be quiet! Shadow Rock 3 CPU Cooler Review

A Closer Look

So, being an air cooler you might expect the Shadow Rock 3 to be quite large. In truth though, it’s actually not particularly large and certainly not heavy in the hand. Don’t let that fool you into thinking this is a cheap design, however, a closer look reveals some very tasty details!

Contact Plate

Starting with the contact plate, you’ll note that the Shadow Rock 3 has 5 pipes leading from each side. While the pipes leading to the radiator are coated (to match the overall aesthetic) the contact point has been kept copper.

This is good as it should ensure the best and most direct head contact surface.

The contact plate itself is amazingly smooth very no visibly notable gaps between where the pipes adjoin the plate except for at the very ends where they begin to curve away.

All going well, this should lead to some excellent heat dissipation.

Radiator

As noted earlier in the review, it is mildly surprising to find that the radiator for the be quiet! Shadow Rock 3 isn’t a colossally huge beast. What is there, however, is presented excellently!

In terms of aesthetics, the main action is happening on the top with the pleasant blank design highlighted well with the silver indent. You do, of course, have the be quiet! logo which is well placed and doesn’t detract from the overall sleek design.

As you can see in the picture below, there is certainly a lot going on with this radiator in terms of nooks and crannies. We can, however, assume that this is all designed to ensure that the heat is quickly and evenly distributed throughout as efficiently as possible.

As with many modern (and generally high-performance designed) coolers, the fins have been lightly interlaced. This is to ensure the best coverage possible within the smallest area.

Fan

You are provided with a single be quiet! designed Shadow Wings 2 fan. A fan we have seen used in various be quiet! products in the past and put simply, we’ve never failed to be impressed with its performance and particularly the quiet nature of its operation.

Overall

So, when assembled, the be quiet! Shadow Rock 3, despite it’s relatively humble size, looks like an exceptionally well-designed CPU cooler. In fairness though, something we can’t say we find surprising based on the manufacturer.

In terms of the fans coverage, as you can see in the image below, it easily covers the entire radiator and with those nice clear vent gaps, should ensure that the heat gets moved away as quickly as possible.

So, overall, it’s looking like we have a really decent air cooler on our hands here. How is it to install though? Well, there’s only one way to find out!