Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/21231/the-be-quiet-dark-rock-pro-5-cpu-cooler-review
The Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5 CPU Cooler Review: When Less Is More
by E. Fylladitakis on January 16, 2024 10:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- be quiet!
- CPU cooler
- Air Cooling
Last month we took a look at Be Quiet's Dark Rock Elite, the company's flagship CPU tower air cooler. The RGB LED-equipped cooler proved flashy in more ways than one, but true to its nature as a flagship product, it also carried a $115 price tag to match. Which is certainly not unearned, but it makes the Elite hard to justify when pairing it with more mainstream CPUs, especially as these chips don't throw off the same chart-topping levels of heat as their flagship counterparts.
Recognizing the limited audience for a $100+ cooler, Be Quiet! is also offering what is essentially a downmarket version of that cooler with the Dark Rock Pro 5. Utilizing the same basic heatsink design as the Dark Rock Elite as its base, the Dark Rock Pro 5 cuts back on some of the bells and whistles that are found on the flagship Elite in order to sell at a lower price while still serving as a high-end cooler. Among these changes are getting rid of the RGB lighting, and using simple wire fan mounts in place of the Elite's nifty rails. The end result is that it allows the Dark Rock Pro 5 to hit a notably lower price point of $80, putting it within the budgets of more system builders, and making it a more practical pairing overall with mainstream CPUs.
But perhaps the most important aspect of all is a simple one: cooling performance. What does the Dark Rock Pro 5 give up in cooling performance in order to hit its lower price tag? As we'll see in this review, the answer to that is "surprisingly little," making the Dark Rock Pro 5 a very interesting choice for mid-to-high end CPUs. Particularly for system builders looking for an especially quiet CPU cooler.
Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5 CPU Cooler Specifications | |||
Type | Tower Cooler | ||
Dimensions | 120 x 136 x 168 | ||
Fans |
1 x 135 mm "Silent Wings" Fan 1 x 120 mm "Silent Wings 4" Fan |
||
RGB | No | ||
Supported Sockets | Intel: LGA1700, LGA1200, LGA115x AMD: AM5, AM4 |
||
Warranty | 3 Years | ||
Price | $80 |
Packaging & Bundle
The Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5 is presented in the brand's characteristic sleek black cardboard packaging, a consistent design theme across their product line. The packaging is understated, providing essential details about the cooler and includes a QR code on the side for access to more in-depth information. Its robust construction, complemented by additional cardboard inserts, guarantees the safety of the cooler during shipping.
Upon unboxing, the Dark Rock Pro 5's packaging revealed the essential mounting hardware and clear instructions, epitomizing Be Quiet!'s straightforward packaging philosophy. This approach prioritizes core components without unnecessary additions. The provided mounting hardware supports a broad spectrum of CPU sockets, rendering the Dark Rock Pro 5 compatible with several Intel (1700 / 1200 / 115x ) and AMD (AM5 / AM4) processors. Additionally, Be Quiet! thoughtfully includes a long screwdriver to facilitate easy installation of the cooler.
The Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5 CPU Cooler
The Dark Rock Pro 5 distinguishes itself within its category through a substantial tower CPU cooler design. It incorporates seven high-performance 6 mm copper heat pipes, designed to efficiently transfer heat from the base to the dual expansive fin arrays. The cooler's height is a notable 168 mm (6.4 inches), making its compatibility a consideration even for larger ATX cases. Additionally, the Dark Rock Pro 5 weighs just under 1.3 kg, a hefty weight that all-but-requires removing the cooler from a system before transporting it to avoid potential damage.
Left: Dark Rock Pro 5 / Right: Dark Rock Elite
A key feature of the Dark Rock Pro 5 is its unique black coating embedded with ceramic particles. This coating not only enhances the cooler's aesthetic but is also theorized to improve heat transfer efficiency. While the specific impact on heat transfer capabilities is not verified, the quality of the coating is undeniable, covering almost the entirety of the cooler and contributing to its sleek, modern look. This specialized coating serves a practical purpose as well, protecting the copper components from oxidation and thus preserving the cooler's appearance over time.
