Combining a twin-heatsink design and SilentWings 135mm cooling fans the Dark Rock TF is be quiet’s premium topflow CPU cooler – promising to deliver on silence and performance.
Product on Review: Dark Rock TF
Manufacturer & Sponsor: be quiet!
Street Price: £62 GBP / $79.90 USD
In the arena of the CPU cooler the obvious perquisite is cooling performance but with the plethora of dual-tower CPU coolers that currently populate the market, size can be a concern for those with less space inside their computer chassis and so this paves the way for the top-flow solution. Top-flow CPU coolers are often regarded as “C-type” solutions and offer a low-profile uniform to counter the problem of clearance – today we are to take a look at one such product.
The Dark Rock TF is be quiet’s latest top-flow CPU cooler which seeks to offer the perfect blend of silence and performance. Accompanying this sleek heatsink are two SilentWings 135mm cooling fans which use 6-pole motors to achieve superb airflow and low-noise. Dark Rock TF utilises a dual-heatsink design which in essence should provide us with good results.
be quiet! on their Dark Rock TF
One of the hardest things to do in a compact PC is quietly cool a high-performance CPU even in extreme overclocking conditions. The top-flow cooler Dark Rock TF with be quiet!’s famous silent technology offers a perfect solution to this challenge.
Features & Specifications
▪ Extremely high 220W TDP cooling performance
▪ Dual dark nickel-plated heat sinks with anti-vibration rubber inserts
▪ Six high-performance 6mm heat pipes with aluminum caps
▪ Two virtually inaudible SilentWings® 135mm PWM fans (max. 26.7dB(A))
▪ Fans equipped with durable fluid-dynamic bearing and smooth 6-pole motor
▪ Space-saving single fan assembly also supported
▪ Brushed aluminum covers
▪ Compatible with all current Intel®and AMD™ sockets
▪ 3-years manufacturer’s warranty
▪ Product conception, design and quality control in Germany
▪ Dual dark nickel-plated heat sinks with anti-vibration rubber inserts
▪ Six high-performance 6mm heat pipes with aluminum caps
▪ Two virtually inaudible SilentWings® 135mm PWM fans (max. 26.7dB(A))
▪ Fans equipped with durable fluid-dynamic bearing and smooth 6-pole motor
▪ Space-saving single fan assembly also supported
▪ Brushed aluminum covers
▪ Compatible with all current Intel®and AMD™ sockets
▪ 3-years manufacturer’s warranty
▪ Product conception, design and quality control in Germany
Heatsink
Dimensions, incl. fan (L x W x H in mm)
162.6 x 140 x 130.8
Weight, incl. fan (g)
810
Heat sink material / finish
Aluminum / Dark nickel-plated
Socket compatibility
Intel®: 775 / 115X / 1366 / LGA2011(-3) Square ILM
AMD™: AM2(+) / AM3(+) / FM1 / FM2(+)
Maximum power capacity (W TDP)
220
Number of heat pipes / diameter (mm)
6 / 6
162.6 x 140 x 130.8
Weight, incl. fan (g)
810
Heat sink material / finish
Aluminum / Dark nickel-plated
Socket compatibility
Intel®: 775 / 115X / 1366 / LGA2011(-3) Square ILM
AMD™: AM2(+) / AM3(+) / FM1 / FM2(+)
Maximum power capacity (W TDP)
220
Number of heat pipes / diameter (mm)
6 / 6
Fans
Noise level (dB(A)) @ 50 / 75 / 100% rpm
11.9 / 19.3 / 26.7
Fan dimensions (mm)
135 x 135 x 22
Fan motor technology
6-pole
Bearing type
Fluid-dynamic
Fan speed (rpm) @ 100% PWM
1,400
Noise level (dB(A)) @ 1,400rpm
20.8
Airflow (m³/h) ; (cfm)
113.8 ; 67.8
Air pressure (mm / H2O)
1.85
Input current (A)
0.20
Connector
4-pin PWM
Lifespan (h)
300,000
Accessories
Mounting set for Intel® and AMD™
Y-cable
Manual (EN, DE, FR, PL, ES, RU)
11.9 / 19.3 / 26.7
Fan dimensions (mm)
135 x 135 x 22
Fan motor technology
6-pole
Bearing type
Fluid-dynamic
Fan speed (rpm) @ 100% PWM
1,400
Noise level (dB(A)) @ 1,400rpm
20.8
Airflow (m³/h) ; (cfm)
113.8 ; 67.8
Air pressure (mm / H2O)
1.85
Input current (A)
0.20
Connector
4-pin PWM
Lifespan (h)
300,000
Accessories
Mounting set for Intel® and AMD™
Y-cable
Manual (EN, DE, FR, PL, ES, RU)
Packaging, Bundle & Fans
Dark Rock TF is presented in a large box which has been professionally designed to fit in with be quiet!’s branding and theme. The front features a depiction of the cooler and provides some of the integral features we can expect from Dark Rock TF. Around the sides and back there are further technical details and some schematic diagrams of the cooler.
