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Cinebench Thermal Results (130W, 95W, and 65W)
In all power configurations, Be Quiet’s Pure Rock 2 FX performed well and ran quietly. With power limits removed, it averaged 50 degrees Celsius over a 23 degrees C ambient (83C). Overall, Be Quiet’s cooler performed just a bit behind DeepCool’s AK500.
Noise Levels and Acoustics
To test noise levels, I used the SLM25TK Sound Level Meter positioned 18 inches behind the rear of the Cooler Master HAF 700 Berserker, and recorded early in the morning to achieve the lowest noise floor possible. To prevent the system fans from vastly overpowering the sound of the cooler, I limited all of the case fans to 50% speeds. Noise measurements were taken while running Cinebench with no power limits enforced on the CPU.
Not only was the Be Quiet cooler the quietest of this bunch, but its fan was running at 1,973 revolutions per minute (RPM), much faster than the DeepCool AK400 (1,269RPM) and slightly faster than the Cooler Master (1,806RPM). The Silverstone’s fan was spinning significantly faster in our tests, at 2,660RPM, but it kept our CPU far less cool and was noticeably noisier while doing so.
Conclusion
The Pure Rock 2 FX is BeQuiet’s first air cooler with ARGB lighting, and it performs well when paired with Intel’s i5-12600K. True to its namesake, Be Quiet’s Pure Rock 2 FX performs silently even while cooling up to 130W. It doesn’t deliver the best cooling possible in its class, but you won’t need to wear headphones to cover up the noise of the fans when using this cooler.
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