Be Quiet! Dark Rock 2 CPU Cooler Review
Ryan Martin / 12 years ago
We always use the same test system with CPU coolers that we compare against each other. The full specifications of our test system are as follows:
Test system:
- ASUS P8Z77-V
- Intel Core i5 3570K with Gelid GC Extreme
- 16GB Kingston HyperX 1866MHz DDR3
- AMD Radeon HD 5870
- 128GB Kingston SSDnow V100 (Boot Drive) and Samsung F3 1TB (storage)
- Antec High Current Gamer 620W
- Cooler Master Test Bench v1.0
We’d like to say a big thank you to ASUS, Antec, Kingston, Cooler Master and Intel for providing components that makes this testing possible.
Testing Methodology:
- We always use Gelid GC Extreme or Noctua NT-H1 thermal paste (almost identical performance) to make sure testing reveals the efficiency of the tested coolers not the efficiency of the bundled thermal paste.
- Prime 95 is run for 10 minutes and then the average maximum temperatures as recorded by CPUID HWMonitor are noted
- The system is left in idle for 10 minutes on the desktop and then the average minimum temperatures as recorded by CPUID HWMonitor are noted
- Fans are always left to operate at PWM speeds, if this is not supported then 100% fan speed is used
- Delta temperatures are always used (Observed temperature minus ambient temperature) and we keep the ambient at 22 (+/- 1) degrees for all testing although Delta temperatures correct for the changing ambient anyway.
- The average temperature across the four cores is taken on our quad core processor
- Acoustic measurements are taken 10cm away from the CPU cooler with the VGA fan disabled
- The cooling performance tests are run at stock 3.4GHz (with Intel Turbo up to 3.8GHz) and overclocked 4.5GHz settings
- All other coolers in the graphs have been tested under identical settings
- Each test is repeated 3 times for consistency of results
- There is approximately a 1 degree celsius margin of error in our temperature recording software
- There is approximately a 1dBA margin of error with our decibel meter
Software Used