website shows some interesting looking coolers.
I second this. I've had some thermalright coolers in the past.
The 8mm heatpipes and interesting design of their new coolers have no real reviews online.
I have a Termalright True Spirit 120 Rev. 2 Plus. I got less than a year ago.
Cools my OC 9700k running at 4.9 ghtz at full load will get 69c of gaming non stop. Idle at 30c.
Thermalright PA-120 on my 5800X. Gets me better temps than the 240mm AIO I had before it failed.
I got this cooler for my 7800X3D courtesy of a Micro Center employee recommending it. That employee is a legend. I definitely remember his name, and I’m definitely going to thank him next time I see him for the great recommendation both here and for the rest of the parts I needed for my PC.
What's the noise like
@@Matty89 It's good. It's not as quiet as my brother's water cooled PC. However it's far from distracting. Bear in mind I also have a Lian Li Lancool 3 case with the stock fans, if you go with that you'll get a pretty good noise level in my opinion.
@@davidbondy2250 the case I will be getting will be the Corsair 3000d with 3 front fans and exhaust and I will have the same cpu as you
Looking to get this cooler for a 7800x3d, can it keep the CPU sub 85 °C under heavy loads and gaming?
@@GdBearman I did a quick test through Cyberpunk 2077, so this isn't comprehensive but I still played with near maxed settings in areas with lots of NPCs so the CPU wasn't given a free ride. Peak temperature was 77 Celsius. Bear in mind I'm using the Lancool 3 case with the stock fans, and I haven't configured any sort of fan curve myself. I also have an RTX 4080 Super. I don't have any sort of torture workload set up or scientific temperature testing like GM, based on what I do personally test it was able to easily handle one of the heaviest games I own.
Air coolers for life! I ditched the AIOs in both my builds and went air cooled again. I just prefer the safety in less moving parts that can degrade, and destroy components haha.
I was going to debate a bit and offer a point of contention about the degrade….. then I remembered my huge stack of AIO’s I have with many from 120 thin/thick core, 240/280 twins to a few 360 and even some hacked 480’s and yeah man I have to agree. We all remember the thermaltake issues with their corrosion. I take the biggest issue with the coco blocking on Austek owning the patent on pump design that has made the industry stagnant on future development. I often wonder how good the systems could be if companies didn’t have to deal with royalties probably preventing development on better systems. Good point.
I always loved my air coolers; even the old school Zalman round style coolers. Those were dope.
@@blech71 That patent is set to expire soon, though, pretty sure. So don’t worry, they’ll be stagnant in the other direction as everyone uses the same design, haha.
Ive used 120mm, 240mm, 360mm on both GPU and CPU; and never failed a component like that the way you describe. The only problems i had with water was the custom build which often required more maintaince then these plug and play things. From a performance standpoint, water beats aircooling day and night.
My H100i has worked fine for 5 years with now degradation.
I just dust the radiator every year....
@@blech71 I'm still rocking my Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B that I got with my previous computer build in 2011. When I upgraded to my current build in 2020 it came along for the ride, though I did swap out the original blue LED fan with a Phanteks RGB fan that I modded to fit, and I used a graphite thermal pad this time around instead of thermal paste. Still cools my 9700K like a champ, though, idling at ~10ºC over ambient and hitting ~50ºC over ambient running Cinebench or Prime95.
The Scythe Fuma 2 rev B just came out any plans to look at it? It’s the exact same price as the AK620 right now at 65 dollars
Did you watch the video? AK620 is supposed to be 90 dollars, where did you find it for 60?
I hope the 40-50 dollar dual tower is one of the thermalright ones. The peerless assassin 120 is really really good from everything I've seen.
YES. I have the PA-120. Overclocked 5800X sitting under 30° idle, 53°-58° while gaming, and 72°-78° on stress tests. Take these tests with a grain of salt, because my ambient is 20° (Canada) and I hooked up another fan at the back of it.
Bought the grey one on sale for $38, and Amazon made a mistake and sent me the more expensive black one (which I wanted) that cost $55.
