DeepCool AK620 Digital

Introduction

DeepCool - a Chinese company based in Beijing - has been offering interesting (and innovative) high-performance PC hardware components and thermal solutions for over a decade. Precisely in the air and AIO heatshink sector, which represents the company's core business, DeepCool has always been appreciated for innovative and at the same time efficient solutions, just think of the Assassin IV and GAMMAXX series heat sinks. The latest addition to the company's coolers is the DeepCool AK620 Digital . This air cooler features the same premium design as DeepCool's AK620 Zero Dark, but with an innovative addition: a digital display built into the top that shows both CPU temperature and usage statistics and, in addition, incorporates aRGB lighting on the side. In short, it is, if you like, the answer to the many AIO heatsinks with a screen on the pump, which are now so fashionable.

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From the technical data, we can see that every current socket is readily supported. It also supports Intel's HEDT sockets, but unfortunately, there is no compatibility with AMD's Threadripper series.

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Packaging & Contents

Deepcool AK620 Digital arrived in a brown cardboard box enclosed in a white shell case with a picture of the cooler and the model name. On top there is a small cover that does not completely close the package, but for better fastening it is fixed with a pair of transparent stickers.

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On the back of this extra layer of packaging, you'll find detailed specifications for the cooler. On the left, in several languages, we are sent to the manufacturer's website. The cooler is made in China and comes with a two-year warranty.

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Inside the cardboard box the cooler is securely fixed between two polyethylene foam inserts, and a flat box with accessories provides additional protection from its upper end.

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An additional brown box inside the package includes the manual and accessories bag, with mounting kits for Intel 115x, 1200 and 1700 sockets, and AMD AM4 and AM5 sockets. A nice right-angled screwdriver is also included along with a 4-pin fan splitter cable, and a small tube of Deepcool branded thermal compound.

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A Closer Look

With this model, DeepCool offers us a well-finished, but above all sober reference. In visual terms, the brand has taken up where it left off with its Zero Dark version, with a full black coating. It also features a digital display showing processor temperature. In any case, it looks great, but you’ll have to be careful when cleaning it, as the upper part is prone to scratches.

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Deepcool AK620 Digital is a classic tower cooler with a two-section heatsink and two fans. The Deepcool AK620 comes in at a net weight of 1,486 grams with dimensions of 127 × 110 × 157 millimeters for the heatsink alone and 129 × 138 × 162 millimeters with fans as well as covers.

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The towers’ exterior sides feature matrix fins arrays in a cool asymmetrical layout: nine fins in a row create a captivating effect with inset and protruded designs at both edges.

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The front and rear surfaces of the heat sink have an uneven shape. Each section has 45 aluminum plates with dimensions of 127 × 40 mm and another 5 narrow plates with dimensions of 127 × 27 mm (for compatibility with RAM modules equipped with heatsinks). The thickness of the plates is 0.4 mm, and their contact with the tubes is ensured by simple crimping, which is not typical for air coolers that claim to have the prefix "super-" in the name. The calculated area of ​​the radiator is 9,690 cm 2 - a good value.

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The "gem" of the DeepCool AK620 Digital (although already available - albeit in a "reduced format" - on the AK 400 and AK 500) is the LCD panel. Below this glossy panel is a digital display to show real-time information that can range from operating temperatures, to CPU usage thanks to the connected software, which we'll talk about later.

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On the sides there are also two LED strips that emit pleasant RGB lighting (adjustable by the user, we preferred a fixed color). The panel attaches to the heat sink with four rather powerful magnets which will prevent the display from accidentally detaching. Everything can be controlled via MB via USB 2.0 directly on the motherboard, while the LED light strips are powered by the 3-pin connector (which we had to connect via a SATA adapter as we did not have the connector dedicated to aRGB lighting on the motherboard).

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Three connectors are coming from the top cover. One cable has a 9-pin USB 2.0 connector that is connected to the USB 2.0 header of the motherboard. The other two are standard 5V, 3-pin A-RGB connectors that can be inserted into the motherboard’s supported header.

