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