DeepCool LS320 Review: Small Size, Medium Bite
Founded in 1996 in Beijing, DeepCool has a solid reputation in the CPU cooler field. Assassin III When AK620, considered some of the best air coolers on the market. The company’s lineup includes both air coolers and his AIO coolers, as well as computer cases, keyboards, power supplies, and other accessories.
Most AIOs on the market are based on Asetek designs, but DeepCool is one of the few companies with their own in-house pump design. DeepCool has sent us the new LS320, a 120mm AIO liquid cooler featuring their latest generation in-house design, with the cooler retailing at $89.99.
In the past, I’ve avoided 120mm AIOs due to their generally limited cooling potential.However, we previously tested the larger 240mm LS520 I’m impressed with how well it handles Intel’s Core i9-12900K. Is the LS320’s redesigned pump system enough to overcome the small radiator shortcomings and earn our spot? best aio cooler list? To find out, we need to do some testing. But first, here are the specifications for DeepCool.
DeepCool LS520 Specifications
cooler | Deep Cool LS320 |
Manufacturer’s suggested retail price | $89.99 USD |
Radiator dimensions | 159×120×27mm |
net weight | 1003g |
Socket compatibility | Intel Socket LGA 115X / 1200 / 1700 / 2011 / 2066 |
AMD AM4/AM5 | |
Rated noise level | Up to 32.9dBA |
CPU block | copper |
Packing and inclusions
DeepCool’s LS320 ships in a small, roughly square box packed with molded cardboard and a soft plastic cover to protect the individual parts.
Package includes:
- CPU block and radiator
- 1x FC120 120mm fan
- Mount for all modern CPU sockets including LGA1700, TR4 and AM4/AM5 motherboards
- Customizable blank plate for CPU block
- Manual & Support Brochure
- 2x coolant line clips
Installation of cooler
Installing DeepCool’s LS320 was fairly straightforward. First, fix the radiator to the case. On these smaller 120mm AIOs, the radiator is often mounted in the rear exhaust of the case, but we mounted it on top for comparison with the larger coolers. For more information on radiator and fan placement, see PC airflow guideOnce the radiator and fan are installed, press the backplate against the motherboard and attach the standoffs. The thermal paste is pre-applied to the CPU block so you don’t have to worry about it. Press the CPU block onto the standoffs and secure using the provided thumbscrews.
New test configuration
cooler | DeepCool LS320, 120mm AIO |
Comparison Coolers Tested | BeQuiet Pure Loop 2 FX, 360mm AIO |
Cooler Master Master Liquid PL360 Flux 360mm AIO | |
Cooler Master Master Liquid PL240 Flux, 240mm AIO | |
Cougar Forza 85 Air Cooler | |
Cougar Poseidon GT 360, 360m AIO | |
Corsair iCUE H100i Elite 240mm AIO | |
DeepCool AK500, air cooler | |
DeepCool LS520, 240mm AIO | |
CPU | Intel i9-12900K |
motherboard | MSI z690A-Pro DDR4 |
case | keep quiet!silent base 802 window |
PSUs | Deep Cool PQ1000M |
What is the difference from other coolers?
DeepCool’s latest in-house pump design
Most of the liquid coolers on the market today are based on the Asetek design, where the pump is integrated into the CPU block. But the LS520 incorporates DeepCool’s latest generation in-house design.
User customizable plates
LS320 includes a blank CPU block plate, allowing you to create your own design for the CPU block with RGB lighting. Considering most companies slap their logos here and have no other choice, this is a nice touch.
Custom DeepCool FC120 fan
The LS320 includes DeepCool’s FC120 fans and features a unique fan connection system that allows you to easily daisy chain both fans and lighting control with a single cable. The FC120 fan is his SKU that is more powerful than the company’s retail model, featuring upgraded airflow and static pressure as a result of the increased maximum fan speed. These fans have arrows on the side that indicate both the direction in which the fan rotates and the direction of the airflow.
model | FC120 |
size | 120×120×25mm |
fan rotation speed | 500-2250 RPM±10% |
air flow | 82.48 CFM ± 10% |
air pressure | 3.27 mmAq |
noise level | Max 32.9dB(A) |
lighting | ARGB |
Like other recent AIOs, we test DeepCool’s LS320 on Intel’s Core i9-12900K. Due to the increased heat density of the Intel 7 manufacturing process, as well as changes to core and component layouts, Alder Lake CPUs are more difficult to cool than their predecessors in the most heat-intensive workloads.
This means coolers that kept previous generations like the i9-10900K nice and cool struggle to keep Intel’s i9-12900K below TJ max (the maximum temperature before the CPU starts throttling) It means that there are cases. Many coolers, including DeepCool’s previous generation Castle EX AIO, were unable to keep the i9-12900K below TJ max when power capping was lifted in workloads like Cinebench and OCCT when tested. .
Keep in mind that there are many factors besides the CPU cooler that affect cooling performance. Your system’s motherboard can particularly affect this, as there are boards on the market with CPU sockets that do not conform to Intel’s specifications, which can cause warping and poor contact with the CPU. The case you use also affects the cooling effect.
With Alder Lake’s cooling demands in mind, we evaluate CPU coolers in three different tiers.
Tier 1: These coolers are able to keep the i9-12900K below the max TJ under most loads and no power caps apply. I believe only the best liquid coolers meet this criteria.
Tier 2: These coolers can apply a 200W CPU power limit to keep the i9-12900K below the TJ max threshold. I would expect most liquid coolers and the best air coolers to meet this standard.
Tier 3: These coolers can apply a CPU power limit of 140W to keep the i9-12900K below TJ max.
test method
To test the limits of a cooler’s ability to dissipate heat, we run two major stress tests. cine bench When OCCT 10 minutes each. This may be a short amount of time, but it’s enough to push most coolers (air and liquid) to their limits.
While stress testing in Cinebench, I ran with the power cap removed and a 200W CPU power cap applied. This test setup uses MSI’s z690 A Pro DDR4 motherboard and Be Quiet’s Silent Base 802 computer case. Only the best coolers can pass the Cinebench test when the power cap is lifted.
Do not test OCCT without power capping. Because when I try this, the CPU package consumes over 270W, instantly throttling even the best of his AIO coolers. Instead, we test at 200W to give the cooler a chance of passing. We also include the 140W results to provide closer data for lower-end CPUs such as AMD’s Ryzen 5600X and Intel’s i5-12400.