DeepCool AK620 G2 Digital NYX: A Must Have from DeepCool
DeepCool has recently launched the AK620 G2. Yes, G2. You read it right. G2 reminds me of the new generation of coolers from Noctua as well. Anyhow, coming back to the main topic of discussion, the new cooler is now available in multiple configurations:
- AK620 G2
- AK620 G2 White
- AK620 G2 Digital NYX
The regular white and black variants come with a wooden texture on the top that would bode well with wooden-themed PC Cases, particularly from Fractal Design. I have got an AK620 Digital NYX variant. As the name indicates, this cooler has a quad-segmented display on top.
The new generation has a slightly small size compared to previous generation AK620 coming from improved heat pipes design and efficient heatsink design. It is a dual tower configuration in 120mm size and comes with two 120mm fans. For me, the most impressive design element is the offset mounting plate providing AM5 and LGA1700/1851 offset without dedicated mounting hardware. This is next-level design in my opinion, where DeepCool has perfected the design originated by Noctua.
DeepCool has emphasized on AI-based cooling performance regulation, where powerful monitoring software automatically adjusts the speed of the fans and primarily focuses on providing silent performance and ramps the fans up when CPU temperature exceeds 80°C.
The cooler is compatible with the Intel LGA1700/1200/115x/20xx and AMD AM4/AM5 sockets. The digital edition is black color coated all around. This cooler has an MSRP of USD 74.99 and comes with a 3-year warranty.
Specifications
Packaging
DeepCool uses standard packaging for all products. This cooler is no exception. It comes inside a cardboard brown box which has a paper overleaf showing the picture of the cooler, its specifications and features. The cooler itself is nicely tucked between Styrofoam pads.
The following come inside the accessory box:
- 1x Intel Metallic Backplate
- 2x AMD Mounting Brackets
- 2x Intel Mounting Brackets
- 4x AMD Standoff Screws
- 4x Intel Standoff Screws
- 4x Nuts
- 1x Thermal Paste Tube
- 2x Fan Clips
- 1x Screw Driver
Design
Let’s take a look at the cooler.
The overall dimension of the assembled cooler is 127x144x159mm(LxWxH). This is definitely a small footprint compared to 129x138x162mm (LxWxH) on AK620 Digital Black. The dimension of the heat sink is only 125x115x153mm (LxWxH). It is again a small footprint compared to 127x110x157mm (LxWxH) on the AK620 Digital Black edition. The net weight of the cooler is 1386 g, which is 100 g less weight compared to the last generation digital cooler.
Looking at the top of the cooler, you can see a white label indicating to download the control software from DeepCool on one tower. This tower has a high-end-quad-segmented digital display. The second tower has a DeepCool teal branding symbol. You can admire the slim design of the towers along with a clean, sleek outlook. The silver frame along the top reflective body gives good vibes.
You need a spare USB 2.0 header on your motherboard to connect the cooler’s USB 2.0 connector so that software control can be activated.
I am showing the front view of the front tower. It has an offset heatsink design with 38 fins on the main area and 14 fins on the inset area. This is done to provide good enough clearance for the RAM. The main area has a wave waveform fin design, whereas the inset area has a straight line pattern. The silver top cover has a bold design.
The rear side of the cooler has the same signature matrix fin array design that I have been seeing on DeepCool’s other coolers and the previous generation of AK620. This design reduces the air drag and improves the airflow.
The left and right sides of the towers are identical in layout. The fins have an interlocking mechanism on the sides. The middle section has an inset, and the sides havea raised surface. This is where the heads of the fan clips are rested on.
The inner sides of both towers are identical. They have a wave format fin design. The cables from the top cover are routed along the center of the heatsink. The fins there are designed to catch these cables for clean management and routing.
The DeepCool AK620 G2 Digital NYX has 6x copper heat pipes. Each pipe has a 6mm thickness. These are nickel-plated black. The assembly seems soldered. They are making an evenly spread-out contact with the fins.
