BeQuiet! Shadow Rock 2 Review
Category : Aircooling
Published by Marc Büchel on 30.09.13
A few months ago we've had the first two cooler of the Shadow Rock line of BeQuiet! for review. At first look this new addition, the Shadow Rock 2, seems to be an upgrade, more powerful version, of the Shadow Rock Pro. In the end we have in front of us a massive cooler and we're curious how it's going to perform.



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On the following pages we will show you what the BeQuiet! Shadow Rock 2 tower cooler is capable of.


Page 1 - Introduction Page 6 - Testsystem
Page 2 - Preview Page 7 - Results 2.66 GHz 12 volts
Page 3 - Specifications / Delivery Page 8 - Results 2.66 GHz 7 Volts
Page 4 - Construction and Design Page 9 - Conclusion
Page 5 - Mounting  
[pagebreak]

Preview





Page 1 - Introduction Page 6 - Testsystem
Page 2 - Preview Page 7 - Results 2.66 GHz 12 volts
Page 3 - Specifications / Delivery Page 8 - Results 2.66 GHz 7 Volts
Page 4 - Construction and Design Page 9 - Conclusion
Page 5 - Mounting  
[pagebreak]

Specifications and included in delivery

Specifications


Model BeQuiet! Shadow Rock 2
Material Aluminium / copper / nickel
Dimension (D x W x H) 147 mm x 122 mm x 160 mm
Weight 1120 g with fans
Fan 1 x 120 mm x 120 mm x 25 mm PWM
On the manufacturer's website BeQuiet! Shadow Rock 2

Included in delivery




The Shadow Rock 2 ships well protected, that none of the parts included will be damaged during transportation. BeQuiet! includes not only an Intel but also an AMD mounting kit. Therefore the cooler is compatible with both worlds right out of the box. BeQuiet! also equips this cooler with one of their own fans. The fan belongs to BeQuiet!'s SilentWing PWM series and measures 120 millimeter in diameter.


Page 1 - Introduction Page 6 - Testsystem
Page 2 - Preview Page 7 - Results 2.66 GHz 12 volts
Page 3 - Specifications / Delivery Page 8 - Results 2.66 GHz 7 Volts
Page 4 - Construction and Design Page 9 - Conclusion
Page 5 - Mounting  
[pagebreak]

Construction and design

Construction

If we had to define the type of cooler the Shadow Rock 2 is, then we would say it is a single tower cooler. This type of cooler comes with the advantage that manufacturers can realise a huge cooling area. The disadvantage over down-draft coolers is that no air is directed towards the motherboard directly, therefore none of the onboard components receive direct cooling. BeQuiet! manufactures their Shadow Rock 2 from aluminium and copper. You can find a copper base plate which leads the dissipation power to four heatpipes which all have a diameter of eight millimeters. Altogether there are 51 fins soldered to the heatpipes for perfect heat transfer. To provide this cooler with a unique look there is a top cover plate made from solid aluminium.



Design

We could not find any manufacturing mistakes on our sample, and it seems that it has been very well made which means that manufacturing quality is on an excellent level. The heatpipes do have different bending radius, which results in additional vortex. Furthermore this cooler comes with a total of 51 fins. BeQuiet! chose a saw tooth design on all sides of the concave fins. On top of the cooler there is a thick aluminium plate, which also covers the top of the heatpipes.




Page 1 - Introduction Page 6 - Testsystem
Page 2 - Preview Page 7 - Results 2.66 GHz 12 volts
Page 3 - Specifications / Delivery Page 8 - Results 2.66 GHz 7 Volts
Page 4 - Construction and Design Page 9 - Conclusion
Page 5 - Mounting  
[pagebreak]

Mounting

BeQuiet! ships their Shadow Rock 2 with mounting kits that are compatible most of the common Intel and AMD sockets. This is one of the most painful coolers to install we've had for review since quite a while. We would be really happy if BeQuiet! would bundle this cooler with a simplified mounting kit. Since there are plenty of examples out there, which can be found at other manufacturers and we hope to see something else in the future. In other words it will definitely make sense if you have the manual lying next to you when you put this cooler in place.



