The German hardware manufacturer be quiet! has become known worldwide primarily for its high-quality and particularly quiet power supply units. However, be quiet! has also been a major player in the CPU cooler segment for many years and has already won a few awards with products from the “Dark Rock”, “Shadow Rock”, “Pure Rock” and “Silent Loop” series. Today, we are testing the be quiet! Pure Rock LP, a very compact cooler that is especially suitable for small form factor systems.
So far, the Shadow Rock LP has been the most compact CPU cooler from be quiet! Due to its height of 75 millimeters, the Shadow Rock LP is flat but not flat enough for many small form factor systems. To close this gap in the portfolio, the manufacturer has therefore introduced the Pure Rock LP in the summer of 2022. be quiet! advertises the € 46.99 * expensive CPU cooler with an extremely compact design and a nevertheless good cooling performance at low noise levels. In addition, an easy installation should round off the overall package.
be quiet! Pure Rock LP review: technical details
Cooler Specifications
| Dimensions (with fan) | 92 x 45 x 92 mm (W x H x D) |
| Weight (with fan) | 358 g |
| Material | Copper (heat pipes, black anodized), aluminum (cooling fins, black anodized) |
| Heatpipes | 3x Ø 6 mm |
| Cooling capacity | 100W |
| Compatibility AMD | AM5, AM4 |
| Compatibility Intel | LGA,1700, LGA1200, LGA115x |
| Price | € 46.99 |
Fan specifications
| Fan designation | Pure Rock LP 92 |
| Bearing type | N/A |
| Dimensions | 92 x 92 x 15 mm |
| Speed | 2500 rpm |
| Volume | 30.6 db(A) |
| Delivery volume | N/A |
| Static pressure | N/A |
| Power consumption | N/A |
Packaging & Scope of delivery
The be quiet! Pure Rock LP comes in a very compact cardboard box, which was wrapped in the colors of the manufacturer. Thus, the colors black, white and orange dominate on the cardboard box. In addition to some pictures of the CPU cooler, we also find a table with all the technical data and a list of the most important features on the packaging. All information is written in English only. Inside the small box, there is a thin foam mat on top of the pre-assembled Pure Rock LP and below the cooler, the mounting accessories and installation instructions.
Design & Workmanship
Visually, the be quiet! Pure Rock LP resembles many other ultra-compact CPU coolers. For example, the heatsink consists of 56 vertical aluminum fins that have been anodized black to improve the appearance. The heat is transferred from the CPU’s heatspreader to the fins via a copper radiator plate and three heatpipes, each with a diameter of six millimeters. The ends of the heatpipes are also hidden behind stylish steel covers, which are additionally decorated with a shiny manufacturer’s logo.
The fan of the be quiet! Pure Rock LP was specially designed for this cooler and cannot be found in the manufacturer’s fan portfolio like this. It has a frame width of 92 and a depth of only 15 millimeters. The connection to the motherboard is made via a 4-pin PWM connector and allows the rotor to rotate at a maximum of 2500 rpm. The latter consists of nine black fan blades and fits seamlessly into the manufacturer’s fan portfolio due to their grooved structure. Matching the heatsink and rotor, the frame is also kept black.
The be quiet! Pure Rock LP comes pre-assembled from the factory and weighs 358 grams with a height of just 45 millimeters. This puts it in the same league as the Noctua NH-L9a/i or the Jonsbo HX4170D, at least in terms of its technical specifications. Due to these compact dimensions, the cooler does not come into contact with the RAM slots or the heatsinks of the voltage converters even on ITX mainboards. The fan can be easily removed for cleaning the components. However, it is not possible to mount a thicker fan, as corresponding screws are not part of the scope of delivery.
The workmanship of the be quiet! Pure Rock LP can be described as very good. No workmanship or paint defects were noticeable on our review sample. With its completely black appearance, the cooler is also inconspicuous or timeless in design and, with regard to appearance, should therefore match almost any motherboard.
be quiet! Pure Rock LP Test: Assembly
For the review, a test system on a benchtable is used. This allows us to rule out factors such as heat buildup in the case. The test system consists of the following components.
- AMD Ryzen 5 1400 @ 3.8 GHz at 1.25V
- MSI B350 PC Mate
- Crucial Ballistix Sport LT gray 32 GB DDR4-3000
- Corsair Force Series MP510 960GB Nvme
- Gigabyte AORUS GTX 1060 6G
- LC-Power LC550 V2.31 Platinum Series 550W
be quiet! relies on the existing backplate of the AMD retention module when mounting the Pure Rock LP on socket AM4 and AM5. However, the screwing of the heatsink is done a little differently in this case. In the first step, the heatsink has to be equipped with two retaining brackets on the underside. This is done with four small screws. Then you put the Pure Rock LP upside down on a small cardboard box (e.g. the original packaging) and put the mainboard also upside down on the heatsink. Alternatively, you can simply hold the cooler in place.
Now you put the backplate on the back of the motherboard and screw the long screws with the big head from the back into the backplate and on the front into the holding brackets of the Pure Rock LP. This way the CPU cooler holds bombproof and by using the backplate there is an even distribution of the force over the whole mainboard.
