1. Introduction
Registered as a trademark of Listan GmbH & Co. KG in 2002, BeQuiet! is a brand who manufactures Power Supply units, CPU coolers, PC cases, and case fans. The main target groups for products in the BeQuiet! range are PC enthusiasts and gamers as well as smaller and larger PC integrators. The company’s headquarters is in Glinde, close to Hamburg. At the present time the company also has branches in Poland, Taiwan and China. The major market of the Be Quiet! brand is Europe.
Official product link:
http://www.bequiet.com/en/cpucooler/483
2. Packaging and accessories
The Dark Rock 3 model is packaged in a black box with orange and white accents.
On the front side of the packaging there is printed an overview image of the cooler and the manufacturer’s logo. On the lower part there are positioned the name of the product and its TDP Rating, 190W.
The side of the packaging present the features of the cooler in 5 different languages: English, German, French, Spanish and Polish.
The back side of the packaging presents the BeQuiet! brand. Below there are presented the features of both the cooler and the included fan, which belongs to the SilentWings line of fans.
The cooler is packaged in soft foam to protect it during shipping.
Accessories
The product comes with the following accessories:
– 1x Manual
– 2x Intel mounting brackets
– 2x AMD mounting brackets
– 1x Hexagonal nut wrench
– 1x Intel & AMD backplate
– 1x Tube of thermal compound
– 2x Fan clips
– 4x Plastic C profile spacers
– 4x M3x15 screws
– 4x M3x3 screws
– 4x Hexagonal nuts with sleeve
– 4x LGA2011 spacer nuts
– 4x Hexagonal nuts
3. Specifications
Model: Dark Rock 3
Colors Available: Black
Supported sockets:
Intel: LGA775, LGA1150, LGA1155, LGA1156, LGA1366, LGA2011
AMD: AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+, FM1, FM2, FM2+, 754, 939
Heatsink:
Materials: Aluminum (Fins) Copper (Heatpipes & Base) Dark Nickel-plated
Dimensions: 97 mm x 137 mm x 160 mm
Heatpipes: Ø6 mm – 6pcs
Weight: 976 g (w/fan)
Fan(s):
Model: SilentWings BQ SIW3-13525-Mf-PWM
Dimensions: 135 mm x 135 mm x 25 mm
Fan Speed: 1400 RPM (PWM)
Fan Airflow: 67.8 CFM
Fan Noise: 20.8 dBA
Features:
– Full aluminum top cover
– Wave-contour cooling fins
– Six high performance heatpipes
– Vibration-isolating elements
– Twelve aluminum heatpipe caps
4. Visual inspection
The Dark Rock 3 model has an attractive design the heatsink being completely black. The cooler is accompanied by a 120mm fan from the SilentWings line, model BQ SIW3-13525-Mf-PWM. The cooler utilizes 6 nickel-plated aluminum heatpipes, each has a 6mm diameter.
The cooler utilizes 51 aluminum fins which are painted black, these fins make direct contact with the heatpipes.
The 6 heatpipes are arranged in a U shape to facilitate heat dissipation, these make contact with the base of the cooler but not direct contact with the CPU itself. Mounted on the base of the cooler we find a small secondary radiator.
Like the heatpipes, the base of the cooler is made out of nickel-plated copper. The base is brushed to a mirror finish.
The top part of the cooler maintains the minimalist look of the cooler, the metal is brushed. In the middle we find the manufacturer’s logo also the caps of the heatpipes are made out of aluminum and painted black.
The included fan, model BQ SIW3-13525-Mf-PWM is part of the BeQuiet! SilentWings line, it has a max. RPM of 1400. The cable is covered in black sleeving, also the fan uses a 4-Pin PWM Molex connector.
Unlike other fans, the SilentWings line of fans uses a frame with a centered mounting system.
5. Testing
The following system was used to test the cooler:
– Processor: Intel i5 4690K @ 3.9 GHz and overclocked to 4.5 GHz
– Motherboard: MSI Z97 Gaming 9 ACK
– RAM: 8GB Crucial Ballistix Tactical @ 2133MHz
– GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 660 OC Gaming
– SSD: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB
– HDD: Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB
– PSU: Antec Edge 550W Gold
– Display: AOC i2769VM
– Case: Phanteks Enthoo Luxe White
– Thermal compound: Arctic Cooling MX-4
Software used for testing the cooler:
– AIDA64 Extreme Version: 5.50.3600 (9/29/2015)
– Intel Burn Test v2.54
– Prime95 28.5
The cooler was tested with the CPU at the default turbo frequency of 3.9 GHz and overclocked to 4.5 GHz with a core voltage of 1.187 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 28.5 – small FFT
AIDA64 Extreme Version – Temperature monitoring.
Each test was conducted for 40 minutes.
The test results are as follows:
Idle
Full Load
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 ± 5 db.
The space between the DIMM slots and the front fan is approximately 31mm.
6. Final thoughts
The Dark Rock 3 cooler stands out through its exceptional build quality and its low noise when the fan is at its maximum RPM. The thermal performance is good for a cooler of this size, the Dark Rock 3 model being approximately 7 degrees behind a good AIO cooler.
Another feature of this cooler and the BeQuiet! brand is the attention to details, starting from the base of the cooler which is polished to a mirror finish, the black heatpipes and the included fan.
The main drawback of this cooler is the insufficient space for the RAM memory, at 31mm only memory with low heatsinks will fit under the cooler’s fan, also the fan extends over one RAM slot.
In conclusion, although the price of this cooler is high, it is justified by the exceptional build quality & materials used, and the included fan. The thermal performance is good for a cooler of this size and the included fan is one of the most silent fans.