Test Setup
We will use our standard air cooler test rig which you can read more about in this article. We’ve made a pair of changes by swapping in a Radeon R9 290X in the graphics slot and upgrading the test bench to a Lian Li PC-T60B. The new test bench gives a bit more ventilation and improves heat transfer by being aluminum instead of MDF.
We are using a Ryzen 7 2700X set to all core frequencies of 3.7GHz and 4.1GHz with PBO disabled to allow for a constant level of heat production. We will run loops of CineBench R20 at various fan levels and record the observed temperatures. We will also compare it to the other coolers we have tested thus far.
Installation
DeepCool says the AK400 has an improved installation method that is made easy with a sturdy all-metal mounting bracket and a quick five-step process to safely fasten your cooler on multiple platforms. Installation on the AM4 socket utilizes the standard backplate that comes with your motherboard. Overall, we felt like we needed three hands to hold everything together as the spacer that connects the backplate to the mounting bracket doesn’t exactly stick while you’ve got to have all of them in place to get it secured. Once we were able to get that set and put our third hand back in our pocket, it was quite simple to finish the job.
It would have also been nice to have the bags of parts labeled as the bits for Intel and AMD setups look very similar.
With everything comfortably situated, let’s see if the DeepCool AK400 is ready to be cool!