INTRODUCTION

   Tower design CPU Coolers may have been around for roughly a decade now but it wasn't until a few years ago that several manufacturers thought about combining two heatsinks to make the main body of the cooler instead of one thus increasing its cooling potential. Dual tower solutions were later on called sandwich type ones since in between the two heatsinks some manufacturers placed a fan to increase airflow between the fins thus improving the overall cooling efficiency of the cooler (some used that one fan only while others used two and even 3 in push and pull configuration). Today we finally see most CPU Cooler manufacturers walk down that same path and although for the majority of consumers even single tower CPU Coolers offer the best bang for their buck for overclockers, enthusiasts and even professionals in some cases dual tower models are well worth the extra cost. Be Quiet! has been in the business of manufacturing some of the best CPU Coolers around and today we will be checking out their latest Dark Rock Pro 3 CPU Cooler.

   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.

   It hasn't really been that long since be Quiet! released the Dark Rock Pro 2 CPU Cooler so we didn't really expect to see many differences with the Dark Rock Pro 3 model and it turns out that we were partially right. Well after taking a quick look at the specifications sheet of the brand new Dark Rock Pro 3 we see that compared to its predecessor it features a higher thermal design power (250W/220W), is also equipped with two SilentWings fans 120mm and 135mm in size (uses the newer 6 pole models however), has slightly more aluminum fins in total (90/88), also features seven 6mm thick nickel plated all-copper heatpipes and is both slightly lighter (1197g/1250g) and smaller (150x137x163mm/147x138x166mm). So it seems that be Quiet! did work on the design of the cooler quite a bit so the only thing left for us to do is to check and see whether or not the modifications they made are extensive enough to boost performance even further compared to its predecessor.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

A large product picture along with the TDP of the cooler and the be Quiet! logo are placed at the front of the box.

On both sides we see a few words about the product along with several award logos given to be Quiet! by several review sites.

Right beneath the three drawings used to showcase the features of the Dark Rock Pro 3 at the rear we also see the specifications list.

The cooler is placed inside 3 pieces of foam while the rest of the bundle is placed inside a cardboard box.

As usual the bundle includes everything you may need during installation so aside the Dark Rock Pro 3 CPU Cooler you will also get the installation instructions, tube with thermal conductive material, 2 fan clips (for the installation of a 3rd fan at the rear), backplate and all the necessary screws and brackets for Intel LGA775/1150/1155/1156/1366/2011 and AMD 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/AM3+/FM1/FM2/FM2+ mainboards.

THE DARK ROCK PRO 3

Although not the largest dual-tower CPU Cooler that has ever passed from our test bench the Dark Rock Pro 3 is still massive measuring 150mm in length, 137mm in width and 163mm in height with both fans installed.

Be Quiet! equips the Dark Rock Pro 3 with two SilentWings fans an 120mm at the front that can spin up to 1700RPM to produce airflow levels of up to 54.9CFM and an 135mm one at the center that can spin up to 1400RPM to produce airflow levels of up to 67CFM.

Each of the two heatsinks has a total of 45 aluminum fins spaced at around 0.2mm from each other.

The design of the fins along with the small dots on their surface should increase air circulation and contribute to high convection efficiency without raising overall noise (always according to be Quiet!).

Once again we see the company name ontop of a plate at the top of the cooler (the plate also keeps air from leaking upwards).

Just like the Dark Rock Pro 2 the Dark Rock Pro 3 has seven 6mm nickel plated all-copper heatpipes however this time over their placement is slightly different.

