DeepCool is well known in the cooling and component world, having delivered innovative, interesting and budget-conscious PC cases and cooling products for more than a decade. Its current lineup includes air and AIO coolers, computer cases, keyboards, power supplies and other accessories. We’ve been impressed recently by the company’s Assassin IV air cooler, and DeepCool’s 360mm LT720 AIO currently holds our one of our top recommendations on our list of best AIO coolers.
The company’s latest cooler to land on our test bench is the DeepCool AK620 Digital. This model features the same premium design of DeepCool’s AK620 Zero Dark, but features an innovative addition: a digital display embedded in the top that showcases both CPU temperature and utilization statistics. We’ve previously tested the original version of DeepCool’s AK620 with Intel’s i9-10850K. But does the screen-packing Digital model have what it takes to tame today’s hotter CPUs like Intel’s i7-13700K? We’ll of course have to put it through our usual testing to see if it is still worthy of a spot on our best CPU coolers list. But first, here are the cooler’s full specs, direct from DeepCool.
Specifications
| Cooler | DeepCool AK620 Digital |
| MSRP | $79.99 USD |
| Installed Size | 129 (L) x 138 (W) x 162 mm (H) |
| Heatsink Material | Aluminum |
| Heatpipes | 6x Copper Heatpipes |
| Socket Compatibility | Intel Socket LGA 2066/2011-v3/2011/1700/1200/1151/1150/1155 AMD AM5 / AM4 |
| Base | Nickel plated Copper |
| Max TDP (Our Testing) | 233W on Intel i7-13700K, 129W on AMD Ryzen 7 7700X |
Packing and Included Contents
DeepCool’s AK620 digital is packaged in molded foam, cardboard, and plastic to protect the contents during shipping.
Included with the package are the following:
- Full-size screwdriver
- Fan clips for two fans
- Two DeepCool FK120 fans
- Dual-tower radiator heatsink
- Digital Display cover
- A tube of thermal paste
- PWM splitter
- User Manual
- Mounts for all modern CPU sockets (including AM5 & LGA1700)
Installation on LGA1700 and AMD AM4 AM5
It’s not hard to install DeepCool’s AK620 Digital. The process is fairly similar on both AMD and Intel platforms.
1. If you’re running an AMD Ryzen system, you’ll need to start by removing the default retention bracket. Intel users will need to apply the backplate to the motherboard.
2. Place the mounting standoffs against the motherboard. Then place the mounting bars on top and secure them with the included thumbscrews.
Image 1 of 2
3. After applying thermal paste to the CPU, lift the display cover from the cooler’s heatsink and remove the middle fan. Then place the heatsink against the mounting bars. Secure the heatsink against the mounting bars using the included screwdriver.
4. Replace the middle fan and secure it using the fan clips and place the display on top of the heatsink.
5. Finally, peel off the plastic that protects the display during shipping and connect the cables to the appropriate ports.
Features of DeepCool’s AK620 Digital
DeepCool’s AK620 Digital features the same premium quality design as the previously released AK620 Zero Dark, but adds an innovative LCD display.
⋇ Real-time Status Screen
The biggest feature of the Digital series coolers is the LCD display that rests on top of the heatsink. There have been a few coolers in the past that showed temperature information, but none quite like DeepCool’s. By default, the display switches between showing CPU temperature and utilization statistics, and these can be lightly customized – you can show temperatures in either C or F, for example. Below the primary portion of the screen is DeepCool’s logo, softly illuminated. The top and bottom edges support aRGB illumination, giving it a subtle glow.
Image 1 of 2
The display can be controlled by DeepCool’s Digital software, and allows for minor customizations like chosing whether the CPU temperature is showing in Celsius or Fahrenheit. By, default the device will blink when the CPU reaches maximum temperature. But you can disable this with the software. You can also choose whether the display shows CPU utilization or temperature information, or alternates between the two.
