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Introduction
Be Quiet released the 3rd gen of their dark rock series a while ago. It can be divided in 2 editions, the Dark Rock 3 and Dark Rock Pro 3. The difference between these 2 coolers is that the Pro edition is a dual tower aircooler while the normal one has only 1 fan and 1 heatsink tower. Coupled with the Silent Wings we reviewed earlier, this cooler should be both silent and cool. Be quiet! isn't as popular among overclockers like Noctua or Cooler Master, but the dark rock series surely do ring a bell in our mids. We see Be Quiet! as an upcoming company selling quality products. Let's see how this cooler can impress our testing team.
Showcase
We'll start with a little showcase of this product's looks and packaging.
The cooler is safely packaged into the box and can't be harmed with normal treatment. Until now, all looks great.
After unpacking all this stuff, a wonderful cooler comes out. Nothing to mention about the looks of the product except that it's looking pretty good. However, the package doesn't only include a cooler and his fan. Also a little box with an install guide and mounting stuff in it makes it possible to attach the cooler on a proper way on almost every cpu.
Mounting parts and cooling paste:
Doesn't look to complicated and it shouldn't be difficult to find it out yourself. However, we'll use the guide for our own certainty. The amount of cooling paste provided by Be Quiet! isn't that much, so you'll be able to try it only 2 or 3 times (normally 1 should be enough if you're somewhat handy.
The cooler:
A great looking cooler also having great looking numbers? We'll see that later in this review, first we'll check the flat surface of this cooler:
A very smooth and flat surface promises no bottlenecks when it comes to mounting the cooler. You can score plus points with these flat surfaces.
Specifications and Testing system
Main Specification
Overall dimensions without mounting material (L x W x H), (mm)97 x 137 x 160
Total weight (kg)0.976
TDP (W)190
Socket compatibilityIntel: LGA 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011
AMD: 754 / 939 / 940 / AM2(+) / AM3 (+) / FM1 / FM2 (+)
LGA1150 ready✓
Backplate Mounting✓
Fan model, number1 x SilentWings PWM 135mm
Anti vibration fan fixing-
Overall noise level (dB(A)) @ 50/75/100% (rpm)8.4 / 13.6 / 21.1
Test System:
i7 2600K @ 4.4GHz
G.Skill RipsjawX (2x4GB) 1600MHz CL9
ASUS P8Z68-V LX
OCZ ModStreamX 700W
AMD Radeon HD 7950 Boost
Be Quiet! Dark Rock 3
Samsung 840 EVO 250 GB
Windows 7 Home Premium x64
Philips 236Vl
Driver 14.4
Mounting was very easy as we don't show you any pictures of that, it just went too quick. Now the final stage of our review, the results!
Performance
Cooling Performance
First we'll discuss the cooling performance of the cooler comparing it to several other coolers like the Silver Arrow series, Noctua NH-D series, the CM Hyper Evo and some others!
Most coolers out there are pretty high-end air coolers, so the Dark Rock 3 is able to score a decent temperature. Whilst this i7 2600K is clocked at 4.4GHz and has a pumped voltage of 1.35v, the Be Quiet cooler is able to maintain a safe temperature under 62-63 degrees when loaded. Leaving other coolers like the cheaper Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO behind. The gap between it and the intel stock cooler is very big.
Acoustic Performance
On this test, the Dark Rock 3 scores the best with his silent silent wings single fan. He clearly beats every other brand on this test.
Conclusion
This cooler certainly has some potential inside. The only problem we've been detecting to ensure the succes of this product is the price. It's only 8 euro cheaper than the higher end coolers from Thermalright (Silver Arrow IB-e and SB-e). With a pricetag of 55 euro, it doesn't justify the price with only a little more performance over the tested Hyper 212 EVO and less performance than the Archon X2 SB-e which is also a little bit cheaper in price.
Anyway, determining in terms of performance and noise, this cooler performs above average. His biggest trump is the very low noise of the cooler. You can't hear anything without listening very carefully.
Final Scores:
Performance = 11.5/15
Acoustic level = 10/10
Looks = 4.5/5
Mounting Proces = 4/5
Value = 10/15
Total Score ≈ 8/10
We decided to give the Be Quiet! Dark Rock 3 a close silver award!
