Question Deep Cool AS500 plus versus Noctua D15 ?

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Kona45primo

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On the fence, have both ordered. Reading the limited reviews on the AS500 Plus it shows comparable if not slightly better performance than the D15 in a much cheaper and smaller package. I've got room for either but am leaning towards the AS500 based on thermals, size & price...

Any chance someone has experience with both? Or any reason for me not to go with the AS500

Currently using an older '13 design Corsair H60 w/ no real complaints 68C max load, in a well ventilated crappy case Thermaltake N21. But it's old, figured new case & new CPU cooler at the same time

System:
Lian Li Mesh II Performance case
Asus B350 prime plus motherboard
AMD 3700X stock
16GB G Skill Flare X 3200 CL14
2070 Super
 
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Eximo

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They have about the same weight of metal. D15 does have 6 heat pipes rather than the 5 of the AS500. Both 140mm fans.

The big difference is the dual versus single fin stacks and dual fans.

I think it will do fine on that CPU.
 

iPeekYou

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Apparently a single fin stack is more beneficial to Ryzen 2 & 3

Was fully onboard with the D15 until I read this review:


Not the exact two coolers (AS500 vs D15), but I can say that I find similar results in my limited testing. I used a Gammaxx 400 Pro which then I changed to the ID-Cooling in my sig. One is a relatively small 120mm, about entry level, the other (ID-C) is dual 120mm tower. Tested both with the exact same fans, in the exact same config (i.e. fan A goes to the front, fan B right after). Same case, same thermal paste from one packaging applied in the same manner (X pattern). About as many variables removed as I can.

The result? In gaming or daily loads there's zero improvement, while in OCCT small data set I see 1 deg C worse. You would think that at least a single deg C difference is in favor of the bigger cooler with more heatpipes. Apparently not so.

That said, my current cooler has little review; only Tom's and a local tech media AFAIK. THW uses an Intel system, which understandably nets in quite an improvement over single tower 120mms (H212 Evo and BE), the tech channel used 5950X, while showing similar improvement as compared to a single tower 120mm, along with various dual tower coolers outclassing said single tower cooler. YMMV.

Was thinking of grabbing the AS500 myself, but it's about 4-5mm too tall for my current case. The ID-C is about the same price range where I live.
 

Kona45primo

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Got the AS500 plus installed along with the new case. 8-10C temp drop in CPU temps compared to the old H60 w/a Noctua. Certainly quieter. Not bad at all.

The Lian Li case also helped reduce GPU and system temps quite a bit. Old case had a lot of 120mm noctua fans but didn't have easy access to fresh air.
 

slurmsmckenzie

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Apparently a single fin stack is more beneficial to Ryzen 2 & 3

Was fully onboard with the D15 until I read this review:

I find this interesting, although it further adds to my confusion about Ryzen and air coolers! I had the upgrade itch and went for a 3700X - partly due to local pricing/availability and partly because I'd considered a 5800X but read about it being hot and needing to be tamed etc. - but at some stage in the future I'd like to upgrade my 3700X to a (likely used) high-end 5000 series CPU to squeeze a bit more from my AM4 motherboard (MSI B550-A Pro).

At the moment I'm using the Wraith Prism in a Fractal R6 and under normal conditions (browsing etc.) it is virtually silent. However it can get loud and I find the type of noise it makes a bit annoying, plus.... well... I've invested in a nice setup and I'd kind of like a nice cooler to make the most of it. I'm also looking to future proof cooling-wise as per future plans for a CPU upgrade mentioned above.

So, I've been reading reviews, watching videos etc. and keep going in circles. I started off thinking Notctua D15 Chromax, job done - it's expensive and massive but I have the room and it is considered to be the best. But then I read user reviews which say that using the D15 raises their system and GPU temps and that the U12A is actually a much better bet. I also read other reviews and opinion about all the other countless coolers on the market, and decide that any of them would probably keep a Ryzen 59xxX cool enough for my usage (mild gaming, RAW photo editing and occasional video editing / encoding).