⋇ Six copper heatpipes, nickel-plated contact plate
The cooler features six copper heatpipes and a nickel-plated copper CPU block with microfins for transferring heat away from the CPU.
⋇ Checkerboard Matrix Design
As with other AK series CPU coolers, the AK620 Digital’s dual towers feature a checkerboard matrix design, which not only gives the device a distinctivelook but also improves total static pressure for enhanced cooling performance.
⋇ 43mm+ RAM compatibility
In its default configuration, the AK620 Digital has room for DDR4 & DDR5 modules up to 43mm (1.69 inches) in height. However, you can move the fan slightly higher to accommodate taller RAM – I did this on my i7-13700K system because its DDR4 was 44mm tall.
⋇ Two 120mm FDB fans
There’s more to a cooler than just the heatsink or radiator. The bundled fans have a significant impact on cooling and noise levels. DeepCool has included two of its 120mm FDB fans. Like other DeepCool fans, it features arrows on the sides of the fan indicating both the direction the fans spin and which way the fan should be installed.
Image 1 of 2
| Model | DeepCool FK120 |
| Dimensions | 120 x 120 x 25 mm |
| Fan Speed | 500-1850 RPM +- 10% |
| Air Flow | Up to 68.99 CFM |
| Air Pressure | Up to 2.19 mmAq |
| Bearing Type | Fluid Dynamic Bearing |
| Lighting | None |
| MFFT | 50,000 hours |
Foreword
Modern high-end CPUs, whether Intel or AMD, are difficult to cool in intensive workloads. In the past, reaching 95 degrees Celsius or more on a desktop CPU might have been a cause for concern. But with today’s high-end processors, it is considered normal operation. Similar behavior has been present in laptops for years due to cooling limitations in tight spaces.
Since last fall, Tom’s Hardware has brought you cooling reviews using one of the most power-hungry desktop CPUs on the market – Intel’s flagship i9-13900K. To give you an idea of what it takes to cool Intel’s behemoth, we’ve tested it with a variety of coolers from basic low end air coolers like the Amazon Basics air cooler to high-end 420mm AIOs such as Corsair’s iCUE H170i Elite.
While it’s nice to see how Intel’s flagship responds to different levels of cooling, those results don’t always correlate with lower-tier CPUs. Today’s review features two CPUs more commonly purchased by end users – AMD’s Ryzen 7 7700X and Intel’s i7-13700K.
LGA1700 Socket Bending
Note there are many factors other than the CPU cooler that can influence your cooling performance, including the case you use and the fans installed in it. A system’s motherboard can also influence this, especially if it suffers from bending, which results in poor cooler contact with the CPU.
In order to prevent bending from impacting our cooling results, we’ve installed Thermalright’s LGA 1700 contact frame into our testing rig. If your motherboard is affected by bending, your thermal results will be worse than those shown below. Not all motherboards are affected equally by this issue. I tested Raptor Lake CPUs in two motherboards. And while one of them showed significant thermal improvements after installing Thermalright’s LGA1700 contact frame, the other motherboard showed no difference in temperatures whatsoever! Check out our review of the contact frame for more information.
Testing Methodology
All testing is performed at a 23C ambient room temperature. Multiple thermal tests are run on each CPU to test the cooler in a variety of conditions, and acoustic measurements are taken with each result. These tests include:
1. Noise normalized testing at low noise levels
2. “Out-of-the-box”/default configuration thermal & acoustics testing.
a.) This means no power limits on Intel’s i7-13700K, and AMD’s default power limits on AMD’s Ryzen 7 7700X.
b.) Because CPUs hit Tjmax in this scenario, the best way to compare cooling strength is by recording the total CPU package power consumption.
3. Thermal & acoustics testing in power-limited scenarios.
a.) With Ryzen 7 7700X, I’ve tested with limits of 95W and 75W enforced.
b.) On Intel’s i7-13700K, I’ve tested with limits of 175W and 125W enforced.
