Until now, at be quiet! the most compact heatsink they had was the Shadow Rock LP. Nevertheless, the German brand now offers a reference with even smaller dimensions. Indeed, the Pure Rock LP is extremely compact. Its objective is to fit into any case on the market. As you can see, be quiet! is up against Noctua and its NH-L9. Will it be able to get away with it? We tell you everything!
Presentation :
With this new model, the brand offers us the smallest heatsink in its catalog. In fact, we are talking about a cooler that measures no more than 45 mm in height. These dimensions, very compact, will allow it to take place in any PC case. The principle strongly reminds us of what Noctua proposed with its NH-L9.
Of course, the brand mentions an efficient cooling with the support of CPUs with a maximum TDP of 100W. This is made possible by the use of three 6mm copper heatpipes. In the package, we will also notice the use of a copper base to capture the heat emitted by the CPU.
With this, the brand puts forward a silent fan in 92 mm in slim format. This fan has a thickness of only 15 mm. be quiet! communicates on a noise level of 30.6 dB according to their measurements and with their conditions.
Finally, unlike Noctua ‘s NH-L9 series where there are two heatsinks per platform (Intel or AMD), the be quiet! model comes with everything necessary for mounting on both motherboards. No need to buy an Intel or AMD specific heatsink!
For the price, know that the German brand officially announced its heatsink on December 1 at a price of 49.90 €. Facing the Austrian competitor, the positioning is aggressive: 10 € less than the black version (NH-L9 chromax.black).
[nextpage title=”The Pure Rock LP”]
Of course, considering the size of the heatsink, you can imagine that we find a packaging in adequacy. The packaging of the Pure Rock LP is very small, but it is in line with what the brand usually offers. The box is black, with an illustration of the cooler on the front and a reminder of the technical specifications and features on the sides.
Inside, the cooling unit rests on a plastic ring that is itself embedded in a foam block. Nothing to say about the protection, it does the job, everything arrived in good condition without any damage.
Radiator:
Weight and dimensions
When unpacking, we are always surprised to find such compact fans. Indeed, the Pure Rock LP is 92 mm wide, 92 mm deep and only 45 mm high with the fan. Obviously, these dimensions will allow the German heatsink to fit in any case … Even the Chopin Max from In Win
Concerning the weight, on the scale this little model shows 358g, not enough to tear off the socket of a motherboard.
The base
Out of the box, the heatsink arrives “bare”. As you can see, no mounting arm is installed as standard, unlike a T120 RGB from NZXT for example, pre-configured to be mounted on an Intel platform. Moreover, we notice that the base is made of copper, but not nickel-plated. Moreover, on the latter, the thermal paste is pre-applied.
Otherwise, the base has dimensions 39 x 40 mm, enough to cover the IHS of AMD and Intel CPUs. The finish is clean and the traces of machining are not felt under the fingers. As for the heatpipes, we’ll come to that just below.
The radiator
On this model, the heat pipes are only visible when looking through the aluminum fins. Already, we can see two of them, which form an “S”, the third one being in the middle, between the two
Otherwise, we find a dense network of aluminum fins, at least, considering the dimensions of the heatsink. Indeed, there are no less than 56 of them. However, they are less numerous than on the NH-L9a chromax. black which has 68!
Finish
On the other hand, despite its name ” Pure Rock “, which designates an entry-level product, there is nothing to complain about in terms of finish. The latter is very neat with full black fins for example. Also, the heatpipes are not visible, unlike those of the NH-L9a chromax.black for example. Finally, each end of the Pure Rock LP, we have an aluminum fin with a brushed finish with the logo of the brand.
Compatibility
Now we come to talk about the compatibility of the sockets of this heatsink. On this subject, be quiet! mentions :
- Intel : LGA-115x – LGA-1200 – LGA-1700
- AMD : AM4 – AM5
Here, no HEDT socket is supported, but that’s totally normal considering the format. On the other hand, we have a multi-socket model that is compatible with both Intel and AMD platforms. No need to change the heatsink reference.
The fan
Regarding the ventilation, we find a small mill in 92 x 92 mm for a thickness of 15 mm. Yes, we are dealing with a slim model, which will still limit the impact on the height.
As we can see, this one takes the characteristics of the be quiet! fans, especially as far as the blades are concerned: they are grooved. As for their number, we count nine of them, with rather enlarged ends.
Besides, the frame is basic, square-shaped, without silentblocks to reduce vibrations. Let’s mention that there is no vibration reducing device on the radiator either.
