While stock coolers are adequate for handling the basic thermal load of a CPU, they often fall short in noise efficiency and cooling performance. For this reason, advanced users and system builders typically bypass stock coolers in favor of aftermarket solutions that better align with their specific requirements. The high-end segment of this market is exceptionally competitive, as manufacturers strive to offer the most effective cooling solutions.

Be Quiet!, established over two decades ago, has a reputation for quiet computing solutions. Initially making gradual progress, the company took significant strides after 2010, positioning itself as a leading manufacturer of advanced PC components and peripherals. Today, Be Quiet! boasts an extensive range of PC power and cooling products, with its particularly noteworthy air coolers.

In this review, we focus on the Dark Rock Elite, Be Quiet! 's formidable entry into the high-end CPU air cooler segment. This cooler is designed to rival top-tier models like the Noctua NH-D15, offering massive proportions for optimum cooling efficiency. The Dark Rock Elite is crafted to meet and exceed the demands of the most powerful mainstream CPUs, setting itself apart amidst fierce competition from various manufacturers. Our review will delve into the capabilities of the Dark Rock Elite and its place in the aftermarket cooling market.

Packaging & Bundle

The Dark Rock Elite arrived in Be Quiet! 's signature sleek black cardboard packaging, a common theme across their product range. The box features minimalistic details and essential information about the cooler, with a QR code on the side that directs users to a pool of more comprehensive information. The robust packaging and additional cardboard inserts ensure the cooler's safety during transit.

Upon opening the box, we found the necessary mounting hardware and instructions, reflecting a no-frills approach to packaging. This streamlined bundle is characteristic of Be Quiet!, focusing on essential components without excess. The included mounting hardware is compatible with a wide range of CPU sockets, accommodating both Intel (1700 / 1200 / 2066 / 1150 / 1151 / 1155 / 2011(-3)) and AMD (AM5 / AM4) processors, making the Dark Rock Elite a versatile option for various PC builds. Be Quiet! also includes a long screwdriver, necessary for the easy installation of the cooler.

The Be Quiet! Dark Rock Elite CPU Cooler

The Dark Rock Elite stands out with its massive tower CPU cooler design. It incorporates seven high-performance 6 mm copper heat pipes that efficiently conduct heat away from the base to the two expansive fin arrays. Measuring a considerable 168 mm (6.4 in) in height, its size is something to consider for even large ATX cases. The cooler weighs over 1.3 kg, and users should never transport the system without removing it from the motherboard.

One of the cooler's most notable features is its special black coating with ceramic particles. This not only adds to the visual appeal of the cooler but also supposedly enhances heat transfer efficiency. While we cannot verify its heat transfer enhancement properties, we cannot argue that it is an impeccable paint job that covers almost the entire cooler, contributing to its sleek and modern appearance. This specialized coating is also practical, as it helps protect the copper components from oxidation, thereby maintaining the cooler's appearance over time.

The Dark Rock Elite also features an addressable RGB-lit top cover. This adds a touch of elegance and serves as a distinguishing feature in its design. Beneath the magnetic surround, we find a simple switch that allows the user to select between the "performance" and "silent" mode fan profiles. The silent mode will restrict the speed of the fans to a maximum of 1500 RPM and reduce their speed by about 20% across most of the PWM range.

The Dark Rock Elite cooler incorporates a unique front fan mounting rail design, significantly enhancing its compatibility with different RAM configurations. This rail design offers adjustable height settings, allowing for substantial clearance over RAM slots. This feature is particularly beneficial for setups with elevated DIMMs or larger RAM modules. Still, one needs to consider that raising the front fan to clear tall RAM modules will also increase the total height of the cooler itself, requiring a case of even greater width. Raising the front fan too high will also be an aesthetic dissonance.

On the intake side, the fins are recessed to reduce turbulence noise, a design choice that effectively minimizes acoustic output while maintaining airflow efficiency. Similarly, the fins adjacent to both sides of the central fan are also slightly recessed, though to a lesser extent, further contributing to noise reduction. The fins on the exhaust side of the cooler exhibit an asymmetric design, likely intended to enhance aerodynamic performance, thereby improving air circulation and heat dissipation. Furthermore, the lower section of the fin arrays is deliberately shortened. This design ensures the cooler remains compatible with VRM heatsinks on various motherboards. While this modification slightly reduces the heat transfer surface area, it significantly increases the cooler's adaptability to different motherboard layouts and configurations, striking a balance between efficiency and versatility.

