In order to test the CPU cooler we used the following configuration:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
• Thermal compound: be quiet! DC2
• Case: bequiet! Silent Base 802
• Case fans: Front: 2x140 front and 1x140 at the back, all are be quiet! Silent Wings 3 High-Speed RPM speed controllable via SmartFan BIOS + Asus Xpert4 software
• CPU Fan: Stock 120mm + 135mm fans either in Quiet or Performance Modes
• Motherboard: Asus X570 E-Gaming with 4802 BIOS
• Memory: 2x16GB G.skill Trident Z RGB CL14 @ 3200MHz CL14 (XMP Profile) @ 1.35V
• PSU: be quiet! Straight Power 11 650Watt
• HDD: Crucial MX500 SSD
• VGA: Asus 1060 6GB Dual
• Ambient room temperature ~ 25 Celsius (with AC climate control) - Environment Temperature measurements: Precision Gold N09AQ Envirometer Meter
• Operating system: Windows 11 x64 with all the latest updates installed
• Software: OCCT Enterprise Edition (2 sec interval monitor)

Before each run, we left the CPU cooler cooled down and we reset the OCCT Enterprise Edition values to be accurate. We set the CPU fan speeds at "Smart Mode" with the Asus Xpert4 software. The case fans were also set at SmartFan mode with the option for Auto Fan Stop at low loads down to 0% for the two front fans and auto for the back case fan.

The CPU fans were detected from the Asus motherboard and gave us the following fan curve

Bios settings:

• Ai Overclock Tuner: D.O.C.P -> XMP DDR-3200 CL14
• BCLK Frequency: 100MHz
• FCLK Frequency: 1600MHz
• CPU core ratio: Auto
• TPU: Keep Current Setting
• Performance Bias: Auto
• VDDCR CPU Voltage: 1.100V
• VDDCD SOC Voltage: 0.900V
• DRAM Voltage: 1.350V (XMP)
• Precision Boost Overdrive: Auto
• Rest BIOS options: Auto

All tests were done with OCCT Enterprise Edition with a 30min run and we noted all temperatures as were noted from the software. For maximum temperature, we used the following settings:

• Data Set: Small
• Mode: Extreme
• Load Type: Steady
• Monitor: 2 sec interval

The first test was to see how the Dark Rock Pro 5 performs on Full load. As the OCCT build-in graph showed, the system at idle was running at 38 Celcius and when at full load at 58 Celsius max. It's possible to further improve performance if you tweak the fan curve but for now, we left everything stock, as most users will do.

Dark Rock Pro 5 Performance Mode

Dark Rock Pro 5 Quiet Mode

How the new and improved be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5 CPU cooler performs compared with other products? The performance of the Dark Rock Pro 5 depends upon the Performance or Quiet mode. In fact, we did see up to a 3 Celsius difference between the two modes, so take your pic, performance or quietness?

Compared with the Dark Rock Pro 4, the Dark Rock Pro 5 seems slightly better, (54.85 vs 55.56) at average temps, while max temps do have a higher difference (55.69 vs 57.61).

Overclocking

Bios settings:

• Ai Overclock Tuner: D.O.C.P -> XMP DDR-3200 CL14
• BCLK Frequency: 100MHz
• FCLK Frequency: 1600MHz
• CPU core ratio: 45Χ
• TPU: Keep Current Setting
• Performance Bias: Auto
• VDDCR CPU Voltage: 1.18125V
• VDDCD SOC Voltage: 0.900V
• DRAM Voltage: 1.350V (XMP)
• Precision Boost Overdrive: Auto
• Rest BIOS options: Auto

All tests were done with OCCT Enterprise Edition with a 30min run and we noted all temperatures as were noted from the software. For maximum temperature, we used the following settings:

• Data Set: Small
• Mode: Extreme
• Load Type: Steady
• Monitor: 2 sec interval

The fan curve for this test was as with the previous test. Below are the two temperature graphs from the Performance vs Quiet mode.

Dark Rock Pro 5 Performance Mode

Dark Rock Pro 5 Quiet Mode

When overclocking, the Dark Rock Pro 5 was better than the Dark Rock Pro 4 CPU cooler and reached the top of our tested air coolers. In fact, most other CPU coolers outperformed this beast having three fans installed, like the DarkRockPro 4, the Noctua NH-D15, and the Noctua NH-U12A. Again the Q performance mode will perform worse, even if not as bad as we thought.