Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 Review

Performance Analysis

With Noctua's NH-D15 setting a blistering pace for air coolers, we expected big things from the Dark Rock Pro 3. The first thing we noticed is the noise, or lack of it. It's one of the quietest coolers we've tested, and that with the fans at full speed too. It was inaudible outside our case, although putting our ear against it, there was a little more noise than the Noctua NH-D15 with the latter using its low noise fan adaptors.


In our LGA1155 test system, it cooled our overclocked Core i7-2600K to a delta T of 44°C. This matched Corsair's H80i and H100i on their Quiet Profiles, but Noctua's NH-D15 was noticeably cooler, even with just one speed-limited fan installed. In our LGA2011 system, much was the same with the Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 matching most of the all-in-one liquid coolers with a delta T of 50°C. However several other dual-fan CPU coolers such as Noctua's NH-D15, Phanteks' PH-TC14PE and Thermalright's Archon SB-E X2 were all noticeably cooler.

Conclusion

There are three main points to consider when summing up the Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3. Firstly it's a pain to install. The mounting mechanism is nothing short of fiddly and archaic and it's not something we'd want to deal with on a regular basis. However, as an end user, you'll probably fit it once, maybe twice in its lifetime so we can't hold too many grudges here - 30 minutes of pain versus three to four years of use isn't a terrible compromise.

Secondly, it looks fantastic. Be Quiet! consistently outperforms much of the competition in the aesthetics department and the Dark Rock Pro 3 will look awesome through a side window. Its mean, understated black and nickel colour scheme is undoubtedly worth any premium you're paying for it within reason. Finally, there's the performance. It's solid, if not awe inspiring but it's the one area where the competition, namely the Noctua NH-D15 do have a noticeable advantage.

Overall then, the Dark Rock Pro 3 offers good cooling, great looks and isn't unreasonably priced. It matches most all-in-one liquid coolers for similar or lower noise levels while the only fly in the ointment is a fiddly installation. However, there are better options, especially in the cooling and even the noise department - if aesthetics aren't as big a deal and you can afford a little more, Noctua's NH-D15 is slightly more lust-worthy.