Inside, the cooler and its contents are concealed within protective cardboard containers to ensure the product arrives without any damage.
Along with the heatsink and fans there are a number of components included with Dark Rock TF. These items include the mounting kits for both Intel and AMD sockets. The following sockets are supported:
Intel®: 775 / 115X / 1366 / LGA2011(-3) Square ILM
AMD™: AM2(+) / AM3(+) / FM1 / FM2(+)
We also have a Y-cable to allow both cooling fans to run from one fan header and a multilingual user manual to guide the user through the installation process.
Supplied with Dark Rock TF are two SilentWings 135mm PWM cooling fans. These fans use a nine-blade design and are capable of operating up to 1400RPM. The cables which are used for power are braided for continuity – carrying the sleek appearance throughout the computer case.
These fans have the added benefits of using 6-pole motors as opposed to 4-pole motors which most fans use. The benefits are as follows:
• Six poles contribute to smoother transition between magnetic poles
• Less vibration for quiet operation
• Reduced power consumption
• Low start-up voltage
Closer Look
From an initial look at Dark Rock TF it’s quite obvious to see why it has the TF moniker – this product is a top-flow cooler. So in essence, the objective that it will be better suited to fitting within cases with a more condensed set of dimensions. As we’ve found in the past, be quiet! are ambassadors of style and the Dark Rock TF certainly adheres to this. The choice of materials, engineering and colour make this cooler a spectacular product to place within the computer chassis.
Another thing to note after a quick glimpse is that this isn’t just an ordinary top-flow cooler – it has a twin heatsink design with a smaller heatsink situation below the primary one. Both heatsinks are nickel-plated; the lower unit features a metallic badge bearing the be quiet! logo.
The top of the larger heatsink features a brushed aluminium plate with aluminium caps covering the heatpipes.
Dark Rock TF utilises six copper heatpipes which pass through both heatsinks. The heat is transferred from the baseplate through the pipes and out through these heatsinks
Observing the profile of the upper heatsink reveals a design using eight subsections which have a very gradual bow – drawing out towards the sides.
Looking at the baseplate we can see how these copper heatpipes pass through the baseplate.
The baseplate, just like the heatpipes, uses copper construction and makes use of a smooth surface texture which is almost fully reflective. The baseplate has two ledges with pre-drilled holes for use with the mounting kits supplied.
To attach cooling fans to the heatsinks all you have to do is use a set of the supplied clips and loop the hooks through the mounting holes on the fan and the wire then clips under the outer indentations. It’s an easy technique to perform and provides a solid fitment for the cooling fans. be quiet! has given the heatsink rubber strips to ensure anti-vibration.
Installation Process
For all our cooling reviews we test using the LGA-2011 socket and in this section we’ll be demonstrating how Dark Rock TF is installed on this particular configuration.
STEP 1
The first step in the processing of installing Dark Rock TF is to attach four standoff screws to the four corners of the socket plate. These screws can be tightened with the supplied spanner.
STEP 2
Next, we need to install the two brackets to the baseplate. Attaching this is easy – just line up the screw holes and fix two screws to either bracket. At this stage it’s advisable to attach both cooling fans to make life easier.
STEP 3
The final step is to apply some thermal paste to the CPU, place the cooler over the socket and attach four nuts to the standoff/brackets. To complete this, the spanner is required again and it’s almost guaranteed you will need to perform this task with the motherboard out of the computer chassis. We tried to fit/tighten these nuts with the motherboard installed within the case and it was far too difficult to reach the upper nut closest to the rear IO ports.
Once everything is tightened up, all you need to do is use the y-cable to connect both fans to a single CPU fan header.
So overall, the installation isn’t exactly straightforward. It can be tricky – we’d prefer that be quiet! avoid using nuts and spanners for fixing the cooler to the motherboard because this can be somewhat cumbersome. Tightening screws from the topside would have been a better technique!