On these pictures you can clearly see that the Shadow Rock 2 is a monster. Nevertheless if you choose to equip the cooler with one fan it is easily possible to install memory with big heatspreaders in the first DIMM slot.



Page 1 - Introduction Page 6 - Testsystem
Page 2 - Preview Page 7 - Results 2.66 GHz 12 volts
Page 3 - Specifications / Delivery Page 8 - Results 2.66 GHz 7 Volts
Page 4 - Construction and Design Page 9 - Conclusion
Page 5 - Mounting  
[pagebreak]

Testsystem and testroutine

Testsystem

Cooler
  • Alpenföhn Nordwand
  • Alpenföhn Gotthard
  • Aquatuning NexXxoS XP3 Light @ Alphacool NexXxoS UT60 360mm
  • BeQuiet! Dark Rock 2
  • BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 2
  • BeQuiet! Shadow Rock
  • BeQuiet! Shadow Rock 2
  • Cooler Master Eisberg 240L Prestige
  • Cooler Master Hyper 212Evo
  • Cooler Master Hyper 412S
  • Cooler Master Seidon 120M
  • Cooler Master TPC 800
  • Corsair H90
  • Corsair H100i
  • Corsair H110
  • Corsair H5O
  • Enermax ELC240
  • EK Water Blocks Kit L360
  • Gelid GX-7
  • Gelid The Black Edition
  • Noctua NH-C14
  • Noctua NH-D14
  • Noctua NH-U12P
  • Noctua NH-U14S
  • Phanteks PH-TC14PE
  • Prolimatech Armageddon - Xigmatek PLA14025S12L Fan
  • Prolimatech Megahalems Megashadow
  • Prolimatech Megahalems Super Mega
  • Prolimatech Samuel 17
  • Raijintek AIDOS
  • Raijintek THEMIS
  • Raijintek EREBOSS
  • SilverStone Heligon HE01
  • Thermalright AXP-100
  • Thermalright Macho 120
  • Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E
  • Mainboard ASUS P6T Deluxe
    Processor Intel Core i7 920 2.66 GHz 4C / 8T
    Memory Kingston HyperX 3 x 1 GByte
    Graphics card Gigabyte GTX 285
    Hard disk Samsung Spinpoint F1 640 GByte
    Power supply Seasonic Platinum SS-520FL2


    Testroutine

    The CPU is being evaluated using Real Temp and with Prime95 we reach nearly 100% load on the CPU. For measuring the noise level we use a Voltcraft SL-200 decibel meter, which is positioned one meter from the CPU cooler with the fan mounted.

    Page 1 - Introduction Page 6 - Testsystem
    Page 2 - Preview Page 7 - Results 2.66 GHz 12 volts
    Page 3 - Specifications / Delivery Page 8 - Results 2.66 GHz 7 Volts
    Page 4 - Construction and Design Page 9 - Conclusion
    Page 5 - Mounting  
    [pagebreak]

