Page 3 - Test Results
Our test configuration is as follows:
CPU: Intel Core i5-12600K
Motherboard: ASUS ProArt Z690-Creator WiFi
RAM: XPG Lancer RGB DDR5-6000 2x16GB
Graphics: EVGA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING
Chassis: Thermaltake The Tower 500
Storage: XPG Atom 30 1TB
Power: FSP Hydro PTM Pro 1200W
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro
Compared hardware:
- be quiet! Pure Rock 2 FX
- be quiet! Pure Loop 2 FX 240mm
- Noctua NH-D12L
- Noctua NH-U12A chromax.black
- Noctua NH-U9S chromax.black
- Thermaltake TOUGHLIQUID Ultra 360
All tests were run in our custom-built computer to best reflect real life performance. The computer remained in the same location in the same room throughout all tests. The room temperature in our testing lab was around 22c. Stock thermal paste respective to all coolers were used to rate its performance; all thermal pastes were given a proper amount of time for them to fully settle. The fans on all heatsinks were connected to the motherboard's CPU 4-pin fan header. The test computer was turned on and left idling for at least one hour for the idling tests. High CPU load results were obtained using the Prime95 in-place large FFTs test with a maximum number of worker threads for the tested CPU for a minimum of 10 minutes or until the temperature was deemed stable. Temperature results were measured with HWiNFO, which reports the CPU's integrated digital thermal sensor for maximum accuracy. Each temperature result was calculated by taking the maximum value of the cores inside the CPU.
After idling, I checked the temperatures of my processor. You can see from here that the be quiet Pure Rock 2 FX is pretty average in idle temperatures of 26c. This is on the warmer side of things, especially as the only cooler that is warmer is the 92mm-based Noctua NH-U9S chromax.black. It is not a great sign, considering the other 120mm-based air coolers are already a couple degrees coolers. However, these idle results are generally not too interesting, so I kicked off Prime95 and ran the tests to simulate a full load experience.
With more than enough time to load the processor, you can see how all of the coolers performed with the peak temperatures recorded. From here, you can see the middling idle result of the be quiet! Pure Rock 2 FX translated into an unimpressive performance under full load. With a single fan attached, it reached 83c under load, which is again warmer than other 120mm-based coolers. For example, the NH-D12L was 5 degrees coolers with a single fan attached. Furthermore, the smaller NH-U9S chromax.black was still two degrees cooler. It should still be noted the Pure Rock 2 FX is still capable of ensuring enough headroom so that the CPU can maintain the same maximum frequencies as other coolers.
As for the sound analysis section, on a scale of 0 to 10 where 0 is silence and 10 is very loud, I would rate the be quiet! Pure Rock 2 FX at around 3.0/10 under full load. Unsurprisingly, a fan from a company called be quiet! is indeed quiet, but this might also explain why its cooling capabilities are a bit less than others. The noise it emits is pretty low in frequency and thus is not very noticeable to the ear. I also appreciate the addressable RGB lighting on the fan, which contrasts nicely against the rest of the black exterior.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware; Installation
3. Test Results
4. Conclusion
