INTRODUCTION

   Although the traditional tower type CPU Air Coolers have reached their maximum possible cooling potential based on today’s technology that doesn't mean manufacturers are just going to give up in their pursue for something better. Obviously that's always a good thing for consumers around the world especially since competition always results in even better products and lower prices but one has to wonder how long it will be before manufacturers come up with new and innovative ways of cooling. That being said for the majority of consumers even low/mid-end CPU Air Coolers are more than enough to keep their systems running at good temperatures while for the most demanding ones there are always higher performance complete water cooling kits available in the market. However there are also some CPU Air Coolers capable of meetings the demands of even the most demanding users around and according to Deepcool the Lucifer is amongst them.

   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”!

   When DeepCool announced their upcoming Lucifer CPU Cooler a while ago i thought it would be yet another dual heatsink tower model with twin fans and although in the end they did make it just as large they decided on a single heatsink solution (reminds us a lot of the Thermalright HR22) paired with a single 140mm fan. Massive single heatsink CPU Coolers is not something we get to see a lot (just like the HR22 the Lucifer is amongst the very few exceptions) but after having tested a couple we do know that they can easily go up against dual heatsink solutions so Deepcool may not be wrong in their choice especially since the ability to use a second 140mm in push and pull should further add to the thermal design power of the Lucifer (300W with just one 140mm fan). Things will certainly be hard for the Lucifer in our charts there's no doubt about that but the end result is what really matters.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

We received the Lucifer inside a large black box with the model name and the GamerStorm logo at the front.

The main product features are listed on the right side while at the rear we see the socket compatibility list and the specifications list.

Inside the box you will find 3 smaller cardboard boxes which contain the Lucifer heatsink, 140mm fan, 4 fan wire mounts, thermal paste tube, installation instructions, backplate and all the necessary bits and pieces required to install the cooler onto Intel LGA775/1150/1155/1156/1366/2011 and AMD AM2/AM2+/AM3/AM3+/FM1/FM2 mainboards.

THE LUCIFER

The heatsink of the Lucifer is one of the largest single heatsinks we've seen to date and measures 163mm in height, 140mm in width and 110mm in length while it weighs 744g.

There are a total of 36 aluminum fins in the body of the Lucifer.

As you can see Deepcool has placed their logo at the top and bottom fins.

The wing design of the fins increases the dissipation area something which allows the Lucifer to also be used in passive mode without a fan.

Deepcool has used a total of six 6mm nickel plated heatpipes with the Lucifer.

Moving to the copper nickel plated base of the Lucifer it is completely flat and has a nice mirror like finish.

The hydrodynamic bearing 140mm fan that comes with the Lucifer may not feature PWM but it can go up to 1400RPM (+-10%) to produce airflow of up to 81.33CFM with just 31.1dBA of noise. With the fan mounted onto the heatsink the Lucifer now measures 168mm in height, 140mm in width and 136mm in length and weighs 1079g.

To make things more "interesting" we decided to test the Lucifer both in single and dual fan mode by using an GF140 140mm fan.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   We always take things quite seriously when it comes to work so just like with the previous LGA1366 database we will not be testing each CPU Cooler on its own and with different ambient temperature levels and thus we can actually have yet another valid CPU Cooler database. Testing a CPU Cooler automatically means that you need to know where it stands against the immediate competition and to accomplish that we have spent both money and time through the years, something that we plan to continue to do so in order to get the most accurate results for the end consumers who read these lines. Every CPU cooler in this database is tested with the bundled 140mm/120mm/92mm/80mm fans while working at both idle speed and 100% of their speeds for all the temperature tests. CPU Coolers that do not come bundled with a fan/s are measured using a Noctua fan (size dependent on the model) to test for the temperature tests but due to the lack of a stock fan dBA level tests are obviously skipped. Single (120/140mm) watercooling solutions are tested with the radiator mounted at the rear of our test rig while dual/triple/quad (240/260/280/360/420/480/560mm) solutions with the radiator mounted at the top. For the dBA tests every cooler in the database was measured both while on idle mode or with the fan controller in the minimum setting and while on extreme load or with the fan controller all the way to the highest possible setting (PWM fans do that on their own without our intervention). Every single test takes place in a temperature controlled room of 23 degrees Celsius Ambient Temp with the help of two AC units placed diagonally inside the room. The Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste is used with every CPU Cooler in our latest LGA2011 database (although initially this was not the plan we had to change things to get the most accurate results). Finally it's very important to point out that just because a CPU Cooler is better than another when tested with our test rig that does not necessarily mean that the same performance differences will apply 100% for other CPU models and in other situations (such as different ambient temps and system configurations).

     To successfully record the load temperatures we use the latest OCCT application for around 6-10 minutes to push the processor to its limits and after that is done and the temperatures are recorded we wait for about 10-20 minutes for the CPU to cool down and record the idle temperatures. This is done to allow time for the thermal conductive material to achieve the optimal performance level. Same procedure is then repeated with the Passmark BurnIn Test as a failsafe just in case the OCCT results are wrong. This procedure takes a lot more time than the usual peltier/thermometer tests but this way not only can we deliver real world results to our readers based on real CPUs but we can also triple check the results using a variety of programs. Last but not least the temperatures were recorded using both the latest versions of AIDA64 and RealTemp while the noise level tests are performed using a high precision ExTech HD600 Decibel Meter placed about 10-15cm above the CPU Cooler. Still although the same testing procedure applies to all units do take into consideration that unlike the official numbers which are measured in special noise isolated labs with just the fans here we also have both the rest of the cooler and the rest of the system (although all system fans are turned off when recording noise levels).

TEST RESULTS

CONCLUSION

     The Lucifer is the very first CPU Cooler we got to test from Deepcool and i have to say that it left us with the best possible impressions. Sure it may not be as good as lets say the brand new NH-D15 by Noctua or even the HR22 by Thermalright (when paired with an 140mm fan) but some would argue that it’s more impressive since in the end we're talking about a single heatsink model paired with a single 140mm fan which is enough for it to compete head on with many dual heatsink coolers. Deepcool has also placed a good amount of weight in the quality department since we didn't find even the slightest issue with the heatsink and the bundled fan. Moving to the noise levels chart well not much to say here aside that it would be nice if Deepcool had paired the Lucifer with a more silent model fan (although it's not really loud we can't say that the 140mm fan is inaudible either).

   And then there's also the price tag of the Deepcool Lucifer CPU Cooler that makes things really interesting since it currently retails at around USD55 inside the USA and for 48Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk). Of course not all is perfect and thus you may need to mount the front fan a bit higher to avoid any clearance issues with tall memory modules but that aside the Lucifer is a very tempting proposal by Deepcool. Granted if you're looking for the best possible performance from a CPU Air Cooler and price is of no concern then you'll be better off with the NH-D15 but if you're on a somewhat tight budget and you just want high cooling performance the Lucifer by Deepcool could be your way out and since we really found nothing wrong with it (aside the limited availability in the USA) it gets our Platinum Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- High Cooling Efficiency (300W TDP)
- Passive Use
- Easy Installation
- Dual Fan Solution (Push & Pull)
- Design (Limited Clearance Issues)
- Price (For Some) 

CONS

- USA Availability (Currently)