be quiet! Dark Rock TF2 CPU Cooler Review

A Closer Look

Being a top-flow air cooler, you would be forgiven for initially thinking that this was some kind of low-profile design. The reality, however, couldn’t be further from the truth. This is, by and large, quite a chunky cooler. A factor which is more than borne out from the vast that despite being a top-flow, be quiet! is 100% touting this as a high-performance solution offering support for processors of up to 210W TDP. – To handle that, it needs to be pretty big!

So, can the be quiet! Dark Rock TF2 handle it, though? Well, let’s take a closer look at some of the individual components that have gone into the overall design.

Contact Plate

Starting with the heat pipes, we find something more than a little unusual here. That is, however, due to the somewhat unique nature of the radiator. Well, specifically, because there are two of them of different sizes. Being split into two sections, the smaller part has 4 pipes leading towards it which is a surprisingly large number given the relatively small amount of space it has to work with. They fit though, and surprisingly well.

The larger part of the radiator has 6 huge heat pipes towards it and, again, we find that they’re exceptionally well-spaced and set through the radiator. In terms of the design, although clearly quite a quirky design, it does appear that the be quiet! Dark Rock TF2 is already dropping more than a few hints that it’s going to be a potent product.

The contact plate is nice and large meaning that it shouldn’t have any problems providing excellent levels of coverage for both Intel and AMD processors. Polished to within an inch of its life, this should provide some excellent heat transfer which, presuming the radiator and fans do their job, should result in some excellently low temperatures.

Radiator

Although we have probably already given away most of the interesting points surrounding the radiator, it does still clearly warrant an individual look. The design is certainly unusual and while we have encountered many twin-radiator designs before, it’s more than a little unusual to see this deployed in a top-flow profile.

By itself, the be quiet! Dark Rock TF2 does look something like a low-profile design. This is, after all, what is most people would (quite rightly) associate with top-flow coolers. And if you were to opt with just the one fan sandwiched in the middle, it might just about make that remit. Would that still qualify it as a high-performance design though? Well, we suspect not and, overall, this isn’t what be quiet! has in mind for the Dark Rock TF2.

With its sleek black design and well-sized branding, however, while definitely a strange radiator, it certainly looks like one that can handle a lot of heat!

Fan

Given the unusual design of the radiator, be quiet! has found a way to work with this by providing you with two fans that are slightly different shapes. While both are 135mm designs, the slightly thinner bezel fan sits inside the radiators while the larger more standard model sits on the top.

It’s a clever solution and, quite frankly, I’ll admit to being more than a little impressed that be quiet! did choose to use two different models rather than just picking one that ‘sort of’ worked in both positions.

A closer look reveals that these are both be quiet! ‘Silent Wings’ fans. While the larger top fan is the Silent Wings 3, the small is just one of their more standard models. When it comes to ‘Silent Wings’, however, standard isn’t a particularly fair word as we have encountered both of these fan models various times in the past and have never failed to be impressed with their performance both in terms of air movement and low acoustic output.

Overall

As a completed unit, and as noted above, the be quiet! Dark Rock TF2 is, despite the appearance of its individual components, quite a substantially large air cooler. When put together and ready to go, however, it’s hard to deny that although lacking(?) any RGB lighting, the be quiet! Dark Rock TF2 actually looks both very professional and also, dare I say, mildly imposing!

Thanks to its top-flow design, RAM compatibility will not be of any issue here whatsoever. Admittedly, I’m never overly keen on coolers that direct the airflow towards the processor and particularly the surrounding VRM, but in terms of this being a ‘high-end’ release as be quiet! claims, it’s absolutely faultless in terms of its aesthetics, build quality, and overall design functionality.

Given that this is a be quiet! product, however, they do have something of a reputation among the community as often having overly complicated installation methods. Is that the case here though? Well, there’s only one way to find out. Let’s get this strapped onto our test bench and find out just how easy, or hard, that process is!