be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4: Return to the Dark Side

[Guest]

Does the latest flagship CPU cooler from be quiet, the Dark Rock Pro 4, live up to some of the company's earlier efforts on air?

be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4: Return to the Dark Side : Read more

 

[mrmessma]

For the price, FSP Windale looks like a no-brainer, I'll look for it next rebuild.

 

[AgentLozen]

The Dark Rock 4 is a solid cooler no doubt. I like how quiet it is compared to last generation Dark Rock 3. And no LEDs? /swoon

What's really interesting about this article is how it paints the Windale fan in such a favorable light. The numbers show that that cooler is competitive in most metrics with the Dark Rock 4 but costs half as much.

If the Dark Rock 4 got the coveted Editor's Choice award, then the Windale must have gotten something even better!! Let me read the review and see what high praises you guys gave it... oh, that's curious...

 

[dhasootitin1729]

Why did not you add the results of the similarly priced Noctua NH-D15? After all the Dark Rock 4 resembles the NH-D15 the most, dimension wise.

 

[SkyBill40]

I'm glad to see this isn't a part of the RGB movement that's seemed to infect everything. This somewhat reminds me of my CM V6GT which I really like... for twice the price. :/

I like air cooling over the complexities of a dedicated water cooling setup or even an AIO, but I don't like it for this price and seeing how I could get the same for cheaper in an alternative solution. Still, that aside, it's a highly capable unit that gets the job done albeit somewhat expensively.

 

[Malik 722]

why cryorig ri ultimate was not added in the comparison.

 

[photonboy]

DHASOOTITIN1729,
I'd recommend looking at the NH-D15S instead if looking for or recommending a Noctua high-end cooler... the newer NH-D15S is much more compatible with memory (clearance), the top PCIe slot, uses a single fan, less space, less weight and yet the cooling performance under heavy load is only about 1degC difference (i.e. 75degC vs 74degC).

 

[Olle P]

Covered RAM shouldn't be an issue if you mounted the cooler rotated 90 degrees, which is the only way it can be mounted on an AMD motherboard...
That alone makes it a deal breaker for me!
(False! Corrected in a new post below.)

 

[envy14tpe]

I didn't see the Noctua NH-D15 compared. Seems the biggest competitor.

 

[10tacle]

For those wondering, Noctua didn't send Tom's Hardware team an NH-D15 to test. Guru3D has a comparison of it though here:

http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/be-quiet-dark-rock-pro-4-review,1.html

With that said, I like the looks of it. On par performance with the NH-D15 and MUCH better looking for those who don't want to paint their Noctua cowling and fan(s) which can throw fan balance off shortening the life of the motor. According to Guru's test, it's also much quieter than the NH-D15 which at one time along with the older NH-D14 were very quiet themselves. And it's priced competitively too.

 

[envy14tpe]

For those wondering, Noctua didn't send Tom's Hardware team an NH-D15 to test. Guru3D has a comparison of it though here:

http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/be-quiet-dark-rock-pro-4-review,1.html

With that said, I like the looks of it. On par performance with the NH-D15 and MUCH better looking for those who don't want to paint their Noctua cowling and fan(s) which can throw fan balance off shortening the life of the motor. According to Guru's test, it's also much quieter than the NH-D15 which at one time along with the older NH-D14 were very quiet themselves. And it's priced competitively too.

Don't need to be sent free samples to test a product.

 

[FD2Raptor]

There was Noctua D15 numbers on a review here on Toms, though I forgot which one.

Basically, in term of cooling performance, at 100% fan speed the D15 win against the DR4P by ~10 degrees (50 vs 59.8); and at 50% fan speed ~19 degrees (53 vs 71.8).

In term of noise, the D15 registered 25.7/33.6 dbA at 50 and 100% fan speed respectively, compare to the DR4P 18.7/20.6 dbA.

The most formidable adversary for both cooler is the Scythe Mugen 5 which is cheaper than both of them, does not block any RAM slot, and maximum cooling performance is only 5 degrees less than the D15, while maximum noise is practically the same as the DR4P, 20.8 dbA. And for those of you who dislike blinking LED, it only has a single tower and one 120mm non-led fan.

 

[Olle P]

Covered RAM shouldn't be an issue if you mounted the cooler rotated 90 degrees, which is the only way it can be mounted on an AMD motherboard...

I've learned that this is false.
Dark Rock 4 and Dark Rock 4 Pro use different AMD mountings.
Both coolers can only be mounted with horisontal airflow, which is better than having only a vertical option.
Still, on Intel CPUs they can be mounted either way, at the user's discretion.

 

[jr9]

This probably will be the cooler I pair with my new 8600k. The acoustics are top notch. It performs almost as good as the DH-15 (had to Google other reviews) with a much more preferable look. As someone who must have everything black this is the best cooling air cooler.

It would have been nice to see this review compare this cooler to other coolers in its league like the R1 Ultimate, DH15, Core Frozr XL.

 

[FD2Raptor]

This probably will be the cooler I pair with my new 8600k. The acoustics are top notch. It performs almost as good as the DH-15 (had to Google other reviews) with a much more preferable look. As someone who must have everything black this is the best cooling air cooler.

It would have been nice to see this review compare this cooler to other coolers in its league like the R1 Ultimate, DH15, Core Frozr XL.

Your decision whether the few degrees over the Mugen5 and Fuma (compare to the D15) is really worth doubling the price tag.