Germany-based be quiet!, manufacturer of premium PC components, has released the newest and most compact model to its Dark Rock 5 lineup. Simplly called Dark Rock 5, the single-fan CPU cooler has features trickled down from the its higher-end siblings for efficient cooling and almost library-like noise levels.
The official TDP can reach 210W. Regarding socket compatibility, the Dark Rock 5 supports Intel’s LGA 1700, 1200, 1150, 1151, and 1155, plus AMD’s AM4 and AM5.
Packaging & Contents
The box is, as typical for the manufacturer, designed in black and only the orange in the logo some contrast. The front of the box features the be quiet! Logo in the upper right hand corner. A large picture of the product in the middle with the Name of the Product Model. The top of the box just mentions the product name, and maximum TDP of 210W.
The back details the features. This is done using both images and a in depth description of the product.
The left side has a QR code for quick access to product information.
Turning to look at the left side of the box, we find a specifications table detailing most of the information buyers will find pertinent. This includes the cooler's weight, dimensions, fan RPM, and supported sockets.
The packaging is mostly cardboard, but be quiet! did slip some foam in to protect the heatsink and fan, which is always nice to see. Inside, in addition to the heatsink block itself, we have two small boxes, one with the fan and the other with the accessories.
Inside that cardboard box we have the assembly instructions for both Intel and AMD, four clips to install two fans and a plastic bag containing all the screws and anchors, everything perfectly identified. In addition to all this, a long-shank Philips screwdriver is also included in the protective packaging of the heatsink block. Also included is a small syringe of thermal paste.
A Closer Look
Like the Dark Rock Pro 5, it comes in an all-black heatsink design, but you only get a single heatsink tower with this model.
The total height of the cooling fins is 161mm, the width is 136mm, and the thickness is 73mm.
On top of the be quiet! Dark Rock 5, we have a fairly elegant cover used to hide the last aluminum fin at the top of the tower and presenting the end of each of the 6 heat pipes.
Made with compatibility in mind, the Dark Rock 5 boasts excellent clearance for both RAM and VRM heatsinks. The cooler’s six 6mm heatpipes come at an angle, offsetting the entire fin stack away from the memory slot and motherboard coolers, allowing you to freely select the RAM modules you prefer without thinking about support.
The coldplate is made of nickel-plated copper and we see the 6 6mm heat pipes passing through it.
There is also a protective sticker on the bottom of the polished nickel-plated copper base.
The heatsink is complemented with a be quiet’s 120mm Silent Wings 4 PWM fan. This 120 mm fan operates through a 4-pin PWM connector and is capable of rotating at up to 2,100 RPM. It has a mesh cable that ends in a 4-pin connector. This fan features a hydrodynamic fluid bearing (FDB) , a 6-pole motor and blades designed to optimize airflow. Thanks to a reduced space between the blades and the frame, the fan provides extremely high air pressure. The funnel-shaped frame outlet allows for ideal air distribution. Finally, the rubberized fan frame prevents the transfer of vibrations to the radiator, reducing the overall noise level.
Installation & Finished Looks
Compared to the previous model, where you had to hold many small individual parts at the same time, the assembly in the be quiet! Dark Rock 5 test is very simple. Similar to Noctua and DeepCool, two brackets with spacers are screwed directly into the backplate for AMD and a separate backplate is included for Intel, which has to be assembled slightly differently depending on the socket. In any case, the instructions are helpful and easy to understand.
We need to have screws between the motherboards to secure the bracket to the motherboard, as well as mount the bracket that will hold the tower.
Subsequently, two elongated brackets are placed along the CPU, on which the tower must be mounted. The screws from the tower are fixed, and must then be lowered over the CPU.
The next step is to apply thermal paste to the IHS of the CPU and place the cooler on it in order to screw in the mounting bridge by tightening the screws alternately. With the screwdriver provided in the bundle, we will slide it into the top hole of the cooler to access the screw and screw it. Once this is done, simply replace the cooler cover and the fan.
The asymmetric shape of the heatsink means that we do not have any compatibility problems with any type of RAM, since even with the fan installed it does not cover the memory.
There is no clearance issue for the first PCIe x16 slot. There is no clearance issue towards the rear of the motherboard either.