As for the characteristics, it is difficult to say what we are dealing with here. The brand’s data sheet only mentions the maximum speed, which is 2500 rpm. The air flow and the static pressure are not mentioned… Moreover, it is difficult to make the connection with another fan of the brand’s catalog. This mill seems to have been designed only for this product.
Bundle:
The accessory part rests in bags at the bottom of the box and features:
- An assembly manual
- A warranty guide
- The AMD mounting arms with the screws that go with them
- The Intel mounting arms with the screws that go with them
- A flat key
Clearly, the bundle part will only showcase what is needed to mount the cooler. We would have liked to have a syringe of thermal paste instead of the standard pre-applied paste. Also, having mounting screws for 25mm thick fans could have been a good idea. It would have allowed us to trade space for performance.
Roughly speaking:
All in all, the Pure Rock LP looks like a promising little heatsink. Compared to its Austrian competitor, it has the advantage of being cross-platform and of offering a heat pipe as well. It only remains to see what it will give on the thermal and sound level. In the meantime, let’s go to the installation!
[nextpage title=”Installation”]
For the installation part, you’ll have to keep your AMD backplate, the manufacturer doesn’t provide one. If you don’t have one anymore, a quick look on eBay should allow you to find one easily.
The Pure Rock LP assembly :
The assembly of the Pure Rock LP will be a little more complex on Intel platforms thanAMD. Indeed, you will have to start by putting the screw threads on the mounting arms. For that, we simply screw them on the arms with the flat key. Be careful with the distance, as this will determine the type of platform.
Then the arms will be screwed directly to the base of the Pure Rock LP before being attached to the motherboard. The assembly is actually done “upside down” since the heatsink will be screwed on the back of the motherboard. You will have to make sure that the mounting holes are well aligned with those at the ends of the socket.
On AMD socket, the approach remains the same: we screw the mounting arms on the base of the cooler. The mounting is also done through the back of the motherboard, the only difference being the backplate which must be kept. The only difference is that the backplate will have to be kept. The cooling unit is screwed through the screw holes of the original backplate … Strange use, but coherent since it will ensure a good maintenance of the heatsink.
In itself, the mounting is easy and once in place, the Pure Rock LP will not obstruct any connector on your motherboard… All RAM ports are perfectly free!
[nextpage title=”Protocol”]
Small update of our test protocol. Indeed, we changed the software we were using to stress our configuration. The same goes for the different profiles. By the way, you will see that our configuration has recently received a new power supply. It is a RM750x from Corsair. Of course, we will always focus on temperature and noise measurements.
For the purpose of the test, we will compare the Pure Rock LP, with other 120mm models, or even large dual towers. We also swapped the fan of this model with that of the NH-L9a chromax.black to see what we could achieve with a different fan.
- Hyper 212 Evo (Cooler Master)
- NH-D15 chromax.black (Noctua)
- NH-L9a chromax.black (Noctua)
- NH-U12S Redux (Noctua)
- Pure Rock LP (be quiet!)
- Pure Rock LP + NF-A9x14 PWM (be quiet!)
- Pure Rock 2 (be quiet!)
- T120 RGB (NZXT)
- Wraith Spire (AMD)
- Wraith Prism High (AMD)
[nextpage title=”Speed and noise”]
Fan speed :
So we start our series of temperature readings, here, we start from zero. Let us specify the fan speeds recorded during our readings (for 12V, 8V, 5V):
As far as fan speed is concerned, we notice that the small fans work faster than the big ones. Here, the Pure Rock LP model displays 2400 rpm at full speed to go down to 1150 rpm at low speed. Compared to the 120mm or 140mm models, it is clearly faster. On the other hand, the NF-A9x14 of the NH-L9a chromax.black is faster at low speed: 1300 rpm. This small advantage can make the difference!
Noise :
Despite a fairly high fan speed, at full throttle we found a noise level of 37 dB, a little more than the NH-L9a chromax.black, its Austrian counterpart. On the other hand, it is quieter at mid-range and falls below the detection threshold of our sound level meter at low speed.
[nextpage title=”Temperatures”]
65W Processor
Despite a more violent 65W profile, the latter still represents the least stressful phase of this protocol. It allows to highlight the performances obtained with compact/entry-level heatsinks. These results are only indicative for the largest heatsinks (AIO, large dual tower, etc.).