Or for some extra umph, the Thermalright FC140 with its 5x8mm heatpipes should be quite a bit better than any air cooler in this category besides the likes of the Dark Rock Pro 4 or many 280mm aio's
@@deadly_mir
Thought about that as well, but unfortunately, I didn't have the clearance for it.
I have a 360 AIO now, but I used a Noctua NH-D14 for 10 years and 3 CPUs. I just sold it as part of a rig in a Cooler Master Storm Sniper Black Edition case with my old Ryzen 9 3950X to a buddy and he says the system is really quiet. Big air coolers generally work really well without making too much noise.
Using a nhd-15 on my 3900x and can't really hear it.
I had a D15 for a long time "downgraded" to a U12A for easier system building and better compatibility. When noise normalized its no better or worse than my D15 anyways.
Big thanks for the info on the case compatibility. I was going the pair the digital version with an NZXT H6 flow one. Technically it could hold that, but only with 1 mm to spare. I am not taking chances and will go for a montech king 95 instead.
My Deepcool ak620 just arrived in the mail. Excited to install it. Thank you guys for showcasing these types of products!!!
i have matx mobo and having problem to remove & install the gaps between my ak620 & gpu is around 1 inch. imagine just to remove the gpu i have to go through take off the cpu cooler + fan clips & repaste thermal paste again. nowdays as gpu is thicker it block my pcie gen2 for wifi card .
I'm loving the $25-$35 air cooler market right now. There are several extremely efficient coolers in that price range that cool sub 110W CPUs well enough.
Hi, what cooler would you recommend for a 105W CPU such as the Ryzen 5800X or the upcoming 7600X?
The deepcool Gammaxx GTE V2 is worth looking at too imo, I'd love to see your take on it. It can be found heavily discounted in Europe for around €20-€25 and seems to perform only slightly less well than the Hyper 212 evo
The Gammaxx offers a great price to performance ratio. The looks are not to shabby either.
@@deuswulf6193 That's been my experience, absolutely. The white LED version is usually discounted and it compliments white cases very nicely!
A week ago I bought the GTE V2 for a 2600. And it was 30-40% less expensive than any Hyper 212 available in my area.
The gigantic graphics cards and the gigantic air cooler structures are testament as to why the motherboard should always be positioned parallel to the ground. It's really silly to continue stacking this shit vertically, and fighting gravity with every component.
Props to you man for going so long, and always digging into what the giants don't expect. Truly impressive really.
Returning my Noctua Redux and picking this up. With a $10 dollar coupon @ Amazon, it's $50 (redux) vs $55 dollars (ak620), for a pretty significant performance difference. Not justifiable going with the Redux given the pricing and data
Can u reply to this comment and let me know the noise level of ak620 at 30%, 50% and 80% fan load?
Thanks in advance.
Love seeing the brands over time improve, especially when you guys call them out on it! Power to the consumer!!
and yet here i am still using Xigmatek Thor in 2023 for 14 years going 15 . sometimes i felt why i bought this cooler since it so reliable i felt kinda cursed.. i can't find any reasons to change it. XD. trust me when u use a product for > 10 years you will get bored of it.
The deepcool ag620 (the version with no top cover but same fan) is selling for 50$ in my country & the ak620 going for 62$ . So for that to beat the nhd15 (100$) & match up with aios that sell for 100-200$ is fkn impressive.. ag400 is going for 22$ and that too beats some more pricey air coolers. So i am sure this cooler will sell like hot cakes.
Deepcool is already becoming a very popular brand in my country due to their agressive pricing and quality.
"The NH-D15 is now very old and starting to show its age". Haha, I'm still rocking my NH-D14...no complaints.
Would have liked to see pressure mapping for Intel, since Intel's ihs is more concave and amds is more flat
Installed mine this morning. This thing is a beast. Fits my tower perfectly and my CPU seems to love it.