The base of the Dark Rock Elite is more intricate than what we typically see in standard tower cooler designs. Be Quiet! has engineered the base to function as a small heatsink in itself. While this might not lead to a drastic enhancement in performance, it contributes to the dissipation of a certain amount of thermal energy, marginally boosting the cooler's overall efficiency. The cooler's heat pipes directly contact the CPU shim, optimizing heat transfer. Although it does not come with a pre-applied thermal pad, the nickel-plated base is designed to be compatible with high-performance thermal compounds, including liquid metal thermal greases. This approach might require more careful application, but it allows for superior thermal conductivity and caters to the needs of enthusiasts who prefer customizing their thermal interface material.

One of the defining features of the Dark Rock Elite is its Silent Wings PWM fans. Unlike the Light Wings fan of the Pure Rock 2 FX, the Silent Wings fans do not feature LED lighting, which can now be found only on the top cover of the cooler. These fans have a state-of-the-art motor and airflow-optimized fan blades, ensuring efficient heat dissipation. They operate at varying speeds based on the selected mode, with a maximum of 2000 RPM in performance mode, balancing cooling efficiency with quiet operation.

Testing Methodology

Although the testing of a cooler appears to be a simple task, that could not be much further from the truth. Proper thermal testing cannot be performed with a cooler mounted on a single chip, for multiple reasons. Some of these reasons include the instability of the thermal load and the inability to fully control and or monitor it, as well as the inaccuracy of the chip-integrated sensors. It is also impossible to compare results taken on different chips, let alone entirely different systems, which is a great problem when testing computer coolers, as the hardware changes every several months. Finally, testing a cooler on a typical system prevents the tester from assessing the most vital characteristic of a cooler, its absolute thermal resistance.

The absolute thermal resistance defines the absolute performance of a heatsink by indicating the temperature rise per unit of power, in our case in degrees Celsius per Watt (°C/W). In layman's terms, if the thermal resistance of a heatsink is known, the user can assess the highest possible temperature rise of a chip over ambient by simply multiplying the maximum thermal design power (TDP) rating of the chip with it. Extracting the absolute thermal resistance of a cooler however is no simple task, as the load has to be perfectly even, steady and variable, as the thermal resistance also varies depending on the magnitude of the thermal load. Therefore, even if it would be possible to assess the thermal resistance of a cooler while it is mounted on a working chip, it would not suffice, as a large change of the thermal load can yield much different results.

Appropriate thermal testing requires the creation of a proper testing station and the use of laboratory-grade equipment. Therefore, we created a thermal testing platform with a fully controllable thermal energy source that may be used to test any kind of cooler, regardless of its design and or compatibility. The thermal cartridge inside the core of our testing station can have its power adjusted between 60 W and 340 W, in 2 W increments (and it never throttles). Furthermore, monitoring and logging of the testing process via software minimizes the possibility of human errors during testing. A multifunction data acquisition module (DAQ) is responsible for the automatic or the manual control of the testing equipment, the acquisition of the ambient and the in-core temperatures via PT100 sensors, the logging of the test results and the mathematical extraction of performance figures.

Finally, as noise measurements are a bit tricky, their measurement is being performed manually. Fans can have significant variations in speed from their rated values, thus their actual speed during the thermal testing is being recorded via a laser tachometer. The fans (and pumps, when applicable) are being powered via an adjustable, fanless desktop DC power supply and noise measurements are being taken 1 meter away from the cooler, in a straight line ahead from its fan engine. At this point we should also note that the Decibel scale is logarithmic, which means that roughly every 3 dB(A) the sound pressure doubles. Therefore, the difference of sound pressure between 30 dB(A) and 60 dB(A) is not "twice as much" but nearly a thousand times greater. The table below should help you cross-reference our test results with real-life situations.

The noise floor of our recording equipment is 30.2-30.4 dB(A), which represents a medium-sized room without any active noise sources. All of our acoustic testing takes place during night hours, minimizing the possibility of external disruptions.

*noise levels above this are not suggested for daily use

Testing Results, Maximum Fan Speed

To begin with, we are having a look at the Be Quiet! Dark Rock Elite, with its stock 135 mm fans running at their maximum speed.