When it comes to temperatures, at full speed, the Pure Rock LP does slightly better than its Noctua counterpart. At mid-range, the be quiet! model is at the same level as its Austrian rival, only to lose face at low rpm. In our opinion, this is because the fan lacks pep on its slowest speeds. Moreover, we realize this when we mount the small NF-A9x14 PWM of the NH-L9a chromax.black. Moreover, in this configuration, it is now slightly better than its equivalent from Noctua.
Our series of readings will stop with the test with a consumption of 65W. This kind of heatsink is not strong enough to hold on our processor consuming more.
Summary
In summary, we find here a rival to the NH-L9a chromax.black from Noctua because of its size. On the other hand, if it does a little better at high speed, the performance of the fan collapses at low speed. This is noticeable when you change the fan of this little Pure Rock LP.
[nextpage title=”Temperature/Noise Ratio”]
On these perf/noise ratio graphs, we remind you that it is best to be placed as far to the bottom left of the graph as possible. For the reading, the left most point symbolizes the 12V ventilation, the one in the center the 8V ventilation and the right most point the 5V ventilation.
Of course, the temperature/noise ratio will only be in 65W. As we can see, we find a curve quite similar to that of the NH-L9a chromax.black from Noctua. Similarly, the Pure Rock LP is more interesting than the Wraith Spire, the intermediate radbox fromAMD.
The change of fan, in favor of the NF-A9x14 PWM will allow a significant gain at low speed and by shortening the curve.
[nextpage title=”Conclusion”]
We are coming to the end of this test of the Pure Rock LP signed be quiet! Are we dealing with a successful product? Let’s see it in detail!
An ultra compact, well finished and multi-socket fan !
As usual, this type of heatsink surprises by its ultra compact size and that’s the goal. Here, with dimensions of 92 mm on each side and a height of 45 mm, there is no problem of compatibility… Even on a mini-ITX motherboard. The goal is to have a heatsink as compact as possible in order to fit in all cases on the market. Successful bet, the Pure Rock LP even fits in the Chopin Max, the latest version of the ultra compact case from In Win.
However, this does not prevent the heatsink from being well finished, quite the contrary. We would even say that be quiet! takes more care of the finish of its product than Noctua. Unlike its Austrian counterpart, the NH-L9a chromax.black, this version allows itself to hide the heatpipes.
The other advantage lies in its compatibility, multi-sockets where the competing model offers two versions: one Intel and one AMD. Moreover, the assembly will not be very complicated, it will just be necessary to fix the cooling unit by the back of the motherboard. On the other hand, we would have appreciated longer screws for mounting the fan. This would have allowed us to opt for a 25 mm model to gain in cooling for example.
What about performance?
Regarding the performance, considering the size of this reference, we should not ask too much of it. Here, we have performances more or less equivalent to that of the NH-L9a chromax.black, except at low rpm, where the fan less “punchy”, let the temperatures take off.
In other words, it managed to tarnish on our Ryzen 8-core first generation consuming 65W, but not more. Clearly, you should not try to put a big CPU full of cores under it.
As for noise, the advantage is that this model is quiet, more so than an AMD radbox . If you have a small machine with a CPU with a reasonable TDP, you will be able to work silently, and that’s nice.
~50 € for this model
As for the price, it will cost about fifty euros, that’s the price of the brand. It remains to be seen if the retailers will respect it or not. In any case, compared to Noctua ‘s offer, the price remains coherent since a NH-L9a chromax.black is ~60 € at the right price. The brown/beige version is a bit more affordable: ~50 €, but remains, once again, mono-sockets. In short, if you have size requirements, this is clearly a reference to watch out for, otherwise, for this price, clearly opt for a single tower fan, like an AK400 for example, you’ll be a winner.
be quiet! Pure Rock LP
We like:
- The sober design of the heatsink from be quiet!
- The finish, of better quality than its rival
- The ultra-compact dimensions… Which ensure an exemplary compatibility
- The multi-sockets assembly…
- … And easy to use
- The low noise level
We liked less :
- The high temperatures… But conditioned by the format of the cooler
- The absence of screws for the mounting of a 25 mm thick fan..
- … Which would have allowed to gain in temperature
Finally, we come to more or less the same conclusion as in the NH-L9a chromax.black test. We are dealing with a case-exclusive fan since we see no other reason to opt for a Pure Rock LP except for space constraints. Nevertheless, it comes out better thanks to multi-socket compatibility and good finishing. On the other hand, we would have liked a more efficient fan at low rpm.
A big thank you to be quiet! !
