Overall and Final Verdict
Again, I will have to hand out top marks to Be Quiet for their tremendously easy installations. It is uncommon and a very nice surprise being able to go from box to installed in under 20 minutes with little effort overall. The actual performance is wonderful when you consider it is being directly compared to a cooler with more heat pipes and a second fan as well as the added bonus of keeping RAM DIMMs cooler.
A few things to take note of, however, are the Shadow Rock’s larger profile which will take up a large chunk of your board north of the expansion slots. Also, beware during install as the aluminum fins the fan sits on proved to be a bit sharper than originally expected. Due to the TopFlow design you also will have to consider cases which allow air intake from the side panel or top depending on orientation.
All in all though, the Shadow Rock was an impressive piece of cooling technology. With room enough to accommodate both larger RAM heatspreaders and a mild overclock and the flexibility in design the allow for the possibility of an additional fan, the Shadow Rock TopFlow from Be Quiet is well worth your consideration for old and new systems alike.
