Be Quiet! Dark Rock 2 CPU Cooler Review

Sometimes performance isn’t everything in a cooler, and the Be Quiet! Dark Rock series of CPU coolers capitalises on that fact. From experience of their products they offer a normally spot-on balance between price, performance, aesthetics and noise with the obvious focus being on noise. We have already taken a look at Be Quiet’s new flagship, the Dark Rock Pro 2, now we are taking a look at their next model down, the Dark Rock 2.

Given the fact the the Dark Rock Pro was succeeded by the Dark Rock Pro 2, you would expect the Dark Rock Advanced to be succeeded by the Dark Rock Advanced 2. However, as is evident from the name of this review, Be Quiet! decided to axe the “Advanced” part of the naming and go with the Dark Rock 2 instead.

Design wise, not much has changed. The 120mm Silent Wings PWM fan has been replaced by a 135mm Silent Wings PWM fan – from our best observations the heatsink is more or less identical. The fan on the Dark Rock 2 mounts with metal fan clips whereas on the Dark Rock Advanced there were anti-vibration rubber mounts, but given the low RPMs vibration shouldn’t be an issue anyway.

Heatsink Specifications:

• Dimensions (L x W x D), (mm): 95 x 96 x 166
• Number of fins: 44
• Fin material: Aluminium
• Base material: Copper
• CPU contact surface: CNC machined
• Heatpipe number, Diameter (mm): 6x 6
• Surface treatment: Aluminium / Dark nickel-plated

Fan Specifications

• Fan dimensions (mm): 135 x 135 x 25
• Speed @ 100% PWM (rpm): 1300
• Air flow @ 12V (cfm, m3/h): 57.9 ; 96.8
• Air pressure @ 12V (mm H2O): 1.64
• Bearing type: Fluid Dynamic Bearing
• Rated voltage (V): 12
• Input current (A): 0.25
• Input power (W): 2.64
• Connector: 4-pin PWM
• Cable length (mm): 200
• Lifespan (h / 25°C): 300,000