INTRODUCTION

   AIO liquid CPU coolers may own a huge share of the global market but for people who don't want to deal with possible pump problems CPU air coolers are and have been a one way. Over the years we've seen numerous high-end CPU air coolers capable of taking on some of the best AIO in the market and that's obviously not something which will change, not anytime soon at least. Over the years be quiet! with their Dark Rock line of CPU air coolers has managed to stand out as one of the leading manufacturers of cooling products for the PC and today they released what's probably their best models to date, the Dark Rock Pro 5 and the Dark Rock Elite.

   be quiet! is a German premium brand of power supplies, PC cases, water and air cooling and fans for desktop PCs. With more than 20 years of experience in the field of quiet hardware for computers, be quiet! offers virtually inaudible as well as extremely performant products in worldclass quality. Since its foundation in 2001, all be quiet! products are conceived and designed in Germany. The development takes place in close cooperation with our locations in Asia. The final quality control also takes place at our headquarters near Hamburg. This is how be quiet! ensures that every product meets our high standards.

   Both the Dark Rock Pro 5 and the Dark Rock Elite feature the company’s signature ceramic particle black powder coating with a total of seven 6mm thick high-performance heat pipes, nearly identical sandwich design heatsinks (dual) which offer plenty of space for your RAM modules (65mm for the former and 63mm for the latter) and nickel plated bases. What really changes between these two coolers (aside the top ARGB LEDs for the Dark Rock Elite) is the type of fans be quiet! has used so although the Dark Rock Pro 5 is equipped with an 120mm and an 135mm SilentWings fans (sporting fluid-dynamic bearings, smooth 6-pole motors and airflow-optimized fan blades) the Dark Rock Elite is equipped with two 135mm SilentWings fans (mounting rail with adjustable height settings for the front fan - both also feature fluid-dynamic bearings, smooth 6-pole motors and airflow-optimized fan blades). Now what really stands out compared to other CPU air coolers is the fact that be quiet! has placed a fan speed switch on top of both the Dark Rock Pro 5 and the Dark Rock Elite and so the fans of the former spin at 1500/1300RPM in quiet mode and 2000RPM/1700RPM in performance mode and for the latter its fans spin at 1500RPM in quiet mode and 2000RPM in performance mode. All of the above help produce a TDP (thermal design power) of 270W for the Dark Rock Pro 5 and 280W for the Dark Rock Elite, making them two of the most powerful CPU air coolers in the market today. Unfortunately, it seems that with this release be quiet! has completely dropped support for the old LGA2011 socket (and even the 2066 socket) which means for this review I'll be using my latest AM5 test rig (testing methodology shall remain the same however).