be quiet! Launches Svelte Dark Rock Slim CPU Cooler

A slimmer Dark Rock 4 series cooler that expands memory and system compatibility.

German manufacturer be quiet! today announced a new slim profile air cooler under its Dark Rock 4 family aptly named the Dark Rock Slim. The new CPU cooler which, like its predecessors, is shrouded in a black ceramic coating measures 72x127x159.4mm and weighs in at 620g (1.36 lbs). According to be quiet!, the Dark Rock Slim is compatible with AMD and Intel’s latest mainstream / consumer level processors including AM2, AM3, AM4, FM1, FM2, and LGA 115x, 1366, and 2011/2066 sockets respectively.

The Dark Rock Slim uses a single tower design with “wave contoured” aluminum fins that also have small dots to slightly boost surface area along with the aforementioned ceramic coating that allegedly improves heat conduction. Four copper heatpipes connect the tall but skinny tower to a polished base plate (no direct contact heatpipes here) that itself has small vertical fins for that extra bit of cooling potential. A be quiet! Silent Wings 3 fan of the 120mm PWM variety is paired with the cooler out of the box and a second fan can be added using the included mounting clips for a push-pull configuration (at the cost of more noise). In all, be quiet! rates the Dark Rock Slim at 180W TDP and a maximum of 23.6 dB(A) when the Silent Wings 3 fan with its grooved fins and fluid bearing is ramped-up to its max 1500 RPM speed. The tower appears to sit a decent bit above the socket and its single fan configuration at least is said to not interfere with the memory slots of most motherboards even when using DIMMs with tall heatspreaders with fins and/or lighting.

The Dark Rock Slim will be available on May 14th with a MSRP of $59.90 in the US (or £54.99 and €57.90 for our overseas readers). In all it looks like a decent cooler if it holds up to the stated specifications, and I’ll be interested in the independent reviews to come.