Test System & Methology
For today's testing, we'll be using a new test setup, so we've also tested a few other coolers as part of it for direct comparison. We have recently equipped our lineup with a Ryzen 9 5950X processor, which is significantly more demanding. Perhaps the most important thing is that we are testing in a classic case, a large and very well ventilated Fractal Design Meshify 2 XL. In addition, it also allows the installation of a 480 mm heat exchanger on the ceiling. We always install the tested AiO coolers with an exchanger on the ceiling, while there are high-quality fans on the front wall of the cabinet for good air access to the cabinet. Very quiet graphics are also installed so that it does not disturb the results.
Testing coolers in practice
What else do you need to know about our testing? We test all coolers without manual adjustment and regulation. We leave everything to automatic regulation, that is exactly how the vast majority of users will use them. Of course, all coolers (and their fans) usually have the possibility of manual regulation, which affects performance and noise. The cabinet used definitely also plays a big role, and above all the temperature in the room. In our case, the temperature during testing is always around 20, maximum 21°C.
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X processor cooling.
As for the Ryzen 9 5950X processor, it also plays a big role when comparing coolers. The maximum safe operating temperature of this model is up to 95°C according to AMD. It is only at this point that the processor starts to limit clocks and therefore performance. The processor is actually made up of three separate chips under the heatspreader, so it is not a monolith (one chip). There are two 7nm 8-core/16-thread ZEN 3 and one low-end 12nm I/O pieces of silicon. The two small 7nm chips generate the most heat. In general, a larger chip area is more advantageous for cooling, as heat is dissipated more easily across the surface. However, with the current AMD ZEN chips, which are very small (only around 80mm2), the heat is extremely concentrated (as well as the transistors in the chip themselves) on a very small area. The area through which the chip transmits heat to the heatspreader is very small, which is why there are significant temperature fluctuations. A processor such as the Ryzen 9 5950X shows significant and rapid temperature changes, depending on the load. This processor can show high temperatures, but that doesn't mean it's heating up, so to speak. It makes a big difference if you have a small 70mm2 chip with a temperature of 80°C or a 200mm2 large chip with the same temperature. The Ryzen 9 5950X is actually extremely efficient with a low base TDP of only around 105W. However, even with powerful cooling, temperature fluctuations between 65 - 85°C in various types of load and 30 - 40°C in idle states are common. In our case, we are testing a typical longer-term load in CineBench R23, and all coolers are left in their own auto-regulation mode, so the fan speed and noise are different. And so here are the main differences.
Performance
Starting off with the stock performance, the be quiet! Dark Rock 5 provided us with some exceptionally impressive results. While a first glance at the chart might not initially make this apparent, i must remind you that isn’t a massive air cooler which obviously should temper some expectations accordingly as you have to deal with a single tower cooler.
I think it would be fair to say though that the rather limited size of the radiator does tend to find its relative limits when overclocking is applied. Hitting 83C, this is still, of course, a more than acceptable result indicating that, to some degree, the be quiet! Dark Rock 5 is perfectly capable of handling moderate overclocked settings. – I do not think, however, that things should really be pushed too far in this respect which, in fairness, does often prove to be the edge for most air-cooling solutions. For those looking for every last drop of performance, you can crank up the fan and get another 1.5.C out of the Dark Rock 5, which places rather well in this chart.
What about noise levels though? Well, at stock and load, the be quiet! Dark Rock 5 was exceptionally quiet.
Final Thoughts
be quiet! has certainly impressed us with the Dark Rock 5. As mentioned before, the presentation of the product itself is good, and that quality is evident throughout. The heatsink itself is well constructed, and the mounting kit Deepcool has included is more than good enough to mount on Intel and AMD socket CPUs securely. Choosing a black colour theme, on the heatsink and fan is always a safe bet and is, arguably, a preferred and more popular choice over the traditional metallic colour you typically find. Especially when matched with a predominantly black motherboard for overall aesthetic appeal. Cooling performance is exceptional for a single-tower design. While the cooling performance alone is enough to justify buying this cooler at 62€, on top of that is that fact that the design of the Dark Rock 5 addresses the compatibility issues of larger performance memory modules. With large, bulky coolers this is certainly something that typically required either the purchase of low profile DIMMs or you had to leave the slots that interfered with the heat sink and fans empty. The fan that comes with the tower is also great at what it does. With it's lack of RGB and plain black color this fan is quiet, topping out at 43 dBA in its load. For me though, I think the extra cost of having the second fan is well worth it, and particularly so when it caps an almost universally likeable aesthetic with its twin-fan ‘sandwich’ look.
All we can do now is congratulate be quiet! on their accomplishment and fully support their Dark Rock 5 Performance CPU cooler with a full recommendation to anyone looking to get the most with the least invested.
Comments