Clearance – PCI Express/Memory
Having Dark Rock TF mounted in either orientation – with the heatpipes horizontal or vertical will obstruct the uppermost PCI Express slot. Most motherboards tend to place an X1 slot at the top to counter this problem anyway but having the heatpipes horizontal gives slightly more space.
In terms of memory clearance, Dark Rock TF frees up the outer slots which most users will make use of, the inner slots may come into contact with the lower fan but the kit would need to exceed 6cm of clearance.
With Dark Rock TF installed, the cooler looks stunning on our GIGABYTE motherboard. The sheer size of the heatsink/cooler does cover a large portion of the motherboard but this should work as something of a benefit – supplying airflow to the chipset and memory. In the next section we’ll see whether having such a top-flow cooler impacts chipset temperatures.
Test Setup & Methodology
Test System
CPU – Intel Core i7-3930K (3.6GHz)
Motherboard – GIGABYTE X79-UP4
Memory – 8GB Corsair Vengeance LP 1600MHz CL9
Graphics – Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 1GB
PSU – NZXT Hale90 650W
Hard Drive – Kingston HyperX 240GB SATA III SSD
Case – Corsair Carbide 760T
Motherboard – GIGABYTE X79-UP4
Memory – 8GB Corsair Vengeance LP 1600MHz CL9
Graphics – Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 1GB
PSU – NZXT Hale90 650W
Hard Drive – Kingston HyperX 240GB SATA III SSD
Case – Corsair Carbide 760T
CPU Coolers
Alpenföhn K2 (120mm Wingboost: 500-1500RPM, 140mm Wingboost: 300-1100RPM)
Thermalright SilverArrow SB-E Extreme (Dual TY-143 fans – 600-2500RPM)
Corsair Hydro Series H100i (Dual 120mm fans – up to 2700RPM Push Config)
Noctua NH-U14S (Single 140mm cooling fan – 300-1500RPM)
Corsair H75 (Dual 120mm cooling fans – 600-2000RPM)
CRYORIG R1 Ultimate (Dual 140mm cooling fans – 700-1400RPM)
Corsair Hydro Series H105 – (Dual 120mm fans – up to 2700RPM Push Config)
Noctua NH-D15 (Dual 140mm cooling fans – 300-1500RPM)
LEPA LV12 (Single 120mm cooling fan – 300-2200RPM)
CRYORIG H5 Universal (Single 140mm cooling fan – 600-1400RPM)
Fractal Design Kelvin S24 (Dual 120mm cooling fans – 800-1700RPM)
Noctua NH-U9S (Single 92mm cooling fan – 800-2000RPM)
Corsair Hydro H110i GT (Dual 140mm cooling fans – 800-2200RPM)
NZXT Kraken X61 (Dual 140mm cooling fans – 800-2000RPM)
Corsair Hydro H80i GT (Dual 120mm cooling fans – 800-2600RPM)
be quiet! Dark Rock TF (Dual 135mm cooling fans – 800-1400RPM)
Program Suite
Real Temp – Maximum temperature analysis
LinX 0.6.4 – Applies thorough stress test to CPU
CPU-Z – Confirmation of CPU frequency/voltage
AIDA64 Extreme Edition – Confirmation of temperatures/fan speeds
Testing Methodology
Since Dark Rock TF is a top-flow cooler we’ll be including some chipset cooling analysis to see how much of an impact this cooler has on the motherboard temperatures.
Testing will be based on temperatures recorded by Real Temp after 20 passes of LinX stress test. The maximum absolute temperatures will be recorded after the test and averaged over the 6 cores. The delta is then calculated by subtracting the temperature recorded near the intake fans from the average temperature calculated. Tests are conducted with the Intel i7 3930K at its default 3.6GHz stock speed and overclocked to 4.6GHz @ 1.42V. The tests are done inside the Corsair Graphite 760T chassis to simulate real world conditions. To keep the tests standardised we are using Noctua’s NT-H1 thermal paste on all coolers.
CPU coolers are reviewed as they come out of the box – with their factory cooling fans, as the manufacturer intended and as the consumer expects.
Additional tests include a passive test where the cooling fans are taken away from the heatsink and a comparison between the cooler used with stock thermal paste against our Noctua NT-H1 paste.
A kind thank you to Noctua for supplying us with NT-H1 thermal compound.
