// PC GAMER — GAMING
Be Quiet Dark Rock 6 and Dark Rock Pro 6 review
Both the Dark Rock 6 and Dark Rock Pro 6 completely overhaul the company's air cooler lineup, with superb performance to match the improved aesthetics. Though no amount of shine can counteract the huge increase in price versus older models and the competition. They're just far too expensive to recommend right now.
PC Gamer's got your back
Our experienced team dedicates many hours to every review, to really get to the heart of what matters most to you. Find out more about how we evaluate games and hardware.
The Dark Rock Pro 6 and Dark Rock 6 are a huge upgrade over Be Quiet's previous air coolers. Where it had previously struggled to keep up with our picks for the best air coolers, these new arrivals are amongst the top performers in my testing.
Be Quiet hasn't lost its eye for aesthetics, either. The all-black design of the Dark Rock 6 duo looks even more impressive out of the box than previous models. In that sense, Be Quiet has something of a unique selling point here: it's turned an imposing mass of aluminium into a pretty thing.
Yet there's an elephant in the room. Despite my appreciation for the upgraded performance, aesthetics, and easy installation, I just can't look past the price attached to these two coolers. Both are very expensive, at $110/$130 for the standard/Pro models, respectively. That's one helluva markup on some of the excellent air coolers we rank highly today, an added cost of around $60–$100. When air coolers are seen as the more affordable alternative, these prices just don't add up.
✅ You just want the looks: If you're eyeing up either of these coolers because you think they'll fit your build aesthetics, that's a reasonable consideration in itself.
❌ You want the best performance per dollar: You can spend a lot less on an equally capable cooler.
Both the Dark Rock 6 and Dark Rock Pro 6 completely overhaul the company's air cooler lineup, with superb performance to match the improved aesthetics. Though no amount of shine can counteract the huge increase in price versus older models and the competition. They're just far too expensive to recommend right now.
The Dark Rock 6 comes with a Silent Wings 135 mm fan. That's a whole 15 mm larger than the one found on this cooler's predecessor, the Dark Rock 5. That's one clear benefit of the newer model: a big fan can push more air at lower RPM compared to a small fan. The 135 mm fan used here can spin up to 2000 rpm.
This is also a "custom-designed" fan for this cooler, rather than the off-the-shelf Silent Wings 4 found on the previous model. That said, from what I can gather, and I only have a smaller Silent Wings 4 for comparison, the main difference between this custom-designed fan and the Silent Wings 4 is a slightly smaller hub. I have measured the hub on both and they are roughly 5 mm apart—so that'd explain the 135 mm sizing on the newer custom models.