INTRODUCTION

   CPU air coolers versus AIO Liquid CPU coolers is a subject many of us have seen discussed in various forums around the internet and although it's a valid "question" it's really not very hard to answer since each solution fits specific circumstances. For example if you own a tower with very good airflow levels, plenty of space and you care not about any possible clearance issues then a large CPU air cooler should do the trick for you a lot better than a single 120/140mm AIO model would. On the other hand if you don't own a large PC case and thus you have limited airflow levels and space an AIO liquid CPU cooler regardless of size will outperform any CPU air cooler that fits. A few months back we had the 360mm CAPTAIN model by DeepCool on our test rig but since its size is not something the majority of towers in the market can accommodate today we're taking a closer look at the 120mm variant.

   Deepcool was founded with the mission of providing the best performance & humanized thermal solutions for worldwide customers. Deepcool design and manufacture a comprehensive range of high quality products, covering desktop cooling solutions, laptop cooling solutions, server cooling solutions, embedded cooling solutions, and other thermal components. Our goal is to maintain customer satisfaction by serving our customer’s ever-changing thermal needs and providing the quickest and most comprehensive service available. As our slogan goes, we wish you all “Enjoy your cool life”!

   Just like every single AIO Liquid CPU Cooler in the market (at least to date) the Captain 120 by DeepCool is actually four parts combined and of course those parts are no other than a radiator, tubes, pump and a CPU water block. The aluminum radiator used in the Captain 120 (as the name states) is rather small and more specifically a 120mm one which is cooled via a single high-speed 120mm fluid-dynamic bearing PWM fan (obviously you can add a 2nd fan in push and pull for even better performance levels). For the pump DeepCool has used a high-speed yet virtually noiseless ceramic bearing one that has a MTBF (Meantime Between Failures) of 120.000 hours. Well this is not the first time we've seen these specifications (the 360mm model shares many) so let's see what kind of cooling performance the Captain 120 can dish out.