Performance
The Deepcool Captain 120EX may only be a 120mm radiator, but it delivered some very impressive performance at stock clocks, maxing out at just +23c at full load, putting it on par with many high-end coolers, such as the Thermaltake Water 3.0 and Noctua NH-C14S.
Pushing the heat up, the smaller radiator did struggle a little more, moving it up the table into our mid-range performance section. This is still a great result though and at just +47c it’s on par with other mid-budget coolers and more than capable of handling an overclocked CPU.
At stock loads the fans didn’t budge from 40dBa, which isn’t super quiet, but the single fan and pump setup does a good job and is easily on par with what we would expect from any half-decent water cooler. You’re unlikely to be concerned about noise at these clock speed either way.
Pushing the heat up did mean the fan had to work harder, maxing out at 43dBa, which did have some audible air turbulence, but nothing I would be concerned about for a single fan cooler. If you did find the fan noise an issue, I would just dial back the overclocking or plan to invest in a larger cooler which can move the heat with lower RPM fans.
AWSOME DEEP COOL