When we mention Assassin, it's hard not to think of the master assassins from the Assassin's Creed series, renowned for their agility and dedication to the creed of "stay in the dark, serve the light". This philosophy aligns seamlessly with the flagship air cooler from DeepCool, a well-known brand in China for cases, power supplies, and coolers.
Recently, the latest addition to this series, the Assassin 4S, has made a grand entrance. With its tagline "Suited Assassins, Advancing Further", it promises a whole new experience in air cooling for advanced gamers.
The Assassin 4S cooler features a dual-tower design with a single embedded fan, enclosed in a cube-shaped shroud. Its overall appearance exudes a strong sense of sophistication, with options available in both white and black to cater to various build aesthetics.
Measuring at 116x147x164mm and weighing 1380g, this cooler boasts a robust build. It does require a certain clearance within the chassis due to its size, but typically, if your case supports a 120mm fan at the rear, it should accommodate this cooler just fine.
The radiator enclosure features a three-part design comprising left, right, and top sections, with a metal decorative mesh in the middle. Given that this radiator incorporates an embedded fan and a balanced symmetrical tower structure, how can one determine the direction of the airflow on the front and rear faces?
The answer is quite simple: just look at the shape of the heat dissipation fins. The front fins are crafted into a pattern of alternating concave and convex square matrices.
The fins on the back, on the other hand, have a very neat wave pattern... or should I say, they look a lot like instant noodles? We can also see that the shroud forms a very typical through-flow duct, gathering the turbulence on either side of the fins, further enhancing heat dissipation efficiency.
At the top right corner, there's a fan speed toggle switch. You can choose between full-speed mode and quiet mode, just flick it for either quietness or performance on the go.
The brand logo of Kyushu Fengshen is located at the bottom right corner of the top. When powered on, it emits a blue-green light and can vary in brightness according to the mode of the fan speed control switch.
The top mesh is magnetically attached to the radiator. Once opened, you can see the heatsink fan nestled between the dual-tower fins, with an arrow on the top indicating the direction of airflow.
The fan features a quick-release design, simply squeeze the spring clips on both sides of the fan to detach it. The fan unit is overall gray in color, and its 140mm size looks quite substantial, with a considerable weight to it.
The fan blades are crafted from high-strength materials, featuring seven large blades with smooth twist angles, and exceptional dynamic balance.
The fan utilizes a three-phase six-pole motor and supports PWM speed control. Operating at just 12V 0.2A, it also features FDB bearings, which means it not only delivers high airflow but also boasts excellent noise control.
The heatsink base features seven 6mm bidirectional constant heat balance heat pipes, seamlessly integrated with the white coating of the heatsink. Remember to peel off the protective film on the surface of the base before installation.
The base is made of pure copper, with a nickel-plated surface and finely processed micro-convex patterns. It is equipped with a framework-style fastener to increase the heating area and enhance heat transfer efficiency.
Inside the packaging box, you'll find various accessories, including DM9 thermal paste, an L-shaped double-headed screwdriver, and mounting fixtures. The mounting fixtures for the Assassin 4 cooler support Intel's LGA1700/1200/115x sockets, as well as AMD's AM5/4 sockets, covering the existing mainstream platforms.
When installing the CPU cooler, after mounting the CPU onto the motherboard, align the brackets of the Assassin 4S cooler so that the arrow labeled "CPU" points towards the CPU. This ensures the correct screw spacing for the cooler's base.
Install the memory module, paying attention to the direction of the memory's gold fingers to avoid installing it incorrectly. It's worth noting that the height of the Assassin 4S heatsink pipes is compatible with various memory modules equipped with heatsinks, preventing any interference during installation.
For this build, we're using the Kyushu Fengshen CH160 chassis, which made its debut at CES 2024 earlier this year.
It boasts a sleek design, adopting the mini-ITX form factor. Despite its compact size measuring 336x200x283.5mm, it can accommodate a CPU air cooler with a height of up to 172mm and a graphics card with a length of up to 305mm thanks to its three-slot design. Combined with its through-hole airflow design, it delivers excellent cooling performance.