    Results 2.66 GHz 12 volts

    Cooler / fan Temp. diff. load Absolute temp. RPM Noise Price Review link
    EK Water Blocks Kit L360 - Triple Fan (Push) - EK-Supreme LTX CPU block 21 K 48 °C 1600 rpm 41.7 dBA CHF 294 (EUR 220) EK Water Blocks Kit L360
    Aquatuning NexXxoS XP3 Light @ Alphacool NexXxoS UT60 360mm - Triple Fan (Pull) 24 K 51 °C 1200 rpm 36.9 dBA CHF 360 (EUR 300) Aquatuning NexXxoS XP3 @ Alphacool NexXxoS UT60 360mm - Triple Fan
    Corsair H100i - Dual Fan 26 K 53 °C 2700 rpm 48.8 dBA CHF 122 (EUR 88) Corsair H100i
    Corsair H110 - Dual Fan 27 K 51 °C 1500 rpm 41.9 dBA CHF 125 (EUR 104) Corsair H110
    Cooler Master Eisberg 240L Prestige - Dual Fan 27 K 52 °C 1600 rpm 46.5 dBA CHF 186 (EUR 155) Cooler Master Eisberg 240L Prestige
    Phanteks PH-TC14PE - Triple Fan 28 K 57 °C  1250 rpm  41.3 dBA CHF 124 (EUR 103) Phanteks PH-TC14PE
    Phanteks PH-TC14PE - Dual Fan 29 K 58 °C 1250 rpm 41.1 dBA CHF 99 (EUR 83) Phanteks PH-TC14PE
    Raijintek EREBOSS - Dual Fan 29 K 52 °C 1500/1500 rpm 39.6 dBA CHF 42 (EUR 35) Raijintek EREBOSS
    Corsair H90 - Dual Fan 29 K 53 °C 1500/1500 rpm 42.1 dBA CHF 96 (EUR 80) Corsair H90
    Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E - Dual Fan 30 K 56 °C  1100/1300 rpm 41.8 dBA CHF 70 (EUR 58) Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E
    Phanteks PH-TC14PE - Single Fan 30 K 59 °C 1250 rpm 40.7 dBA CHF 99 (EUR 83) Phanteks PH-TC14PE
    Noctua NH-U14S - Dual Fan 30 K 60 °C 1300/1300 rpm 41.2 dBA CHF 82 (EUR 65) Noctua NH-U14S
    Prolimatech Megahalems Super Mega - Dual Fan 30 K 57 °C 1400/1400 rpm 40.8 dBA CHF 126 (EUR 105) Prolimatech Megahalems Super Mega Dual Fan
    Corsair H90 - Single Fan 30 K 54 °C 1500 rpm 41.4 dBA CHF 96 (EUR 80) Corsair H90
    Raijintek EREBOSS - Single Fan 30 K 53 °C 1500 rpm 39.2 dBA CHF 42 (EUR 35) Raijintek EREBOSS
    Noctua NH-D14 - Single Fan 31 K 56 °C 1300/1200 rpm 40.9 dBA CHF 114 (EUR 95) Noctua NH-D14
    Noctua NH-U14S - Single Fan 31 K 61 °C 1300 rpm 39.8 dBA CHF 82 (EUR 65) Noctua NH-U14S
    Cooler Master TPC 800 - Dual Fan 32 K 61 °C 1400 rpm 41.2 dBA CHF 113 (EUR 94) Cooler Master TPC 800
    Enermax ELC240 - Dual Fan 32 K 57 °C 1500 rpm 43.4 dBA CHF 107 (EUR 89) Enermax ELC240
    Prolimatech Armageddon - Dual Fan 33 K 56 °C 1100/1100 rpm 36.4 dBA CHF 70 (EUR 58) Prolimatech Armageddon
    BeQuiet! Shadow Rock 2 33 K 61 °C 1400 rpm 39.3 dBA CHF 47 (39 EUR ) BeQuiet! Shadow Rock 2
    BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 2 33 K 61 °C 1400/1400 rpm 42.0 dBA CHF 96 (EUR 80) BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 2
    Alpenföhn Nordwand - Dual Fan 33 K 57 °C 1500 rpm 43.0 dBA CHF 103 (EUR 86) Alpenföhn Nordwand
    Raijintek THEMIS - Single Fan 33 K 55 °C 1600 rpm 42.0 dBA CHF 28 (EUR 23) Raijintek THEMIS
