Conclusion

...installation couldn't be much simpler, and the sleek all-black design suits just about any build.

be quiet!'s Dark Rock series of CPU coolers has improved over time. Thanks to incremental upgrades over the years, the current crop benefits from simplified mounting kits, ultra-quiet fans, improved performance and a stylish aesthetic that makes rival coolers appear tacky in comparison.

All of these enhancements are present in the Dark Rock Slim, which is a compact addition to the product line for those wanting to downsize their rig or free up space around the CPU socket without introducing liquid into the equation.

Build quality is up to be quiet!'s usual high standards, cooling performance of up to 180W belies the heatsink size, installation couldn't be much simpler, and the sleek all-black design suits just about any build. We'd like a little more thermal paste included in the bundle, particularly at the £55 price point, but that's about it for our list of gripes.

Bottom line: need a CPU cooler that's small in size and high on quality? Put be quiet!'s Dark Rock Slim on your list.

The Good		The Bad
Very quiet during use Slim, well-built form factor Good cooling performance Provides ample clearance for memory Straightforward installation		Measly amount of thermal paste

be quiet! Dark Rock Slim

HEXUS.where2buy*

The be quiet! Dark Rock Slim CPU cooler is available to purchase from Scan Computers.

HEXUS.right2reply

At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.

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“…Dark Rock stable is designed to offer high-end cooling capabilities in a thinner package, making it a useful choice for those planning a small-form-factor build.”

Sorry, but isn't the limiting factor in any “small-form-factor build” *height*, not the width of the cooler?

Surely products aimed at SFF builds should be as short and fat as possible, not tall and thin. I honestly can't think of a single case design where being thinner than the Dark Rock Pro, for example, is going to be necessary.

Luke7
urely products aimed at SFF builds should be as short and fat as possible, not tall and thin. I honestly can't think of a single case design where being thinner than the Dark Rock Pro, for example, is going to be necessary.

I think that's down to clashing with DIMM sockets on compact motherboards. But then if people got low profile dimms rather than ones covered in pointless heatsinks and LEDs that might not be a problem either :)

Luke7
“…Dark Rock stable is designed to offer high-end cooling capabilities in a thinner package, making it a useful choice for those planning a small-form-factor build.”

Sorry, but isn't the limiting factor in any “small-form-factor build” *height*, not the width of the cooler?

Surely products aimed at SFF builds should be as short and fat as possible, not tall and thin. I honestly can't think of a single case design where being thinner than the Dark Rock Pro, for example, is going to be necessary.

Some small cases (read: my case) has the HDD cage overlapping the front of the motherboard, so if the CPU socket is further from the rear IO section than normal then you can run into clearance issues (especially with the cables supplying the contents of the HDD cage needing routing)

Wish I got this instead of my nh-d15…