Page 2 - Physical Look - Hardware, Installation
The DeepCool LS720 uses a 360mm radiator, unlike the more common 240mm radiator AIOs we cover the most. A matte black finish is used that does not draw too much attention to itself, since that is what the RGB LED lighting on the fans and water block is for. The radiator is rectangular in shape with measurements of 402mm in length, 120mm in width, and 27mm in height. The LS720 is completely symmetrical. Two cables are fed out from the water block: One of them being the pump cable and the other being the ARGB cable. Interestingly, the pump header is only 3-pin, which makes it voltage controlled. A 4-pin PWM header would have been much better, as this gives users the ability to control the pump speed. The radiator is made out of aluminum, which has a thermal conductivity of 237 W/mK. Aluminum is a good choice for radiator and heatsink material due to its relatively light weight, even if it has a lower thermal conductivity than other metals such as copper.
The CPU water block shines silver from the aluminum build. The top surface contains a reflective silver plastic plate with the DeepCool logo on the bottom left corner that will light up when the liquid cooler is running. The logo is rotatable, which gives users more options with the orientation they want to mount their water block while keeping the logo upright. Surrounding the logo is an infinity mirror that will display RGB LED lighting to add to the fancy effects.
The radiator fins are arranged in a typical wave pattern. The wave pattern comes from the fins being placed in a way such that they come into contact with the liquid flowing through the radiator. When the fins come into contact with the liquid, the heat is transferred from the liquid to the fins, which are cooled by the fans that attach to the radiator. There are two sleeved braided tubes at the top that connect directly to the CPU water block to transfer coolant. These tubes are flexible and easy to bend. Along with the hinged connection at the water block, this should give a decent amount of flexibility when choosing the mounting position of your radiator around your chassis. The tubes are 410mm in length, which is more than enough room for any size chassis. This is also a good design choice as the 360mm radiator could require longer tubes more depending on the mounting position you choose.
DeepCool utilizes a new anti-leak technology that comes in the form of a seal on the side of the radiator near the end. This seal is essentially DeepCool's way of automating pressure balance in the loop to improve leakage prevention. Inside the seal is an elastic pressure relief bag that will be squeezed when the internal pressure exceeds atmospheric pressure, thus increasing the internal volume of the system. The increased pressure is released with the risk of leakage being reduced. There is a warranty sticker on the seal, which will be void if removed.
The photo above shows a closer look at the contact base of the CPU water block. The water block measures 86mm in length, 74mm in width, and 57mm in height. The contact base is flat, which should help in exerting a reasonable amount of contact with your processor. The finish is very smooth with no bumps or abnormalities on the surface. There is pre-applied thermal paste on the contact base, as seen in the photo above.
The water block is rated at 5.64W with the power being supplied by the 12V 3-pin header on your motherboard. The pump runs at a maximum speed of 3100 RPM ± 10%, which is higher than what you would normally see for pump speed. The contact base is made out of copper, which has a high thermal conductivity at 401 W/mK. Copper is heavier than aluminum, but we do not need to worry as much about the weight of the pump as it is much smaller in size compared to the radiator. A nickel-plated contact base would have been nice to have, as nickel and nickel-base alloys can withstand corrosive environments and high temperatures, which proves to be an advantage for devices made for dissipating heat. Overall, the LS720 is solidly built with good build materials used throughout.
The radiator fans used for the DeepCool LS720 are ARGB LED fans that have unique headers. The headers plug into the side of the fans, which is meant to allow for daisy chaining to keep the build clean. While I respect this effort, I do wish DeepCool had found a way to use 4-pin PWM and 3-pin ARGB headers for the daisy chain configuration, just like with the ARCTIC Freezer II 280 A-RGB. As it stands, these fans can really only be used as radiator fans for this specific cooler. Moving on, these fans use hydraulic bearings. The blades are angled at approximately 47 degrees from the center impeller. The fan blades themselves also have a frosted look. These fans run at a maximum speed of 2200 RPM ± 10%, which produces a static air pressure of 3.27 mmH2O, 85.5 CFM airflow, and maximum noise output of 32.9dBA. These are strong numbers for these cooling fans that give me high hopes for the performance.
The installation process for the DeepCool LS720 is very simple. The installation tools are divided into separate bags for Intel and AMD, although they are not labeled to differentiate between the two. The physical installation manual is included with the package. The installation process begins with attaching the required backplate onto the back of your motherboard. Intel users can use the provided backplate, while AMD users are required to use the original backplate that came with their motherboard. Afterward, you must attach your respective screws into the required backplate through your motherboard.
The radiator is simple enough to install and will likely not require any manual for users. Each cooling fan can be attached directly to the radiator through the four long screws. Twelve smaller screws are included for mounting the radiator directly. Once the radiator and the respective fans are installed, it is just a matter of routing the different cables in an efficient manner.
Placing the water block over the top of the processor was as simple as the rest of the installation. As mentioned earlier, thermal paste is already pre-applied on the contact base, so you do not have to worry about applying it yourself. With that said, I would have liked it better if DeepCool had provided their own thermal paste for you to apply. You, of course, must also install the mounting brackets on the water block first, which is different between Intel and AMD processors. Keep in mind for 12th generation Intel CPUs, the tubes should be at the 6 o'clock position, facing south, on the water block for maximum performance according to DeepCool's internal testing. We did not do this here, since the LS720 was installed on an AMD CPU.
Once you place the water block with the attached mounting bracket on top of the processor, you just need to screw in the double-threaded screws. Once that is done, you can proceed with connecting the rest of the cables to the appropriate connection points. The DeepCool LS720 has its fans and water block set up in a way where you can daisy chain everything together to keep the wiring as clean as possible. This is similar to what we saw with the ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 280 A-RGB, although they do not come daisy chained. Regardless, I respect DeepCool's efforts to have the wiring be as clean as possible with this system.
The installation process was very simple with no troubles at any point. The instruction manual was quite clear, showing every step of the process with detailed pictures.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware, Installation
3. Test Results
4. Conclusion
