Introduction

From the be quiet! website:

#1 for power supplies in Germany

be quiet! products are convincing, which is proven by the company reaching and defending the leadership position in Germany's PSU market since 2006. Their position has also been validated by numerous awards for both power supplies and cooling solutions.

Repeated winner of Manufacturer of the Year

Readers of the well-known German hardware magazine PC Games Hardware have awarded be quiet! the Manufacturer of the Year award six times in a row. Another first and second rank in the categories "fans" and "coolers" for two consecutive years underline the high acceptance of our products.

Having been awarded the Manufacturer of the Year award six times in a row by the readers of PC Games Hardware, be quiet! is a well-known company in Europe. They are part of a group of elite manufacturers offering exceptional products in many categories. These products include fans, CPU coolers, power supplies, noise absorption mats, a thermal grease, and more. Overall, be quiet! is still a newcomer to the North American market, but with their track record of success, it shouldn't be long before they become a top contender here as well.

be quiet! originally established their legacy of quality by producing highly respected power supplies. The Dark Power Pro, Straight Power, and Pure Power are all well-established lines. The company even offers SFX and TFX power supplies, which gives them the ability to cover a large segment of the market by offering a power supply for every type of user. Their focus on CPU coolers is also evident in the unique design and exceptional performance of the Dark Rock and Shadow Rock series of coolers. Both have already made a name for themselves.

Today, I will take a look at be quiet!'s Dark Rock Pro 2. This behemoth of a cooler looks like a top contender to finally toppling the current air-cooling king, the Phateks PH-TC14PE. be quiet!'s cooler offers a unique and stylish appearance along with some impressive specs. These include dual aluminum cooling towers with forty-four fins, dual fans, and seven 6 mm heatpipes. This cooler impressed me right away, but I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. Let's instead figure out just what the Dark Rock Pro 2 has to offer.

Packaging & Contents

be quiet!'s Dark Rock Pro 2 comes in a box measuring roughly 23 cm in length, 15 cm in width, and 25 cm in height. The front of the box has an image of the cooler and the unit's TDP rating of 220W. A small paragraph on the left side summarizes various features, such as its brushed aluminum cover and dual-tower layout. The same paragraph is repeated in French, Spanish, and Polish. The back lists the cooler's features and specifications.


Another small paragraph on the right side summarizes various details of the cooler in both English and German. Only the product name and the 220W TDP are listed on the top of the box.

Contents

Opening the box showed everything to be packaged away nicely. The mounting hardware and all accessories were sealed inside a small box and the Dark Rock Pro 2 itself was encased in soft foam.


The cooler comes with both fans mounted and ready to go. They actually don't have to be removed to install the cooler, which is rather nice. The included instructions are easy enough to follow—most users should not have any issues during the install. That said, there is a rather large assortment of parts for mounting, with multiple mounting arms for various Intel sockets and another set for AMD. While not that difficult to sort through with its included instructions, it's too bad be quiet! could not come up with an easier-to-use universal mounting system for Intel sockets.


The included backplate is stiff and didn't bend. It definitely feels solid, which is a huge plus considering the size and weight of the Dark Rock Pro 2. As with any cooler, be quiet! has included a tube of thermal paste. The last image shows that the aluminum top cover can be removed, which makes removing the middle 135 x 25 mm fan much easier. Metal clips are used to attach the fans to the heatsink. However, be quiet! has made sure these clips fit tightly, which makes them a bit of a pain to take off; but the fans won't shift, vibrate, or move around when in use.

Common parts supplied for mounting include:

• 4x LGA2011 hexagonal nuts
• 4x LGA2011 spacer nuts
• 4x C profile spacers
• 4x M3x3 screws
• 4x M3x15 screws
• 2x AMD mounting brackets
• 2x Intel LGA2011 mounting brackets
• 2x Intel LGA1366 / 775 mounting brackets
• 2x Intel LGA1155 / 1156 mounting brackets
• 2x Silentwings fans (120 mm and 135 mm)
• 1x AMD / Intel backplate
• 1x Heatsink
• 1x User's manual
• 1x Packet of thermal compound
• 1x LGA2011 hexagonal nut spanner