Test – be quiet! Dark Rock 4 |Specs | Price

Introduction

Hi all!

It has been a long time since we last saw coolers from the Dark Rock range at be quiet !, these high-end models which are supposed to show the know-how of the brand. With AIO watercooling kits becoming more and more popular for some reason our little air cooling systems are getting scarce, so when a high end model comes out it’s almost a party these days 😉 Today be quiet! comes back after 4 years and offers us today the Dark Rock 4, update of 3 as you can imagine!
As usual at be quiet! the watchword is silence, quality of manufacture and a sober look above all, while keeping excellent performance at the same time. Offered at a recommended price of 73 €, Dark Rock is expensive, everything would have to be perfect to justify the purchase, even the fixing system which was clearly one of the weak points of the previous version. Let’s take a closer look!

[Test] be quiet! Dark Rock 3

Characteristics

What could be better than to compare directly with the now aging Dark Rock 3rd in the name? Well, looking on paper you still have to be pretty damn strong to see a huge difference. Indeed the Dark Rock 4 has dimensions almost identical to its brother with 15.94 cm high, 13.6 cm wide and 9.63 cm deep, a rather classic tower cooler which should not pose a problem in the majority of the cases of the market. The radiator consists of 51 aluminum fins like its brother (in addition to the thicker aluminum top plate).
Ventilation is still provided by a Silent Wings fan (the top of the range from be quiet!) But in version 3 this time around, running at a maximum speed of 1400 RPM. The announced sound level is however and strangely slightly increasing with a range between 10.5 and 21.4 dB. However, it is clearly necessary to take gloves with these figures because these results are obtained in the laboratory with an ambient noise level much lower than a “classic” room.
Offered at a recommended price of 73 € be quiet! Dark Rock 4 is placed directly at the top of the basket next to the Noctua NH-U14S, to see in the tests if the price is justified!

Unpacking and bundle

The box does not change a bit compared to what we see from be quiet! for years now. Indeed everything has been done here to make the thing as sober as possible, there is a photo of the cooler accompanied by the name of the model of course as well as the logo of the brand. The mention of the maximum TDP that the Dark Rock 4 can cool is also mentioned here, 200 Watts (against 190 Watts for the Dark Rock 3, marketing are you there?).

At the back there is all the necessary information on the product itself. A table with the technical characteristics is present as well as diagrams showing all the dimensions of the Dark Rock 4, at least there is everything you need in case of purchase in store.

Inside the box we first find a cardboard box containing the fan, under the latter the radiator is enclosed in 2 thick foams. With all this there should not be the slightest problem during transport, as long as you do not jump on the box with both feet 😉

The bundle is rather complete, indeed we find of course the various Intel and AMD fasteners, 4 fasteners for the fans (2 at most, 1 only in the box I remind you), 1 manual translated into several languages ​​as well as a syringe thermal grease and even a screwdriver. At least there really is everything you need to build Dark Rock 4.