Introduction
DeepCool was founded in 1996 with the mission of providing high-performance PC hardware and thermal solutions for enthusiasts. They are based in Beijing with manufacturing facilities in Shenzhen and ship their products across the world. Product lines include cooling solutions, cases, power supplies, mice, and keyboards.
On our test bench today is DeepCool Assassin 4S. It is the little brother to the Assassin IV and sports a single fan while focusing on delivering performance, quietly. Glancing through DeepCool’s other CPU air coolers, we believe they aim for this to be one of their deadliest (Ed: You’re really going to run with this name thing, aren’t you?).
We’ll strap it to our air cooling test platform that is built around a Ryzen 7 2700X processor with a manufacturer-claimed TDP of 105W. This should provide a reasonable usage case that we are likely to see with some of today’s most demanding air-cooled CPU coolers.
DeepCool Assassin 4S Overview
The Assassin 4S cooler is an air cooler that is designed to work on a wide variety of sockets, including Intel’s LGA2066/1700/115x/1200/2011/2011-3 and AMD’s AM4/AM5. This should give broad coverage of all current-generation CPUs on the market.
Heatsink
Assassin 4S sports seven heat pipes that meet in a heat spreader to attach to the CPU. The pipes extend up into an aluminum-finned, nickel-plated dual tower that fully encases it. The entire assembly is black and does not have any LED bling attached to it, which allows it to remain stealthy even under power.
DeepCool emphasizes the use of the black finish as a way to demonstrate sophisticated elegance and simplicity. The cooler includes a tool to assist with the installation so you don’t have to find that long screwdriver you keep in the bottom of the tool drawer out in the shed.
Fan
DeepCool includes a single 140mm fan that drops into the center of the cooler sporting the model number DFr1402512CH. The fan supports a fan speed of 500 to 1800 RPM in performance mode and 500 to 1450 RPM in quiet mode (based on your selection of the switch on the top of the unit at a reported noise level of 29.3 and 22.6 dB(A) for performance and quiet mode respectively. The stated airflow maximum is 61.25 and 48.55 CFM at a static pressure of 3.76 and 2.46 mmH20 using 3.6 and 2.4W of power all respective to performance vs quiet mode. MTTF is not provided and it uses a 4-pin PWM connector and sport Fluid Dynamic bearings. Given its rounded frame, we do not see the fan listed as a separate SKU that’s available for sale.
The Assassin 4S presents itself as a large black cube that leverages its color to make it look like an attendee of the 5th Annual Ninja Convention (Ed: I heard that was a sell-out). It looks quite similar to the Iceberg Thermal G6 Stealth that we looked at a few months back. Let’s move on now to our test setup and installation of the Assassin 4S.
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
Installation was a relatively straightforward event – add the cross bars and drop the cooler on it and tighten the screws with the provided screwdriver. The interior fan dropped in easily and the top plate attached with a slight press. Of note, if you intend on using the performance vs quiet mode switch on the top, you’ll need to make sure it gets wired up between the fan and board. With everything comfortably situated, let’s see if the Assassin 4S is ready to be cool!