Final Thoughts
We’ve looked at most of be quiet’s CPU coolers and they all have performed pretty well, but the one thing many of them were lacking was a very easy installation process. Unfortunately be quiet has not come up with an easy mounting system on the Dark Rock TF either. Installation was one of the harder CPU cooler installations that we’ve done lately and it would be quite the task to install this CPU cooler with your motherboard inside of a case. I really wish be quiet would be able to come up with a universal mounting system for their coolers like we see from other companies. Keep in mind you are only going to have to do this installation once though.
With the cooler installed we had really good performance results. This cooler will be able to handle the most extreme processors and many 24/7 overclocks. What is even better is that the cooler runs extremely quiet. This is thanks to the two SilentWings fans. These fans feature a advanced fluid-dynamic bearing with copper core, six-pole motor for smoother operation and less turbulence, and nine airflow-optimized fan blades. You really do not notice the cooler running at all.
While be quiet calls this a compact CPU cooler it is pretty large. Even so, we did not run into any clearance issues with either our memory or graphics card and you shouldn’t either.
If you are looking for a good performing top-flow CPU cooler and can deal with a more tricky installation the Dark Rock TF is a good choice. Overall ThinkComputers gives it an 8 out of 10 score.
Pros:
– Very quiet
– Good overall performance
– No clearance issues
Cons:
– Installation is a bit tricky and you will likely have to remove your motherboard from your case
