be quiet! Dark Rock Slim

[crazyeyesreaper]

be quiet! shakes up the mid-range air cooling market with their Dark Rock Slim. It not only offers solid performance and ultra-low noise levels, but also does so while looking sleek and professional due to the all-black design and lack of RGB LEDs, which will likely please many who are tired of gamer-centric offerings.

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[Chomiq]

Do "gamers" really crave RGB? I consider myself a gamer and the only RGB that I have is the one on my Rival 300 which I disabled after a day or so. Beside, judging by the content that many YT tech influencers produce most of the RGB fanatics will go for AiO's anyway.

 

[efikkan]

Lack of RGB LEDs is a plus in my book.

 

[olymind1]

I'm wondering how would this compare to the Alpenföhn Brocken 3 140mm.

That's 12 € cheaper, yet has bigger heatsink, more heatpipes and larger fan.

Could you do a review about it sometime?

 

[drade]

Buy Noctua not this garb

 

[Mistral]

Scythe for life!

Sleek looking tower though, and I do have to say I'm very happy with the Pure Rock.

 

[Joss]

Good looks, clearance and performance
@crazyeyesreaper thanks for the review. One question: I notice that the fan is encased by the aluminium fins; can you confirm if other 120mm fans would fit?

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

Good looks, clearance and performance
@crazyeyesreaper thanks for the review. One question: I notice that the fan is encased by the aluminium fins; can you confirm if other 120mm fans would fit?

Other fans fit just fine however the mounting clips do not play nice with any fans other than be quiet!'s own however considering the performance of the fans on offer changing them out is unnecessary unless for aesthetic reasons. This is due to the be quiet fans having the mounting holes in the center of the frame body rather than at each edge.

That said if one was to buy this cooler and then buy a replacement fan they are likelly just better off buying a different cooler altogether.

 

[Joss]

Other fans fit just fine however the mounting clips do not play nice with any fans other than be quiet!'s own

Thanks.

 

[dirtyferret]

Buy Noctua not this garb

...what exactly makes it garbage? (and I have a Noctua cooler)

 

[dicktracy]

It's obviously held back by the low-powered fan. At least it doesn't look fugly like Noctuas that requires you to pay more for dumb Chromax accessories.

 

[TheMadDutchDude]

It's not really being held back when it is only 3c worse on OC loads compared to the Noctua and a different design. I know I love Noctua products, but I'd take this all-black design over a Noctua anytime for my current build(s).

You guys are such drama queens...

 

[Caring1]

Those shitty fans should be a negative.
Sacrificing speed and airflow for less noise, and even then 38Db at 100% is a bit much.

 

[EatingDirt]

Those shitty fans should be a negative.
Sacrificing speed and airflow for less noise, and even then 38Db at 100% is a bit much.

Uh... the company's name is Be Quiet! and the fan is as quiet as the Ninja at almost double the fan speed(and as quiet/quieter & faster than 4 others besides). I mean, really quite difficult to gauge fan performance, as we'd actually need some airflow numbers, as RPM & decibels don't really tell the whole story when it comes to quality of a fan.

What do you think we should expect in a fan from a company named 'Be Quiet!'?

 

[Caring1]

What do you think we should expect in a fan from a company named 'Be Quiet!'?

How about actual quiet fans, no more than 30Db at it's current speed.

 

[Thorsthimble]

Well, alrighty then. JC, lmao...

 

[Pumper]

How about actual quiet fans, no more than 30Db at it's current speed.

What? Do you even see any fans under 30Db in those charts? Even at ~350RPM none of them are below 31.

 

[Caring1]

What? Do you even see any fans under 30Db in those charts? Even at ~350RPM none of them are below 31.

That's probably why most people recommend Noctua.

NF-A12x25 PWM

The NF-A12x25 is a highly optimised next-generation 120mm fan that integrates Noctua’s latest innovations in aerodynamic engineering in order to achieve an unprecedented level of quiet cooling performance. It takes state-of-the-art technologies such as the AAO (Advanced Acoustic Optimisation)...

noctua.at

 

[Pumper]

That's probably why most people recommend Noctua.

NF-A12x25 PWM

The NF-A12x25 is a highly optimised next-generation 120mm fan that integrates Noctua’s latest innovations in aerodynamic engineering in order to achieve an unprecedented level of quiet cooling performance. It takes state-of-the-art technologies such as the AAO (Advanced Acoustic Optimisation)...

noctua.at

And yet all of the Noctua fans in this review are louder than be quiet, so I'm still don't get what you are trying to say here.

