be quiet! Dark Rock 2 CPU Cooler

Looking at the front of the Dark Rock 2, you can see the choice of the SilentWings 135mm fan is a great choice as it covers almost all of the surface area of the fins behind it.

The sides are pretty square with just a groove to allow the thick wire fan mount to clip in here for mounting it. I'm sorry to say, but here isn't a dual fan mounting option unless you get creative with zip ties or rubber bands.

As for the back of the cooler, there isn't much spectacular with shaping or design, be quiet left as much material as possible here to increase the overall surface area, which should lead to a better performing cooler with less need for high air flow active cooling.

The top of the cooler is a plate of brushed aluminum with crosshairs targeting the be quiet name in the center of the cooler. The caps aren't the actual pipe ends, but it does denote their offset pattern as they pass through the fins.

On the opposite end of the Dark Rock 2 you can see the six copper heat pipes as they make tight bends from the copper base to make it to the staggered orientation through the fins. Both the base and the pipes get an anti-oxidation coating of darkened nickel, which is also appealing to look at.

I removed the protective sticker to have a look at the base and I found it is finely polished along with being flat across the majority of this surface. The edges do round over a bit near the edge that you mount hardware to, but it well past the IHS on my 2600K.

Removing the fan allows you to get a look at the design of the leading edge. Each fin is cut with a V-notch and has a saw-toothed paten to them. That allows for the fan to have a bit more room to breathe and build pressure in the middle while the tips of the fins disturb the air to help transfer more heat out of the fins.

This is what I meant when I brought up the edges on these Silent Wings fans. As you can see, where the saw-toothed pattern touches this fan frame, the frame allows them to press into the frame eliminating vibrations.