Page 3 - Test Results
Our test configuration is as follows:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 AORUS Elite Wi-Fi
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3200 4x8GB
Graphics: ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3080 V2 OC Edition 10GB
Chassis: Lian Li Lancool II Mesh RGB
Storage: Western Digital WD_BLACK SN770 NVMe SSD 1TB, Western Digital Black SN750 NVMe SSD 1TB
Power: Corsair RM850x 850W
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Compared hardware:
- be quiet! Pure Rock Pro 3
- Cooler Master Hyper 212 Pro
- Cooler Master Hyper 411 Nano
- Cooler Master Hyper 612 Apex
All tests were performed on my custom-built computer to best reflect real-life performance. The computer remained in a room with the temperature controlled to be about 20 degrees Celsius for all tests. The thermal paste was applied according to standard practices for AMD CPUs. The fans attached to the heatsink were all connected to the same CPU 4-pin fan connector on the motherboard. The eight case fans, three GPU fans, and the product's CPU fans in my computer were all set to max speeds to allow maximum airflow through the heatsink for all tests. For the idling tests, the computer was left running for at least an hour before data was collected. To stress the CPU, Prime95 was used to place a high load on all available threads using the Large FFTs torture test setting. The highest core temperature measured by HWiNFO was recorded after waiting at least 10 minutes for the temperature to stabilize. HWiNFO is used to obtain accurate temperature data, since it directly reads the CPU's integrated thermal sensors.
Starting with the idle test, the computer was left idling for a long time before the highest core temperature was taken. In the first graph, the be quiet! Pure Rock Pro 3 has the lowest temperature alongside the Hyper 612 Apex, sitting at 25 degrees Celsius. Although it is only 1 to 2 degrees lower than the smaller Hyper 212 Pro and Hyper 411 Nano coolers, I suspect this gap would increase once we perform the load test.
After stressing the CPU for over 20 minutes to generate as much heat as possible, the temperature was stable, and the highest core temperature was recorded at 48 degrees Celsius. As expected, the temperature delta increased compared to the smaller air coolers. The Pure Rock Pro 3 was on par with the Hyper 612 Apex. I found this result interesting, since the be quiet! Pure Wings 3 fans have a lower maximum airflow of 59.6CFM compared to the Cooler Master Mobius 120P Back Edition fan's 76.2CFM used with the Hyper 612 Apex. The larger total surface area of the Pure Rock Pro 3's heatsinks could be one of the factors that caused this result. Another important factor to consider is the midrange Ryzen 5600X CPU I used does not generate a large amount of heat. Perhaps a higher performance CPU would illustrate a performance difference between the two coolers.
In terms of the volume produced by the fans on the Pure Rock Pro 3, it was very quiet on idle. On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is pure silence and 10 is standing right below fireworks, I would say the cooler is a 1 on idle. The sound produced is still rather quiet even putting my ears right next to the fans. be quiet! claims the volume to be at 34.8 dBA when both fans are spinning at max speed, which equates to a volume slightly louder than whispering. I agree with this rating, and would give it a 3.5. The high-pitched spinning noise of the fan can be drowned out by playing audio, but with a little bit of focus, the sound can still be heard.
Overall, the be quiet! Pure Rock Pro 3 performed really well for my setup. The performance was great for my midrange Ryzen CPU. The noise produced is excellent at low speeds and reasonable at max speed.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware, Installation
3. Test Results
4. Conclusion
