Testing
The following system was used to test the cooler:
– Processor: Intel i9 9900K @ 5GHz
– Motherboard: ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming X
– RAM: Neo Forza Faye DDR4 64GB 3600MHz
– GPU: MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Suprim X
– SSD: Crucial p5 500GB
– Mass Storage: Neo Forza NFP075 2 TB
– PSU: Seasonic Prime TX-1000 Platinum
– Case: be quiet! Silent Base 802 White
– Thermal compound: Noctua NT-H2
Software used for testing the cooler:
– AIDA64 Extreme Version: 6.75.6100
– Intel Burn Test v2.54
– Prime95 29.1
The cooler was tested with the CPU at the default turbo frequency of 4.9 GHz and overclocked to 5 GHz with a core voltage of 1.261 V.
Also, the included fans have been used at their maximum speed.
The room temperature was approximately 26°C (78°F), with 2°C margin of error.
The idle test consists of the CPU sitting idle at the desktop for 30 minutes, the temperature was measured at the end of the test.
The settings of the software used are the following:
Intel Burn Test v2.54 – Stress level: Maximum
Prime95 29.1- small FFT
AIDA64 Extreme Version – FPU Benchmark & Temperature monitoring.
Each test was conducted for 40 minutes.
Idle
Full Load – IntelBurnTest V2
Full Load – AIDA64 CPU, FPU & Cache
The noise level was measured at three different distances from the fans (10cm, 20cm, 30cm.) the noise was measured with a margin of error of ± 2 db.
The Pure Rock 2 FX has a great RAM clearance, as the front fan does not even reach the RAM modules of the motherboard. This is thanks to the offset design of the heatsink and heatpipes, using tall RAM modules will not pose an issue.
The PCIe clearance while using the Pure Rock 2 FX is average, with 28mm of space between the side of the cooler and the graphics card. This is enough space to access a top mounted M.2 socket or fan headers on the motherboard.
Final thoughts
The be quiet! Pure Rock 2 FX is a good-looking air CPU cooler that manages to blend addressable RGB LEDs with the elegant be quiet! design. It is an ideal cooler for a mid-range CPU and gaming system, however, anything higher than that and you will need additional fans or just a bigger cooler.
The main difference between the be quiet! Pure Rock 2 FX and the regular all black Pure Rock 2, is the new Light Wing RGB fan. This is the main reason why the be quiet! Pure Rock 2 FX is better at cooling than the regular Pure Rock 2, as the newer fan is spinning faster and has many improvements.
From a design perspective, the Pure Rock 2 FX is a great looking CPU cooler. The top of the cooler is covered by a solid aluminum plate that not only enhances the look of the cooler but covers the heatpipe endings.
The performance is good for a CPU cooler of this size and with a direct touch baseplate. However, this CPU cooler should not be used for CPU overclocking, as it is simply too small to handle that much heat.
The installation is not as easy as other be quiet! CPU coolers. However, the mounting system is much better than older be quiet! coolers, it only requires you to pay attention to the user manual.
In terms of noise, the Pure Rock 2 FX is quiet, even though you wouldn’t think so given the 45-decibel measurement. The noise generated by the Pure Rock 2 FX is not annoying at all and it’s not like you will use the cooler with the fan running at 2000RPM all the time anyway.
The be quiet! Pure Rock 2 FX is a good mid-range CPU cooler that is quiet and well built, it also looks great. However, this cooler is a tough sell for those that already have the Pure Rock 2 or something similar in performance, as the be quiet! Pure Rock 2 FX is not offering a significant performance increase.
In conclusion, the be quiet! Pure Rock 2 FX is a good-looking mid-range CPU cooler that is easy to install and performs better than the regular Pure Rock 2. However, the main issue of this CPU cooler is the price, which is too high, especially when compared to the Pure Rock 2 or similar CPU coolers.