I *think* this is the first thing I've bought specifically because you reviewed it. Good times.
me too just arrived today! loving this HSF kinda want to buy fk120 3 in 1 fans for my case since i have deepcool aesthetic build but i think its new fan i only see korean reviews with it :(
Is your cooler sagging? Mine kinda sag a little bit.
@@armand5759 Nope, all fine. Maybe check your mounting bracket isn't falling apart or something?
The AMD TDP calculation is very bad, but it does have power in it. TCase is going to be a function of power and in physics we would consider power being in the equation as a result. The issue is not that power isn't there, but that it isn't controlled for. They would need to fix power and measure TCase, but they don't do that which makes their formula arbitrary.
Could you please review the thermal right peerless assassin 120
It would be interesting to see some cheap aliexpress aios professionally tested and how they compare to the higher tier of air coolers
wow - again the results arent listed anywhere but this youtube video. whats the point of the website??
You should check out the thermalright peerless assasin 120 cooler. Its a dual tower air cooler that runs $50 or so. I have one cooling my ryzen 5600x cpu and it does pretty well.
I'm cooling my 5800X (OC) with it. Locked it at 50% fan speed (90% when it reaches 75°)...And I NEVER heard it ramping up. I hooked up another fan at the back though (from day one...More for the looks than the performance).
@@shane250 yea I like to have my temps for CPU and GPU up while I'm gaming and I've never had it go over 70C. And the fans are actually very quiet. I used to use only Corsair h60 liquid coolers and this is far more quiet than that.
Thermalright peerless assassin 120 is the new king
NH-D15 next gen still waiting for you
Yay Deep cool! They sent me a free 1700 bracket for the AK620 in under 4 days ( USPS Even)! And its a great value cooler!
I always find these coolers being so massive relative to everything else on the motherboard just hysterical.
I know right. Even on ATX my Fuma 2 isn't just a skyscraper...it's a whole city block.
The more I look at these coolers the more ridiculous they seem. They're huge, heavy, get in the way of everything, are a pain in the bum to clean, kind-of awkward to install, etc. etc. I think my next cooler will be liquid.
And from there you will pay out the butt, deal with maintenance and face the very real risk that one day it will leak and possibly take your entire pc with it. Better think long and hard about that one.
There is one thing I was wondering about the pressure test, and I know this might sound funny, but some pans are designed in such a way that their bottom is not perfectly flat and accounts for the material expanding under heat - that is, as soon as the pan is hot, the bottom does get flat. Is something like this possible in the world of CPU coolers heatsinks, too, and does the pressure test account for that?
with a 3k computer build in my future I was thinking of going with AIO because I don't trust myself to make a custom cooler loop. But... Also I kind of dislike AIO coolers because I never know if they are actually clean or not... while with a fan cooler It's straight to the point.
F**K120
gold 👌
Can you review the Silentium Fortis 5? Thank you..
When comparing it to the Fuma 2, it's also worth mentioning that the Fuma 2 is neatly designed to fit it into smaller cases or with big RAM modules. It's offset backwards with a thinner fan on the front so it will fit in basically any build, unlike the AK620.
What air cooler would you recommend for the upcoming I9 13th gen?
Ayyy good timing! I'm just planning out a new PC upgrade and saw this exact cooler pop up PCPartpicker and was wondering what the performance was like as it seemed like a pretty good value, especially with prices having crept up a bunch for many of the higher end air coolers here in Canada. Thanks GN!
Running my 12700k on a NH-D14. I think I'm going to blow the budget and go full loop.
Thr NH-D14 is the predecessor to the D15. Not sure the thermal difference. Also not even sure I'm using the fans it came with, they are brown and noctua but it's been so many years. Also no longer have the fan mounting brackets and used loose wire to affix them.
All in all the D14 runs the 12700k in games at a silent level. I'm just bored.