I'd like the U12A but personally would prefer Chromax, and I don't know if I want to wait for that (skeptical about Q3 2021!). There is the U12S which Noctua themselves say gives "medium headroom" for overclocking the 5950X (I don't intend to overclock) so that should probably be fine, right?? Yet it is not on the AMD recommended coolers list which makes me a bit nervous about it, especially given the R6 isn't an airflow king. But then I see that the Dark Rock SLIM is on that list.... opinions and reviews I've read suggest that the U12S cools better and the DR SLIM is maybe quieter - but why would that make it a better bet to tame a Ryzen and make the AMD list when the U12S didn't??

I'm then back to thinking that a D15/D15S or a DR PRO 4 are the best options, to cover all bases and make sure by going overkilll... but then I see the above about single fin stack coolers being better for Ryzens! o_O

Maybe it is my choice of case that put me in this position or maybe I'm worrying about nothing because I'll never stress these CPUs enough to notice a difference, but I just can't reach a conclusion. I guess I should probably just stick with the Prism until the U12A Chromax comes out, but then as summer hits I am noticing the idle and light-load temps go up so I'd prefer to upgrade my cooler TBH. I've tried setting a custom fan-curve which did help sound-wise (before that I'd get a lot of noise from the Prism when just running DOSBox!) but I've noticed it has increased my NVMe temps.... I'd rather get a sledge-hammer to crack some nuts and be done with it!

Just noticed the AS500 is on the AMD list actually which is interesting, although I'm not an RGB fan personally - can the RBG easily be disabled do you know?
 

Phaaze88

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There is the U12S which Noctua themselves say gives "medium headroom" for overclocking the 5950X (I don't intend to overclock)
Well, that's the thing with the Ryzen 3000/5000 cpus: you don't have to overclock them, but their boost clocks are linked to power consumption and temperatures.
Higher thermal headroom will see the cpu try to push for higher clocks - nothing too crazy, increments of 30-50mhz - probably won't notice it without running benchmarks.
 

Kona45primo

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Yes you can disable the RGB, you can either skip plugging it in & leave the RGB cables bundled at the bottom out of sight. Or cut the wires if you'll never use it. Or you can probably find a very tame RGB setting. I had to plug mine into the control button that came with the cooler as my MB only had a 12v RGB. After going through about 15 different RGB puke color combos I settled on an understated red line , it works and doesn't look like a bad trip.

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the coolers you've listed. The ryzen will boost higher with a better cooler. Just the cooler and case swap bumped my cinebench R20 score around 90 points up to 4872 and kept things at a much lower temp & significantly quieter. Doing the same test with Ryzen Master Auto OC led to another 200 points but bumped temps around 10C higher. Still totally acceptable, but I opted to not run it OC'd as I'm nervous about the poor little VRM's on my B350 & I don't really need the horsepower. If you plan on going up to the 5xxx series you might want to go full strength on the air cooling. I wanted the D15 but didn't want the entire MB covered by the massive cooler, AS500 Plus was a good alternative with potentially equal cooling without the massive size, cost savings was a plus.

If you go with the AS500 make sure it's the PLUS version, the additional fan will add a bit to the cooling power without any noticeable noise increase. Would guess it's definitely competitive with the D15 & U12s based on the mid to low 30C idle. Even gaming I can't hear the fan over the noctua case fans, stoked. But that's stock, & ryzen balanced power plan with cpu minimum set to 10%. When it's low load it's very low load.