The basic designs of the Dark Rock Pro 5 and the Dark Rock Elite are quite similar overall. But there are a few key differences between them to make them distinct products – features that didn't make the cut from the Elite to allow the Pro 5 to hit a lower price tag. First off, the front fan size of the Dark Rock Pro 5 is 120 mm, versus the larger 135 mm fan of the Dark Rock Elite. The retaining mechanism for those fans is also just a simple wire mechanism this time around, rather than the fancier rail system employed in the Dark Rock Elite. Though to be sure, the installation height of the fan can still be adjusted with the Dark Rock Pro 5, just not as simply and smoothly as the rail design allows. And finally, when it comes to aesthetics, the Dark Rock Pro 5 does not incorporate the RGB lighting found on its premium sibling.
On the intake side of the Dark Rock Pro 5, the fins are strategically recessed, a design choice aimed at reducing turbulence noise. This effectively cuts down on the noise generated by the cooler while still preserving its airflow efficiency. Similarly, the fins near the center fan on both sides are also slightly recessed, further aiding in noise reduction. The fins on the exhaust side display an asymmetric design, likely implemented to enhance aerodynamic performance, thus improving air circulation and heat dissipation. Additionally, the lower part of the fin arrays is intentionally shortened, ensuring compatibility with VRM heatsinks found on a variety of motherboards. While this alteration slightly diminishes the heat transfer surface area, it considerably enhances the cooler's compatibility with different motherboard layouts and configurations, achieving a balance between efficiency and versatility.
The base of the Dark Rock Pro 5 is more complex than standard tower cooler designs. Be Quiet! has crafted the base to function as a miniature heatsink. Although this might not lead to a substantial performance boost, it aids in dissipating a certain amount of thermal energy, slightly enhancing the cooler's overall efficiency. The heat pipes of the cooler make direct contact with the CPU shim, optimizing heat transfer. Unlike some models, it does not come with a pre-applied thermal pad, but the nickel-plated base is designed for compatibility with high-performance thermal compounds, including liquid metal thermal greases. This approach, while requiring more careful application, allows for superior thermal conductivity, catering to enthusiasts who prefer customizing their thermal interface material.
A defining feature of the Dark Rock Pro 5 is its Silent Wings PWM fans, which are a hallmark of Be Quiet!'s focus on quiet performance. These fans are integrated with advanced motors and airflow-optimized blades, ensuring efficient heat dissipation. Their operation speed varies depending on the mode selected, with a maximum speed of 2000/1700 RPM (120/135 mm fan) in performance mode. Setting the fans in quiet mode reduces their maximum speed down to 1500/1300 RPM respectively. Users can easily switch the cooler’s mode via a physical switch found under the magnetic top cover of the cooler – however, we suggest setting the cooler at performance mode and adjusting the behavior of the fans via software/BIOS settings, which does not set a hard limit on the cooler’s potential.
Testing Methodology
Although the testing of a cooler appears to be a simple task, that could not be much further from the truth. Proper thermal testing cannot be performed with a cooler mounted on a single chip, for multiple reasons. Some of these reasons include the instability of the thermal load and the inability to fully control and or monitor it, as well as the inaccuracy of the chip-integrated sensors. It is also impossible to compare results taken on different chips, let alone entirely different systems, which is a great problem when testing computer coolers, as the hardware changes every several months. Finally, testing a cooler on a typical system prevents the tester from assessing the most vital characteristic of a cooler, its absolute thermal resistance.