Marketing shenanigans aside, I think Deepcool is a really competitive brand. I've bought 2 Assassins for different builds and currently use their Castle 360EX for my current i9-12900K build and I'm genuinely shocked how good the cooling was for the price. I think it's worth checking out, because I was about to spend an extra $100-$150 on other brands just purely for thermals but due to complications with the build, I bought the Castle on a whim just for something that would work, and I'm keeping it because it's just good enough for me.
You expect with a decent name and idea behind the brand that they would stick to what made them popular to begin with! So it's nice to see that customers of theirs give them a good shout out where possible. That's worth 10 Google reviews imo, a personal recommendation from a peer.
They will notice this in future, and start paying marketing guys to be friends with us here and sell us shit :D
Just bought the 360EX for about $80 on amazon. Crazy cheap. I remember last year it was like $130-140
Agreed. Ive always kinda liked Deepcool`s products and was truly saddened to see GN discover what they did about the Assassin III. Such a weird way for Deepcool to lose face over such a small thing to lie about.
Im currently using a Deepcool AS500 PLUS in my build and couldn`t be happier with it. Extremely quiet, good thermal performance and a very competitive price tag.
@@MrBadasious What's your pc specs btw and around what temps do you get. I want to get a deepcool as500 plus too
I bought this for my first build for $51 bucks
Now this gives the AK acronym a new meaning!
Ps. Question for Steve:
Do you think we will get more 180mm front intake cases at computex this year?
Air coolers FTW
i wanna see that new nvidia video you made private. Please...its killing me not knowing
Please do a video on Thermalright Peerless Assassin.
On your closing thoughts you said they (The DC one and the FUMA2) are basically the same and ones should choose based on Brand and aesthetics. However, the HUGE difference that made me go with the FUMA was the slim front fan. It is the only 2 tower 2 fan that keeps 4 ram modules compatibility and have good performance. Combined with good prices it is one of it’s kind.
Yes I'd forgotten about that, you are right
It is not accurate to say the FUMA is the "only 2 tower 2 fan cooler" compatible with 4 DIMMs. If you watch the DIMM height, others are as well.
@@GamersNexus That’s correct. With Low Profile RAM, some works. But what I meant was that is the only one that not cover the RAM modules. Meaning you can choose any stick, including RGB ones (for more FPS)
@@TheMutchas you can put a 120mm noctua fan in front of the D15S and still use those sweet Gskill neoz rgb ram sticks. No luck with 140mm though.
After I saw this video I bought the thing immediately. When Gamer Nexus gives a good review, you know it's the good stuff.
I’ve been very happy with air cooling lately. I’m a big fan of their cheapness and peace of mind. Between Scythe, Noctua, Be Quiet, etc. Sound has never been much of an issue and I like not having to worry too much about radiator positioning when building. Honestly compared to the best AIO’s, the best air coolers are maybe going to be 10C hotter tops at max loads. But how bad is that temp even at max loads in most situations? Not usually a problem.
Also you’d be hard pressed to find a worthwhile air cooler ever over $90-100. And more likely can get a great one at $50-60.
Unless you’re running crazy loads often and for long amounts of time on top level parts, or doing heavy overclocking, I’d recommend air cooling. Even then depending on where you live you could get by fine with air cooling.
I’d also add the caveat of case size. These days anything less than like 20l lis gonna be a hot box and require water cooling for optimal performance
deepcool fears this guy, they make products to please him now (i love you actually cut the pipe open bruh)
I literally just bought this air cooler on Saturday for a 5950X upgrade for my son.
Bought it due to lack of local stock for decent Noctua coolers on the shelf.
And it is doing a better job then my Noctua N15S (single fan version) cooler on my 5950X for my development machine.
Nice. How are your Temps under load?
Why have you not yet tested the Noctua NH-U12A? It has been on the market for 3 years, yet you've never discussed it that I can find.
I would be very interested to see if flower tower like design still holds on compared to this "regular" design.
You mean, like the CNPS9900 max?
I own one of those and would love to see GN test, they are still available new.
@@guilhermemoraesdasilva7058 Exactly, I also still have the 9900LED in its mint box 🙂
This cooler has maintained my 12600k @ 5.5 ghz at great temps. Very quiet and all white looks great!!
