Finished Looks

Unlike my love it or hate it relationship with Noctua's color scheme, be quiet! gets it right out of the box for me. The all-black design feels clean and sleek, while the lack of RGB LEDs gives it a professional appeal. It's not a fingerprint magnet, either. However, looks only go so far, which means before I start drooling over an attractive air cooler, I should probably look at performance. That said, in regards to looks alone, be quiet! nailed it as far as I am concerned.


The issue with air cooling is always socket and case clearance, with many coolers encroaching on or looming over the motherboard DIMM slots. Another issue are fan clips that might touch expansion or graphics cards located in the motherboard's first expansion slot. In that regard, the Dark Rock Slim passes with flying colors. It's just under 160 mm tall, meaning it will fit into the majority of cases, and memory and graphics card clearance is perfect. Add to that a more palatable price, and you have a winner as long as it can deliver decent performance.