Tom's Hardware Verdict
The DeepCool AK620 provides excellent CPU cooling at low noise levels, making it a great premium large air cooling option for less than the competition. While not exactly in budget territory at $69, it delivers similar performance as premium big-name coolers for about 30% less.
Pros
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+ Great cooling potential
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+ Low noise
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+ Excellent alternative to top-of-the-line air coolers
Cons
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Although lower than most of its competitors, price is still substantial
Why you can trust Tom's Hardware
DeepCool has been delivering some impressive and interesting cooling solutions as of late, and the company’s newest heatpipe air cooler looks to continue that trend. It features a pair of 120mm fans and six heatpipes extending into a handsomely designed, standard twin-tower layout that is pleasingly devoid of RGB, allowing the cooler’s striking aesthetics to make a statement on their own.
Priced at $69.99, the AK620 also undercuts some of its largest rivals in price and performance comparisons, and sticks to a no-frills design mantra of satin black fans, handsome heat stack top pieces, nickel-plated cooling towers. This cooler is a must-buy if premium $100 heatsinks are a bit beyond your budget.
Specifications
Height | 6.38" / 162.1mm |
Width | 5.1" / 130mm |
Depth | 4.25" / 108mm (5.38" / 136.7mm w/fan) |
Base Height | 2.25" / 57.2mm |
Assy. Offset | 0.0 centered (1.1" / 27.9mm front w/fan) |
Cooling Fans | (2) 120 x 25mm |
Connectors | (2) 4-pin PWM |
Weight | 41.9 oz /1188g |
Intel Sockets | 115x, 1200, 2011, 2066 |
AMD Sockets | FM2(+), FM1, AM2(+), AM3(+), AM4 |
Warranty | 3 years |
Web Price | $70 |
DeepCool ships the AK620 with what seems to be a minimal set of shiny, nickel-plated hardware, but what's here ends up supporting a large variety of both AMD and Intel desktop CPU sockets. An Intel backplate for sockets 115x/1200, screwdriver, PWM splitter and small syringe of an unnamed DeepCool thermal compound are also included in the box. On the AMD side, FM1, FM2(+) and AM2(+)-AM4 are supported.
When we wrote this, the DeepCool site wasn't updated with this new cooler listed under its warranty coverage matrix, which lists its other flagship air coolers, the Assassin III and AS500, with up to 3 years of coverage. But reaching out to a company representative, we were told that the AK620 is indeed covered under a 3-year warranty.
The AK620 features six nickel-plated copper heatpipes which extend from the cooler base up into both towers of the twin fin stack configuration. Heatpipe separation between the left and right towers allows for optimal dissipation into the cooling fins.
The AK620 is capped on each cooling tower with a pair of decorative cap plates featuring a simplified DeepCool logo nestled in each corner, on a pixel-like backdrop.
The cooling fins of the AK620 are also cut and contoured on each external face, providing a physical pattern that adds to the modern industrial design of the cooler.
A pair of 120mm FK120 PWM fans are included in the box, rated by DeepCool up to 1850RPM. They secure to the side of the heatsink using spring tension clips. Each fan comes fitted with rubber fan mount pads to aid with noise isolation, and as we mentioned earlier, the cooler is devoid of RGB/aRGB lighting.
The six, nickel plated pipes of the AK620 cooler collect between the fixed mounting plate and the cooler cold plate. The mounting hardware has fixed spring tension screws where the cooler secures to the socket mounting cross beams.
The AK620 allows for taller memory DIMMs, thanks to its notched profile, where the fins shart out small and then widen out as the heatpipes extend into the cooling towers. This gives the AK620 good compatibility for most memory setups. This also adds to the interesting overall look of the cooler.
The base of the AK620 is extremely flat; we are unable to find any spots of light peeking beneath our steel rule and the nickel-plated cold plate of the cooler.
Similar to most heatpipe coolers, the DeepCool AK620 utilizes standoffs and cross mounting beams to provide a secure base for the cooler’s pair of spring-tension screws that hold it securely in place.
With the cooler secured, the pair of FK120 PWM fans can be clipped into position and adjusted as needed for memory clearance. The notched cutouts for memory height clearance in both the front and rear of the cooling tower can be seen easily from the side profile, especially once the cooler has been mounted and the fans positioned in reference to installed system memory modules.
The milled base allows for a consistent thermal compound spread, once the cooler is properly tensioned.
Garrett Carver is a contributor for Tom’s Hardware, primarily covering thermal compound comparisons and CPU cooling reviews; both air and liquid, including multiple variations of each.
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rubix_1011 I really liked this cooler - almost Noctua NH-D15 and DeepCool Assassin III performance (within a couple degrees C) but for $30 cheaper.Reply
And that's for 10-core overclock on i9-10850k. For most other CPUs, the gap would likely be even smaller. -
2Be_or_Not2Be I'd like to get an air cooler that is <= 150mm. I like ITX cases, and while they often are space-constrained, some do allow for decently sized air coolers (like the NR200). It seems that 155mm is often the limit, though, and most of the top air coolers seem to be >= 155mm. The Noctua NH-D15 is 160mm & 165mm with the fan. So just a few mm shorter would really help with these style of ITX cases.Reply -
rubix_1011 For those, you're looking at 2 specific restrictions:Reply
lower height means much less memory DIMM clearance, making it difficult to fit anything but low-profile RAM
down-draft style coolers, something like this: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/be-quiet-dark-rock-tf-2-review -
RodroX DeepCool may not be as high-end like Noctua or beQuiet, but I could not be more happy with my budget Gammaxx GTE.Reply -
TheDane
The NH-D15 is 6 degrees cooler at 50% and has lower fan speed and is about 1/2 as noisy. Not close.rubix_1011 said:almost Noctua NH-D15 -
vinay2070 Whats the difference between Core Delta T and PWM Delta T? Thanks. I wish a there was a master chart with all entries to see where my noctua U14S sits at.Reply -
rubix_1011 TheDane said:The NH-D15 is 6 degrees cooler at 50% and has lower fan speed and is about 1/2 as noisy. Not close.
Less than 4C at 100%. Also, its $30 cheaper than everything else in the same performance bracket and performs nearly as well.
So, yes, if this is about semantics of a few degrees Celsius and that discrepancy is a big issue to overcome, as a buyer, you're likely not looking at this cooler anyway and have already decided on something 'better'. -
drlava Great, thorough review. I picked up one of these for my new AM5 system this 'Black Friday' for $42. A smashing deal compared to the NH-D15 at $140 (Both newegg prices).Reply