The absolute thermal resistance defines the absolute performance of a heatsink by indicating the temperature rise per unit of power, in our case in degrees Celsius per Watt (°C/W). In layman's terms, if the thermal resistance of a heatsink is known, the user can assess the highest possible temperature rise of a chip over ambient by simply multiplying the maximum thermal design power (TDP) rating of the chip with it. Extracting the absolute thermal resistance of a cooler however is no simple task, as the load has to be perfectly even, steady and variable, as the thermal resistance also varies depending on the magnitude of the thermal load. Therefore, even if it would be possible to assess the thermal resistance of a cooler while it is mounted on a working chip, it would not suffice, as a large change of the thermal load can yield much different results.
Appropriate thermal testing requires the creation of a proper testing station and the use of laboratory-grade equipment. Therefore, we created a thermal testing platform with a fully controllable thermal energy source that may be used to test any kind of cooler, regardless of its design and or compatibility. The thermal cartridge inside the core of our testing station can have its power adjusted between 60 W and 340 W, in 2 W increments (and it never throttles). Furthermore, monitoring and logging of the testing process via software minimizes the possibility of human errors during testing. A multifunction data acquisition module (DAQ) is responsible for the automatic or the manual control of the testing equipment, the acquisition of the ambient and the in-core temperatures via PT100 sensors, the logging of the test results and the mathematical extraction of performance figures.
Finally, as noise measurements are a bit tricky, their measurement is being performed manually. Fans can have significant variations in speed from their rated values, thus their actual speed during the thermal testing is being recorded via a laser tachometer. The fans (and pumps, when applicable) are being powered via an adjustable, fanless desktop DC power supply and noise measurements are being taken 1 meter away from the cooler, in a straight line ahead from its fan engine. At this point we should also note that the Decibel scale is logarithmic, which means that roughly every 3 dB(A) the sound pressure doubles. Therefore, the difference of sound pressure between 30 dB(A) and 60 dB(A) is not "twice as much" but nearly a thousand times greater. The table below should help you cross-reference our test results with real-life situations.
The noise floor of our recording equipment is 30.2-30.4 dB(A), which represents a medium-sized room without any active noise sources. All of our acoustic testing takes place during night hours, minimizing the possibility of external disruptions.
<35dB(A) | Virtually inaudible |
35-38dB(A) | Very quiet (whisper-slight humming) |
38-40dB(A) | Quiet (relatively comfortable - humming) |
40-44dB(A) | Normal (humming noise, above comfortable for a large % of users) |
44-47dB(A)* | Loud* (strong aerodynamic noise) |
47-50dB(A) | Very loud (strong whining noise) |
50-54dB(A) | Extremely loud (painfully distracting for the vast majority of users) |
>54dB(A) | Intolerable for home/office use, special applications only. |
*noise levels above this are not suggested for daily use
Testing Results, Maximum Fan Speed
To begin with, we are having a look at the Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5 with its stock fans running at their maximum speed.
Core Temperature, Constant Thermal Load (Max Fan Speed) |
The Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5 exhibits a very good average thermal resistance of 0.1025 °C/W at its maximum fan speed of 1700 RPM. This efficiency is particularly notable under higher loads, aligning with its design geared towards handling demanding CPU applications. At first sight, it appears as if it falls significantly behind the Dark Rock Elite in terms of thermal performance but we need to remember that the Dark Rock Pro 5 has significantly slower fans installed.
The cooler's Silent Wings PWM fans are engineered to maintain low noise levels during peak operation. At full speed, the Dark Rock Pro 5 generates a noise level of approximately 36.6 dB(A). This level of noise, while not entirely silent, is remarkably low for a cooler operating with two fans, reflecting Be Quiet!'s commitment to balancing cooling performance with reduced acoustic output.
Testing Results, Low Fan Speed
In this test we are switching things up a bit, taking a look at the cooler’s performance with the Silent Wings fans taken down to half speed.
Core Temperature, Constant Thermal Load (Low Fan Speed) |
When the fan speed of the Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5 is reduced to 850 RPM, there is an expected decrease in thermal performance. The average thermal resistance at this reduced speed is measured at 0.1301 °C/W. Although this thermal performance is more than adequate for daily usage, it has the Dark Rock Pro 5 falling behind many competitive solutions in terms of raw thermal performance. Once again, we need to take into account the low speed of the cooling fans.
