Dark Rock TF: Review| Specs | Hashrate | Pros & Cons| Config | Set-up

Test – be quiet! Dark Rock TF: Review| Specs | Price | CPU Performance | Profitability| Hasrate| best Coins | Config | Advantage (Pros) and Disadvantages (Cons) and other important features that will help you make better decision.

be quiet! continues the momentum of high-end coolers, after the very good Dark Rock 3 and Dark Rock Pro 3 (the tests of which you can find here and here), the German brand decides to enter a new segment, that of “Top coolers” High-end Flow ”. It is clear that the competition is not as fierce as in the tower type cooler sector, but there are some big fish that are already in place, like the very recently released NH_C14S (test here), be quiet! has therefore decided to release the big game with the Dark Rock TF! Equipped with 2 Silent Wings 135 mm fans, the reputation of which is well

established, as well as a double stage radiator in a Big Mac style, there will be a fierce battle!
Offered at a price of around € 86 including VAT, it goes without saying that we are at the top of the range here, around € 10 more than the NH-C14S from Noctua but which is only equipped with one fan, let’s see if be quiet! won the bet and hit the spotlight today!

As usual from be quiet! the packaging is very sober and classy, ​​the profile product photo on a black background with only the brand at the top left and the name of the product written in white. We can also see the maximum TDP of the processor that the Dark Rock TF is likely to cool, namely 220 Watts, which is not nothing!
At the back a listing of the strengths of the beast as well as the complete technical characteristics (dimensions, weight, characteristics of the fans, etc.).

When opening, you fall directly on one of the 2 fans delivered, packed properly in its box, the little one is well protected.

Under the fan we find the radiator well sandwiched by 2 foam molds which will not fail to keep the Dark Rock TF as much as possible protected from shocks during transport.

To finish at the bottom of the box the second Silent Wings fan in the same packaging as the first, a good sandwich of fans!

Here is the beast without its fans! All dressed in black as usual from be quiet! we can say that she has the mouth! The build quality is really excellent and nothing has been forgotten, now let’s move on to a more detailed owner’s tour.

As you can see be quiet! has chosen a dual radiator cooling, 62 fins for the top part and 31 at the bottom, all in aluminum of course. The brand has as usual added a little touch to get out of the ordinary by putting its logo on the lower radiator, the doubt, however, that anyone who manages to see it once the beast is in place.

The 2 black bands that can be seen are made of rubber and allow the fans to be isolated from the radiator so as not to transmit vibrations to the latter, always good to take!

Above we can see that everything has been done to have a product that dazzles the eyes, all the fins are black and the heat pipes are in nickel-plated copper. None of the 62 fins present are twisted which reinforces this feeling of quality.

Once again nothing is left to chance, each of the 6 heat pipes is equipped with a black end cap in addition to a black brushed aluminum plate which is very pleasing to the eye. The bottom radiator is only crossed by 4 of the 6 heat pipes, given the reduced dissipation surface this is quite normal.

As I said the 6 heat pipes are in nickel-plated copper. The only small remark to make here is that there is no reinforcement to keep the upper part in place, as we can see on the latest Noctua, the NH-C14S, maybe for the next model. ? 🙂

Below nothing more to say, the build quality is very good.

The surface in contact with the processor has an excellent finish, even if we see grooving marks, there is nothing to conclude here, the performance is not changed in any way.

The bundle consists of:

• 1 ventirad be quiet! Dark Rock TF
• 1 AMD / Intel backplate
• 4 fasteners for fans
• 1 tube of thermal paste
• 1 adapter 2 x 4-pin -> 1 x 4-pin
• Installation manuals
• The necessary screws

As you can see be quiet! provides everything one needs for mounting the big baby, the thermal paste tube fills enough for several uses as well as a handy adapter that will allow the 2 fans to be plugged into a single 4-pin connector, which can help those who have a motherboard that does not have an Optional CPU connector.

Specification: Hashrate – Dark Rock TF

As we can see the Dark Rock TF is rather compact for a “Top Flow” cooler equipped with 2 fans, indeed despite its width of 14 cm and its depth of 16.2 cm it is only 10.8 cm high, which can certainly interested the owners of boxes whose place is not the strong point. In terms of weight, we are here in the average with a small 810g when weighed, 200g less than the Noctua NH-C14s tested recently.

Regarding the compatibility of sockets be quiet! sees once again big with all the sockets of the moment of course but also the very old 775 and 1366 at Intel, even if it is very unlikely that someone with one of these beasts decides to change the heatsink now!

On the cooling side we are entitled to 6 nickel-plated copper heat pipes responsible for passing the heat released by the processor to the 2 radiators (62 fins at the top and 31 at the bottom), themselves cooled by 2 Silent Wings 135mm fans of the rotating brand at a maximum speed of 1400 RPM. The sound level produced by the 2 fans will not exceed 26.7 dB at 100% against 11.9 dB and 19.3 fB at 50% and 75% respectively, of course these data are theoretical and should be checked as usual!

Let us now come to the annoying subject, the price, indeed hard not to tickle by seeing the 86 € displayed for the Dark Rock TF, but we must take into account as I said at the beginning the 2 high-end fans included, even if it still hurts.