    Cooler Master Seidon 120M - Dual Fan 33 K 57° C 1800/1800 rpm 43.6 dBA CHF 75 (EUR 63) Cooler Master Seidon 120M
    Gelid GX-7 - Dual-Fan 33 K 53 °C 1800/1800 rpm 45.5 dBA CHF 45 (EUR 38) Gelid GX-7
    Alpenföhn Gotthard - Single Fan 34 K 60 °C 1200 rpm 39.7 dBA CHF 65 (EUR 54) Alpenföhn Gotthard
    Gelid The Black Edition - Dual Fan 34 K 60 °C 1600/1500 rpm 41.4 dBA CHF 72 (EUR 59) Gelid The Black Edition
    Cooler Master Seidon 120M - Single Fan 34 K 58° C 1800 rpm 42.8 dBA CHF 75 (EUR 63) Cooler Master Seidon 120M
    SilverStone Heligon HE01 35 K 61 °C 1900 rpm 48.2 dBA CHF 84 (EUR 70) SilverStone Heligon HE01
    Prolimatech Megahalems Megashadow - Dual Fan 34 K 58 °C 1400 rpm 40.5 dBA CHF 79 (EUR 66) Prolimatech Megahalems Megashadow
    Enermax ETS-T40-VD - Single Fan 34 K 57 °C 1900 rpm 42.4 dBA CHF 43 (EUR 36) Enermax ETS-T40-VD
    Raijintek AIDOS - Single Fan 34 K 57 °C 2400 rpm 43.1 dBA CHF 20 (EUR 17) Raijintek AIDOS
    Noctua NH-C14 - Dual Fan 35 K 57 °C 1250 rpm 41.0 dBA CHF 91 (EUR 76) Noctua NH-C14
    Alpenföhn Nordwand - Single Fan 35 K 59 °C 1500 rpm 42.4 dBA CHF 79 (EUR 66) Alpenföhn Nordwand
    Gelid GX-7 - Single Fan 35 K 55 °C 1800 rpm 45.0 dBA CHF 45 (EUR 38) Gelid GX-7
    Coolink Corator DS - Single Fan 35 K 57 °C 1900 rpm 47.9 dBA CHF 45 (EUR 38) Coolink Corator DS
    Prolimatech Megahalems Megashadow - Single Fan 36 K 59 °C 1400 rpm 37.0 dBA CHF 79 (EUR 65) Prolimatech Megahalems Megashadow
    Prolimatech Armageddon - Single Fan 37 K 60 °C 1100 rpm 35.9 dBA CHF 88 (EUR 73) Prolimatech Armageddon
    BeQuiet! Shadow Rock - Single Fan 37 K 60 °C 1500 rpm 42.7 dBA CHF 63 (EUR 53) BeQuiet Shadow Rock
    Corsair H5O - Dual Fan 37 K 59 °C 1600 rpm 44.4 dBA CHF 133 (EUR 111) Corsair H5O
    Noctua NH-C14 - Single Fan 38 K 60 °C 1250 rpm 39.4 dBA CHF 91 (EUR 76) Noctua NH-C14
    Thermalright Macho 120 - Single Fan 38 K 64 °C 1400 rpm 40.8 dBA CHF 38 (EUR 32) Thermalright Macho 120
    BeQuiet! Dark Rock 2 - Single Fan 38 K 65 °C 1400 rpm 42.0 dBA CHF 77 (EUR 64) BeQuiet! Dark Rock 2
    Noctua NH-U12P - Dual Fan 38 K 62 °C 1400 rpm 41.6 dBA CHF 125 (EUR 104) Noctua NH-U12P
    Corsair H5O - Single Fan 38 K 60 °C 1600 rpm 44.0 dBA CHF 113 (EUR 94) Corsair H5O
    Cooler Master Hyper 412S - Single-Fan 39 K 62 °C 1200 rpm 41.6 dBA CHF 57 (EUR 48) Cooler Master Hyper 412S
    Cooler Master Hyper 212Evo - Single-Fan 39 K 62 °C 1500 rpm 42.9 dBA CHF 50 (EUR 40) Cooler Master Hyper 212S
    Noctua NH-U12P - Single Fan 40 K 64 °C 1400 rpm 40.5 dBA CHF 85 (EUR 71) Noctua NH-U12P
    Thermalright AXP-100 46 K 72 °C 2400 rpm 43.1 dBA CHF 48 (EUR 40) Thermalright AXP-100
    Prolimatech Samuel 17 - Single Fan 56 K 85 °C 1400 rpm 40.1 dBA CHF 49 (EUR 41) Prolimatech Samuel 17