The copper base features a nice mirror like finish without any visible machine marks whatsoever.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   We always take things quite seriously when it comes to work so just like with the previous LGA1366 database we will not be testing each CPU Cooler on its own and with different ambient temperature levels and thus we can actually have yet another valid CPU Cooler database. Testing a CPU Cooler automatically means that you need to know where it stands against the immediate competition and to accomplish that we have spent both money and time through the years, something that we plan to continue to do so in order to get the most accurate results for the end consumers who read these lines. Every CPU cooler in this database is tested with the bundled 140mm/120mm/92mm/80mm fans while working at both idle speed and 100% of their speeds for all the temperature tests. CPU Coolers that do not come bundled with a fan/s are measured using a Noctua fan (size dependent on the model) to test for the temperature tests but due to the lack of a stock fan dBA level tests are obviously skipped. Single (120/140mm) watercooling solutions are tested with the radiator mounted at the rear of our test rig while dual/triple/quad (240/260/280/360/420/480/560mm) solutions with the radiator mounted at the top. For the dBA tests every cooler in the database was measured both while on idle mode or with the fan controller in the minimum setting and while on extreme load or with the fan controller all the way to the highest possible setting (PWM fans do that on their own without our intervention). Every single test takes place in a temperature controlled room of 23 degrees Celsius Ambient Temp with the help of two AC units placed diagonally inside the room. The Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste is used with every CPU Cooler in our latest LGA2011 database (although initially this was not the plan we had to change things to get the most accurate results). Finally it's very important to point out that just because a CPU Cooler is better than another when tested with our test rig that does not necessarily mean that the same performance differences will apply 100% for other CPU models and in other situations (such as different ambient temps and system configurations).

     To successfully record the load temperatures we use the latest OCCT application for around 6-10 minutes to push the processor to its limits and after that is done and the temperatures are recorded we wait for about 10-20 minutes for the CPU to cool down and record the idle temperatures. This is done to allow time for the thermal conductive material to achieve the optimal performance level. Same procedure is then repeated with the Passmark BurnIn Test as a failsafe just in case the OCCT results are wrong. This procedure takes a lot more time than the usual peltier/thermometer tests but this way not only can we deliver real world results to our readers based on real CPUs but we can also triple check the results using a variety of programs. Last but not least the temperatures were recorded using both the latest versions of AIDA64 and RealTemp while the noise level tests are performed using a high precision ExTech HD600 Decibel Meter placed about 10-15cm above the CPU Cooler. Still although the same testing procedure applies to all units do take into consideration that unlike the official numbers which are measured in special noise isolated labs with just the fans here we also have both the rest of the cooler and the rest of the system (although all system fans are turned off when recording noise levels).

TEST RESULTS

CONCLUSION

     As soon as we finished comparing the specifications sheet of the Dark Rock Pro 3 to that of its predecessor we were convinced that it would perform exactly the same as the Dark Rock Pro 2 (not that it would be a bad thing) so it was really a nice surprise to see that it actually managed to outperform it even if just by roughly 2 degrees Celsius. In terms of cooling efficiency it also managed to get really close to the R1 Ultimate by Cryorig while it outperformed (marginally) the Frio Extreme by Thermaltake. What matters most however is that it did so with less noise (especially in the case of the Frio Extreme) and that's obviously something that will go a long way with people who cherish silence. Nothing's perfect however and so the sole problem with the Dark Rock Pro 3 is the same with just about every dual-tower CPU Cooler currently in the market and that's none other than the possible clearance issues mainly with tall memory modules (although as always you can place the front fan a bit higher to avoid that).

     It's been less than two weeks since Be Quiet! released the Dark Rock Pro 3 CPU Cooler so currently you can only find it inside the EU for 74.89Euros (Amazon.de) a price tag that lands it right next to the once king of the hill (and still very good) NH-D14 SE2011 by Noctua. True with so many similarly priced dual-tower models out there it's not easy to choose the right one but if you care not about size and are after a CPU Cooler with excellent cooling efficiency, great build quality and low noise levels the Dark Rock Pro 3 is the ideal tool for the job and we can think of no reason to deny it our Platinum Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Excellent Cooling Efficiency
- Dual Fan Solution (120/135mm)
- Ability to Add An 3rd Fan
- Noise Levels 

CONS

- Size (Clearance Issues)
- Current Availability (Should Change Soon)