Would recommend for any 13th gen CPU.
Slightly cheaper, other than that these sinks/fans haven't changed literally a single bit at all in about a decade since they became popular. I wouldn't exactly call saving 40$ on a critical pc component "impressive".
I've already seen the AK620 on sale for as cheap as 45€ (normal price in my region 65-70€), and at that price it is even more impressive!
I founded at $49 dollars at Amazon so I grabbed. Thanks for the review because I order a Noctua, cancell that order and order the deepcool. It was 10 dollars cheaper than the Fumma2
I was about to buy the Deepcool AS500 Plus until I saw this review, and decided to splurge and go for the AK620 since there wasn't much of a price difference (I paid SGD$95 = USD$70 for the AK620). It's working great with my 5950X, very pleased with it so far. Thanks for the thorough review!
What are your temps on the 5950X?
@@TON-ob7ib I'm getting 40-50 during normal Windows usage and 65-75 in gaming, occasionally maxing out at about 80 if running something like a stress test.
There on sale now for $55 on Amazon
@@tscottj Damn, Those temps are going strong for an air cooler that beats a lot of AIOs, considering the fact that most people get an AIO or do custom looped systems to keep their 5950X under 60. You made a great purchase! Also I apologize for responding after a long time
@@ninemm222 REALLY? That's some good ass deal for a cooler literally better than Noctua NH-D15
Thanks for the review. Have you considered separating the testing and results for the air coolers vs the AIOs? Also, I would definitely like to know if there is a reason why Be Quiet air coolers have basically disappeared from most of these roundups. In any case, I like the performance shown here from the Deepcool Cooler and would definitely consider it for future builds.
I've got one of these and the mounting hardware for the am4 mobo has two tiny posts that you screw the cooler too. One snapped clean off with little to no pressure being applied. Seems like a lot of reviewers are complaining about the same thing here lately. They told me they were going to charge me to ship out a single replacement bracket. I'm sending it back and getting something else.
Why don't you test the Silver Soul Black cooler from Thermalright. It's really interesting for smaller system with a height of only 135 mm and a 120 mm fan placed in the middle of the dual tower with 6 heatpipes ?
I've been wondering why the Noctua NH-U12A isn't on the list 🤔
It's single / uni tower (hence the U, I suppose) versus the dual towers (D) in this video.
@@SUSHI4lyf Thankfully they included all of the dual-tower AIOs in the list as well.
is this good for the 7700X for gaming?
I love air coolers! Even though some high end AIOs and custom liquid cooling can get better temps than high end air coolers, they, high end air coolers, are usually close enough to not be worth the price increase of the AIOs or Customs and the fear I have of having liquid in my computer case even if the chance of leaking is small I still rather have air coolers. :)
Personally aircoolers basically having a lifespan of multiple decades is why I still have my thermalright silver arrow.
This aircooler can deal with 5800x3d??? Its 105w TDP
Yep
I almost busted up laughing at work when Steve introduced the fan as the "F**K120." Luckily, enough of my coworkers are tech-head like me and would have laughed as well.
Can you please do a Thermalright cooler? I've seen no major channels do any of the giant thermaltake towers like the le grande macho or the ARO amd specific coolers. I know they might not send you the cooler but they seem to have a good prices for the claims. And some of them claimed to be semi passive, no fan needed under a certain tdp, way before the new noctua.
They are testing a thermalright cooler just not sure which.
I am currently on a R5 3600, planning on upgrading to the 5800X3D when it comes out, so I'm very interested in getting a quality air cooler. Looking forward to the other reviews coming up!
_Thanks, Steve._
Are you me? Literally exact same parts
same but with a 5600g and not planning to upgrade
@@leothehuman_9476 And why would you? I cant help but scoff when I see these people upgrading their already good PCs that fulfill all of their needs just because corporations convinced them that they are missing out by not consooooming their brand new shiny parts.