Benchmarks: Stock Performance
A large portion of the coolers in our cooling chart are considered to be flagship solutions which offer extreme cooling performance. Dark Rock TF is styled as a completely different design, opting for lower noise and offering better compatibility and yet we can still enjoy decent cooling performance. TF’s result places it in the realms of other standout products.
Fan Speed: 1000RPM – barely audible, very quiet.
Benchmarks: Overclocked Performance
Applying a substantial overclock to our high-end CPU creates a significant challenge to this top-flow cooler. Unfortunately, it struggled and the temperatures were high. This is probably due to the maximum speed of the cooling fans at just 1400RPM. But this is obviously a choice which be quiet! has carefully decided on and which fits into their ethos of low-noise. Had the cooling fans operated at 1800-2000RPM the performance results would be better but noise would of course be sacrificed.
Fan Speed: 1400RPM – maximum speed yet still not particularly disruptive. Certainly considered low-noise.
Benchmarks: Passive Performance
The passive test is an interesting one as it relies heavily upon heatsink design and airflow within the computer chassis. The Dark Rock TF handles this test very well indeed and manages to give some of the best results we have seen.
Benchmarks: Chipset Performance
With Dark Rock TF being a top-down design cooler it has the potential to deliver lower chipset temperatures for the motherboard because the fans blow down onto this region. For this test we compared Dark Rock TF to a popular tower design CPU cooler – Noctua NH-D15. As you can see from the results there is some quite an improvement to be had from using a cooler which forces airflow onto the motherboard (Dark Rock TF) as opposed to a cooler which simply takes heat from the CPU and out of the case (NH-D15).
Benchmarks: Thermal Paste Comparison
Most CPU coolers come accompanied with thermal paste provided by the manufacturer. For our CPU cooling tests we use Noctua’s NT-H1, so to offer up some interesting analysis we test the thermal paste which comes packaged with the be quiet! cooler to see which gives the best results during stock and overclocked performance.
The difference between the paste bundled with the be quiet! cooler and Noctua NT-H1 is nominal and comes fairly close in the head-to-head.
Conclusion
be quiet! has always been a brand which has had silence as a fundamental attribute in their product development and Dark Rock TF uses this to strike a fine balance between low-noise and performance. Included with this cooler are two SilentWings 135mm fans which, even when running at the full speed of 1400RPM are barely audible.
If we took Dark Rock TF on just its physical appearance we’d whole heartedly confess this cooler is a exquisite piece of kit. Aesthetically, be quiet! has done a great job – Dark Rock TF will easily pair up with a wide-selection of hardware and will look superb while doing so.
In our testing we found Dark Rock TF to be a great all-round offering. The standard of dual-heatsink coolers is very high and top-flow configurations like Dark Rock TF will always struggle to achieve the same results yet this cooler still performs very well with Intel’s high-end enthusiast chips under stock conditions. We have to reinforce that our overclocked testing involves some very challenging hardware – we use the Intel Core i7-3930K with a significantly big overclock applied and this can be regarded as one of the most severe “worst case scenarios” and as expected Dark Rock TF did struggle. One of the factors involved is probably the limitation of just 1400RPM, but as previously stated, it is be quiet’s philosophy to stand by silence.
Through the passive testing – with no cooling fans attached and the CPU at stock settings the Dark Rock TF did an admirable job at cooling and likewise, monitoring the chipset temperatures revealed significant benefits when using a top-flow cooler like this against a standard dual-tower design.
Dark Rock TF’s appeal will likely stem from its ability to be situated in cases with restrictions for the physical dimensions.
The SRP for Dark Rock TF is as follows: $79.90 USD / £62 GBP / €86 EU. This translates to good value for money when carefully considering the entire package which includes two SilentWings fans, a low-profile cooling solution, decent performance and low-noise operation.
Dark Rock TF is an aesthetic masterpiece. This delightful top-flow cooler oozes quality and strikes the fine balance between low-noise and performance.
VIDEO REVIEW – VORTEZ.TV
Pros
+ Stunning aesthetics
+ Great build quality
+ Two SilentWings 135mm fans included
+ Low-noise operation
+ Benefits chipset cooling
+ Offers better chassis compatibility
Cons
– Struggles with big overclocks
– Must be installed out of the case
+ Stunning aesthetics
+ Great build quality
+ Two SilentWings 135mm fans included
+ Low-noise operation
+ Benefits chipset cooling
+ Offers better chassis compatibility
Cons
– Struggles with big overclocks
– Must be installed out of the case
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.