More Information about our awards and High resolution versions can be found here
Review on BHT
Be Quiet released the 3rd gen of their dark rock series a while ago. It can be divided in 2 editions, the Dark Rock 3 and Dark Rock Pro 3. The difference between these 2 coolers is that the Pro edition is a dual tower aircooler while the normal one has only 1 fan and 1 heatsink tower. Coupled with the Silent Wings we reviewed earlier, this cooler should be both silent and cool. Be quiet! isn't as popular among overclockers like Noctua or Cooler Master, but the dark rock series surely do ring a bell in our mids. We see Be Quiet! as an upcoming company selling quality products. Let's see how this cooler can impress our testing team.
Showcase
We'll start with a little showcase of this product's looks and packaging.
The cooler is safely packaged into the box and can't be harmed with normal treatment. Until now, all looks great.
After unpacking all this stuff, a wonderful cooler comes out. Nothing to mention about the looks of the product except that it's looking pretty good. However, the package doesn't only include a cooler and his fan. Also a little box with an install guide and mounting stuff in it makes it possible to attach the cooler on a proper way on almost every cpu.
Mounting parts and cooling paste:
Doesn't look to complicated and it shouldn't be difficult to find it out yourself. However, we'll use the guide for our own certainty. The amount of cooling paste provided by Be Quiet! isn't that much, so you'll be able to try it only 2 or 3 times (normally 1 should be enough if you're somewhat handy.
The cooler:
A great looking cooler also having great looking numbers? We'll see that later in this review, first we'll check the flat surface of this cooler:
A very smooth and flat surface promises no bottlenecks when it comes to mounting the cooler. You can score plus points with these flat surfaces.
Specifications and Testing system
Main Specification
Overall dimensions without mounting material (L x W x H), (mm)97 x 137 x 160
Total weight (kg)0.976
TDP (W)190
Socket compatibilityIntel: LGA 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011
AMD: 754 / 939 / 940 / AM2(+) / AM3 (+) / FM1 / FM2 (+)
LGA1150 ready✓
Backplate Mounting✓
Fan model, number1 x SilentWings PWM 135mm
Anti vibration fan fixing-
Overall noise level (dB(A)) @ 50/75/100% (rpm)8.4 / 13.6 / 21.1
Test System:
i7 2600K @ 4.4GHz
G.Skill RipsjawX (2x4GB) 1600MHz CL9
ASUS P8Z68-V LX
OCZ ModStreamX 700W
AMD Radeon HD 7950 Boost
Be Quiet! Dark Rock 3
Samsung 840 EVO 250 GB
Windows 7 Home Premium x64
Philips 236Vl
Driver 14.4
Mounting was very easy as we don't show you any pictures of that, it just went too quick. Now the final stage of our review, the results!
Performance
Cooling Performance
First we'll discuss the cooling performance of the cooler comparing it to several other coolers like the Silver Arrow series, Noctua NH-D series, the CM Hyper Evo and some others!
Most coolers out there are pretty high-end air coolers, so the Dark Rock 3 is able to score a decent temperature. Whilst this i7 2600K is clocked at 4.4GHz and has a pumped voltage of 1.35v, the Be Quiet cooler is able to maintain a safe temperature under 62-63 degrees when loaded. Leaving other coolers like the cheaper Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO behind. The gap between it and the intel stock cooler is very big.
Acoustic Performance
On this test, the Dark Rock 3 scores the best with his silent silent wings single fan. He clearly beats every other brand on this test.
Conclusion
This cooler certainly has some potential inside. The only problem we've been detecting to ensure the succes of this product is the price. It's only 8 euro cheaper than the higher end coolers from Thermalright (Silver Arrow IB-e and SB-e). With a pricetag of 55 euro, it doesn't justify the price with only a little more performance over the tested Hyper 212 EVO and less performance than the Archon X2 SB-e which is also a little bit cheaper in price.
Anyway, determining in terms of performance and noise, this cooler performs above average. His biggest trump is the very low noise of the cooler. You can't hear anything without listening very carefully.
Final Scores:
Performance = 11.5/15
Acoustic level = 10/10
Looks = 4.5/5
Mounting Proces = 4/5
Value = 10/15
Total Score ≈ 8/10
We decided to give the Be Quiet! Dark Rock 3 a close silver award!
More Information about our awards and High resolution versions can be found here
Review on BHT