At first glance, this mounting may seem a bit more complicated than other mounting systems, but it has the great advantage that no holes for screwdrivers need to be punched into the heatsink, which in turn improves cooling performance. As mentioned earlier, the be quiet! Pure Rock LP is so compact that it does not come into contact with either the RAM slots or the VRM heatsinks. In addition, it is barely larger overall than the heatspreaders of the RAM modules.
Loudness and cooling performance
As pointed out in the previous chapter, we are using an AM4 system based on the Ryzen 5 1400 and the MSI B350 PC Mate as our test hardware. The Ryzen runs at 3.8 GHz at 1.25V. To warm up the processor, it was loaded with Prime95 for 15 minutes. The CPU’s temperature was then read out with the CPUID hardware monitor and the room temperature was around 20 °C during the measurements.
| wdt_ID | CPU-Kühler | Temperatur 50% PWM (in °C) | Temperatur 100% PWM (in °C) | Minimale Lüftergeschwindigkeit (in U/min) | Lüftergeschwindigkeit bei 50% PWM (in U/min) | Lüftergeschwindigkeit bei 100% PWM (in U/min) | Minimale Pumpengeschwindigkeit (in U/min) | Pumpengeschwindigkeit bei 50% PWM (in U/min) | Pumpengeschwindigkeit bei 100% PWM (in U/min) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 77 | Enermax AQUAFUSION ADV 360 | 50,20 | 50,10 | 1.460 | 2.100 | 2.230 | 3.200 | ||
| 78 | DeepCool LS520 SE | 51,40 | 50,00 | 1.460 | 2.200 | 2.100 | 3.020 | ||
| 79 | Alphacool Core Ocean T38 360mm | 52,20 | 49,30 | 1.600 | 2.500 | 1.800 | 3.200 | ||
| 80 | DeepCool Castle 280EX | 53,00 | 52,00 | 1.050 | 1.600 | ||||
| 81 | Raijintek Scylla Elite CA360 ARGB | 54,00 | 51,00 | 850 | 1.000 | 3.200 | 4.000 | ||
| 82 | DeepCool AS500 | 54,00 | 52,00 | 700 | 1.150 | ||||
| 83 | SilentiumPC Fera 5 Dual Fan | 55,00 | 53,00 | 730 | 1.300 | ||||
| 84 | ENDORFY Navis F360 | 55,50 | 49,40 | 1.200 | 1.975 | ||||
| 85 | Thermaltake CNPS10X Performa | 56,00 | 53,00 | 700 | 1.500 | ||||
| 86 | ALSEYE Xtreme X360 | 57,00 | 53,00 | 1.100 | 1.600 | ||||
| CPU-Kühler | Temperatur 50% PWM (in °C) | Temperatur 100% PWM (in °C) | Minimale Lüftergeschwindigkeit (in U/min) | Lüftergeschwindigkeit bei 50% PWM (in U/min) | Lüftergeschwindigkeit bei 100% PWM (in U/min) | Minimale Pumpengeschwindigkeit (in U/min) | Pumpengeschwindigkeit bei 50% PWM (in U/min) | Pumpengeschwindigkeit bei 100% PWM (in U/min) |
Looking at the diagram or the results table, it unfortunately quickly becomes clear that the Pure Rock LP already reaches its limits with our overclocked CPU. Especially with reduced fan speed, the processor gets dangerously warm. With maximum fan speed, things look much better and there is more room to maneuver towards the critical temperature range of the CPU. Of course, you should not forget the height of the Pure Rock LP and should also remember where the CPU cooler is to be used, namely in particularly compact cases. Here, overclocking almost never plays a role.
However, a big advantage of the Pure Rock LP is its overall noise level. The slim 92-millimeter fan is clearly perceptible at full speed of 2500 rpm, but it is less intrusive overall than the fan of the AMD Boxed cooler or other low-profile coolers. However, this may also have something to do with the fact that the fan does not emit any other ambient noise.
Conclusion on the be quiet! Pure Rock LP test
Overall, the be quiet! Pure Rock LP leaves a mixed overall impression after the conclusion of our test. The Pure Rock LP can convince in the areas of build quality, appearance and with its high compatibility due to the very compact design. In addition, the CPU cooler fits on all current mainstream sockets.
However, the mounting is not ultra-complicated due to the attachment from the back, but it could be a bit more difficult for laymen, since you need a second pair of hands in the worst case. The biggest weakness, however, is probably the cooling performance shown compared to other low-profile coolers. Especially at reduced fan speeds, the Pure Rock LP remains very quiet, but can hardly cool hotter CPUs adequately.
Nevertheless, the ultra-compact build height has to be remembered here once again. The Pure Rock LP was designed for use in particularly compact systems without overclocking and, at best, with frugal CPUs. The price of € 46.99 * estimated by be quiet! therefore seems basically okay. However, the competition is a bit stronger in terms of performance, but also a bit more expensive in places.
be quiet! Pure Rock LP
Design
Workmanship
Mounting
Performance
Value for money
84/100
The be quiet! Pure Rock LP is a visually simple and ultra-compact CPU cooler that can shine with good workmanship and high socket compatibility. However, you should not expect outstanding cooling performance due to the size of the CPU cooler.
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