By: Aaron Lai
November 24, 2023
With American Thanksgiving and Black Friday traditionally signaling the beginning of the holiday season, I think it is always interesting to see how the shops change their marketing tactics. Up here in Canada, Thanksgiving is back in October, so the transition is a bit longer, spanning from Halloween to Christmas. This is to be expected, as all of these events, with Black Friday in particular, are opportunities to bring in potential customers. On the other hand, with the year we have seen, spending on unnecessary items may not be an option for many people. These holidays definitely help with reducing the cost of some luxury items, but it also can have the adverse effect of pressuring people to buy due to perceived savings. Combined with a fear of missing out, shoppers may end up spending more than they initially intended. I am not here to provide financial or purchasing advice. I have been on both ends of splurging as well as protecting my wallet when required. When it comes to reviewing, we always like to see more products and today we have a new cooler. In our hands for review is the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5, a new top-tier air cooler for your CPU. If you are in the process of building your computer, as many do around this time, a solid cooling option for your processor is important. This is especially true as many mid- to high-end CPUs are not including stock coolers. Will the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5 become a necessity for every new builder? Are there conveniences and extras that make it a good value? Let us read on to find out!
Today's review unit of the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5 took a pretty interesting journey to get to our APH Networks offices here in Calgary, Alberta. First of all, this box traveled with USPS in the United States and TForce in Canada. The original shipping label says it originated from be quiet!'s offices in Walnut, California and was sent to Los Angeles, California. However, the next label says this box came from a distribution center in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, before arriving to our city. How it traveled between LA and the Greater Toronto Area may be a mystery, but rest assured the box arrived in good condition. There are no real bumps or bruises to be concerned about with the shipping container. Inside, be quiet! has packaged quite a bit of packing air pockets too to ensure the products here are safe. Traveling with the Dark Rock Pro 5 is the Dark Rock Elite, which will be reviewed in the coming weeks by myself.
From the retail container, you can see the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5 and Elite both come in similar looking boxes, which match up with other recent be quiet! products we have seen. As such, we have a fully black box with relatively minimal graphics. On the front panel, we have the be quiet! logo found on the top right corner. The middle shows off the cooler in a shadowy presence, which really emphasizes the "Dark" in its name. At the bottom, we have a tagline of "No Compromise Performance and Silence". Around the box, we have some features and specifications for this cooler, but it is pretty simplistic.
Before we continue on, I have grabbed the specifications from the manufacturer's website for your viewing pleasure:
General data
Model: Dark Rock Pro 5
TDP (W): 270
Color option: Black
Overall dimensions without mounting material (L x W x H), (mm): 145 x 136 x 168
Total weight (kg): 1.29
Socket compatibility Intel: 1700 / 1200 / 1150 / 1151 / 1155
Socket compatibility AMD: AM5 / AM4
Overall noise level (dB(A)) @ 50/75/100% (rpm): 8.9 / 16.3 / 23.3
Number of fans: 2
Heatsink specifications
Dimensions (L x W x H), (mm): 119.5 x 136 x 168
Fin material: Aluminum
Surface treatment: Ceramic coating
Base material: Copper
CPU contact surface: CNC machined
Heatpipe number / Diameter (mm): 7 / 6
Fan specifications
Fan model: Silent Wings / Silent Wings 4
Fan dimensions (mm): 135 x 135 x 25 / 120 x 120 x 25
Speed @ 100% PWM /12V (rpm): 1300; 1500 / 1700; 2000
Bearing technology: Fluid Dynamic Bearing
Motor technology: 6-pole fan motor
Rated Voltage (V): 12
Input current (A): 0.28 / 0.20
Input power (W): 3.36 / 2.4
Connector: 4-pin PWM
Cable length (mm): 120 / 80
Lifespan (h / 25°C): 300,000
Y-Cable: ✓
Accessories
Thermal grease (Type): Included
Mounting set: Intel & AMD
Out of the box, the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5 is sandwiched in between two white foam brackets to cushion the metal heatsink. There are copious amounts of foam in between the parts to ensure a reduction of damage. Wedged in one of the brackets is a magnetic screwdriver. This screwdriver is much appreciated and an upgrade over the simpler L-shaped metal screwdriver. Next, we have a cardboard box that holds some mounting documentation, warranty information, and a bag of all of the mounting accessories. It also includes a small tube of thermal paste for multiple applications and installations.
As mentioned in the specifications, the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5 can be mounted on both AMD and Intel sockets. For AMD, this includes the most recent AM4 and AM5 sockets. For Intel, this includes LGA1700, LGA1200 LGA1150, LGA1151, and LGA1155. The only notable omission from this list is the Threadripper TRX40 socket, although those processors have much larger integrated heatspreaders. Therefore, it is not surprising these coolers are not intended for those processors.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware; Installation
3. Test Results
4. Conclusion
