be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 CPU Cooler Review

Introduction

When it comes to CPU coolers there are no shortage of options, in fact it can be quite a headache trying to find the right one for your system. With water cooling now cheaper than ever, and air cooling still pushing forward with innovative designs that have pushed performance up and prices down, not to mention the wide range of sizes, shapes and a dozen other factors that can make each one unique from the last. be quiet! have one important focus on their coolers that sets them apart from the crowd, and they’re already a world-renowned brand for their ultra quiet performance products. It’s their ambition for quiet performance that has earned them a solid reputation among system builders, gamers and many other sections of the PC building / owning world. Offering up some of the quietest products on the market has long been their goal and they’ve succeeded time and time again, especially since their quiet performance is often backed up by superb cooling capabilities, pretty much the two best qualities you could ask for from a CPU cooler.

When it comes to picking your new CPU cooler, thermal performance is obviously a top priority, having a cooler that is also quiet is a welcome second priority, followed by build quality and aesthetics. be quiet! have proven before that they can tick all these boxes with their products, so they’re a premium choice for any system builder and that’s often reflected in the premium price tag of the be quiet! product range, but as they saying goes “you get what you pay for”. The Dark Rock Pro 3 cooler that we have in the office today is the new top dog of the be quiet! range, intended to be their best ever cooling product and today I’ll be expecting nothing short of excellence from this cooler. With prices edging over £70 from most major online retailers, this is a premium class product and it’s already treading into water cooling territory at this price range, so it’s going to have to be pretty special to compete with that market.

As you can see from the specifications below, it’s rather well equipped with support for a wide range of AMD and Intel socket types, two SilentWings fans (1 x 120mm & 1 x 135mm), aluminium construction and 7 x 6mm heat pipes.

The packaging is packed full of specifications (as above) and details about the product compatibility, but we’ll take a closer look at all of this shortly.

It’s really well packaged thanks to some soft foam blocks which cover each side of the cooler, which should be more than enough to keep it protected in transit.

In the box you’ll find a small bag of components, an installation guide and of course the cooler its self, which comes with the two fans pre-installed.

In the bag you’ll find an extra set of fan clips, handy for those who want to add a third fan to the cooler, all the screw bolt and brackets for both Intel and AMD sockets and a very durable metal backplate with two soft foam pads on the back of it.