Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 2 CPU Cooler Review

We always use the same test system with CPU coolers that we compare against each other. The full specifications of our test system are as follows:

Test system:

• ASUS P8Z77-V
• Intel Core i5 3570K with Gelid GC Extreme
• 16GB Kingston HyperX 1866MHz DDR3
• AMD Radeon HD 5870
• 128GB Kingston SSDnow V100 (Boot Drive) and Samsung F3 1TB (storage)
• Antec High Current Gamer 620W
• Cooler Master Test Bench v1.0

We’d like to say a big thank you to ASUS, Antec, Kingston, Cooler Master and Intel for providing components that makes this testing possible.

Testing Methodology:

• We always use Gelid GC Extreme or Noctua NT-H1 thermal paste (almost identical performance) to make sure testing reveals the efficiency of the tested coolers not the efficiency of the bundled thermal paste.
• Prime 95 is run for 10 minutes and then the average maximum temperatures as recorded by CPUID HWMonitor are noted
• The system is left in idle for 10 minutes on the desktop and then the average minimum temperatures as recorded by CPUID HWMonitor are noted
• Fans are always left to operate at PWM speeds, if this is not supported then 100% fan speed is used
• Delta temperatures are always used (Observed temperature minus ambient temperature) and we keep the ambient at 22 (+/- 1) degrees for all testing although Delta temperatures correct for the changing ambient anyway.
• The average temperature across the four cores is taken on our quad core processor
• Acoustic measurements are taken 10cm away from the CPU cooler with the VGA fan disabled
• The cooling performance tests are run at stock 3.4GHz (with Intel Turbo up to 3.8GHz) and overclocked 4.5GHz settings
• All other coolers in the graphs have been tested under identical settings
• Each test is repeated 3 times for consistency of results
• There is approximately a 1 degree celsius margin of error in our temperature recording software
• There is approximately a 1dBA margin of error with our decibel meter

Software Used

• CPUID HWMonitor
• Prime 95