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No Power Limits Cinebench Results
With Raptor Lake’s i9-13900K pushing speeds of 5.5 GHz or more, even the strongest of coolers hit TJ max while running Cinebench R23 and other demanding scenarios. As the 13900K is designed to aim for its top safe temperature, we’ll be comparing the overall benchmark score and the CPU’s clock speeds instead.
The results below are for a 10-minute testing run. But to be sure that was sufficiently long to tax the cooler, we also retested both Thermalright’s Assassin X 120 R SE and DeepCool’s LT720 with a 30-minute Cinebench test. 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. Looking at this another way, 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.
Because of the difficulty of cooling the i9-13900K in this workload, we feel the best way to compare coolers here is to record the average power consumption of the CPU. Looking at this by total watts cooled only, the AG620 has a cooling advantage of ~30-50W compared to lower-end air coolers. Liquid coolers can of course sustain higher amounts, but not by much. The middle of the pack AIOs cool an additional roughly 20W, and the best performing AIO here – also made by DeepCool – can only handle up to 38W more.
Of course, total cooling capacity isn’t the only consideration in a cooler - how loud it operates is also a significant aspect. As Cinebench R23’s multi-core benchmark will push coolers to their limits, it’s also a great test for recording the worst-case scenario of fan noise levels.
You might notice that our noise charts start at 36dB. This is the noise floor of our testing environment. This makes 36dB our baseline measure, as we’re unable to measure noise levels below this threshold. Keep in mind that noise measurements are logarithmic, meaning the differences between the noise levels of the coolers will more significant than these graphs would suggest.
The AG620 does well here, running quieter than the other air coolers we’ve tested on the i9-13900K, with the exception of Thermalright’s SFF cooler, which has a much lower thermal capacity. It also runs quieter than all liquid coolers we’ve tested in this scenario, save for for Arctic’s Liquid Freezer II.
I would also note that, aside from dB ratings, at full fan speeds I found the noise produced by this cooler to be slightly annoying. The pitch of the fans is whiny compared to other units, which is something that can’t be captured by my noise meter.
We’re also showing the total Cinebench R23 benchmark scores to show how little is lost – or gained – with different cooling solutions. Between the weakest and strongest coolers, we have a total benchmark score variance of roughly 13%.
DeepCool’s AG620 is the strongest air cooler we’ve tested thus far in this benchmark, scoring 38,849K points, which is between between 1,300 and 3, points higher than the lower-end air coolers in this test.
200W Cinebench Results
When restricting power consumption to a more reasonable 200W, the AG620 continues its lead over the lower-end air coolers, by up to 15 degrees Celsius, but falls up to 5 degrees C behind high end 360 mm AIOs.
The acoustic performance of the AG620 was middle of the road at 200W. It wasn't particularly loud, but it wasn’t the quietest result either.
125W Cinebench Results
The lowest power limit I test at is 125W, mainly because this is also the lowest level where I can reliably measure noise measurements. Lower power consumption causes the noise of many CPU coolers to fall below the noise created by the system fans (even while restricted to 35% speed).
When limited to 125W, the AG620 ran silently; the noise profile is essentially indistinguishable from the rest of the system fans. In terms of actual CPU temperature, it’s in the middle of the pack (compared to other units), but as this is a low noise performance scenario there’s no cause for concern.
Conclusion
DeepCool’s AG620 is a solid dual tower air cooler that pairs well with Intel’s Core i9-13900K, handling loads of up to 277W with a total cooling capacity just shy of high end AIOs. At only $54.99 USD, the AG620’s value is hard to beat. But if whining fans bother you, you may want to spend more on something else, or perhaps swap out the included fans for something else with a more pleasing sound signature.
- MORE: How to Buy the Right CPU Cooler
- MORE: How to Overclock a CPU
- MORE: How to Check CPU Temperature
- MORE: All CPU Cooling Content
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