The base has a protective cover over it. Gladly, DeepCool has stopped printing the dimensions on the sticker that was a source of confusion. The precision-machined copper base is nickel-coated. It is almost a mirror finish. The base is in a convex layout. The placement of copper pipes inside the base assembly is also a key point. It seems like the exposed copper portion of the heat pipes makes a direct contact with the base top surface, and it is a continuous contact method wherein there is no gap between any two pipes.
Now, I am showing the cross-bar or mounting plate installed over the base. It has two columns of holes, with each column having 3 rows. The idea is simple. The middle holes are in the default position and don’t provide any offset mounting. However, using the last set of holes (as shown in the picture) is for AM5 offset, providing maximum coverage over the actual die area, which is the heat source on AM5. Similarly, the top set of holes is for Intel LGA1851 offset mounting.
Hats off to the DeepCool design team for coming out with such a streamlined design whereby dependency on dedicated mounting hardware for offset mounting is eliminated, and the design is integrated right into the cooler.
FANS
DeepCool has bundled two custom-designed non-RGB 120mm black fans with this cooler.
The peculiar design element of these fans is the all black color scheme and square frame of these fans. Each fan has 7x blades (9 blades on FC120 fans with the last generation). The center has a DeepCool branding. Each mounting corner has a slim anti-vibration pad which runs to entire height of the fan.
Dotted design arrow markers show the direction in which blades spin and the direction of airflow through the fan.
A look at the backside of the fan shows a sloped design on the border. Each fan draws 0.22A at 12VDC. They are made in China and use Hydro bearings. The power rating on the specifications shows 0.19A for each fan. Seems like 0.22A isthe maximum current rating.
Each fan has a flat cable with a 4-pin PWM connector.
Both fans can be daisy-chained to be controlled via a single source.
A few pictures of the assembled cooler.
Installation
We are not covering the installation steps. You can use the user guide for that purpose. I only report my observations during the installation and removal of the cooler. Installation of this cooler on AM5 is a straightforward process, and I had no issues.
Clearance
We need to look at the clearance from multiple angles. Let’s start with the RAM.
The heatsink provides a universal clearance for the RAM. The fan will sit on top of a 44mm tall kit without disturbing the overall height of the cooler. However, any taller kit would require the front fan to be slid upward, increasing the overall height of the cooler.
There is no issue with respect to the first PCIe x16 slot on the ASRock X870E NOVA WiFi motherboard.
The cooler has no clearance issue with respect to the rear and top of the motherboard.
The height of the cooler is 159mm. Keep this in mind while planning your build with respect to the PC Chassis.
Software and Display
This cooler features a high-end quad-segmented display on the top. You need to download the DeepCool software from the website.
The software has a simple interface with easy navigation. It shows the stats of the main components of your build, along with the build summary or configuration. The software detects the cooler on the next system boot (yes restart after installation is needed).
DeepCool has used AI-based cooling using this software. You have the option to disable the motherboard sync, which would disable the BIOS fan settings. Then you can use the AI Smart mode to control the cooling aspects of the cooler. The fans will remain silent most of the time, depending on the load. They will be put to full speed only when CPU temperature reaches 80°C.
The quad segmented means, the display screen (29x39mm size) shows four stats of CPU:
- Temperature
- Load/Usage
- Power Consumption
- Speed of Frequency
Above are a few test build pictures.
Testing
The following configuration is used for thermal testing:
- AMD Ryzen 9 9900X [243W, 200W]
- ASRock X870E NOVA WiFi
- GSkill TridentZ NEO RGB 32GB 6400MHz CL30 DDR5 kit
- ASRock Phantom Gaming RX 7600 Graphics Card for Display
- Biwin X570 Pro 4TB PCIe Gen5 NVMe SSD
- Fractal Design ION+2 860W Platinum PSU
- Thermaltake Core P6 TG Snow Edition in an open frame layout
Here is the settings table for testing:
| Settings | PBO Enabled [243W] 200 for this cooler |
| Clock (MHz) | Auto |
| Voltage (V) | Auto |
| Thermal Paste | Noctua NT-H2 |
| Thermal Paste Application | Dots Method |
| Test Run Time | 30 minutes |
| Idling Time | 10 minutes |
| All Fans Speed | 100% PWM Duty Cycle |
| Pump Speed | |
| Stress Software | CINEBENCH R23.2 |
| Monitoring Software | HWINFO64 |
I am reporting absolute temperature in the graph because the room temperature was at 22°C throughout the day. The testing is done on an open-air bench system. Once inside the chassis, the temperatures are expected to rise and would largely depend upon the optimal airflow inside the chassis.