Before starting, you might as well tell you right away that the assembly is not really easy and it will take patience to get to the end!
First of all, I will show you the order of the parts to be installed during assembly, to make it more clear!
To start, you need to place the black plate on the back of the motherboard and line up the holes like this:

Then you have to place the long screws like this:

Then you have to place the black plastic spacers in the notches provided for this purpose (the motherboard is represented by the red line):

Now that the motherboard is ready to accommodate the monster, let’s take care of the latter, first of all we will place the screws on the 2 plates for the Intel sockets, like this (do not hesitate to use the small key provided):

Once the 2 plates are ready, they must be screwed onto the cooler, like this:

After putting a grain of thermal paste on the processor comes the most difficult step, fixing the cooler to the motherboard. Indeed the only way to do it outside the box is to put the cooler upside down (so the fan on the table), to put the motherboard on it while groping to make the screws coming out of the motherboard coincide with the holes of the cooler. and screw in from the back while holding the motherboard and praying that nothing moves. You will understand, patience is essential here and you will not have the right to photos, because holding a motherboard straight up by screwing the cooler does not leave much room to hold a camera! However, once everything is in place, it is clear that nothing will move.

Memory / PCIe compatibility

When buying a cooler, and especially a “Top Flow” it is always good to know if the magnificent RAM equipped with a disproportionately useless radiator and LEDs will pass or not, likewise it is good practice to also be able to connect its graphics card to the first slot glued to the socket (if this is the case), so let’s see what is happening with the Dark Rock TF:

On the memory side, there is about 2 cm between the “low profile” memory (of the Kingston Fury in the photo) and the fan below, the highest memories will not pass but there is still a bit of margin. maneuver.

Regarding the first PCIe port, it will be possible to install a graphics card there, as long as the “back plate” does not protrude too much from the PCB. However, there is no miracle, but it is already a very good point for be quiet!

The test platform

The be quiet! Dark Rock TF has been tested on the configuration below:

• Processor : Intel Core i7 875K @ 3.2 Ghz
• Motherboard : Asus P7P55D
• Mémoire: Kingston HyperX 4 x 2 Go 1600Mhz
• Disque dur: WD Raptor 150 Go
• Graphics card : Sapphire Toxic 5850
• Power supply : Seasonic X650

The test protocol

The core i7 875K has been slightly overclocked to 3.2Ghz. The temperatures under load are an average of all the cores for 3 tests of 30 minutes on OCCT, the temperatures at rest were taken after 15mins on the desk (still an average of the 4 cores). All the tests will be done with the 5V, 12V and PWM fans managed by the motherboard.

The cooler has been tested against:

• be quiet! Pure Rock (tested here)
• Cryorig C1 (tested here)
• Noctua NH-C14S (tested here)
• Noctua NH-L12 (tested here)
• Noctua NH-C12 (tested here)
• Noctua NH-D15 (tested here)
• Scythe Ninja 4 (tested here)

The choice of coolers is not random, the Dark Rock TF being a “Top Flow” cooler I compared it to its competitors in my possession, namely the Cryorig C1, Noctua NH-L12, Noctua NH-C12P and are today’s biggest competitor the Noctua NH-C14S. In addition to the “Top Flow” coolers, I added the monstrous Noctua NH-D15 which is the best in terms of air cooling as well as the be quiet! Pure Rock, which is an entry-level cooler, will also be there to see the difference in performance. Likewise, the Scythe Ninja 4 which represents an excellent performance / silence / price / compatibility and present ratio.

The temperatures

Well, we have to believe that the 2 Silent Wings fans present are not there to look pretty, indeed the Dark Rock TF is able to hold the Core i7 of the test platform without flinching, with excellent temperatures what is more! In 5V the processor does not rise more than 61 °, in 12V it falls to 52 ° and in PWM it stabilizes at 55 °, it is quite simply the best results I have had so far in terms of concerns “Top Flow” coolers. Indeed its direct competitor the Noctua NH-C14S must tilt a few degrees on each reading, let us not forget, however, that the latter is only equipped with a single fan, however, like almost all the coolers in the comparison.

Noise pollution

Warning: Part to be taken with a grain of salt, unfortunately not having access to the appropriate equipment and using an android application to take the readings The measurements below are only indicative! The readings were taken 15cm from the cooler. The ambient sound level recorded is 31 dB.

The hallmark of be quiet !, silence, and well we continue in the good line with a completely silent 5V cooler with a reading that does not exceed the ambient sound level, in PWM the Dark Rock TF does not go up above 37dB but on the other hand once fully the fans are very clearly heard with 45 dB. Once is not customary with the Silent Wings even if you strain your ears there is no parasitic noise emanating from these funds, no engine noise or clicking, only the noise of the air being stirred.

Here we are at the end of this test, what can we say about the Dark Rock TF from be quiet !?
The German brand decides to enter the top-of-the-range “Top Flow” cooler market with a model that is not without its strengths, the performance for this type of product is really excellent, the noise pollution as well as the fans. do not run full are also excellent and the build quality is clearly not to be disparaged. The design is as for him sought as usual, we are entitled to brushed aluminum, covers for the heat pipes, a small plate bearing the logo be quiet! as well as a black paint of the most beautiful effect.

However, all is not rosy, the assembly is really not easy and the sound level with the fans at full blast is not very restful for the ears either, but it is up to you to regulate all this. Let’s talk about the price now, at 86 € the unit it is clear that it is not intended for everyone and that in a standard tower with space there are better solutions, but if you are looking for a cooler ” low waist ”for a gamer config for example and that the price is not a brake then the be quiet! Dark Rock TF will only give you satisfaction.

Advantages

• Very good performance
• Quiet in PWM
• Memory and PCIe compatibility
• Excellent finish
• Look

Disadvantages

• Noisy to the max
• Montage
• Price

Many thanks to Armelle from be quiet! which allowed me to do this test.

Where to find the be quiet! Dark Rock TF?

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