Dark Rock Pro 2 Review – We have reviewed some monstrous CPU coolers over the last several months – behemoths giving up a lot of volume real estate and weight, in exchange for silent cooling performance. Our favourite thus far has been the Noctua NH-D14, with the Phanteks PH-TC14PE not far behind.
Today we are looking at a product from be quiet!, a company that is not new, but is just entering the North American market. Their power supplies are already available, and the Dark Rock Pro 2 will be in North American stores soon with an MSRP of $90.
One thing is for sure; if you’re as much into the all matte black look as much as I am, you are going to really appreciate the aesthetics of this cooler. It would look absolutely stunning sitting on an EVGA Z75 SLI motherboard, paired up with Kingston’s dark grey HyperX ram, sitting inside an NZXT Phantom 410 case. That kind of system would have a nice overall theme going for it, with little to no modding needed.
But we’re more interested in performance here at HCW, and the Dark Rock Pro 2 has its work cut out for it, if it’s going to look capable against the Noctua and Phanteks coolers. This is how they compare on paper:
be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 2 | Noctua NH-D14 | Phanteks PH-TC14PE | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dimensions w/o Fans (mm) | 147x138x166 | 126x120x158 | 140x134x160 |
| Fans (Supported) | 1x 135mm & 1x 120mm (2) | 1x 140mm & 1x 120mm (3) | 2 x140mm (3) |
| Weight (g, 2 fans) | 1250 | 1240 | 1250 |
| Rated Noise in dB(A) | 13.5-26.4 | 13.2-19.8 | 13.4-19 |
| Warranty (years) | 3 | 6 | 5 |
| Price on PCpartPicker | None - $90 MSRP €65 in Austria with VAT, equivalent to $85 USD | $80 | $80 (black) $85 (white) $90 (rest) |
The Dark Rock Pro 2 heatsink is the largest of the three, but its largest fan measures in at 135mm, along with a 120mm fan. That’s not a huge departure from the 140mm and 120mm used by the Noctua, but the Phanteks comes with two full sized 140mm fans. Since the Dark Rock Pro 2 uses custom fans, it cannot easily accommodate a third fan, while the Noctua and Phanteks can with some extra clips.
Aside from that, the pricing is a bit off due to the Dark Rock Pro 2 not having any listings in North American stores yet. It has an MSRP of $90 USD, but so does the Phanteks. The more ‘plain’ versions of that are selling for $80 now, to match the lower priced Noctua cooler. Hopefully once the Dark Rock Pro 2 does hit retail, it will be priced to compete. Especially since it has the weakest warranty of the three.
