Performance
The SilentiumPC Fortis 3 EVO ARGB cooler’s performance has been tested on the latest Intel Comet Lake-S setup. The used i9-10900K processor heats up a lot but is rated at 125W TDP, so we wanted to give it a try. The CPU runs at its default settings on the SuperO Z490 motherboard, which uses Intel recommended settings.
All tests were performed on an open test rig. The ambient temperature was about 21-22°C.
Our comparison includes three tests. The idle mode is a PC left without any load besides standard Windows services running in the background. The mixed-mode base on a PCMark 10 extended test that uses popular applications and simple games. The max load is a CPU+FPU AIDA64 stability test. Shows about maximum CPU load during the most demanding work on all CPU cores.
Because of the reported temperatures, we couldn’t play with CPU overclocking, so I started to test lower CPU settings to find a perfect spot for our cooler. Once I lowered the frequency ( still automatic voltages) to 5GHz with an AVX offset of -3, the CPU kept about 170W. It was enough to see about 8°C below the throttling point under the full CPU load.
The Grandis 3 EVO ARGB is a bit better option than the Fortis 3. Both these coolers run quiet and offer great looking ARGB lighting. Both are also not enough for the top series processors but handle well six or eight-core processors. I heard comments that these coolers are especially popular among AMD Ryzen users, and it can be correct as a large die and lower wattage make a huge difference.
Intel itself recommends 280/360 AIO coolers for the i9-10900K, so our results were expected, especially that we already had an experience with the Fortis 3 cooler some time ago. The next review will cover the Navis 360 ARGB cooler, which is already optimal for the most power-hungry processors.
