be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 Review

Introduction

From the be quiet! website:

#1 for power supplies in Germany

be quiet! products are convincing, which is proven by the company reaching the leadership position of Germany's PSU market in 2006 and defending it since. 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-know 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.

be quiet! has established itself as a premiere manufacturer with its mantra "no compromise silence and performance". Having won numerous awards for their power supplies and cooling solutions, it is no wonder they have become so popular in Germany and abroad. Their popularity, built on a legacy of quality and excellence, sets them apart from the competition. It doesn't hurt that their products are also appealing aesthetically, which allows them to stand out in a crowded market.

Today's review will focus on be quiet!'s Dark Rock Pro 3, the heavyweight brother to the Dark Rock 3 I reviewed earlier. It features seven 6 mm heatpipes, 135mm and 120 mm SilentWings PWM fans, and ninety wave-contour, nickel-plated aluminum fins that are spread across two towers. The Dark Rock Pro 3 is most definitely an enthusiast class air-cooling solution. The big question is whether it stacks up to its predecessor, the Dark Rock Pro 2, which I also reviewed earlier; it proved to be an exceptional CPU cooler. With be quiet! slimming the Pro series down in weight and size, it will be interesting to see how performance is affected, so let us see just what the Dark Rock Pro 3 has to offer!