Reader Review: BeQuiet! Dark Rock 2

1. Introduction2. Packaging & Bundle3. The Dark Rock 24. Testing Methodology5. Closing Thoughts6. View All Pages

To test the performance of the be quiet! Dark Rock 2, I used my customized stock Packard Bell Pc in a CoolerMaster HAF X case with all case fans disconnected.

Test System

• Processor: AMD Phenom X4 9850
• Motherboard: Packard Bell BV PBGL00
• Memory: 3GB (1x2GB and 1x 1GB) Global Memory 400MHz DDR2
• Thermal Paste: be quiet! DC-1
• Graphics Card: AMD Radeon HD 5670 (Removed during Acoustic Tests)
• Power Supply: 250W FSP-250-60GEN

Software

• Prime 95 (64-bit)
• CPUID Hardware Monitor

Thermal Performance
For our temperature tests we used CPUID HWMonitor to monitor temperatures and Prime95 for the load tests. Idle temperatures were measured after 15 minutes on the desktop with only HWMonitor running, Load temperatures were measured after 15 minutes loading the system using Prime95. All recorded temperatures are based off an ambient room temperature of around 18 degrees C.

As is clearly visible from this test, the Dark Rock 2 remains nearly 15°C cooler than the stock AMD heatsink, idle and at load.

Acoustic Performance
In our acoustic testing we removed the HD 5670 and instead used the onboard GPU, we also switched off all the case fans. The only noises being measured are the CPU fans.

All readings were taken from 25cm in front of the case with a digital sound meter.

The Dark Rock 2 is incredibly quiet idle and barely audible at load. It really lives up to the be quiet! name.

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