Be Quiet Dark Rock 3 Pro (single fan) vs Be Quiet Dark Rock 3

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Vorkosigan

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Jul 14, 2017
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For my new silent system based on i5 7600k- I have a small dilemma.

I want to have the silence of the Dark Rock 3 (single 135mm fan), but also wonder whether I can achieve the same with the Dark Rock 3 Pro (two tower with one 135mm middle fan and 120mm front fan) - if I simply switch off and detach the front fan? Will the cooler still perform sufficiently well?

What attracts me to that is the added security that I can always reattach the front fan, if I decide to do more aggressive OC. On the other side - shouldn't I be able to achieve the same silence effect, if I use the motherboard fan controls to keep the from fan rpm well below the maximum of 1700?
 
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Aeacus
2nd fan does add a bit more noise to the CPU cooler but not enough to be a deal breaker.

1. By it's own, Dark Rock 3 Pro is better than Dark Rock 3 due to the more surface area for cooling.

As far as cooling performance in watts go, the default cooling performance is listed. 190W for Dark Rock 3 and 250W for Dark Rock 3 Pro. Since Pro has a bit more surface area for cooling, it's cooling performance is also better.

I have Arctic Freezer i32 in my Skylake build to cool my i5-6600K (full specs with pics in my sig). By default, it's cooling performance is 150W when using the included semi-passive fan. Since there are mounting clips included for 2nd fan, i can increase it's cooling performance up to 320W. Be Quiet! CPU coolers also come...
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Aeacus

Aeacus

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Having two fans on Be Quiet Dark Rock 3 Pro won't add additional noise to the build since by default, most MoBos use the PWM control on CPU coolers, which keep the CPU heatsink fans running slower when CPU is cooler. Also, you can set your own custom and more relaxed fan curve if the cooling noise annoys you that much.

Only viable option to remove the front fan of Be Quiet Dark Rock 3 Pro is when you have high-profile RAM (taller than 40mm) and you run into RAM clearance issues.
 
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Vorkosigan

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Jul 14, 2017
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Thank you for the input!

Actually - a second fan always adds up on the noise, even if it is quieter than the first. I do not remember the formula, but it is there. If you look at the Be Quiet website, you will notice that the noise for 50/75/100 load for the dark rock 3 is 8.4 / 13.6 / 21.1 db vs. 13.2 / 19.5 / 26.1 for the Pro version. The difference is due to the second fan, which is without doubt a good fan, but is smaller - 120mm and running at higher rpm (1700 vs 1400) - so louder. As the CPU will produce much less than the 250W TDP, it is actually entirely possible, that the fans will never turn to full RPM.

I will definitely tinker with the fan profiles on my motherboard, but I have some worries:
1. Is the tower of the pro version better than the dark rock 3 version stand-alone? It should be - it is 7 pipes vs. 6 pipes and it is dual tower - so more surface. On the other hand - why is for 190W TDP one 135mm fan enough, while for the low 60W increase - you need one extra heatpipe and double the number of the fans?
2. There should be some minimum rpm number on the 120 fan below which it is actually creating a drag on the 135 fan, right?

So - I think I will go for the Pro version and test it as it is. If it is too noisy - I will go for more relaxing fan profiles - especially on the 120mm fan and only as a last resort - remove it and test only with the big fan.
 
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Aeacus

Aeacus

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2nd fan does add a bit more noise to the CPU cooler but not enough to be a deal breaker.

1. By it's own, Dark Rock 3 Pro is better than Dark Rock 3 due to the more surface area for cooling.

As far as cooling performance in watts go, the default cooling performance is listed. 190W for Dark Rock 3 and 250W for Dark Rock 3 Pro. Since Pro has a bit more surface area for cooling, it's cooling performance is also better.

I have Arctic Freezer i32 in my Skylake build to cool my i5-6600K (full specs with pics in my sig). By default, it's cooling performance is 150W when using the included semi-passive fan. Since there are mounting clips included for 2nd fan, i can increase it's cooling performance up to 320W. Be Quiet! CPU coolers also come with mounting clips for additional fans, so that you can install 2nd fan on Dark Rock 3 and 3rd fan on Dark Rock 3 Pro and increase their cooling performance even further.

And i've also done so, by replacing the stock, fluid dynamic bearing, semi-passive fan with 2x Corsair ML120 pro, mag-lev bearing fans.
Since the RPM range of Corsair ML120 Pro fans is 400-2400 RPM, i have set quite a relaxed profile for them and at current time (when i'm browsing the web), both of my CPU cooler fans spin at about 460 RPM. Best part is that i don't hear them at all since they produce about 16 dB(A) at that speed, while my CPU idles at 26°C. Most what i've seen out of my CPU is 55°C during Cinebench15 benchmarking.
Corsair ML specs: http://www.corsair.com/en-eu/cooling/ml-series-fans

Though, since you love the silence so much, the semi-passive fan on Freezer i32 may be the one for you. For me, the semi-passive fan didn't turn at all until my CPU reached 52°C.
Freezer i32 review: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/arctic-freezer-i32-cooler,5004.html

Specs,
Freezer i32: https://www.arctic.ac/eu_en/freezer-i32.html
Dark Rock 3: http://www.bequiet.com/en/cpucooler/483
Dark Rock 3 Pro: http://www.bequiet.com/en/cpucooler/482

2. Yes, there is some RPM range at which point the 120mm fan starts choking the 135mm fan. But what that RPM is, that i do not know. You have to test it out.
That's also a reason why i don't use different sized fans on CPU coolers. With same size and performance fans, it's easy to run both fans on same RPMs, without choking or overflowing the 2nd (rear) fan.
 
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