Finished Looks

The be quiet! Shadow Rock 2 looks fantastic as it offers a nice bit of contrast to my test system's motherboard. The brushed aluminum really helps it stand out against the black and red of the test system.


The light color of not only its brushed aluminum top plate but also the aluminum fin stacks create a stark contrast to the Dark Rock Pro 2's deep black theme.


Clearance around the socket is also fairly good as be quiet!'s cooler does not interfere with the 8-pin EPS connector or the heatsinks on the motherboard.


Clearance for tall memory sticks is a no-go when the fan is attached in the traditional way. The Shadow Rock 2 has no room for the likes of Corsair's Dominator Platinums or anything larger than standard-height memory when the fan is installed in front. However, the fan can be installed on the top, back, or bottom of the heatsink as well, due to the cooler's freely selectable fan-mounting feature. However, installing the fan on the bottom means it blocks the top expansion slot. Installing it to the back may interfere with more conventional air-flow setups in today's cases. Installing it on top could block the 8-pin EPS connector on some motherboards. Granted, most users won't run into all these issues and such versatility is definitely nice to have, but most users will probably install the cooler in the traditional manner and will, as such, want to keep memory clearance in mind.