be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 Review

[section_title title=”Conclusion”]Conclusion

Taking a look at the design first and it could be a bit of a mixed bag. While the overall aesthetics of the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 are absolutely amazing this thing is a MONSTER! It is absolutely huge and this could cause some issues for some, or some may just not care for something so bulky. Me personally, I say the bigger the better! The all black design which comes with two included fans and leaves room for a third is superb in my opinion and should also go along with most any colour scheme you should choose for your build.

On the performance front lets have a quick re-cap of the acoustics first. This is the de facto quietest cooler Play3r have had the opportunity of testing. Being quiet is one of the major concerns when buying a cooler as no one wants to sit anywhere near something that sounds like a jet engine and be quiet! have lived up to their name and not let us down. While in my real world testing the results were a bit louder than what be queit! mentions, I can live with this. Coming in just over 44.2 dBa which may not mean a lot, just know again, that this is the quietest CPU cooler Play3r have tested which should say something to the results.

Now on to what I would call the most important aspect to consider when buying a CPU cooler, the thermal performance. Again, be quiet! have not let us down with the Dark Rock Pro 3 and we would hope not. When you see a cooler of this size you just imagine that it is going to perform well and it does. Looking at the benchmark results and while this may not be the best cooler when the system is on idle, it kicks in when needed. The Dark Rock Pro 3 was able to keep a 4770k running at 4.5GHz with 1.3v pumping through it to 49c which is more than acceptable in my opinion.

Considering the price which is just over £62  and you are getting a CPU cooler that performs and is aesthetically pleasing. In a crowded market, especially around it’s given price range I feel it fits in well. The included fan brackets which add the option to add a third fan to the cooler only further add to it’s value. Let us also not forget that when it comes to silence, the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 sits atop the leader board both when idle and at full RPM, a feat in itself.

If you are looking for a cooler that performs as well as it looks then the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 should definitely be on your list, especially if you are in the market strictly looking for an air cooler.

I would like to thank be quiet! for sending the Dark Rock Pro 3 in for review and look forward to seeing more from them in the future.