    Page 1 - Introduction Page 6 - Testsystem
    Page 2 - Preview Page 7 - Results 2.66 GHz 12 volts
    Page 3 - Specifications / Delivery Page 8 - Results 2.66 GHz 7 Volts
    Page 4 - Construction and Design Page 9 - Conclusion
    Page 5 - Mounting  
    [pagebreak]

    Results 2.66 GHz 7 Volts

    Cooler / fan Temp. diff. load Absolute temp. RPM Noise Price Review link
    EK Water Blocks Kit L360 - Triple Fan (Push) - EK-Supreme LTX CPU block 25 K 52 °C 650 rpm 32.4 dBA CHF 294 (EUR 220) EK Water Blocks Kit L360
    Aquatuning NexXxoS XP3 Light @ Alphacool NexXxoS UT60 360mm - Triple Fan (Pull) 27 K 54 °C 600 rpm 32.1 dBA CHF 360 (EUR 300) Aquatuning NexXxoS XP3 @ Alphacool NexXxoS UT60 360mm - Triple Fan
    Corsair H100i - Dual Fan 30 K 57 °C 700 rpm 33.2 dBA CHF 122 (EUR 88) Corsair H100i
    Corsair H110 - Dual Fan 30 K 53 °C 650 rpm 32.1 dBA CHF 125 (EUR 104) Corsair H110
    Cooler Master Eisberg 240L Prestige 32 K 56 °C 800 rpm 43.8 dBA CHF 186 (EUR 155) Cooler Master Eisberg 240L Prestige
    Raijintek EREBOSS - Dual Fan 35 K 55 °C 800/800 rpm 36.2 dBA CHF 42 (EUR 35) Raijintek EREBOSS
    Noctua NH-U14S - Dual Fan 33 K 64 °C 1000/1000 rpm 37.7 dBA CHF 82 (EUR 65) Noctua NH-U14S
    Corsair H90 - Dual Fan 34 K 58 °C 650/650 rpm 32.1 dBA CHF 96 (EUR 80) Corsair H90
    Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E - Dual Fan 34 K 60 °C 500/900 rpm 35.0 dBA CHF 70 (EUR 58) Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E
    Phanteks PH-TC14PE - Triple Fan 34 K 63 °C 750 rpm 35.1 dBA CHF 124 (EUR 103) Phanteks PH-TC14PE
    Raijintek EREBOSS - Single Fan 34 K 54 °C 800 rpm 35.9 dBA CHF 42 (EUR 35) Raijintek EREBOSS
    Corsair H90 - Single Fan 35 K 59 °C 650 rpm 32.1 dBA CHF 96 (EUR 80) Corsair H90
    Phanteks PH-TC14PE - Dual Fan 35 K 64 °C 750 rpm 34.9 dBA CHF 99 (EUR 83) Phanteks PH-TC14PE
    Prolimatech Megahalems Super Mega - Dual Fan 35 K 62 °C 800 rpm 38.8 dBA CHF 126 (EUR 105) Prolimatech Megahalems Super Mega Dual Fan
    Noctua NH-U14S - Single Fan 35 K 65 °C 1000 rpm 37.3 dBA CHF 82 (EUR 65) Noctua NH-U14S
    Noctua NH-D14 - Single Fan 36 K 61 °C 1000/900 rpm 37.2 dBA CHF 114 (EUR 95) Noctua NH-D14
    Raijintek THEMIS - Single Fan 36 K 58 °C 1000 rpm 38.0 dBA CHF 28 (EUR 23) Raijintek THEMIS
    Noctua NH-C14 - Dual Fan 37 K 59 °C 800 rpm 34.1 dBA CHF 91 (EUR 76) Noctua NH-C14
    Cooler Master TPC 800 - Dual Fan 37 K 66 °C 800 rpm 34.2 dBA CHF 113 (EUR 94) Cooler Master TPC 800
    BeQuiet! Shadow Rock 2 37 K 61 °C 800 rpm 34.4 dBA CHF 47 (39 EUR ) BeQuiet! Shadow Rock 2
    Cooler Master Seidon 120M - Dual Fan 37 K 61 °C 1200/1200 rpm 37.1 dBA CHF 75 (EUR 63) Cooler Master Seidon 120M
    Prolimatech Megahalems Megashadow - Dual Fan 37 K 61 °C 1000 rpm 38.9 dBA CHF 79 (EUR 66) Prolimatech Megahalems Megashadow
    Enermax ELC240 - Dual Fan 37 K 62 °C 1500 rpm 37.0 dBA CHF 107 (EUR 89) Enermax ELC240
