A Closer Look

The Dark Rock Slim follows the tried and true tower design. be quiet!'s offering comes in at 159 mm tall with 50 fins in a black ceramic coating for improved heat dissipation. The be quiet! logo on top is the only source of contrast as the rest of the cooler gets the all-black treatment, giving it a sleek and stealthy look with the heat pipe caps being that nice little extra touch to show the company's attention to detail.


The heatsink design looks very similar to the fin stacks used on the Dark Rock Pro 4, with the big difference being the lack of small dimples stamped into the fins. Even so, the design proved quite impressive back then, so it will be interesting to see how this smaller heatsink does considering it also has fewer heat pipes.


Looking at the top plate, we can see the dark brushed aluminium we have come to expect from be quiet!'s designs. The heatsink has four Ø6 mm heat pipes extending through the fins, which have received heat pipe caps on top for a professional and clean feel. The base itself is smooth to the touch, but lacks a mirror finish. Instead, though, again, not noticeable to the touch, machining marks are visible.


The single 120 mm Silent Wings 3 fan supplied with the cooler is of course a PWM model and features a maximum RPM of 1500.