A Closer Look

While top-flow coolers are a bit of a dying breed compared to their heyday, they still provide numerous benefits since the fan cools other components around the socket, such as the VRM and memory modules. To improve cooling performance, the Dark Rock TF 2 has two fin arrays, the larger top array, which is more reminiscent of older top-flow designs, and a second smaller fin array on the bottom that adds more thermal mass. While this isn't a new design by any means, it should give the cooler more surface area compared to a simpler design with a fan sandwiched in between, while also reducing overall height.


be quiet! states that the bottom fin stack has 64 fins, but I only count 30; yes, the top and bottom aspects of the fins appear to be separate, which would still only make for 60 fins. Considering each half of a fin only touches one side of the heat pipes compared to the top fin stack, I feel this heatsink should be labeled as having 30 fins for the bottom and 62 for the top.


The top plate, or front plate in this case, has the be quiet! logo centered in silver for a nice bit of contrast with an overall clean and attractive design. Meanwhile, the heat pipes are arranged with four entering the smaller heatsink, while all six go through the larger one. As for the base, it is clean and looks good, but still has some visible machining marks. It also has a slightly convex shape.


The Dark Rock TF 2 has two 135 mm Silent Wings 3 fans, with one having a maximum RPM of 1400 and the other 1300. While both fans are from the same family, the fan meant for the top of the cooler has a funnel-shaped frame; the one used between the two fin stacks has a standard round frame.