    Prolimatech Armageddon - Dual Fan 38 K 61 °C 650 rpm 32.1 dBA CHF 70 (EUR 58) Prolimatech Armageddon
    Phanteks PH-TC14PE - Single Fan 38 K 67 °C 750 rpm 34.6 dBA CHF 99 (EUR 83) Phanteks PH-TC14PE
    SilverStone Heligon HE01 38 K 64 °C 1000 rpm 34.7 dBA CHF 84 (EUR 70) SilverStone Heligon HE01
    Gelid The Black Edition - Dual Fan 38 K 64 °C 1100/1000 rpm 34.8 dBA CHF 72 (EUR 59) Gelid The Black Edition
    Cooler Master Seidon 120M - Single Fan 38 K 62 °C 1200 rpm 36.7 dBA CHF 75 (EUR 63) Cooler Master Seidon 120M
    Prolimatech Megahalems Megashadow - Single Fan 39 K 63 °C 1000 rpm 36.2 dBA CHF 79 (EUR 66) Prolimatech Megahalems Megashadow
    BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 2 40 K 67 °C 500/500 rpm 33.3 dBA CHF 96 (EUR 80) BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 2
    Raijintek AIDOS - Single Fan 40 K 64 °C 1200 rpm 38.5 dBA CHF 20 (EUR 17) Raijintek AIDOS
    Prolimatech Armageddon - Single Fan 41 K 64 °C 650 rpm 32.3 dBA CHF 88 (EUR 73) Prolimatech Armageddon
    Alpenföhn Gotthard - Single Fan 41 K 67 °C 700 rpm 35.5 dBA CHF 65 (EUR 54) Alpenföhn Gotthard
    Gelid GX-7 - Dual Fan 42 K 62 °C 700 rpm 34.0 dBA CHF 45 (EUR 38) Gelid GX-7
    Noctua NH-C14 - Single Fan 42 K 64 °C 800 rpm 33.5 dBA CHF 91 (EUR 76) Noctua NH-C14
    Corsair H5O - Dual Fan 42 K 64 °C 900 rpm 37.5 dBA CHF 133 (EUR 111) Corsair H5O
    Alpenföhn Nordwand - Dual Fan 43 K 67 °C 700 rpm 37.0 dBA CHF 103 (EUR 86) Alpenföhn Nordwand
    BeQuiet! Shadow Rock - Single Fan 43 K 66 °C 800 rpm 36.7 dBA CHF 63 (EUR 53) BeQuiet Shadow Rock
    Cooler Master Hyper 412S - Single Fan 43 K 69 °C 800 rpm 35.8 dBA CHF 57 (EUR 48) Cooler Master Hyper 412S
    BeQuiet! Dark Rock 2 - Single Fan 44 K 70 °C 500 rpm 32.9 dBA CHF 77 (EUR 64) BeQuiet! Dark Rock 2
    Thermalright Macho 120 - Single Fan 44 K 70 °C 700 rpm 34.2 dBA CHF 38 (EUR 32) Thermalright Macho 120
    Noctua NH-U12P - Dual Fan 44 K 68 °C 1000 rpm 38.0 dBA CHF 125 (EUR 104) Noctua NH-U12P
    Enermax ETS-T40-VD - Single Fan 45 K 66 °C 650 rpm 32.7 dBA CHF 43 (EUR 36) Enermax ETS-T40-VD
    Gelid GX-7 - Single-Fan 45 K 65 °C 700 rpm 33.5 dBA CHF 45 (EUR 38) Gelid GX-7
    Noctua NH-U12P - Single Fan 45 K 69 °C 1000 rpm 37.4 dBA CHF 85 (EUR 71) Noctua NH-U12P
    Coolink Corator DS - Single Fan 46 K 68 °C 800 rpm 35.0 dBA CHF 45 (EUR 38) Coolink Corator DS
    Corsair H5O - Single Fan 46 K 68 °C 900 rpm 35.4 dBA CHF 113 (EUR 94) Corsair H5O
    Alpenföhn Nordwand - Single Fan 48 K 72 °C 700 rpm 36.4 dBA CHF 79 (EUR 66) Alpenföhn Nordwand
    Cooler Master Hyper 212Evo - Single-Fan 52 K 75 °C 750 rpm 35.3 dBA CHF 50 (EUR 40) Cooler Master Hyper 212S
    Thermalright AXP-100 57 K 83 °C 1200 rpm 37.0 dBA CHF 48 (EUR 40) Thermalright AXP-100
    Prolimatech Samuel 17 -Single Fan 67 K 96 °C 800 rpm 36.2 dBA CHF 49 (EUR 41) Prolimatech Samuel 17