 

[Joss]

Buy Noctua not this garb

It's obviously held back by the low-powered fan

Those shitty fans should be a negative

Did you people read the review

 

[3125b]

Can it be mounted correctly on AM4, or only 90 degree rotated (like the cheaper be quiet! coolers)?

...what exactly makes it garbage? (and I have a Noctua cooler)

I‘ve heard that the coating comes off of these be quiet coolers very easily. I‘ve never seen one, don‘t know.

My NH-U14S will last at least ten more years, so no need to even look at other coolers.

 

[robot zombie]

Doesn't seem like a bad cooler tbh. It's basically a much nicer-looking, slightly better-performing, quieter 212. Nothin wrong with that!

I still say you'd have to really want the look of this one to buy it, but that said, it's not bad option. Personally, I really enjoy the look they've gone with for the Dark Rock line. And the performance has always been there, even if they're never top of their class. They're meant to be quiet, sleek-looking coolers for people shooting for that kind of build, not balls-to-the-wall, screw-everything-else overclocked monstrosities. For most people out there, there is a model in the lineup that is beyond good enough. The compromises aren't even that bad. This one seems no different. A nice looking, respectable cooler. You pay a little extra but you're getting what you pay for. To me, it's not good or bad... just a matter of what you're looking for in a cooler. *shrugs*

Can it be mounted correctly on AM4, or only 90 degree rotated (like the cheaper be quiet! coolers)?

Yeap. At least with the other Dark Rocks, you get a pair of AM4 brackets that allow you to mount it in the correct orientation. Safe to assume the same here.

I‘ve heard that the coating comes off of these be quiet coolers very easily. I‘ve never seen one, don‘t know.

I have the DR 4, which I have removed a couple of times, fan and all, and I can't say it seems all that fragile. I'm OCD about fan height, so I had to reposition the brackets several times. I think as long as you don't manhandle the fan clips or knock the thing into the case, it'll probably be fine. Either way, I'm kinda doubting the coating amounts to all that much cooling benefit. It's more of an aesthetic thing. So if it did chip, I'm sure it's nothing a sharpie couldn't take care of.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

Doesn't seem like a bad cooler tbh. It's basically a much nicer-looking, slightly better-performing, quieter 212. Nothin wrong with that!

I still say you'd have to really want the look of this one to buy it, but that said, it's not bad option. Personally, I really enjoy the look they've gone with for the Dark Rock line. And the performance has always been there, even if they're never top of their class. They're meant to be quiet, sleek-looking coolers for people shooting for that kind of build, not balls-to-the-wall, screw-everything-else overclocked monstrosities. For most people out there, there is a model in the lineup that is beyond good enough. The compromises aren't even that bad. This one seems no different. A nice looking, respectable cooler. You pay a little extra but you're getting what you pay for. To me, it's not good or bad... just a matter of what you're looking for in a cooler. *shrugs*


Yeap. At least with the other Dark Rocks, you get a pair of AM4 brackets that allow you to mount it in the correct orientation. Safe to assume the same here.


I have the DR 4, which I have removed a couple of times, fan and all, and I can't say it seems all that fragile. I'm OCD about fan height, so I had to reposition the brackets several times. I think as long as you don't manhandle the fan clips or knock the thing into the case, it'll probably be fine. Either way, I'm kinda doubting the coating amounts to all that much cooling benefit. It's more of an aesthetic thing. So if it did chip, I'm sure it's nothing a sharpie couldn't take care of.

Agree with all this my other DR coolers have held up quite well. as for the 212 comparison this beats it about the head like a red headed step child. Not even a close comparison lol. I got newer CM hyper 212 versions here same story they fail the OC test be quiet doesn't. Now the Pure Rock silver cooler they put out awhile back yeah that was more like a Hyper 212.

 

[Joss]

Can it be mounted correctly on AM4, or only 90 degree rotated (like the cheaper be quiet! coolers)?

According to their manual, yes.

 

[robot zombie]

Agree with all this my other DR coolers have held up quite well. as for the 212 comparison this beats it about the head like a red headed step child. Not even a close comparison lol. I got newer CM hyper 212 versions here same story they fail the OC test be quiet doesn't. Now the Pure Rock silver cooler they put out awhile back yeah that was more like a Hyper 212.

Haha, no, you're right! I wasn't looking closely enough at the benchmarks. Looking closely, it's definitely hold its own, even compared against some larger coolers.