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Deepcool AK620 is equipped with two proprietary 120 × 120 × 27 mm fans. They are 2 mm thicker than standard fans, not due to an increase in the thickness of the frame and impeller, but due to the presence of rubber inserts in the corners. Fan model is Deepcool's FK120 (DF1202512CM), and they are made completely in black. The rotation speed of nine-bladed fan impellers is controlled by pulse-width modulation (PWM) in the range from 500 to 1850 rpm. The maximum airflow of a single fan can reach 69 CFM, the static pressure is 2.19 mm H 2 O, and the noise level is 28 dBA. Under the paper sticker of the stator containing information about the fan model and its electrical characteristics, there is a hydrodynamic bearing with a declared service life of at least 50 thousand hours, or more than 5.7 years of continuous operation. One fan is inserted between the sections, and the second is placed on one of the outer sections. The ends of the radiator plates on both sides are practically closed by the ends of the ribs bent down. Only small slots for the hooks of the fan brackets remained open. Since the radiator is absolutely symmetrical, the fans can be hung on the sections from either side, and a third “turntable” can also be added if the need arises.

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The design of the radiator involved six copper heat pipes fold in U-shape with a diameter of 6 mm. They are nickel-plated and penetrate the sections evenly along the central longitudinal axis. The heat sink is copper nickel-plated, the base is relatively flat, but there are traces of the cutter. The dimensions of the contact plate of the base are 42 × 39 mm.

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Installation Process

Before starting the tests, you need to assemble the system. The whole procedure is very simple. First you need to install the mounting plate at the back. For AMD installation, you’ll need to keep your AMD backplate, as the manufacturer doesn’t supply one.

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The screw position of the back plate can be changed. Just shift the position with a click. Secure the back plate with spacer screws.

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Attach the bridge plate and Fix the plate.

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Then it remains only to install the cooler and install the fans. Fix the AK620 with the fan removed with two screws.

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RAM clearance is alright, but if you have fancy, tall RAM sticks, you might need to adjust the fan height a bit.

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Testing & Methology

For today's testing, we'll be using a new test setup, so we've also tested a few other coolers as part of it for direct comparison. We have recently equipped our lineup with a Ryzen 9 5950X processor, which is significantly more demanding. Perhaps the most important thing is that we are testing in a classic case, a large and very well ventilated Fractal Design Meshify 2 XL. In addition, it also allows the installation of a 480 mm heat exchanger on the ceiling. We always install the tested AiO coolers with an exchanger on the ceiling, while there are high-quality fans on the front wall of the cabinet for good air access to the cabinet. Very quiet graphics are also installed so that it does not disturb the results.

Testing coolers in practice

What else do you need to know about our testing? We test all coolers without manual adjustment and regulation. We leave everything to automatic regulation, that is exactly how the vast majority of users will use them. Of course, all coolers (and their fans) usually have the possibility of manual regulation, which affects performance and noise. The cabinet used definitely also plays a big role, and above all the temperature in the room. In our case, the temperature during testing is always around 20, maximum 21°C.

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AMD Ryzen 9 5950X processor cooling

As for the Ryzen 9 5950X processor, it also plays a big role when comparing coolers. The maximum safe operating temperature of this model is up to 95°C according to AMD. It is only at this point that the processor starts to limit clocks and therefore performance. The processor is actually made up of three separate chips under the heatspreader, so it is not a monolith (one chip). There are two 7nm 8-core/16-thread ZEN 3 and one low-end 12nm I/O pieces of silicon. The two small 7nm chips generate the most heat. In general, a larger chip area is more advantageous for cooling, as heat is dissipated more easily across the surface. However, with the current AMD ZEN chips, which are very small (only around 80mm2), the heat is extremely concentrated (as well as the transistors in the chip themselves) on a very small area. The area through which the chip transmits heat to the heatspreader is very small, which is why there are significant temperature fluctuations.