    Page 1 - Introduction Page 6 - Testsystem
    Page 2 - Preview Page 7 - Results 2.66 GHz 12 volts
    Page 3 - Specifications / Delivery Page 8 - Results 2.66 GHz 7 Volts
    Page 4 - Construction and Design Page 9 - Conclusion
    Page 5 - Mounting  
    [pagebreak]

    Conclusion

    General   + -
    With the Shadow Rock 2, BeQuiet! shows a cooler, that leaves us with mixed feelings. Especially the mounting kit should be redesigned. Installing this cooler, when the motherboard is already in the case, is virtually impossible. In terms of cooling capacity the Shadow Rock 2 ranks in the center span of our comparison tables. Overall price performance is ok and what we really liked is the design as well as the build quality.   - Build Quality
    - Design
    - Mounting kit
           
    Installation   + -
    The mounting-kit is the achilles heel of this cooler. BeQuiet! should definitely rework this part of the Shadow Rock 2. Let's assume somebody is going to buy this cooler to upgrade an existing system. Even if he has a modern case, with a huge cut-out in the motherboard tray, he won't be able to install the Shadow Rock 2 without removing the motherboard from the case. But this is something that should definitely be possible with aftermarket coolers. On the other hand, we liked that this cooler is compatible with all recent sockets from Intel and AMD.   - Compatible with Intel and AMD sockets - A pain
           
    Performance   + -
    During our tests we used the fan, which is included in delivery. What you get is a 120 millimeter fan which is PWM driven. If you drive the fan at 7 Volt you can't hear it anymore and at 12 Volt it can be described as audible. The cooling capacity is ok, but since this is quite a bulky and very heavy aircooler, we would have expected more.      
           
    Recommendation   + -
    If you're looking for a well built CPU cooler, which looks nice and comes with a decent price tag, then the Shadow Rock 2 is worth considering. If you want a cooler, which is easy to install, then this is not the one.   - Gamer  



    Page 1 - Introduction Page 6 - Testsystem
    Page 2 - Preview Page 7 - Results 2.66 GHz 12 volts
    Page 3 - Specifications / Delivery Page 8 - Results 2.66 GHz 7 Volts
    Page 4 - Construction and Design Page 9 - Conclusion
    Page 5 - Mounting  


    Author: Marc Büchel m.buechel@ocaholic.ch