Here's another review of the AS500 (Non plus) & U12S. Looks like they are pretty close, the PLUS version of the AS500 should be a tad cooler https://techtest.org/der-deepcool-as500-im-test-die-besser-antwort-auf-den-noctua-nh-u12s/
 
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slurmsmckenzie

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Yes you can disable the RGB, you can either skip plugging it in, cut the wires if you'll never use it or you can probably find a very tame RGB setting. I had to plug mine into the control button that came with the cooler as my MB only had a 12v RGB. After going through about 15 different RGB puke color combos I settled on an understated red, it works and doesn't look like a bad trip.
That's good to know, thanks! I never considered it but I guess I could just have a cold white colour on all the time, I hear "RBG" and think of the bright saturated neon colours!
Well, that's the thing with the Ryzen 3000/5000 cpus: you don't have to overclock them, but their boost clocks are linked to power consumption and temperatures.
Higher thermal headroom will see the cpu try to push for higher clocks - nothing too crazy, increments of 30-50mhz - probably won't notice it without running benchmarks.
I don't think you can go wrong with any of the coolers you've listed. The ryzen will boost higher with a better cooler. just the cooler and case swap bumped my cinebench R20 score around 80 points and kept things at a much lower temp & significantly quieter.
That is useful, and yet at the same time not for me because I'm bad at making decisions :LOL:. In some ways I wish it was as simple as "No, you can't run 5900X with anything less than a <insert massive cooler here>" as then I'd just get that, if you know what I mean.

I could get a U12S now and get a better cooler (or better fans for it?) if and when I do upgrade to a 5000 series CPU, as I don't know for certain that I will even do that yet. But I am aware of the amount of e-waste that my computer building habit has left in its wake already in my lifetime and I'm keen to re-use rather than replace when I can. Would consider reselling on eBay but these days I'm too wary of scammers everywhere :(, in reality old stuff ends up in a drawer and eventually recycling (who knows where it ends up though). I used to be able to pass my old builds on to family etc. but these days no-one wants or needs a desktop PC it seems....
 

Kona45primo

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Analysis paralysis is real

You've got plenty of room for any cooler.

The AS500 Plus is as good as the D15 in most cases (pun intended) without the ram interference & is $40 cheaper. The AS500 plus is about as expensive as the U12S but provides better cooling.

Ticks all the boxes. Take the plunge
 
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Phaaze88

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That is useful, and yet at the same time not for me because I'm bad at making decisions :LOL:. In some ways I wish it was as simple as "No, you can't run 5900X with anything less than a <insert massive cooler here>" as then I'd just get that, if you know what I mean.
I totally get you.


The AS500 Plus is as good as the D15 in most cases (pun intended) & is about as expensive as the U12S & it's black.
The advantage of coolers like the D15 and Assassin 3 over the AS500 is on high power consuming Intel cpus. Ryzen just isn't that.

I've tested my 7820X with a D15S(dual fan) against 2 coolers claimed to be Noctua killers: Thermalright's True Spirit 140 Power(single tower) and IB-E Extreme Rev. B(dual tower).
The D15S came out on top, every time. IB-E being behind a few C, and TS140P trailing by 10C or so.
I tried several times:
-maybe the paste application was wrong(I was using NT-H2)
-maybe I wasn't mounting them correctly
-I kept the fans in the H500P Mesh the same(NF-A14, and IPPC 3000 when using the TY-143 fans)

The common denominator I could see was the weight of the heatsinks making the difference.
TS140P: 725g
IB-E: 850g
D15S: 990g
This would make some sense to what I found. Deepcool's Assassin 3 is listed at 1494g, but that's with both fans. Tom's has it at 1210g - I guess without fans, but it's not explicitly stated.
 

slurmsmckenzie

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The AS500 Plus is as good as the D15 in most cases (pun intended) without the ram interference & is $40 cheaper. The AS500 plus is about as expensive as the U12S but provides better cooling.
Good points there, and nice pun :D. Scan seem to have the plus for £50 which is pretty good. The various flavours of D15 sit around the £100 mark.

