Cooling

be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5 CPU Cooler Review

A Closer Look

One thing that fills me with hope is the mounting kit, a far cry from the frankly awful mounting system they used previously. There’s a durable metal backplate, some Intel arms, some AMD arms, and a few screws, and that’s it, as the brackets on the cooler are universal and ready to screw down to these two mounting arms.

The cooler itself looks amazing and is certainly smart enough to rival the rather stunning DeepCool Assassin IV, however, I do think the Assassin looks even better, as it’s all enclosed rather than having a fan hanging off the front, but that’s subjective of course.

The fins look great too, with a dual tower design and a staggered design at the back that’ll help create some small vortexes in the air to pull more heat from the cooler.

The side is neat and tidy too, with the middle fan having a wider side plate built into it, sealing up the gap between the two parts of the heatsink.

There’s also this lovely full-size top-plate, which is magnetically mounted, and features mesh ventilation that both looks cool, but will also prevent hot spots from building up under it.

The middle fan has a top frame attached to it with a built-in fan control switch, and there’s a split in the fan cable allowing you to sync up the 120mm fan on the front with the fan controller too. In Quiet Mode, the maximum fan speed is 1500 RPM for the 120mm and 1300 RPM for the 135mm. In performance mode, that’s changed up to 2000 RPM and 1700 RPM respectively.

The whole thing is tool-free too, you can slide the middle fan out for easy installations and maintenance.

The fan in the middle is a 135mm Silent Wings while the outside fan is a 120mm model, which both look great and match up with the rest of the latest be quiet! fan products you will see in everything from their PSUs to their cases.

With everything removed, the heatsinks look stunning, with seven U-shaped copper heat pipes running through each tower.

There’s even a block of aluminium fins right on the CPU block which will help further dissipate the heat more evenly throughout the cooler.

The seven heat pipes are pretty chunky, and fully cover the beautifully milled CPU block.

Page: 1 2 3 4 5

Peter Donnell

As a child still in my 30's (but not for long), I spend my day combining my love of music and movies with a life-long passion for gaming, from arcade classics and retro consoles to the latest high-end PC and console games. So it's no wonder I write about tech and test the latest hardware while I enjoy my hobbies!

Disqus Comments Loading...

Recent Posts

Acer Nitro 49″ Sbmiipphx 5120×1440 VA 120Hz FreeSync HDR 400 Curved Ultrawide Gaming Monitor

Acer EI491CUR Sbmiipphx 49" 1800R 32:9 Curved DQHD (5120 x 1440) Zero-Frame Gaming Monitor, AMD…

2 hours ago

Corsair MM350 PRO Premium Spill-Proof Cloth Gaming Mouse Pad

A spill-proof and stain-resistant coating makes liquids slide right off the surface so your mouse…

2 hours ago

Aerocool Crown Nobility Series Gaming Chair

Gaming chair from Aerocool's Nobility Series Breathable and durable leatherette upholstery with quality finish High…

2 hours ago

SAPPHIRE PULSE AMD Radeon™ RX 7800 XT Gaming Graphics Card

DimensionsLength280 mmWidth128.75 mmHeight52.57 mmGraphics CardGPU SeriesRX 7000 SeriesClock SpeedsMax. Memory Clock19500 MHzMax. GPU Clock (Boost)2430…

2 hours ago

MSI to Begin Certifying its PSUs with PPLP ATX 3.0 Efficiency Ratings

MSI has just revealed that they're one of the first power supply manufacturers to feature…

3 hours ago

Creative Zen Air SXFI & Zen Hybrid SXFI TWS Earbuds and Earphones Revealed

Creative Technology has just unveiled two new sets of headphones, with the True Wireless Stereo…

3 hours ago