Reducing the speed of the Silent Wings PWM fans to half results in a massive decrease in noise output, dropping to 32 dB(A). At this noise level, the cooler is practically inaudible, making it noticeable only in extremely quiet settings where no other noise sources are present and with the observer very close to the cooler. Under realistic operating conditions, it would be nearly impossible to discern the noise coming from the Dark Rock Pro 5, even in a dead-quiet environment.
Thermal Resistance VS Sound Pressure Level
During our thermal resistance vs. sound pressure level test, we maintain a steady 100W thermal load and assess the overall performance of the coolers by taking multiple temperature and sound pressure level readings within the operating range of the stock cooling fans. The result is a graph that depicts the absolute thermal resistance of the cooler in comparison to the noise generated. For both the sound pressure level and absolute thermal resistance readings, lower figures are better.
Out thermal resistance versus SPL chart is highly illuminating regarding the overall performance of the Dark Rock Pro 5, especially in relation to its mightier Dark Rock Elite version. The Dark Rock Pro 5 has almost exactly the same noise-to-performance ratio as the Dark Rock Elite, with the sole exception of having a slightly lower operating range. Simply put, the Dark Rock Pro 5 can operate more quietly but cannot reach as high a thermal performance as the Dark Rock Elite. For the most part of their operational range, the two coolers have nearly identical performance. This was not unexpected, taking into account that both coolers share the same body and only their fans change.
Conclusion
Be Quiet! has developed the Dark Rock Pro 5 to compete in the high-end segment of the market, positioning it among the advanced offerings from renowned global manufacturers. Engineered for high performance and quiet operation, it is marketed as a value-conscious option, with a retail price of $80, which is more accessible compared to the Dark Rock Elite's $115 price tag.
The Dark Rock Pro 5 from Be Quiet! stands out in a very crowded field of CPU coolers with its superior build quality and visually appealing design. The attention to detail and high standards of craftsmanship are evident, contributing to its durability and longevity. Its robust construction ensures it can endure long-term use, setting a notable standard in this regard.
In terms of design, the Dark Rock Pro 5 is thoughtfully developed to meet the needs of its target audience. However, its complexity should be considered as it may not fit all cases and motherboards. Be Quiet! has made efforts to maximize compatibility, but factors such as additional height requirements for increased RAM clearance when adjusting the front fan need to be taken into account. The Dark Rock Pro 5 lacks the Elite's smooth rail system for the front cooling fan, but its height can still be adjusted if necessary to increase the clearance of the RAM slots. The smaller 120 mm fan actually makes the Dark Rock Pro 5 more flexible than the Dark Rock Elite, as it provides better clearance than its predecessor out of the box and reduces the possibility of case width complications.
Regarding cooling performance, the Dark Rock Pro 5 delivers fairly good results overall, maintaining great performance in its category. Its standout feature under typical operating conditions is its acoustic performance. Due to its substantial thermal resistance, the cooler operates quietly even under significant load, providing users with a tranquil computing environment. This makes it an ideal choice for those who prioritize quiet operation in their computing setup and prefer not to resort to more complex solutions like AIO coolers.
In conclusion, the Dark Rock Pro 5 CPU cooler from Be Quiet! represents a compelling choice for those seeking a reliable, high-quality cooling solution that balances performance and affordability. While it offers exceptional performance and quality, its more reasonable $80 retail price broadens its appeal. Compared to the Dark Rock Elite, users lose the RGB lighting and some top-end performance due to the smaller and slower fans, but we suspect that many will opt for the visually simpler and quieter Dark Rock Pro 5 that also retails for $30 less. It is well-suited for users who demand very low acoustic levels and great quality from an air cooler and are looking for a product that offers great overall value for its price.