DeepCool LS720 360mm AIO Liquid Cooler Review

1. DeepCool LS7202. Test Results3. Closing Thoughts4. View All Pages

Test System:

• Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
• Overclocked Settings: 4.45GHz all-core @ 1.312V (UEFI), Medium LLC – around 1.3V delivered
• Motherboard: Gigabyte B550 Aorus Master
• Memory: 32GB (2x16GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX 3600MHz 16-18-18-36 DDR4 @ 1.35V
• Graphics Card: Gigabyte RTX 2060 Super 0dB Mode
• Chassis: Fractal Design Meshify 2
• 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)
• Power Supply: Seasonic Prime TX-1000
• Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

Testing Methodology:

• For testing, we use a 30-minute looped run of Cinebench R23 and record the steady-state CPU temperature at the end of the test. This ensures that the CPU has had ample time to warm up and reach steady state under all of the coolers.
• 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.
• We also test each cooler with at least two fresh installs (typically three) to mitigate the likelihood of a dodgy mount spoiling results.

Test Results:

Acoustics

Let’s start off with noise performance at 100% fan speed. This is important for getting an indication of where our performance expectations should lie based on noise output.

Running at 51 dBA full noise output, the DeepCool LS720 is a loud CPU cooler. Even by triple-fan AIO standards, this unit it very loud. Competitors from the likes of Corsair, MSI, and Thermaltake run slightly quieter, though every bit of noise reduction is valued with DeepCool outputting at 51 dBA.

Of course, there is ample speed curve control as low as 500 RPM to reduce the fans away from their 2250 RPM top speed. Though the lack of PWM pump does limit just how much fine-tuning capacity a user has.

In order to get the unit running at 40 dBA, we had to reduce the three FC120 fans all the way down to 43% duty cycle or 1300 RPM from their 2250 RPM top speed. This is a huge reduction in operating speed and really emphasises just how aggressive DeepCool has been with its bias for thermal performance as opposed to tolerable noise output.

As a note, the pump was retained at its 3100 RPM top speed, which is realistic given the limited DC control abilities.

Thermal Performance

Super high noise output may bring acoustic irritation, but it certainly doesn’t irritate when it comes to all-out cooling performance. Put simply, the DeepCool LS720 is a liquid cooling powerhouse on our overclocked Ryzen 9 5950X test system.

Cooling the chip to a delta temperature of 54 degrees is outstanding. This beats all of the other coolers in our chart, including Asetek 7^th Gen competitors with high-speed fans.

When coupled with the extremely high noise output from the LS720, it’s blatantly obvious that DeepCool is trying to brute force its way to the top of cooling charts. But that may be a tolerable solution for many users. And for those to whom it isn’t, let’s take a look at 40dBA noise-locked performance.

When locked to 40dBA noise output, DeepCool’s LS720 still manages chart-topping performance in our AMD-based test system. That’s a strong positive, particularly given how much fan speed we had to cut away to reach 40dBA. The margins are now tighter, with Thermaltake’s 360mm all-in-one being only slightly behind in performance.

Nevertheless, DeepCool’s LS720 tops this chart and still has plenty of fan speed headroom left in the tank if you really need a surge in cooling performance. That’s pretty impressive.

As always, it is critical to note that small difference in the displayed delta temperatures are not as important for our PBO testing because the clock speed and cooling power achieved are more important metrics.

With the fans back to full speed, our PBO test unsurprisingly puts the DeepCool LS720 to the top of our chart. The cooler manages a similar all-core clock speed to Sapphire’s (also very loud) Nitro+ S360-A Asetek cooler. But DeepCool’s thermal result and power managed are superior.

Just shy of 230W of AMD CPU package power handled by the DeepCool LS720 is an outstanding cooling result, even if the 100% fan speed noise output is very high.

We also see strong performance in the domain of incidental VRM cooling. Realistically, this is tied to the high-speed fans moving such volumes of air in the vicinity of our motherboard’s VRM heatsink. That results in a particularly strong 100% fan speed VRM temperature reading.

The result isn’t so positive when locked to 40dBA, as a multitude of other coolers are more competitive. Either way, though, there’s no cause for concern with VRM temperatures even with the LS720’s fan speeds constricted.

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