CPS RT500 TC ARGB BK Air Cooler Review
I have been too busy testing liquid coolers that I almost forgot that air coolers exist! Well, pun intended. CPS, aka PCCOOLER, has sent us their value-oriented, entry-level air cooler named RT500 TC ARGB. Quite a long and strange name it is! This cooler is available in non-RGB but with a digital display on top, hence named RT500 Digital.
This cooler comes with a slim heatsink providing an offset mounting for universal RAM clearance. Heatsink comprises 5x heat pipes, each having 6mm thickness. The base does not make direct contact with the CPU, but the exposed copper portion of the heatpipes makes direct contact. CPS uses a high-performance ARGB fan in this cooler.
This cooler is rated for 245W TDP, which sounds more than what this cooler can handle. Anyhow, we shall see about it in the testing section. This cooler has an MSRP of €39.99. The non-RGB version has an MSRP of USD 31.99, but is listed on Amazon at USD 29.99, so I guess the ARGB version would be around USD 39 or so. I don’t have the warranty data on this cooler.
The cooler is compatible with the Intel LGA1700/1200/115x and AMD AM4/AM5 sockets.
Specifications
Packaging
The shipping box has a CPS standard silver color theme all around. Accessories are provided in a separate box. The fan does not come pre-installed over the heatsink.
The following are provided:
- 1x Cooler
- 1x Intel Backplate
- 1x Set of Intel Mounting Brackets
- 1x Set of AMD Mounting Brackets
- 4x Standoffs for sockets
- 4x Nut Screws
- 2x Fan Clips
- 1x Thermal Paste Container
- 1x User Manual
Closer Look
Let’s take a look at the cooler.
The overall dimension of the assembled cooler is 120x70x152mm (LxWxH). This cooler has a height of 152mm, making it compatible with the majority of PC Cases on the market. This is a single tower design in 120mm size. The net weight of the cooler is not mentioned. The complete assembly is in black, hence the name BK at the end of the name.
Heatsink
The top of the cooler has a plastic cover. The cover has CPS branding, and triangular elements are visible on the side and at the base, which has a large triangle shape as well. This is CPS branding, providing elegance and style. They also call it tri-force.
I am showing the front side of the heatsink. You can see that 54x fins are in a straight line pattern. This is the air intake side of the heatsink. The complete fins assembly is black in color. The center has an inset.
I am showing the backside view of the heatsink. The fin stack comprises 54 fins in a wave pattern. This generates maximum airflow while reducing the air drag. The complete assembly is soldered, which CPS has mentioned as a welded heatsink. This is the area from which the hot air will be exhausted from the system.
The left and right sides of the tower are identical in layout. The fins have a joint assembly here. The insets on the sides are there to catch the clips of the fan. Note that CPS did not provide extra clips to mount the optional second fan.
This cooler has 5x 6mm thick copper heat pipes, which are also in black. They are placed inside the heatsink in groups of 3 and 2, respectively. Their placement provides maximum contact and coverage with the fins assembly.
The mounting plate has 10 fins on the top that act like a heat diffuser. Two spring-loaded screws are pre-installed on the crossbar or mounting plate.
The cooler has offset mounting that gives you universal RAM clearance.
The exposed copper of the heat pipes makes direct contact with the CPU, ensuring direct and efficient heat transfer from the CPU to the pipes to the fin assembly.
Fan
The fan has 7x translucent blades with ARGB LEDs in the center of the fan. The center has CPS branding as well. The frame has a sloping design on the borders. The mounting holes have large anti-vibration pads. The main frame has a square design.
The cool design is that the arrow markers are also mentioned in the tri-force design. These arrow markers show the direction of airflow through the fan and the direction in which the blades spin.
The backside of the frame has the same anti-vibration pads as are on the front. You can see a 4-armed assembly. Each arm is angular, providing a directed flow. The fan has a 0.2A power rating at 12VDC.
The fan is PWM regulated, and the ARGB lighting is regulated using standard 3-pin, 5V ARGB connectors.
