be quiet! Dark Rock Slim Review

👤by Matthew Hodgson Comments 📅14-05-19
Closer Look
Even though the Dark Rock Slim could theoretically be installed either way, be quiet! have designed it to have a front and a back, with different blade designs on either side. This design is optimised to decrease audible output as much as possible. The front is slightly concave with a saw-tooth design. Each edge features a strip of rubber, instead of relying on the fan to have rubber mounts; this helps to reduce vibrations and therefore noise.


The rear, as you can see, doesn’t feature the same concave shape instead using a stepped design. This side doesn’t house any rubber strips to prevent fan vibrations so if you’re planning to add a second fan, try to ensure that the fan is rubber isolated. The cooler’s dimensions, without the fan, are 127mm wide, 159mm tall and 50mm deep, increasing to 72mm deep with the fan.


Capping off the top of the cooler is a brushed aluminium with a diamond-cut finish. The centre plays host to a fancy silver be quiet! logo.


Collecting together all four heatpipes is the coldplate. This is polished to a smooth finish for optimal efficiency.


Looking at the tower’s side-profile it’s clear to see the slender shape, at only 50mm deep. Ensuring that tall RAM modules are well-supported, the gap from the coldplate to the first cooling fin is 40mm.


Attaching the Silent Wings 3 fan increases the cooler’s depth from 50mm to 72mm but, again, RAM clearance shouldn’t be a problem. The fan uses a six-pole motor and fluid-dynamic bearings for increased lifespan and decreased noise output.



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