be quiet! Shadow Rock 3 review - Final words and conclusion

Final words and conclusion

Coming from that all-black signature be quiet! design, this might not be the sexiest or super-performing cooler at all, but it is extremely silent and if you do not plan hefty overclocking, any CPU up-to 95W would run perfectly fine with the Shadow Rock 3, which costs just 50 bucks. Taste is a subjective thing, I do not like how this product looks. It's aluminum and copper heatpipes that's it. Apparently be quiet! figured 'we need to do something with the looks' and added a the top cap with beQuiet logo, even that doesn't make it look much better, it's just a slab of aluminum really. Now that said, it's not the worst looking product either, granted. But to me, the be quiet products need to be a bit more premium as this is 50 bucks costing a product, where is that nice black powder coating guys? And if you can't do that, there's plenty of alternatives available in the market that offer the same in a 25 bucks region.

Cooling performance

The cooler performs good enough for any modern mainstream processor, actually up-to a Core i9 9900K / Ryzen 7 3800X  you will be fine as long as you do not need to get too heavy on voltages versus tweaking. We test our system (deliberately) with the still difficult to cool Core i7 4790K, on purpose. It's a 95W processor, and realistically this CPU produces as much heat as a modern 9900K0. While I know it is an old processor, thermally wise it doesn't make much of a difference what you use as proc as TDP is TDP (Thermal Design Power). At a default clock frequency performance is good, nothing more, nothing less. Overclocking based on voltage normally with a more modern CPU like the 9900K is ill-advised. As heat levels will quickly jump up. 

Acoustics

Brilliant, we can stop there. For noise levels, at defaults (not overclocked) this is an incredible silent product, on our motherboard we simply leave the default fan profile for what it is, and yeah we reached ~31 DBa, mind you that is at full processor load, even up-to 1.30~1.35 Volts (tweaked) the noise levels remain very acceptable, after 1.35v we simply don't have cooling performance left. Overall, and especially at defaults really this is a silent product.

Pricing

The kit as tested today will cost $49.90 / €49.90 / £45.99, obviously, you will certainly not reach the 'enthusiast' levels of cooling. You will, however, reach a very premium acoustic experience. be quiet! does offer a 3-year manufacturer’s warranty, but aside from the fan we'd have no idea would/could break down either :)

Final Words

Decent is the word that comes to mind. The Shadow Rock 3 is not brilliant in its cooling performance, but at default clock frequencies any high-end CPU up-to say 95W will be cooled sufficiently. There is a bit of capacity left with a mild tweak on the CPU, but we'd advise not to push it too far voltages wise. Which makes sense for a product like this. At 50 bucks you will receive a product that lives up to the brand name as once again, the cooler is extremely silent under normal operation. I would have liked more refined looks with black powder coating or something as 50 bucks for a cooler this simple is very much so on the expensive side. Realistically you can find competing and similar-looking products in the 25 USD range. Overall at default clock frequencies and any modern processor up-to what 95W range the cooler will be fine and very, no rephrase, extremely silent. As such it comes recommended by Guru3D.com (if these flags tick them boxes of yours). 

Handy related downloads:

• SiSoft Sandra
• AIDA
• CPU-Z
• HWMonitor

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