The thermal results included are for 10-minute testing runs. To be sure that was sufficiently long to tax the cooler, we tested both Thermalright’s Assassin X 120 R SE and DeepCool’s LT720 with a 30-minute Cinebench test with Intel’s i9-13900K for both 10 minutes and 30 minutes. The results didn’t change much at all with the longer test: The average clock speeds maintained dropped by 29 MHz on DeepCool’s LT720 and 31 MHz on Thermalright’s Assassin X 120 R SE. That’s an incredibly small 0.6% difference in clock speeds maintained, a margin of error difference that tells us that the 10-minute tests are indeed long enough to properly test the coolers.
Vibration Issues While Testing
The first sample of this unit I tested had issues with high-pitched vibrations which effectively made it impossible to test at noise-normalized levels because of the increased noise caused by them. Generally, DeepCool’s products perform very well when noise-normalized for quiet performance, so this was a disappointing experience.
DeepCool provided a return label for that unit to investigate the issue, and sent a replacement sample. This sample is the one I’ve shown in today’s review. But it also had issues with vibrations. Unlike the last sample where these vibrations occurred at low noise levels, this unit had these higher pitched noises occur mainly when the fans ran at full speed.
It’s likely that DeepCool’s engineering team will determine the source of these vibration issues and address them. But as I experienced issues with two different units, it’s clear this isn’t an isolated issue.
Testing Configuration – Intel LGA1700 Platform
| CPU | Intel Core i7-13700K |
| Comparison Coolers Tested | BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 Cooler Master Master Air MA824 Stealth Cooler Master Hyper 622 Halo Cooler Master Master Liquid Core 360L Cougar Forza 85 Essential DeepCool Assassin IV DeepCool LT720 EKWB Nucleus CR360 Lux |
| Motherboard | MSI Z690 A Pro DDR4 |
| GPU | Intel ARC A770 LE |
| Case | Be Quiet! Silent Base 802, system fans set to speed 1 setting. |
| Monitor | LG 45GR95QE |
| PSU | Cooler Master XG Plus 850 Platinum PSU |
Testing Configuration – AMD AM5 Platform
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 7700X |
| Motherboard | ASRock B650E Taichi |
| GPU | Intel ARC A770 LE |
| Case | DeepCool CK560WH |
| Monitor | LG 45GR95QE |
| PSU | Cougar Polar X2 1200W |
Thermal Results with noise normalized to 38.2 dBA
Finding the right balance between fan noise levels and cooling performance is important. While running fans at full speed can improve cooling capacity to some extent, the benefits are limited and many users prefer a quiet system.
In this test where the fans have been set to low noise levels, DeepCool’s AK620 Digital performs very well, with performance falling between Scythe’s Fuma 3 and BeQuiet’s Dark Rock Pro 4.
No Power Limits Thermal Results
Without power limits enforced on Intel’s i7-13700K, the CPU will hit its peak temperature and thermally throttle with even the strongest of air coolers. In this test, we measure the total amount of watts the cooler is able to dissipate from the CPU.
In this maximum-intensity workload on Intel’s i7-13700K, the AK620 punches above its weight class, performing on par with Cooler Master’s MA824 Stealth and Noctua’s NH-D15S. In fact, the only cooler we have tested with better results in this scenario is the AK620’s sibling, DeepCool’s Assassin IV.
Many coolers run loudly in this sort of workload, but not the AK620 Digital. At 43.4 dBA here, the noise level is moderate, and amongst the quietest results we have for this test. We’ve tested a few coolers with better noise levels, but most either have worse cooling performance or a higher price tag – so we consider this to be a very good result.
175W Cinebench Results
Most coolers on the market can keep Intel’s i7-13700K under its peak temperature if the power consumption is limited. So for this test, we’ll be looking at the CPU’s actual temperature. This level of power consumption represents a moderately high workload.Many users will rarely run workloads that use more power than this.
With average temperature of 56 degrees C over ambient, DeepCool’s AK620 is the second-best result we’ve seen from any air cooler in this thermal test – trailing Noctua’s NH-D15S by only a single degree, which is basically within the general margin of error. It achieves this level of performance with a noise level just over 1dBA quieter than Noctua’s cooler, which is impressive.