The fan’s specification includes:
| Dimension | 120x120x25mm |
| Speed | 500 to 2200 ±10% RPM |
| Air Flow | 73.32 CFM |
| Air Pressure | 3.28 mmH₂O |
| Noise | 34.9 dBA |
| Rated Current | 0.2A |
| Rated Voltage | 12VDC |
| Power | 2.4W |
| LED Rated Current | ≤0.25A |
| LED Power | ≤1.25W |
Installation
We are not covering installation steps anymore. Consult the user manual for that. We only provide observations noted during the installation process. Installing this cooler on the AMD AM5 socket is easy, and we did not record any issues.
Clearance
We need to look at the clearance from multiple angles. Let’s start with the RAM.
This cooler has a universal RAM clearance.
There is no issue with respect to the first PCIe x16 slot on ASRock X870E NOVA WiFi.
The heatsink is not obstructing the thicker rear IO cover on this motherboard. There is enough clearance with respect to the motherboard’s top.
The height of the cooler is 152mm. Keep this in mind while planning your build with respect to the PC Chassis.
ARGB Lighting
This cooler uses standard ARGB connectors, making it compatible with the RGB sync technology of various motherboard manufacturers.
Testing
The following configuration is used for thermal testing:
- AMD Ryzen 9 9900X [243W, 170W]
- 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] 170W 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
*Please Note: While the graph below shows all other coolers tested at 243W, the CPU RT500 was tested on stock power, which is 168-170W.
The RT500 TC ARGB BK cooler could not handle the tormented 243W all-core load on the CPU and instantly went to 95⁰C, which is the thermal junction of the CPU. Hence cooler failed this test. Then I tested the cooler on stock power (168 to 170W) on 9900x, and the cooler did a fine job. Also, the gaming load is easy for this cooler to manage.
Conclusion
I have tested a value-oriented, entry-level air cooler from CPS. It is RT500 TC ARGB BK. This cooler is also available in a non-RGB Digital edition in black. Apparently, this cooler is not available in white. This is a single tower configuration in a 120mm size.
This cooler is compatible with Intel LGA115x/1200/1700/1851 and AMD AM4/AM5 sockets. I appreciate the use of a streamlined mounting kit, reducing the need for dedicated standoffs as such. A single set of standoffs and nuts applies to all supported sockets.
The complete assembly is black in color and coated. The fin stack comprises some 54 fins, as per my poor eyesight. CPS has used 5x heat pipes. These have a thickness of 6mm each. The base has a direct contact method in which the exposed copper portion of the heat pipes makes a direct and continuous contact with the CPU, providing efficient heat transfer. The offset placement of the cross-bar provides universal RAM clearance.
CPS has provided a single 120mm ARGB black fan with two metal clips. No additional clips are provided for the optional second fan. This fan is rated for up to 2200 RPM, generating airflow of 73.32 CFM at an air pressure of 3.28mmH₂O. The noise rating is 34.9 dBA. The fan is PWM regulated, and CPS has used standard connectors for the ARGB lighting.
The front fan is rated for 2200±10% RPM, generating 86.7 CFM airflow and carries a static pressure rating of 3.2 mmH₂O. It has a dimension of 150x120x25mm. It uses FDB bearing and comes with a power rating of 2.4W. The middle fan has a dimension of 140x140x30mm. It has a speed rating of 1500±10% RPM, generating 71.9 CFM at a static pressure of 2.12mmH₂O. Its power rating is 1.2W.
The overall installation of this cooler on AMD AM5 is simple and requires 8 items for the mounting kit. There is no clearance issue either on this cooler. The height is 152mm, which is also compatible with the majority of PC Cases.
This cooler has an MSRP of €39.99 / USD 39. This cooler is not designed for Intel Core i9 or Ryzen 9 series SKUs. It is best suited for Intel Core i5/7 and Ryzen 7 series CPUs. The cooler has struggled on my 9900X operating at 243W. However, it handled the 170W load comfortably as well as the gaming load. If you are on a budget and looking for a formidable option, this cooler is for you.
Pros
- Slim Design
- Single Tower
- Decent Thermal Performance
- ARGB lighting
- Wave Fins Layout
- Universal RAM Clearance
- 152mm Height
- Noise
Cons:
- None as such
