be quiet! – Shadow Rock Topflow CPU Cooler
Overview
Hardware: CoolingWHAT WE LIKED:
Great Cooling Performance for mild Overclocking.WHAT WE DISLIKED:
Orientation of Cooler could block access to swapping out RAM. Lower Overclocking capabilities.Discuss in the Forum
Summary
This cooler’s availability is a bit limited in the US right now. The company be quiet! isn’t as well developed in the US market quite yet. However they are quite large in Germany. Don’t let this discourage you. We have some information that be quiet! is planning to come to the US market and their products will be more readily available.
The Shadow Rock Topflow doesn’t follow a tradition orientation in design. However aesthetically speaking this was an interesting cooler. While we are not sure if we would install this into a standard vertical mountPC case, this would look nice in an HTPC format or a horizontal formated case. One good example would be the Cooler Master HAF XB. This cooler would look phenomenal in that chassis. Of course, that is just subjective, and you might find it will look just fine in your case. Regardless, the nickel plating and the PWM controlled fan was a nice touch.
We do have some concerns with the cooler when it comes to its installation orientation. One direction could make it hard to access your RAM for swapping out, and would require removal of the cooler to be able to change them. While this may not be a big concern for some, we felt it worth mentioning.
When it comes to performance, the Shadow Rock Topflow performed quite well with the Intel platform. However, the overclock settings on AMD did go over the max threshold. This isn’t a big concern, but you may want to consider a lower voltage and freq. The cooler performed within a small margin on the Intel side compared to its bigger brother the Dark Rock Pro 2, but it performed slightly worst on AMD. The lower TDP is mostly the cause. The orientation of the cooler may also play a role. Overall, this is a cooler worth looking at, especially if you are looking for a good cooler for HTPC format. On one last note, at full load, the 120mm fans were nearly inaudible. If you are looking for a nearly silent cooler, this is a great choice.
During the time of this review we didn’t find any US retailers that had this readily available. However, it is sold in Germany and most European countries. We found the cooler for 49.00 Euro based on be quiet!‘s website. They informed us it will retail for $55 USD in the U.S. We feel this is an excellent price for the cooler, and give it a PureOverclock’s Great Hardware award.
be quiet! Shadow Rock Topflow – Great Hardware Award
