Our chassis of choice is the Fractal Design Meshify 2 case that Leo reviewed and scored very highly. We like this chassis thanks to its high airflow optimisation and well-vented front and top panels. There is a standard 3-pin connector cable that can be used to connect the cooler directly to the motherboard’s 5V header. It also supports the GIGABYTE older motherboards with a 3-pin format. DeepCool AS500 Plus 4-pin fan connectors We decided to test using a chassis as we feel that this is most representative of real-world use cases. It does have some unwanted influences on the test data, as does open-air test bench testing. But we feel that this is a worthwhile trade-off for real-world chassis performance of the coolers. The key feature is the magnetically mounted pump cover with 14-LED D-RGB lighting system and tempered glass infinity mirror. The pump cover’s proprietary RGB connector is adapted into a 3-pin 5V RGB header but it can also be daisy-chained with other Phanteks RGB products. Note the use of delta temperature data in our charts and factor in your own ambient conditions for reference.

Finally, we finish off with the Cooler Master and Arctic dual-tower units. Undeniably, these two disappointed. The MA624 looks to be struggling due to its relatively low speed fans and less preferential heatpipe orientation given its dual-tower design. And the Artic Freezer 50 looks to have hit a point whereby the 5950X’s highly concentrated heat load is a little too much for the dual-tower oriented HDT base to deal with effectively. The Asetek-design Phanteks 360mm unit tops our chart with an impressive performance result of around 80C actual load temperature. G.SKILL’s 360mm unit is a few degrees behind, but this is slightly disappointing given its higher noise output at 100% fan speed. The overall performance benefits of Asetek’s premium system design for Phanteks are a factor here. Deepcool uses their silent TF140S fans on the AS500 which surprisingly gave the Noctua NH-U12A a a good competition in terms of performance. As 140mm fans, pushing them to max 1200RPM doesn’t cause much noise increase. Our board does tune the fans to rev up only at 700RPM at lighter loads with heavier loads at 800RPM for the AMD test. For Intel, it average 1000RPM under load, topping out 1200RPM for the AVX test which was still dead silent. DeepCool AS500 PLUS WH CPU Cooler Review Chassis Fans: 2x140mm 1000 RPM Fractal Front Intake, 1x140mm 1000 RPM Fractal Rear Exhaust, 1x140mm 1000 RPM be quiet! Pure Wings 2 Roof Exhaust (for air cooler testing) We also test each cooler with at least two fresh installs (typically three) to mitigate the likelihood of a dodgy mount spoiling results.

DeepCool is using a 3-pin proprietary connector on the digital RGB cables. There is a Sync cable provided as well which allows the solution to be connected to the digital RGB headers on the supported motherboards. The lighting aurora is quite pleasant and subtle to my liking. This goes hand in hand with the overall white color on the cooler. This is too good an anesthetic to have! The AS500 Plus White has a height of 164mm making it compatible with most of the mid-tower chassis out there if not all. It has zero RAM incompatibility and no interference for the first x6 PCIe slot. The first result that really surprised us was the DeepCool AS500 Plus. With Noctua NH-D15 matching levels of performance, this single-tower, cost-effective air cooler with preferential noise levels is punching well above its weight. This looks to be an inherent benefit of the single tower cooler design versus the restrictions placed on dual tower coolers. The MA624 has excellent low-noise fans to thank for its ability to complete this test. With minimal reduction in fan speed required to hit the 40dBA target, Cooler Master’s performance barely flinches and therefore still manages to come in just around the 100C level.

Overall, this is not a great installation procedure and the orientation flexibility is limited due to the G.SKILL logo Not every run of the stress test may yield the same result. This could well be due to many factors like mounting pressure, thermal paste application, varying ambient temperature. Not to mention the silicon differences even among the same category of the chips. Hence, it is pertinent to mention the testing methodology along with the specifics. The chassis fans are disabled, all case panels are on, and the sound meter is placed 12 inches from the side of the Fractal chassis’ glass side panel – roughly where a desk user will be sat. G.SKILL highlights higher radiator density as one of the Enki’s key features. The horizontal radiator pipes are spaced approximately 6mm apart which is denser than the competing AIO coolers we are looking at in this test. To power air through this dense fin array are 3 120mm, 9-bladed fans that operate at up to 2100 RPM using a 4-pin PWM connector. Ambient is maintained around 22-24 degrees Celsius. Where there is variation beyond this temperature range, we add in extra repeated tests to ensure consistency.The 240mm AIO coolers and IceGiant ProSiphon Elite all perform very similarly with real temperature levels running at 90C or just above. While it is expensive, I have to give IceGiant a fair deal of credit here. The ProSiphon Elite is matching 240mm liquid coolers even when its particularly dense fin array is hampered by reduced fan speeds. Plus, I also think it’s reasonable to re-emphasise that this thermosiphon cooler is designed for significantly higher heat loads than the sub-250W figure that we are throwing at it.

Overall, a reasonably straightforward installation process, but the attachment method for the central fan could do with improvement. AIO still rules this chart and Cougar’s budget 240mm AIO also deserves a shout-out. But preferential heatpipe orientation delivers the goods for DeepCool. And IceGiant still puts in a solid showing despite being hampered by low fan speeds and a thermal load that is less than ideal for its thermosiphon technology.

Test Results – Intel

RAM clearance is deceptively good at 48mm, though you will have to install modules before the cooler given its design. Impressively, the unit ships with a 10-year warranty which is market-leading for a cooler and a confidence-inspiring indication of quality and durability. The left and right sides of the heatsink are identical in layout. The fins have a joint assembly here. The middle section has an inset and the sides have raised surfaces. This is where the heads of the fan clips are rested on. The width of the heatsink on the sides is 49mm. DeepCool AS500 Plus Heatsink There is a PWM Y-splitter cable allowing the user to connect both fans to a single source. Closer Look at DeepCool AS500 Plus I appreciate DeepCool’s design team reducing the installation steps and making the installation process convenient. DeepCool AS500 Plus Installation Deepcool has provided a dedicated controller with the cooler. The controller is using a proprietary 3-pin connector for the cable coming from the heatsink. The controller is SATA powered. DeepCool AS500 Plus Controller