INTRODUCTION

   Size may not always matter in everything but it sure matters a whole lot when it comes to coolers, regardless of type. This stands as true for refrigerator units as it does to huge mainframe cooling systems and of course CPU and GPU coolers. So, whenever a manufacturer takes a successful cooler back to the drawing board to either make it bigger or equip it with improved airflow (or pressure) fans (or both) it no longer comes as a surprise to anyone. Back in 2015 be quiet! released one of their most popular and highest performance top-down CPU coolers to date, the Dark Rock TF which roughly 2 weeks ago they upgraded to the Dark Rock TF 2 model that I've been testing for the past 3 days and is also what today's review is all about.

   be quiet! is a premium brand of power supplies, PC cases and cooling solutions for desktop PCs. The products of be quiet! offer legendary quiet operation and first-class performance thanks the passion for quality and precision. Attention to detail is the key to perfection. Which is why our very own experts lead product conception, design and quality control from our headquarters in Germany. be quiet! sticks to its name: More than 15 years’ experience in the field of noise reduction and silence make be quiet! products probably the most silent ones on the market.

   Even though the original Dark Rock TF (stands for Top Flow) and the newly released Dark Rock TF 2 look almost identical they do have certain differences (there are also a couple of aesthetic differences but these don't affect performance). The first difference has to do with size so even though the original Dark Rock TF was already a large dual-heatsink top-flow cooler that measured 162.6x140x130.8mm the new Dark Rock TF 2 is even larger at 163x140x134mm (both feature a ceramic black coating). So even though the lower heatsink remains at 64 (32 top/32 bottom) this change in size results in the top heatsink of the TF 2 having a single extra fin compared to the original TF model (63 - 64 if we also include the front aluminum plate/62). The 2nd difference has to do with the bundled fans so the original Dark Rock TF was bundled with 2 Silent Wings 135mm fans (1400RPM/26.7dBA/67.8CFM) the Dark Rock TF 2 is bundled with a Silent Wings 3 135mm fan (funnel shaped air-inlet/1300RPM) and a Silent Wings 135mm fan (1400RPM). These differences give the Dark Rock TF 2 a TDP (thermal design power) of 230W as opposed to the 220W of the original Dark Rock TF.