Constructed with a combination of ABS and SPCC steel, the chassis features a mainstream tempered glass side panel on the left. The top, bottom, and front panels are all equipped with square mesh cutouts and dust filters. The top handle facilitates easy transportation for short distances.
In terms of color options, this chassis comes in black and white. The white variant, especially, complements perfectly with the Kyushu Fengshen Asassin 4 cooler that we're testing.
The Kyushu Fengshen CH160 white case supports both ATX and SFX power supply specifications. Since we've opted for the NVIDIA RTX 4070 SUPER Founder's Edition graphics card for this build, we've chosen a compact form factor with higher power density, the SFX power supply, to avoid interference with installation and ensure optimal cooling efficiency. Additionally, we've installed the necessary power supply extension cables.
Install the mini-ITX motherboard into the case. Note that the Assassin 4 CPU cooler is large, requiring the removal of the top mounting bracket for the two top-mounted fans in the case.
Apply thermal grease evenly on the surface of the CPU, and spread it evenly using a plastic spatula to further enhance heat conduction efficiency.
First, remove the fan from the radiator, place the radiator on the brackets, and then tighten the mounting screws on the base using a long screwdriver.
Reinstall the fan into the heatsink, ensuring to observe the direction of airflow. Then, align the fan plug with the socket of the heatsink's speed controller, and insert it. Next, plug the heatsink's 4-pin connector into the CPU FAN socket on the motherboard.
To install the NVIDIA RTX 4070 SUPER reference graphics card, you'll need to remove the first and second slot covers from your PC case and connect the 16-pin 12VHPWR power supply.
Finally, let's talk about cable management. Due to the generally compact size of miniITX cases, it takes some effort and thought to route the various cables as neatly as possible. The Assassin 4 cooler not only offers excellent heat dissipation but also enhances the visual appeal inside the case, creating a modular aesthetic when paired with the graphics card and power supply.
After powering on, setting the memory lights to the same light aqua color as the heatsink and power switch, doesn't it create a very pleasing visual effect?
The oven test shows powerful performance. The Assassin 4S cooler, in addition to its stylish appearance, boasts a whopping 250W of heat dissipation thanks to its 7 heat pipes and 140mm fan. However, since the B760 ITX motherboard only provides a maximum power supply capacity of 110W, we paired it with the Intel Core i5-12400 processor for reference.
The test involved the AIDA64 system stability test's Stress FPU, commonly known as "single baking." At this point, CPU-Z displayed a full-core turbo frequency of around 4GHz, while AIDA64 showed a maximum power consumption of around 85W.
Set the Asasin 4S fan to full speed, but even under full load, the RPM is only around 1200. After a 20-minute stress test, the temperature stays around 66-67℃, which shows that even a 65W TDP Core i5-12400 is barely breaking a sweat. If the motherboard can handle it, the Core i7-14700 is expected to reach temperatures around 92-94℃ when stressed individually.
During the oven test, we also took the opportunity to test the internal temperature of the chassis. In idle state, it was at 26.8°C, and after a 20-minute oven test, it rose to 29.1°C, a temperature increase of less than 3°C. This demonstrates the excellent cooling effect of the Kyushu Fan Assassin 4S cooler paired with the CH160 chassis.
At last, the Assassin 4S, the flagship product under the banner of Kyushu Fūjin, has garnered much attention from gamers since its debut at CES 2023. This cooler not only boasts a sleek design but also offers top-notch heat dissipation performance of up to 250W, placing it in the high-end air cooling cooler category. It confidently rivals entry-level liquid coolers, earning its title as the "Assassin". Moreover, it is compatible with processors across all platforms, making it the ideal choice for users seeking both performance and stability.
Currently, this high-performance cooler is available on e-commerce platforms, with a six-year factory warranty provided. Gamers in need of a new build or upgrade should consider making a purchase.