@@mr.dingleberry4882 I don't know, follow or am interested in any CPU cooler company, I hate capitalism and everthing in the PC industry, but I'm forced to be in it because I need a new PC for work.
I just need a good CPU cooler and cooling system in general to don't have my CPU over 50°C when under heavy load, actually I don't even have the computer and I'm still unsure if I should buy a 5600g. I think I'll probably buy a laptop in the end.
Right now I'm on a 2011 laptop but I'm forced to get a new PC because I need it for work, I have even upgraded to an SSD but it just isn't enough. I need a better CPU. And I'd like the best possible cooling system on it because my needs are as low temperatures as possible, to make the computer last as long as possible.
And no, there is no way of upgrading my laptop CPU since it's one of the most powerful models in that socket, the best CPU I can put in it would be about 5% faster and costs 100€, also not speaking about how hard and risky it is to change the CPU.
The RAM too is already at its maximum possible supported by the motherboard, so my laptop is not upgradeable and I need a new computer for work.
With my laptop at the moment I'm having a hard time working, I'm seriously forced to buy a new computer right now.
@@leothehuman_9476 Ok, listen up. The only reason I would ever buy a laptop over a desktop PC is if I was a student on a campus, and I needed it to be easily transportable.
Many laptops by design have an inferior cooling capacity compared to desktop PCs. This results in thermal throttling, and a decrease in speed in your otherwise capable CPU.
So if longevity and optimal performance are your priority, there is no better option than going with a desktop PC.
Also, judging by your current PC I assume that your work is not heavily GPU dependent. This is a good thing, as that allows you to completely omit a dedicated GPU from your build, reducing the size and the COST (all caps) of your system. You couldn't have made a better choice than considering a 5600G for this. Not only is it an extremely capable 6 core 12 thread CPU, but due to its powerful iGPU many consider it suitable for light-medium gaming. Oh, it also recently got a price cut to 150 euros where I live. And it comes packaged with a very good Wraith Stealth cooler. Seriously, no other chip provides this much value. I have first-hand experience with it, and I cannot praise it enough.
Here is an idea as to what a complete 5600G build could look like: ruclips.net/video/BYlZPjxoxHs/видео.html
Note that the build above is based around a mini-ITX motherboard. Motherboards and cases for a form factor this small can get more expensive compared to a bit larger builds.
If that is a problem for you, I would get a micro-ATX motherboard instead, like an MSI MAG B550M Mortar (amazing mobo for 5600G, but you could go cheaper), paired with a smaller case that supports a micro-ATX form factor and has great airflow, like MATREXX 40 or NX200M. You can of course use any case, I just found these to be high quality for the price with excellent thermals. Pair this with 2x8GB of CL16 3200mhz ram sticks (dont forget to use the high-speed profile in the bios!) and you got yourself the best business PC you could imagine.
If any of this is unclear I'm here to help and of course, there are many great 5600G guides on the internet.
Holy shit, one of these coolers that's actually priced normally in Canada for once? How novel. Usually when you talk about these coolers and their price I go check here in Canada and they are like exchange rate + 50% extra. This is the first one that seems to just be a straight exchange rate.
I USE THAT COOLER AND ITS AMAZING
Noctua is selling you that cooler for $100, they are massively over charging for the product they damn sure better be supporting it.
Wow all my fans and AIO water cooling are from Deepcool. I didn’t know they are that good.
Hey Gamers Nexus! I'm waiting for the deepcool fk u 620 model aircooler! Ride ride ride!
How well would it cool a 12900K at 100% load I wonder.
My guess is not well lol
It's not good enough for that, I suggest a good AIO.
It's worth mentioning that you can reduce the power limit on 12900K significantly (thus, the temps too) for a negligeable performance loss. In that case, it will probably be able to cool it...we've seen it handles 200W load, so it's doable.
Custom water loop needed
@@LastSecBloomer I suppose undervolting is an option, but there must be some cooler and case combo that can manage it right?
