BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 5 a Dark Rock Elite
The new generation of high-end tower coolers also comes with one change in segmentation. The Dark Rock Pro is no longer the top model. It is now the Dark Rock Elite. The differences between these twin-tower CPU coolers are quite small, partly relating to the available cooling performance and partly to their aesthetics, into which BeQuiet! has implemented ARGB LEDs. But it did so rather subtly.
The BeQuiet! Dark Rock coolers have been released simultaneously in two models, but the variant with the “Pro” moniker has always been the more powerful option. The latter used to always be based on a twin-tower heatsink, which is still the case, but it no longer has the lower-end single-tower model next to it. Currently, the Dark Rock Pro 5 (codenamed BK036) is itself the inferior model, being outperformed in several respects by the Dark Rock Elite (BK037).
The design of the heatsinks seems to be the same and the difference is in their accessories. In both cases, two fans are used to cool roughly a kilo of aluminium, to which the waste heat from the processor is transferred by a system of seven heatpipes. These, like the fins, have a black ceramic particle coating to speed up heat transfer. At least according to what BeQuiet! claims. Anyway, the black coating should perhaps not have the opposite effect (of insulation).
The main difference, and what makes the +10W TDP in favor of the Dark Rock Elite (with a claimed 280W TDP), seems to be in the fan configuration. While the Dark Rock Pro combines a 120mm one (Silent Wings 4) with a 135mm one, there are two 135mm fans on the Dark Rock Elite. Due to the larger rotor cross-section of the front fan, higher airflow will probably be achieved at maximum speed, which has a positive effect on faster cooling of the front tower.
And speaking of fans, BeQuiet! is getting rid of the label “efficient coolers that don’t reach top-notch performance”. That’s because of the relatively higher speeds, which are now being pushed to 2000rpm (for the 120mm Silent Wings 4 Pro fan) and 1700rpm (for the 135mm fans) respectively. Remember that the Dark Rock Pro 4 had fans with “only” 1200 and 1500 rpm, respectively. However, the choice of lower speeds even with 100% PWM control is still maintained thanks to the mechanical switch between “Performance” and “Quiet ” mode. This means that even in builds with a non-optimized speed curve, these coolers don’t have to be downright noisy even at maximum speed.
It’s notable that BeQuiet! didn’t use 140mm Silent Wings 4 fans, but that may be due to compatibility, which is supposed to balance between good support with cases (it’s already quite a tall cooler with 168mm) and memory modules. In addition, the fans can be moved to fit up to 69 mm tall memory under them. However, when the fan is pushed out to the limit, it will often collide with the side panel of the case for a change. To better support the RAM, the fins above the first DIMM slot are shortened to accommodate a module up to about 63 mm high.
To please fans of colorful lighting, BeQuiet! has fitted a rectangular-shaped light guide with rounded corners to the Dark Rock Elite’s heatsink cover. The ARGB LEDs are bordered by a segment of brushed aluminium decorated with the BeQuiet! logo in the middle.
The suggested price of the Dark Rock Elite is set at 114,90 EUR. The Dark Rock Pro 5 is 15 EUR cheaper. Both coolers (Dark Rock Pro 5 and Dark Rock Elite) are to be available in retail stores from October 24th.
English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš
MA824 Stealth and now Dark Rock 5… is using 135 mm fans a recent trend in air coolers? The Assassin IV uses a unique mounting mechanism for the middle fan that prevents other fans from being used too.
Personally I am not too fond of this trend, as fan replacement would be much harder shall the fans fail.
It’s also interesting that some companies are willing to devote resources for a fan specifically used in air coolers for a 5 mm reduction in diameter, perhaps there’s some significant clearance advantages that the 5 mm can bring? This seems to be avoidable if companies aren’t surrounding the fan with purely aesthetic panel(s) though.
Anyway, I am not sure how this 135 mm fan compares to the one they use on their PSUs. The curve seems different but it’s hard to be sure viewing from an angle.
Dark Rock 13 Pro power supplies still have Silent Wings 13 fans. These, on the coolers, look different. I didn’t find a full photo of them, but for example this one shows that the blades are significantly more curved. Don’t the rotors resemble bigger or smaller (depending on whether we compare with 120 or 140 mm models) slower variants of Light Wings fans?
Replacement for these unique fans, which also have an atypical frame and overall mounting method, really won’t be easy. That is, if you want to keep such a nice visual (tying some fan to a heatsink is always possible :)).
The 3D images on their site is handy for grabbing some nice frontal views of the fans:
https://www.bequiet.com/volumes/pim/fans/lightwings/lightwingspwm/bl078/xr/001.jpg
https://www.bequiet.com/volumes/pim/cooler/darkrock/Dark%20Rock%20Elite/xr/007.jpg
They look very different. The one on the Dark Rock 5 has much more curved blades and less gaps between blades too. It also seem to have winglets at the tip of the blades. All points to an efficient design.
Thank you, from this point of view it is clear that these are not comparable geometries.
Well, they are actually quite similar to the 140mm Silent Wings (Pro) 4, with the fans on the new Dark Rock coolers having a smaller hub. In the picture below you can see it well from the scale comparison…
… but it is obvious that the hub on the standard SW4 is much larger, which gives BeQuiet! extra airflow for the Dark Rock coolers. Although it won’t be anything significant, but the size of the blades looks similar.
Is it possible that the fans on Dark Rock coolers have thicker blades? Looks like it’s just an optical illusion created by slightly different lighting, but if it were the case, BeQuiet! could eliminate the critical vibrations that make SW(P)4 fans noisier at lower frequencies. Well, I wish those test samples were here already. 🙂
The blades on the 135 mm fan do seem wider, and it’s likely not an optical illusion as they do look wider even if I drew outlines of them. That and the winglets at the blade tips means they will likely perform pretty differently.
I also find that the blades of the 135 mm fan are wider and thus there are smaller gaps between them, which is probably BeQuiet’s intention to increase the static pressure. How big a gap the 140 Silent Wings (Pro) 4 has in this direction will probably become apparent after testing the Thermaltake Toughfan 14 Pro.
be quiet! seems making harder for their products serving long. Just look at LGA1700 support – only newest coolers. 135mm fans in coolers (worth checking if, these older ones, having 120mm mounting holes though) or in PSUs combined with some unique mounting design like Dark Powers 12 and 13. And yes, 135mm Silent Wings fans used in Dark Powers or coolers used to be different than ones they sell in retail – they are just named Silent Wings, but have different blade shapes or even motor and bearing (Shadow Rock Slim 2).
Anyone see specs yet on RAM clearance for the Elite in its stock (non-raised) configuration? I’m trying to decide between one of these and the CM MA824 — for use with 42mm RAM (Trident G5 DDR5).
For Elite it’s 32mm for non-raised configuration, 45 for Pro. You can check such things on cooler’s official site in Technical data.
Good point, rare sizes are mostly fine for maintenance as long as they use a mounting method that’s compatible with standard sizes.
I don’t think it’s the case here though, the mounting is via a plastic piece so it’d be like the situation in the Assassin IV where a very specific frame design is needed (unless you resort to zipties).
I also noticed that the 135 mm fan seems to be only 22 mm thick, judging by the drawings with dimensions. This is interesting on its own, but it also means there’s more complications for any attempt in fan replacement.