Performance
As you can see from the chart below, the thermal performance at stock temperatures is about on par with that of the Zalman Reserator 3, a high-performance 120mm water cooling unit! The performance is also only slightly behind that of the Lucifer, which is the only higher ranking air cooler on the graph. Low idle and low load temperatures from the Dark Rock Pro 3 are very impressive and significantly better than the temperatures of the be quiet! Dark Rock 3, which can be seen much further down our graph.
Backing up those impressive temperatures is super quiet performance. The be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 clocks in at 39 dBa, which is a rounded number, it was consistently about .03 louder than the Thermalright Macho Rev.A. CPU cooler, and to be honest, they’re both virtually silent and I couldn’t hear the Dark Rock Pro 3 at all from a few feet away, despite using an open test bench.
Once overclocked we do see the Dark Rock Pro 3 giving way to the water cooling products, but its performance its right up alongside the superb GamerStorm Lucifer, making the Dark Rock Pro 3 one of the best air coolers we’ve ever tested.
The Dark Rock Pro 3 beats out its nearest competitor, the Dark Rock 3, taking the top spot as the quietest CPU cooler we’ve ever tested on an overclocked CPU. It was barely a whisper above ambient at load, very impressive. Thermal performance from the Lucifer may have been neck and neck, but the Dark Rock Pro 3 has done it at a significantly lower acoustic level.
No man it’s just too gargantuan, it’s probably better suited to something like a test bench, not a common 9 to 5 PC case.
Great test, and clearly detailed info – even when I have one myself already, here is still loads of info to find & learn. Thank you.
However guys, the assembly isn’t bad for everyone. Imagine, there’s possibility of fitting this one, even without removing the motherboard. How come? Ask AMD CPU users. Fitting this one on my Phenom II x4 960T BE 3,0GHz – 3.4GHz Turbo (currently OC 3,8GHz – 4.0GHz Turbo) without any hassle at all takes about 15-20 minutes including fitting the thermal compound. And not in huge case, but in budget Zalman Z3 Plus – which has been chosen by me for great look and it’s great potential for modifications I’ve made already :)
So I rather way much love than hate – this incredibly easy assembly (for AM2, AM3 & AM3+ sockets), this silence, this temperatures (29*C Idle 45-46*C Stress), and also love it’s appearance in this case:
http://images68.fotosik.pl/551/00e6f98092efe467.jpg
http://images66.fotosik.pl/550/3de8356e3d540333.jpg
Ten fans in total in my case, which both in this cooler runs around 1325 RPM (smaller) / 925 RPM (bigger) and rest of them never exceed 800 RPM – late night, when all sounds at home and on the outside gone my working on this PC is still pleasant.
This block of cooling engineering even partly visible through side panel window still looks respectful. Very.
I didn’t found any info about maximum TDP of CPU this cooler can manage – and this one is quite big, as it will does his job with huge 250W of Thermal Design Power. And that’s make it as a very universal choice for any CPU on the market.
Great test, and clearly detailed info – even when I have one myself already, here is still loads of info to find & learn. Thank you.
However guys, the assembly isn’t bad for everyone. Imagine, there’s possibility of fitting this one, even without removing the motherboard. How come? Ask AMD CPU users. Fitting this one on my Phenom II x4 960T BE 3,0GHz – 3.4GHz Turbo (currently OC 3,8GHz – 4.0GHz Turbo) without any hassle at all takes about 15-20 minutes including fitting the thermal compound. And not in huge case, but in budget Zalman Z3 Plus – which has been chosen by me for great look and it’s great potential for modifications I’ve made already :)
So I rather way much love than hate – this incredibly easy assembly (for AM2, AM3 & AM3+ sockets), this silence, this temperatures (29*C Idle 45-46*C Stress), and also love it’s appearance in my case (see pic.).
Ten fans in total in my case, which both in this cooler runs around 1325 RPM (smaller) / 925 RPM (bigger) and rest of them never exceed 800 RPM – late night, when all sounds at home and on the outside gone my working on this PC is still pleasant.
And this block of cooling engineering even partly visible through side panel window still looks respectful. Very.
I didn’t found any info about maximum TDP of CPU this cooler can manage – and this one is quite big, as it will does his job with huge 250W of Thermal Design Power. And that’s make it as a very universal choice for any CPU on the market.
Great test, and clearly detailed info – even when I have one myself already, here is still loads of info to find & learn. Thank you.
However guys, the assembly isn’t bad for everyone. Imagine, there’s possibility of fitting this one, even without removing the motherboard. How come? Ask AMD CPU users. Fitting this one on my Phenom II x4 960T BE 3,0GHz – 3.4GHz Turbo (currently OC 3,8GHz – 4.0GHz Turbo) without any hassle at all takes about 15-20 minutes including fitting the thermal compound. And not in huge case, but in budget Zalman Z3 Plus – which has been chosen by me for great look and it’s great potential for modifications I’ve made already :)
So I rather way much love than hate – this incredibly easy assembly (for AM2, AM3 & AM3+ sockets), this silence, this temperatures (29*C Idle 45-46*C Stress), and also love it’s appearance in my case (see pic. below).
Ten fans in total in my case, which both in this cooler runs around 1325 RPM (smaller) / 925 RPM (bigger) and rest of them never exceed 800 RPM – late night, when all sounds at home and on the outside gone my working on this PC is still pleasant.
And this block of cooling engineering even partly visible through side panel window still looks respectful. Very.
I didn’t found any info about maximum TDP of CPU this cooler can manage – and this one is quite big, as it will does his job with huge 250W of Thermal Design Power. And that’s make it as a very universal choice for any CPU on the market.