The Dark Rock Elite's performance data reveals it to be a formidable competitor in the high-end air cooling market. With an average thermal resistance of 0.0872 °C/W, it surpasses many of its peers in the same category, including top-tier coolers like the Noctua NH-D15 and the Cryorig R1 Ultimate. The cooler demonstrates a consistent thermal profile, optimizing its thermal resistance, particularly at higher loads, indicative of its design to handle demanding CPU applications.

The cooler's Silent Wings PWM fans maintain relatively low noise levels at peak operation. At maximum fan speed, the noise level is about 40.2 dB(A), which, while definitely not silent, is impressively quiet for two fans operating at 2000 RPM.

Testing Results, Low Fan Speed

In this test, we are switching things up a bit, looking at the cooler's performance with the Light Wings fan taken down to half speed.

Naturally, reducing the speed of the fans down to 1000 RPM has a negative impact on the cooler's thermal performance – just a little higher impact than what we would theoretically anticipate. The average thermal resistance of 0.1167 °C/W is excellent, but the cooler loses ground against its primary competition. It loses the top place in our charts regarding raw thermal performance, and its acoustic performance is yet to be evaluated.

Reducing the speed of the Silent Wings 135 mm fans down to 1000 RPM also reduces the noise output to 34 dB(A), a figure that is practically inaudible within typical home office conditions. The cooler would only be noticeable in a dead-silent environment, assuming no other noise sources exist.

Thermal Resistance VS Sound Pressure Level

During our thermal resistance vs. sound pressure level test, we maintain a steady 100W thermal load and assess the overall performance of the coolers by taking multiple temperature and sound pressure level readings within the operating range of the stock cooling fans. The result is a graph that depicts the absolute thermal resistance of the cooler in comparison to the noise generated. For both the sound pressure level and absolute thermal resistance readings, lower figures are better.

The comparative chart clearly delineates the performance of the Be Quiet! Dark Rock Elite cooler in relation to its competitors, illustrating its performance capabilities. The data reveals that the Dark Rock Elite marginally surpasses the recently introduced Iceberg IceSLEET G6 in terms of performance. It also stands on par with the esteemed Noctua NH-D15. Notably, while the NH-D15 demonstrates a slight performance advantage at reduced fan speeds, the Dark Rock Elite gains the upper hand with increased fan speeds. Furthermore, the chart compares coolers of varying tiers, highlighting the performance disparities between a mid-range option like the Pure Rock 2 FX and coolers positioned at the entry-level segment.

Conclusion

Be Quiet! designed the Dark Rock Elite to compete in the top-tier market segment, positioning it alongside the most advanced offerings from some of the most reputable manufacturers globally. The cooler is engineered to excel in both performance and quiet operation, although it is not positioned as a budget-friendly option, with its retail price reflecting its premium status.

The Dark Rock Elite from Be Quiet! stands out with its superior build quality and visually appealing design. The meticulous attention to detail and high standards of craftsmanship are immediately apparent, contributing to its durability and longevity. The cooler's unique and robust construction ensures it can withstand the test of time, setting a high benchmark in this aspect.

In terms of design, the Dark Rock Elite is thoughtfully conceived to cater to its target audience. Regardless, its complexity must be considered, as it will not fit all cases and motherboards. Be Quiet! took measures to maximize the compatibility of the cooler. Still, there are numerous factors to consider, such as the additional height the cooler will require if the front fan needs to be raised to increase the RAM's clearance.

Regarding cooling performance, the Dark Rock Elite delivers exceptional results, rivaling the top-end coolers. Under typical operating conditions, the standout feature is its acoustic performance; due to its massive thermal resistance, the cooler will operate quietly, even under significant load, offering users a serene computing environment. This makes it an ideal choice for those who value a quiet operation in their computing experience and do not want to resort to more complex solutions, such as AIO coolers.

In conclusion, the Dark Rock Elite CPU cooler from Be Quiet! is a representative choice for those searching for a reliable, high-quality cooling solution with the best possible performance one can get out of an air cooler today. While the overall performance and quality of the Dark Rock Elite are undoubtedly exceptional, the $115 retail price of the cooler is relatively high - users seeking a top-of-the-line CPU cooler could justify the investment. Still, the retail price significantly reduces the target audience of the cooler. It is an excellent fit for users seeking the highest performance and quality, wanting the best they can get from an air cooler, and willing to pay the premium price.