Be Quiet has an easy way of labeling their air cooled products, dividing them into three classes:

• Pure Rock: Entry level quiet coolers (2 single tower coolers)
• Shadow Rock: Premium coolers at an attractive price (Single Tower, Top Flow and Low profile models)
• Dark Rock: High performance coolers (Single & double tower and Top flow model)

The Shadow Rock premium series include single-tower, slim, top-flow and low-profile cooler designs. They deliver exceptionally high cooling performance and remarkably quiet operation, all at highly attractive prices in the premium CPU cooler segment. Whether your PC is built for advanced gaming, demanding graphics applications or hi-res multimedia functionality, Shadow Rock coolers will impress you with their combination of features and price point.

Today we introduce to you the Top Flow model, the Shadow Rock TF2. Why a Top Flow cooler model? Well these models allow better cooling dissipation in enclosures with restricted space; most medium or high end Tower coolers are in general higher than 140mm, meaning your favorite enclosure must be wide enough to support the cooler of preference.

 

 

Be Quiet packaging is always as good as it can get. A great professional box art stressing the 160W Thermal Design Power (TDP) capacity of the Shadow Rock TF2. The 135mm fan came preinstalled so the TF 2 cooler is almost ready to go!

 

 

 

Even though the above spec chart from the Be Quiet website doesn't list it, the latest versions of the TF2 support Ryzen processors (AM4)!

When we look from aside we spot directly the direct connection between the bottom cooling plate and the top fins; according to Be quiet this design enhances the heat transfer. The disadvantage of this concept is that the fan cannot be installed below the fin surface, nor that we can add a 2nd one. The now five 6mm heat pipes offer also a small improvement versus the predecessor, which sported only four heat pipes. The TF2 heat pipes carry the heat straight to the most optimal location on the cooling fins.

 

 

Second feature of the direct connection is that the small, diagonally arranged fins create an extra directed airflow  at the components near the socket.

 

 

The thermal paste is pre-applied, though a better quality control is needed here. The small imprint should not be present, especially as it was protected by a plastic cover.

 

 

The fan is a low profile 135mm fan, optimized for silent operation; Be Quiet warrants 24.4dB(A) at 100% fan speed which is nearly inaudible in a normal living room, delivering the best balance between cooling performance and quietness its smooth operation is thanks to the nine airflow-optimized fan blades and durable rifle-bearing technology.

 

The total amount of components is also kept to a strict minimum to ease the installation process. The Shadow Rock TF2 is compatible with all Intel sockets and nearly all AMD sockets besides the Threadripper TR4.

Installation as mentioned is pretty straightforward, but can be best executed before installing the motherboard in the case; we tested this Be Quiet cooler on the Intel Z97 platform.

First we need to install the two Intel brackets. Afterwards add the bolt-down nuts in their appropriate position for the chosen socket; better make sure these are properly aligned in the foreseen cut-out. If not you will end up with a cooler being installed at an angle, thus not making perfect contact with the CPU heatspreader.

 

   

On the rear, install the Intel backplate and insert the screws and the plastic retaining clips. Afterwards carefully position the cooler and screw down gently. For LGA2011-3 and other HDET platforms, there is no need for the backplate, just use the included standoff screws.

No rocket science involved just take your time and if possible perform the installation out of the case.

 

For AMD, change the two brackets to the AMD one, with holes provided for AM3 & lower sockets. Be Quiet added Ryzen support via the AM4 holes; replacing the original AMD backplate is required for the Shadow Rock TF2. Similar to Intel installation insert the AMD screws, spacer and plastic clip.

 

 

 

We used the following hardware for our temperature test:

• Intel Core i7-4790K (delidded)
• ASRock Z97 Formula OC motherboard
• 16GB of Corsair Vengeance memory
• ASUS GTX980 Ti Matrix graphics card
• Western Digital 1TB Green
• Windows 8.1 64Bit Pro version

 

 

 

Prime95 is our favorite CPU torture test; by selecting the Custom test and setting 12-12K, we force the CPU to go flatout. After 60 minutes we verify in RealTemp the maximum load temperature results across the 4 cores. For the idle temperatures we just allow the system to warm up during a period of 15 minutes. Just basic idling at 4200 or when OCed at 4500MHz@1.3 Vcore, doing nothing more then just monitoring the temperatures. The monitoring software we use is RealTemp version 3. The output results are the average out of three runs.

