be quiet! Shadow Rock Slim 2 CPU Cooler Review

A Closer Look

Out of the box, the be quiet! Shadow Rock Slim 2 represents itself well and a particularly eye-catching aspect of it is how the dark black fan contrasts so well against the stainless steel radiator. As with all coolers, however, there are many individual parts that go into the overall design. Before we start fixing this to our test bench, therefore, let us take a closer look at some of the more key facets of this design.

Contact Plate

Despite its small size, be quiet! has still managed to get 4 copper heat pipes extending away from each side of the contact plate. These are well located and, given the overall small stature of the radiator, have still been well spaced to hopefully provide some nice dissipation of that all-important heat.

The copper pipes extend fully throughout the contact plate and, as you can see below, have been left exposed to allow for the best immediate transfer of heat from the processor. The surface itself is amazingly smooth with no visible gaps notable to where the pipes and the contact plate align. Overall, this speaks of some exceptionally high build quality which will undoubtedly give the consumer more than a little confidence in its performance.

Radiator

Make no bones about this, this radiator looks absolutely stunning and it’s nice to see that be quiet! has decided to do something a little different here from their more ‘standard’ air cooler radiator designs. With that amazingly shiny stainless steel surface, while we’re sure that the choice of material has been specifically picked to allow for the best levels of heat transfer, on an aesthetic level, this is one of the nicest air cooler radiators I have ever seen. And trust me, I don’t get to say that often!

While there is some be quiet! branding to the top, it is both well situated and well-sized meaning that it adds nicely to the overall look while not being obtrusive or ‘in your face’. The caps to the tops of the radiator pipes also follow through with the stainless steel look which, on the whole, should (perhaps surprising) make this cooler quite an attractive look sat within practically any system build.

The be quiet! Shadow Rock Slim 2 radiator comes with masses of fins which, by proxy of volume, should allow for good levels of heat dissipation. Despite the number of fins, however, the gaps are still nice and large meaning that the fan shouldn’t have to work too hard to maintain a solid level of airflow.

Fan

Coming with one fan, it may surprise you to see that when compared to the radiator, it does seem rather large. In fact, even when compared to most air cooler fans, it does seem a bit bigger than you might expect. – If you do, therefore, also have these thoughts, then the good news is that you’re entirely correct. Rather than opting for a standard 120mm design, be quiet! provides you with one of their very own custom-designed 135mm fans.

Offering total coverage of the radiator, with room to spare, the fan is an exceptionally nice choice. Not only because it carries the overall aesthetic well with the black fan contrasting against the stainless steel radiator, but also in that its lightly squared design should mean that it sits well and looks to be a well-considered part of the overall design.

Overall

On the whole, the be quiet! Shadow Rock Slim 2 looks to be an exceptionally good air cooler. Not just in terms of build quality, but also in the fact that, on the whole, I honestly think this is one of the best looking designs I’ve encountered for quite some time.

As you can see in the picture below, when the fan is fitted the radiator coverage is excellent meaning that you’ll get plenty of airflow without the fan having to go into overdrive. This is clearly a factor that should, all going well, provide us with some excellent results in both our CPU temperature and particularly so acoustic testing.

RAM compatibility will provide users with literally no problems whatsoever here. Even if you have quite chunky modules with RGB lighting effects, the be quiet! Shadow Rock Slim 2 should fit in easily without causing any problems or detractions from the overall light show you might be looking for.

So, on the whole, the be quiet! Shadow Rock Slim 2 definitely looks to be an excellent air cooler in practically every relevant means you can think of. No, it doesn’t have any RGB lights. On a personal level though, I think I’m actually grateful for that because, quite frankly, it didn’t need it. The build quality looks fantastic and the aesthetics are easily good enough for this product to stand on its own two legs without the crutches of any seizure-inducing lighting.

How is it to actually install though? Well, let’s find out!