Vastly prefer air coolers. Just don't like the idea of liquid cooling. I'm weird like that.
This is the review I was looking for. I wanted to use something that looks monolithic for my build. Thank you Steve and the whole Gamers Nexus team. Kudos as always.
Guy, can you tell me what’s the best cooler cpu and worth price. Besides ak620 ?
Bought this and loved it for about a month. Severe resonance issues with the fans at certain RPMs after about 35 days of ownership. I've seen quite a few others complaining about the same thing. Deepcool support acts like they don't know it's an issue but will send you new fans without question. Wish I would have known that because there are realy very little people talking about it with how popular AIO's are now.
love my noctua but yeah, for half the price it seems ok (if you get good fans)
Same issues. Bought this cooler for a month the performance has been great. But there seemed to be a random humming noise especially during low loads that rattle my brains making it unbearable. Only after a few weeks then I finally managed to pinpoint the issue to its fans (i initially place my suspicions on my seasonic psu/gigabyte mobo).
Adjust the rpm from 800-1300, the humming noise is ever present just quieter/louder.
Bought pair of Noctua A12x25 fans on impulsive and my cooler has been silent since then, giving back peace to me. I suppose Arctic P12 PWM PST should also do the job (i have them as case bottom intake fans), abit at a higher decibels but much much more acceptable noise/frequency as compared to stock cooler fans. This combo end up being more expensive than Noctua D15 Chromax Black, imagine the savings I thought I will get with AK620.
Well, you two guys and few other on whole world complaining among thousand of happy user with this product i call success. Plus i would like to mention that twin tower is what it count. Fans are expendable and its cheap and quick to replace.
And it work better than some lot expensier models on market.
Enough for me. Imagine if only few cases of failed Mercedes destroy that automobile company. Shit happen and you are among less lucky persons on this world.
This is excellent cooler.
Cheers
Why do you keep testing it the u12S when the u12A is the best option!
I'd love to see a new generation of heatsinks made purely from copper.
I need it for the aesthetics of my build.
check online for copper cookwares then come back and tell me you still want to pay the price for pure copper heatsinks
Copper is expensive. No way a full copper cooler gets mass produced. Would have to be done custom.
I’ve seen a couple. One was an sff small cooler, one was a normal smallish tower cooler, and the others were radiators for open-loop water cooling. Don’t remember the models of any of them though
It would corrode horribly…
I just got an AS500 plus and it is cooling better than my old corsair AIO ever did
As usual, great review and a pleasure to watch - keep up the good work! Nontheless, I would like to make some suggestions I think would make your videos even better:
1) When showing the pressure maps, could you show them side by side with the direct competition (in terms of price) and maybe a good/bad example? This would make it easier to quickly evaluate the results, especially for first-time viewers that haven't seen a lot of your cooler tests but are interested in the reviewed product.
2) Could you test the coolers with a standardized fan(s) so we can better evaluate whether the cooler itself is good/bad or if it's just the fans that are good/bad? Like with the Chinese dragon cooler recently, it would be a great deal to buy a cheap but good cooler, replace the crappy fans and to match or even beat the performance of a pricier one.
3) Could you give a short sound example of the fan/cooler at different speeds (50/75/100%)? Noise level is one thing, pitch is another: two fans/coolers can have the same volume in terms of dBA, but one may be more annoying to the human ear than the other because of the specific sound it produces.
4) When reviewing an air/liquid cooler, could you chart the test results against other coolers of the same type and only later show how it compares to other cooling solutions? I would argue that someone in the market for a tower cooler isn't really interested in how it compares to a 360 or 420 AIO and vice versa - usually you know what you want or need and just want to know witch one is the best. By throwing all in one chart you make it really hard to quickly judge the product and basically force the viewer to pause the video and go through the chart line by line to find and compare similar products. It also would be great to have roughly the current street pricing or MSRP next to each product in the chart, this would make it even easier to evaluate the different coolers.
What the heck was that f-bomb lmao..... amazing vid man. Keep rocking (Y).