 

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Before we continue to with the temperature results we just want to address that the maximum height  of your memory modules is limited to maximum 48mm. This means you have to carefully select your memory, otherwise it will just not fit, unless you opt to remove them flashy heat spreaders. We had no issues with the G.Skill Trident(Z) kits nor the Vengeance memory from Corsair, however the Corsair Dominator modules don't fit at all due to their massive heatspreader.

 

 

Secondly you have to install your memory before installing the cooler, unless you have very low profile heat spreaders.

As mentioned on the previous page install the TF2 cooler with the motherboard out of the case, this will speed up the installation process big time.

 

For those doubting the clearance between the Shadow Rock TF2 and the top PCIe slot for the GPU, there's a few mms of clearance to avoid any short circuits! This unless you own one of them MSI Lightning GPU graphic cards with the Reactor at the back!

 

 

First up we test the Core i7-4790K at stock speeds and afterwards we crank up the clocks and go for 4500MHz at 1.3Vcore for some extra heat output. At stock we can see the Dark Shadow TF2 can settle itself nicely among the medium range air coolers alike the numerous Scythe versionsl; over 23°C difference between the boxed Intel cooler and this at nearly inaudible fan speeds.

 

 

At 4500MHz we see that the cooling performance is a bit less impressive, nevertheless we still have to take into account the performance in reference with the cooler dimensions versus noise ratio, conclusion: the performance is still pretty good. Take note that the Intel boxed cooler is not even able to handle these clocks and the CPU core voltage without going into thermal throttling mode. We will retest the Shadow Rocks performance on the AMD Ryzen 1800X CPU soon as we also received an AM4 compatible version from Noctua.

 

 

When build in an enclosure, even with the fan at full speed, we were barely able to hear if the fan was spinning yes or no. This is what Be Quiet products are all about, good cooling performance at an enjoyable noise level. Other competitive products might be able to dissipate extra heat but these are in general bigger in size and are equipped with either more and/or noisier fans.

The Shadow Rock TF2 is a low profile cooler besting the performance of many medium range tower coolers which are in general 4 - 6cm higher, so the TF2's case compatibility is far better while the cooling performance is unaffected. Compared to its predecessor the addition of an extra heat pipe, a slightly improved cooling area makes it better performing and ready to tackle the latest generations of processors.

The installation can be described as tricky if you are mounting the cooler with the motherboard already installed in a case; if you can do with the motherboard out of the case than it all becomes pretty straightforward.

With this cooler you have to take into account the memory heat spreader size which is limited to a maximum of 48mm. Another tip is to plug in the memory modules before installing the Shadow Rock TF2.

 

 

Performance wise it a solid performer, don't expect top notch cooling performance compared to other high end offerings. That is not going to happen, though it will trash the performance of the Intel and AMD boxed (Wraith) coolers. All this while remaining amazingly silent.

During the cooling tests, the Intel Core i7-4790K was no challenge at stock clocks; once overclocked the TF2 had a harder time to keep everything cool. The boxed cooler couldn't prevent thermal throttling while the TF2 still had some headroom left. A faster spinning fan could improve performance but that is not conform to what Be Quiet had in mind with this Shadow Rock TF2. Performance with a low profile design versus noise ratio is what this cooler is all about!

 

 

The Be Quiet Shadow Rock TF2 is a solid performer in a semi-low profile format. Why semi?  because it is bigger in dimensions than most baptized as low profile coolers,  yet it will still blend in smoothly with most enclosures. The installation can be fiddly but the previously mentioned tips will aid you for sure. The Be Quiet Shadow Rock TF2 is a sleek looking cooler, combining good cooling performance at a low noise output, all gathered in a compact good looking design making it well worth buying. This is why the MadShrimps team can recommend it, even taking into account some of its limitations. With a pricing tag of around 52 Euros this is a solid buy!

 

 

PROS:

• Near silent operation
• Solid performer
• Case compatibility
• Price (52 euros)
  
• AM4 compatible

 

CONS:

• Think before you install
• Limited memory Dimm height

 

 

 

Thanks to Alexander from technikPR for the Be Quiet Shadow Rock TF2. Cindy from ASUS for the Maximus and Crosshair boards. Frank from G.Skill for the TridentZ memory kits.