Finished Looks

The Dark Rock Pro 4 is certainly large, taking up just over a third of the motherboard. That said, it looks great in a properly themed build. Sadly, the top plate is not quite as nice to look at as with the Dark Rock Pro 3. Even so, the dark brushed aluminum top with heatpipe caps is still pleasing to the eyes, giving the unit a premium feel next to its exceptional build quality. A third fan for further cooling is also an option with this design, and be quiet! has included extra fan clips for this reason. Overall, I would say be quiet!'s Dark Rock Pro 4 is a good-looking cooler out of the box with similar build quality to Noctua, but no need to pay extra to make the cooler attractive.


Memory clearance is rather abysmal. To even install memory, you will need to remove the front fan. You are also still limited in regards to heatsink height, which is a common issue with these larger coolers. It's not all the manufacturer's fault either given we are in an age where system memory seldom needs huge heatsinks yet the best sticks around still sport massive designs.

That said, standard height or slightly taller memory will fit, so memory clearance is better than with the previous design. While I myself prefer matching fans, using a second 135 mm fan here would likely destroy memory compatibility. As such, the current trade-offs are generally acceptable since the Dark Rock Pro 4 will be compatible with a wider range of systems. In regards to GPU clearance, there are no problems to report. Depending on the motherboard, the Dark Rock Pro 4 will have no clearance issues on even mini-ITX systems as the GPU in the first expansion slot does not conflict with the heatsink.