A processor such as the Ryzen 9 5950X shows significant and rapid temperature changes, depending on the load. This processor can show high temperatures, but that doesn't mean it's heating up, so to speak. It makes a big difference if you have a small 70mm2 chip with a temperature of 80°C or a 200mm2 large chip with the same temperature. The Ryzen 9 5950X is actually extremely efficient with a low base TDP of only around 105W. However, even with powerful cooling, temperature fluctuations between 65 - 85°C in various types of load and 30 - 40°C in idle states are common. In our case, we are testing a typical longer-term load in CineBench R23, and all coolers are left in their own auto-regulation mode, so the fan speed and noise are different. And so here are the main differences.


Performance

Cooling-wise, the Deepcool AK620 Digital performs well with the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X. At the default clock frequency, the performance is excellent, and among the best in all of our reviews (68 degrees).

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Even with an overclock, the temps increased roughly 79 Degrees C, which is perfectly within the comfort zone even in longer tests.

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During normal operation, in fact, we did not hear particular noises either from the rotor or from other components, thus confirming the excellent quality and goodness of the numerous advanced technologies implemented by the Asian manufacturer. Above the rotation speed of 80% the fan starts to be slightly audible, but in any case never annoying . In fact, even when it is set to 100%, the noise level is always very low , to the benefit of acoustic comfort. The best compromise between performance and noise is obtained by setting the fan at 70/75% of its speed. In this way it will be possible to obtain excellent results to the advantage of maximum silence . In conclusion we can be more than satisfied with the noise/performance ratio offered by the fans belonging to the FK-120 product family.

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Final Thoughts

The DeepCool AK620 Digital – a direct evolution of the AK620 Zero Dark – really knows what it's doing. With this AK620 Digital, we can’t complain about a dubious finish – quite the contrary. This model is very well finished, with an attractive matte black coating on the aluminum fins and heatpipes. The upper part features a glossy finish with aRGB edging on the sides. In short, all this contributes to a sober and very uniform heatsink. There is one thing that could be improved in the future and we are talking about the panel limited to only displaying the temperature or load of the CPU, for example we would have liked to be able to check the rotation speed of the fans or perhaps display the hottest core. The accessory equipment provided by the company is undoubtedly very complete, including everything necessary to install the heatsink on the most popular Intel (LGA-115x/LGA-1200/LGA-20xx) and AMD (FMx/AMx) platforms, also including a syringe of excellent proprietary thermal paste. As usual, the manufacturer has provided measures to limit hassles during assembly, guaranteeing the maximum possible compatibility with PCI-Express graphics cards and practically total compatibility with RAM memory modules, even those characterized by designs that are not exactly low profile on Intel High-End Desktop platforms (LGA-20xx). There is obviously a proprietary assembly system equipped with specific measures to simplify the assembly and installation process as much as possible, developed taking into account all the possible difficulties that every user may encounter in this delicate phase. With this new model, the Asian manufacturer provides a pair of excellent premium class proprietary fans, specifically a 120mm FK - 120 PWM. This family of fans features the most advanced proprietary technologies, designed to maximize air flow and keep noise to a minimum. It is safe to say that the AK620 Digital cooler delivers on its promise. That is, to offer high cooling effectiveness that matches high-end coolers. The build quality is excellent, and the resistance of the materials is very good. Both the shovels and the reinforcing arms are built with excellent quality materials and are particularly resistant to any type of stress. The combined action of the magnetic field produced by the coils and a permanent magnet, positioned near the base of the rotor, stabilize the rotation axis: this system reduces friction between the parts to the benefit of life expectancy.

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Over the last few years, the Chinese DeepCool has accustomed us to products characterized by an excellent relationship between construction quality and performance. The high-end air cooling solution observed throughout this article is obviously no exception, an indisputably interesting solution, ideal for use in server systems, workstations and, more generally, on high-end gaming platforms, in which efficiency in heat dissipation combined with maximum silence and reliability are very important aspects to take into consideration. The brand new DeepCool AK620 Digital comes at a price of €79.99 including VAT, a figure which we believe is more than justified by the excellent performance, construction quality and technical characteristics of this product, as well as by the presence of a very complete set of accessories, including, as anticipated, a pair of particularly silent and efficient premium class fans.

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