bequiet Dark Rock Pro 3 Review
Introduction
It’s been quite a while since we’ve looked at a bequiet product, all the way back to March 2012 in fact when we put the shadow Rock top flow through it’s paces. This apparent hiatus doesn’t mean the German based company have been resting up and taking things easy though, far from it, as the suffix of this Dark Rock cooler would imply, they’re now onto their third generation of coolers.
With the CPU cooling world increasingly gravitating towards AIO solutions there’s something quite refreshing about getting your hands on a good chunk of tower cooler and the Pro 3 is certainly a beefy bugger, measuring as it does 137x163x150mm (WxHxD) it looks and feels substantial.  Throw in the twin stack and twin fan configuration, combined with seven 6mm heat pipes and we should have the right ingredients for an epic air cooler. All being well, with a hint from the name of the firm and fingers crossed it’ll go about its business without creating to much racket thus completing the holy cooler trinity of effective, quiet and attractive. Let’s stick it on the grill and turn up the heat. Oh we do love torturing coolers here at OC3D.
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Technical Specification
 Name |  Dark Rock Pro 3 |
 Dimensions |  137x163x150mm (WxHxD) |
 Socket |
 Intel: 775, 1150, 1155, 1156, 1366, 2011  AMD: 754, 939, 940, AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+, FM1, FM2 |
 TDP |  250W |
 Material |
 Base Plate: Copper  Het Pipes: Copper  Fins: Aluminium |
 Surface Treatment |  Dark Nickel Plating |
 Weight |  1.197kg |
 Fans |
 1x 120mm Silent wings 1400-1700rpm  1x 135mm Silent wings 1400-1700rpm |
 Noise |  13.2, 19.5, 26.1dB(A) @ 50, 75, 100% of 1700rpm |
Heat pipes | 7x6mm |
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Features
- Improved dynamic wave-contour cooling fins with small dots on the surface increase air circulation and contribute to high convection efficiency without raising overall noise
- Enhanced double-tower layout offers reduced weight and enables high cooling power
- Support of additional 120mm fan for extreme cooling performance (free fan clips are included in the scope of delivery)
- Seven high-performance heat pipes with copper lining and aluminum caps carry heat to the optimal location on the cooling fins, maximizing heat conductance
- The immensely high cooling capacity of 250W TDP offers low temperature even at peak performance
- New arrangement of heat pipes enhances the cooling capability
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- Two SilentWings® PWM fans (front: 120mm, inner: 135mm) with advanced copper core fluid dynamic bearing and dynamically-balanced impeller provide optimal cooling with deep serenity
- Inner 135mm SilentWings® PWM fan features nine airflow-optimized fan blades and an innovative 6-pole motor for smoother operation and less vibration
- Decoupled fan mount with vibration-isolating elements on the heat sink
- Noise is at scant 26.1dB(A) even at 100% PWM functionÂ