14 DAY TRIAL // It appears that Zalman is not the only company with new coolers ready, as be quiet! has also stepped forth and issued a press release in which it describes the Dark Rock duo, which try to be both effective and silent.
Consumers that want a cooler capable of handling even central processing units with massive TDPs will no doubt find the Zalman CNPS11X Extreme more than a little appealing.
However, it would appear that be quiet! is on a roll of its own, having prepared not one but two cooling solutions of its own.
They make up the Dark Rock line and are intended for enthusiasts, having taken the company over one year to “work out the perfect combination between performance and noise.”
The Dark Rock Pro utilizes a twin tower design and has seven 6mm heatpipes and a twin tower design that can dissipate 220 watts of TDP, aided by two 120mm fans.
Said spinners have a rotary speed of 25,9 dB and are of the Silent Wings PWM variety.
The other cooler is dubbed Rock Advanced and has six 6mm heatpipes, plus a single 120mm Silent Wings PWM fan that spins at up to 1,500 RPM (rotations per minute).
Being the less mighty of the pair, it boasts a single tower layout and can dissipate 'just' 180 watts of heat, while noise is kept at 18.8 dB at most.
Basically, the Dark Rock Advanced is a high-end offering, while the Dark Rock pro is the “cooling monster,” as the announcement puts it.
Fortunately, unlike with so many other officially-unveiled products, there are some actual details on pricing and availability.
Apparently, shipments will start this month (March 2011), for the prices of 79.99 Euro (Dark Rock Pro) and 59.99 Euro (Dark Rock Advanced). The so-called press release seems to have the prices mixed up.