125W Cinebench Results
The lowest power limit I test with Raptor Lake CPUs is 125W. This is a high enough limit to allow the CPU to maintain its base clock speeds, even in the most intensive tests. And most coolers should be capable of keeping the CPU below Tjmax – even low end coolers. This sort of power level is similar to that one would encounter in modern AAA games.
Thermal performance really isn’t a concern in these limited workloads, and as such the thermal results shown here are largely academic. That being said, with an average temperature recorded of 43 C over ambient, DeepCool’s AK620 again provides the second-strongest thermal performance we’ve seen, being beaten only by its bigger brother, the Assassin IV.
Noise levels in these lower loads are what I consider to be the important factor, and DeepCool’s AK620 doesn’t disappoint. With a measurement of 37.3 dBA, the AK620 ties with BeQuiet’s Dark Rock Pro 4 and the Assassin IV for the quietest coolers in this benchmark.
AMD Ryzen 7 7700X Thermal Results
It’s great to see how coolers perform with hotter CPUs like Intel’s i7-13700K, but that performance doesn’t always directly translate to how other CPUs will operate with the same coolers. Some coolers might perform better – or worse – depending on the CPU it’s paired with. Today’s review I’ve includes AMD’s Ryzen 7 7700X to show how coolers might respond with more commonly used CPUs.
Thermal Results with noise normalized to 36.4 dBA
In this test, I’ve set the noise levels so that total system noise doesn’t rise above 36.4 dBA. This is an extremely quiet noise level, barely perceptible to many – and DeepCool’s AK620 kills it here, getting beaten only by the bigger Assassin IV.
Maximum Cooling Capacity with maximum fan speeds
This test is the exact opposite of the previous one, where we see how a cooler handles a maximum heat workload where we let the fans run at their full speeds. Like many of our previous results, DeepCool’s AK620 has excellent performance – tied with Noctua’s NH-D15S and Cooler Master’s Hyper 622 Halo for the second-strongest results of any air cooler tested.
At 44.6 dBA, the AK620’s peak noise levels are quieter than most other air coolers of its price class, that generally range from 45-48 dBA.
Thermals and Acoustics with a 95W Power Limit
You won’t always push your CPU to its absolute limits or maximum power draw, so it’s a good idea to test coolers across different power limits. For a user of AMD’s Ryzen 7700X, 95W will represent loads more demanding than gaming, but less demanding than rendering. In these scenarios, noise levels are generally considered more important than cooling performance.
At this point in the review, you can pretty much guess the result: DeepCool’s AK620 Digital again ties with high-end coolers for the second-best thermal result we have on record. It achieves this strong level of cooling with a very low level of noise, at 40.9 dBA; the acoustics are comparable to that of a low hum.
Thermals and Acoustics with a 75W Power Limit
With power draw reduced to 75W on AMD’s Ryzen 7 7700X, this thermal load shouldn’t be difficult for most coolers. This is roughly the amount of power the Ryzen 7 7700X CPU will use during gaming, and it’s also the maximum power consumption of AMD’s non-X Ryzen 7 CPU.
In this situation, the temperature of the CPU isn’t very important – even the most basic coolers should be capable of handling the heat of a 75W power limit. It’s no surprise that DeepCool’s AK620 ties with other coolers for the best results we’ve seen in this scenario. What’s really important in a power-limited scenario like this are noise levels. And with a measurement of 37.3dBA, the AK620 runs nice and quiet.
Conclusion
DeepCool’s AK620 Digital provides the same quality performance as the previous AK620 model, but adds an LCD display that looks great and lets you monitor CPU temperature and utilization statistics. It’s nice to see a company take risks on non-traditional designs. The only downside of this model is that the added display raises the price. But for those looking for the best value, DeepCool’s non-digital AK620 remains available at a more affordable price.