14 DAY TRIAL // All central processing units, at least those made for desktop PCs, ship with a stock cooler, but those coolers leave much to be desired in terms of performance and noise, which is why companies like Be Quiet! can so gleefully release coolers like the Armada series.
The Armada CPU cooler series that the German company has released is rather oddly named, because the three coolers that make it up don't sound like soldiers or armor at all. Instead, they are called Dark Rock 3, Dark Rock Pro 3, and Shadow Rock Slim.
Dark Rock 3 (black nickel coating, hence the name) has six 6 mm heatpipes spreading heat through the fins of a single but massive fin tower. A 120 mm fan disperses said heat, and you can add a second one if you want.
Silent Wings PWM fans can make up to 21.1 decibels of noise, which is much lower than a whisper, so even adding a second one won't make things too loud. They are fans with vibration-absorbing elements and a high-quality fluid dynamic bearing with a copper core.
The top TDP that a Dark Rock 3 can cope with is 190 W, at least with a single fan. A second one should raise that threshold by another 10 or 20 degrees.
Dark Rock Pro 3 is similar to the Dark Rock 3, but has two fin towers instead of one, and two Silent Wings PWM fans too, with space for a third. The fans can be of 120 mm or 135 mm.
The cooler has seven 6 mm heatpipes, a noise level of 26.1 decibels and, like the Dark Rock 3, a black nickel coating. The maximum TDP it can handle is 250W.
The third and final member of the be quiet! Armada collection is Shadow Rock Slim, which doesn't have a black coating on the heatsink.
It has a 74 mm profile and six heatpipes, a noise-optimized 135 mm fan (a bit noisier than the others though, at 23.7 decibels). The top CPU TDP it can support is 160 W. A second fan can be installed on the top of the cooler.
The Armada coolers support both Intel and AMD CPUs/APUs and cost €79 / $89 (Dark Rock Pro 3), €63 / $69 (Dark Rock 3) and €40.90 / $40.90 (Shadow Rock Slim).