I noticed in a Hexus review that it looks like it gets pretty close to the GPU though: Hexus review pic
Is that how it is for you also? I don't know if that is much of an issue anyway, although I'm aware my case isn't stellar in terms of airflow so I don't want to cause a hotspot around the GPU / M.2 area. I think this is why I'm drawn to the U12A/S and indeed the D15S as they have a bit of clearance in that area.
The advantage of coolers like the D15 and Assassin 3 over the AS500 is on high power consuming Intel cpus. Ryzen just isn't that.
That's good to know. Do you agree with the post above about Noctua coolers being designed for Intel?
The D15S came out on top, every time.
So, now I'm looking at the AS500 plus or the D15S.... I seem to have arrived in the same place as the thread which I hijacked!
 

Phaaze88

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That's good to know. Do you agree with the post above about Noctua coolers being designed for Intel?
No. Intel has done both slightly concave and slightly convex IHSes.
The part about single and dual towers does make sense though. Ryzens don't draw much power - you have to actually try and make them do it.


So, now I'm looking at the AS500 plus or the D15S.... I seem to have arrived in the same place as the thread which I hijacked!
Sorry!
 
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slurmsmckenzie

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Kona45primo

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I think you'll dig it.

Comes with some ok thermal paste, might want to start off with better. I used the spread method, worked pretty well.

Make sure your fans are straight before you lock them to the cooling tower,, can be a challenge to move if you mount crooked.
 

slurmsmckenzie

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I think I will, I'm glad I found this thread as it has helped me find a great deal, thanks!

I got some free MX-4 with my 3700X which I actually used on my Prism - was in two minds about that but hoped that my application of MX-4 shouldn't be any worse at least than the pre-applied stuff on the Prism. I also have some Arctic Silver 5 from a few years back somewhere, no idea whether it will have degraded or anything though. Will probably go with the MX-4, served me well on my 4790K & Hyper 212 Evo combo for a few years.

Yeah, I think I might use the spread method again - I used to do this meticulously every time but when it came to the Prism on the 3700X I just did a blob. Having read about the layout of the Ryzen chips since then, I think I'd be more comfortable with spreading TBH.

I also picked up some new ArctiClean to help me make a good job of it (used the last on the Prism pre-applied stuff), my old bottles finally ran out - I got good use out of it and so did a lot of my friends over the years! Must have bought the last lot almost 20 years ago.

Thanks for the advice about the fans, must admit I'm not massively looking forward to mounting it within the case.... but then I don't really want to have to take the motherboard out either! At least my R6 has a load more space than my old TJ08-E. Plus from what I read this cooler isn't too bad to mount, unlike the DR PRO 4 etc.

I'm going to need to ignore any and all news regarding the U12A Chromax as that was kind of my dream for a while - but I'm happy that I've found something good that I can get right now. And I mean, right now - ordered 3 hours ago, shipped 2 hours ago, arrives tomorrow. My younger PC building self could only dream of being able to do that!
 

Kona45primo

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Install is a breeze, You'll have to remove the fans prior to install, get the Y splitter routed & figure out what you want to do with the RGB wires bundled underneath.

Hope your existing cooler comes off easier than mine, that was more difficult for me than the install. Have your dental floss or fishing line ready lol.
 

slurmsmckenzie

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That's a good point! I might try the suggestion of stressing the CPU before I try and take it off, but in reality it will probably be the hardest part! Has only been on for a few weeks though.

I saw on the TT review of the cooler that the RGB section is screwed into the heatsink, I might even see if it is easy to cleanly remove it since I don't really plan to use it and I might as well get it out of the way if I can. But if not then no worries either, it is pretty neat anyway.
 

slurmsmckenzie

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Just for info in case anyone else is considering the AS500 and wonders - I was able to remove the RGB section from the top of the heatsink easily. Took off the black cover with a bojo spudger and then there are two small hex screws to remove the white RGB section itself. The heatsink looks perfectly neat and tidy underneath, especially considering it wasn't intented to be on-show. You do see the end of the heat-pipes, but that is like most other coolers.

I'd attach a photo but I'm not sure if I can do that.
 
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