INTRODUCTION

   Our summer vacation timeout is almost upon us and although it will roughly be just 5-6 days long that doesn't mean that it will be solely fun and pleasure. So during these 3 days all of us will be testing several compact electronic devices (obviously we can't really test PC hardware while on vacations) such as portable battery packs, portable speakers, Wi-Fi sharing drives/devices, action cameras, Bluetooth wireless headsets and of course normal wired headsets since we really don't want to fall back on our review schedule (if we did that would mean more work for us once we get back). However until we take our short leave (should be the 12th of August if all goes according to plan) there are quite a few hardware reviews left to share with all of you including the one regarding the latest CPU Cooler by be quiet! the Shadow Rock 2.

   be quiet! is a premium brand manufacturer of power supplies and cooling solutions for your desktop PC. be quiet! products are convincing which is proved by reaching and defending the market leadership in PSU business in Germany for five consecutive years *. This is validated and accompanied by numerous awards for both power supplies and cooling solutions. be quiet! is awarded for five times in a row as manufacturer of the year in the power supply category by the readers of the well-known German hardware magazine PC Games Hardware. Another first and second rank in the categories “fans” and “cooler” underline the high acceptance of our products. be quiet! sticks to its name: Ten years’ experience in the field of noise reduction and silence make be quiet! products probably the most silent one on the market. Undoubted fans have a large impact of the noise levels of be quiet! products. Due we are using our specially developed Silent Wings fans in nearly all of our range. They are equipped with various noise reducing features. Thanks to these we ensure a really silent operation - our products reach the best balance between cooling performance and a virtually inaudible operation. If you choose be quiet! you can be sure to get premium quality and second to none silent operation from the quietness experts.

   Just like the Dark Rock Pro 2 which we tested a long time ago the Shadow Rock 2 is also a tower-design CPU Air Cooler (however unlike the first it's a single heatsink design and not a dual/sandwich one) with a T.D.P of 180W (Thermal Design Power) that focuses on the sweet spot between performance and low noise levels with the help of an 120mm Pure-Wings 2 PWM fan and a rather large main body featuring a total of 51 aluminum fins and four 8mm heatpipes. The design of the main body also allows for the end user to place a second 120mm fan on the opposite side in push & pull configuration for even better performance levels but unfortunately as you will see later on in order to do so you will need to purchase a separate set of mounting clips directly from be quiet! since these are not included in the bundle. As always however it's the cooling performance of a CPU Cooler that we care about mostly so let's see exactly how the Shadow Rock 2 does in that area.