INTRODUCTION

   At the beginning of each summer we always try to test CPU Cooler models that we haven't had the chance to do so earlier but this year we decided to focus more on testing various portable devices such as wireless speakers, action cameras, headsets and battery packs that could improve the experience of your long awaited summer vacations. However it is now that most of you are out in the market looking to get a brand new CPU Cooler to keep your systems running smoothly and so although we have uploaded low-profile CPU Cooler reviews as promised a while back (plenty more to come) we also need to focus on the higher performance models as well. One of those models is the tower design Dark Rock 3 by be quiet! and after several hours of extensive tests we can finally bring this review to you.

   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.

   The Dark Rock 3 CPU Cooler follows the traditional tower design we see with most high performance models nowadays but unlike its massive dual-heatsink/fan (135mm/120mm) brother the Dark Rock Pro 3 it features but a single heatsink paired with a 135mm SilentWings fan. Of course the smaller size has a significant impact on the cooling efficiency of the unit something which you can easily see just by looking at the thermal design power numbers of both the Dark Rock 3 and the Dark Rock Pro 3 (190W vs 250W) but at the same time a smaller size automatically means less or no clearance issues whatsoever with mainboard components and/or ram modules. To partially make up for that hit in performance be quiet! has also placed a small heatsink ontop of the copper base and although i don't expect it to do much to improve the performance of the cooler it certainly can't hurt. So how does it really compare to its larger brother and against its current competition?