Result
The graph may sound confusing, but arrow markers show the AK620 G2 Digital NYX entries. I have tested the cooler on the default mounting position and then repeated the tests with AM5 offset mounting.
By default, this cooler did 92°C on AMD Ryzen 9 9900X operating at a whopping 243W. This is not an easy task. When I repeated the test with a 200W package load, the AK620 G2 Digital NYX did a marvellous 82.6°C.
Then, I switched to AM5 offset mounting on this cooler and bang! On 243W load, the cooler did 90.1°C, and on 200W load it did 80.9°C. Cooler has a fantastic all-round performance.
Conclusion
Say hello to AK620-G2 Digital NYX from DeepCool, a next-generation, high-performance CPU Air cooler with a relatively small footprint compared to last last-generation AK620 Digital cooler. This is a dual-tower, dual-fan configuration that has been completely refined. The socket support is Intel LGA1851/1700/1200/115x and AMD AM4/AM5.
This cooler has a dimension of 127x144x159mm (LxWxH) with fans. The heatsink itself has a dimension of 125x115x153 mm (LxWxH). This clearly shows the relatively small footprint when we compare with the last gen AK620 that has a dimension of 129x138x162mm (LxWxH). It also weighs 100 g less than its predecessor.
The heatsink comprises of 52 fins per tower, with the front tower having a 38+14 fin design. The 14 fins have an inset to provide universal RAM clearance. DeepCool has used black coated 6×6 mm thick heat pipes, and the assembly seems soldered. The precision-machined copper base is nickel-coated. The heat pipes make a continuous contact with the base using exposed copper.
The salient feature is the offset mounting concept integrated into the cross-bar or mounting plate of the heatsink that eliminates the requirement of dedicated offset mounting brackets. This not only reduces the cost but streamlines the efficient design. DeepCool has perfected the offset concept from Noctua.
One of the top covers features a high-end quad-segmented display that shows 4x stats of your CPU. The AI-focused software allows users to enjoy silent fans, which only ramp up when CPU temperature reaches 80°C. The software has the function of overriding the fan BIOS settings.
Two non-RGB 120mm fans are provided with the cooler. They are rated for up to 2000 ±10% RPM speed with a stop function as well. The airflow rating is 57.76 CFM at an air pressure rating of 2.78 mmAq. They use a Hydro bearing. The noise level is rated at ≤28.87 dB(A). DeepCool has mentioned ACT technology (Activate Clearing Tech), where, within 8 seconds of power-on, automatic dust clearing for both the fan blades and heatsink is initiated. I am not sure what this is about, to be honest.
The display module has a power rating of 0.13A±10% at 5VDC taking a size of 29x39mm and having a power consumption of 0.65W.
The overall installation of this cooler on AMD AM5 is simple and requires 10 items for the mounting kit. There is no clearance issue either on this cooler. The height is 159mm, which is also compatible withthe majority of PC Cases. DeepCool may look into reducing the number of items required for installation.
This cooler has an MSRP of USD 74.99. It has a warranty period of 3 years. Speaking of performance, this slim design was able to withstand the heavy 243W load on 9900X. The overall feature set, noise level, thermal performance, digital display, and streamlined offset mounting make this cooler a must-have for your build.
Pros
- Excellent Thermal Performance in Small Size
- Refined Design
- High-End-Quad-Segmented Digital Display
- AI Featured Thermal Regulation
- Wave Fins Layout
- Matrix Fins Array Layout
- RAM Clearance
- 159mm Height
- Offset Mounting
- AMD AM5 Support
- Intel LGA1851 Support
- Noise
- Price
- Warranty
Cons:
- None
