SilentiumPC Fortis 3 MCE Review
Category : Aircooling
Published by Marc Büchel on 02.08.16
With the Fortis 3 MCE, SilentiumPC shows its latest mid-range CPU cooler. This large single tower cooler ships with one 140 x 140 x 25 millimeter fan and apart from that the design is customizeable. Furhtermore the price is very aggressively chosen, which make us curios to find out how this cooler perfoms.








Today we are going to take a closer look at a new CPU cooler from SilentiumPC, the Fortis 3 MCE. MCE actually stands for "Malik Customs Edition", indicating that this cooler is customizeable. Included in the delivery there are differently colored and exchangeable top plates allowing the customer to match a PCs specific color scheme. Apart from that this is basically a single tower heatsink, that can be equipped with up to two 140mm fan.

   


The base of the SilentiumPC Fortis 3 MCE CPU cooler is made from nickel plated copper while the heatsink fins are from aluminium. It features a total of five heatpipes measuring 6mm in diameter which are have been routed through a lapped base plate. The SilentiumPC Fortis 3 MCE is a standard tower-design CPU cooler and the overall quality is good and so is the nice and clean looking design. The most unique feature of the SilentiumPC Fortis 3 MCE is definitely that the top plate can be swapped with differently colored ones. Therefore it's possible to make the cooler match the color scheme of your rig. Apart from that the bundle includes a 140mm PWM fan which operates at bewtten 600 and 1500 rpm.

Specifications

Model Silentium PC
Type Classic tower
Provided Fan(s) 1 x 140 x 140 x 25 mm PWM, 1400 rpm
Dimensionen 125 x 125 x 156 mm (B x H x T)
Gewicht 840 g
Supported Fan(s) 2 x 140 mm
Base Material Nickel plated copper
Fins Material Aluminum
Socket Support AMD AM2(+), AM3(+), FM1, FM2(+), FM3(+)
Intel LGA 775, 1150, 1151, 1155, 1156, 2011, 2011-3
Thermal compound incl.
Product Page Silentium PC


   

The bundle and the box are quite simple. The box is made from solid cardboard and although it is only protected by a plastic shroud our sample arrived without a single dent or any damage whatsoever. The bundled fan is attached to the tower while the rest of the mounting components are placed in a separate plastic bag. The bundle includes an installation manual, mounting components, two fan clips, thermal compound in a small syringe as well as a 140 millimeter fan and the heatsink itself. Apart from that there are also the cover plates in different colors.

Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications
Page 2 - Photo Gallery
Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup
Page 4 - Absolute Performance
Page 5 - PWM Performance
Page 6 - Price comparison
Page 7 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

Photo Gallery


   


   


   


   


   



Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications
Page 2 - Photo Gallery
Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup
Page 4 - Absolute Performance
Page 5 - PWM Performance
Page 6 - Price comparison
Page 7 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

Installation


   


The installation of the Fortis 3 MCE is simple and easy, whereas the thermal compound is not pre-applied. The installation process does not take too much time as the mounting process is self-explanatory. Nevertheless we would have like it if the mounting kit was of higher quality. It certainly does it's job but one can definitely see that SilentiumPC has been saving money at this point to keep the price of the entire cooler as aggressiv as possible. The pressure on the CPU is good and there are no compatiblity issues with this cooler whatsoever. As far as the support goes, the Fortis 3 MCE can be mounted on Intel LGA 775, 1150, 1151, 1155, 1156 and LGA 2011 sockets as well as on AMD AM2(+), AM3(+), FM1 and FM2 sockets. The SilentiumPC Fortis 3 MCE is a rather big sized tower cooler yet due to its well-thought shape, there won't be any compatibility issues with memory modules. Apart from that installing this cooler on an ATX, as well as a mini ITX motherboard did not cause any issues.

Test Setup

Mainboard ASUS Z87-Deluxe (BIOS 1602)
CPU Intel Core i7-4770K Stock (Turbo On / HT On)
Memory ADATA XPG V2 2x4GB DDR3-2800 CL12 1.65V
Video Intel HD Graphics 4600
Software Windows 7 x64
wPrime Benchmark v2.10
CPUID HWMonitor 1.24.0
PSU Seasonic Platinum SS-660XP2
Fan Controller Lamptron FC5 V3
Thermal Compound Pre-applied



Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications
Page 2 - Photo Gallery
Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup
Page 4 - Absolute Performance
Page 5 - PWM Performance
Page 6 - Price comparison
Page 7 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

Absolute Performance

Temperatures

7V Idle Load
EK Predator 240 32 °C 49 °C
Deepcool Captain 360 31 °C 50 °C
Fractal Design Kelvin S36 31 °C 50 °C
Enermax Liqtech 120X 32 °C 50 °C
Raijintek Triton 32 °C 50 °C
Deepcool Maelstrom 240 31 °C 51 °C
Corsair H75 Single Fan 32 °C 51 °C
Enermax Liqtech 240X 32 °C 51 °C
Noctua NH-D15S 32 °C 51 °C
Corsair H90 Single Fan 33 °C 51 °C
Corsair H110 Dual Fan 33 °C 51 °C
Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan 33 °C 51 °C
Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E 33 °C 51 °C
Noctua NH-C14S 32 °C 52 °C
NZXT Kraken X61 32 °C 52 °C
SilverStone Tundra TD02-Lite 32 °C 52 °C
Cooler Master Nepton 240M 33 °C 53 °C
Cryorig R1 Universal 33 °C 53 °C
Fractal Design Kelvin S24 32 °C 53 °C
Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan 33 °C 53 °C
Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan 34 °C 53 °C
Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 34 °C 53 °C
Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan 34 °C 54 °C
Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Dual Fan 35 °C 55 °C
Deepcool Maelstrom 120 35 °C 55 °C
Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX 36 °C 55 °C
Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister 34 °C 56 °C
NZXT Kraken X41 34 °C 56 °C
Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster 35 °C 56 °C
Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan 35 °C 56 °C
NZXT Kraken X31 35 °C 56 °C
Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Single Fan 36 °C 56 °C
Antec Kühler H2O 1250 37 °C 56 °C
Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan 34 °C 57 °C
SilentiumPC Fortis3 MCE 34 °C 57 °C
Fractal Design Kelvin T12 36 °C 57 °C
Thermalright Macho Rev.B 36 °C 57 °C
Raijintek Themis EVO 34 °C 57 °C
be quiet Pure Rock 36 °C 58 °C
Scythe Ashura 36 °C 58 °C
Antec Kühler H2O 950 37 °C 59 °C
Raijintek Pallas 37 °C 59 °C
Cooler Master Hyper 103 36 °C 60 °C
Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure 36 °C 61 °C
Prolimatech Lynx 35 °C 63 °C
Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 37 °C 64 °C
Thermolab Bada 2010 39 °C 64 °C
Scythe IORI Scior-1000 39 °C 65 °C
Lepa LV12 36 °C 66 °C
Thermolab LP-53 38 °C 69 °C
Enermax ETS-N30 37 °C 73 °C
Thermolab ITX30 38 °C 75 °C
Intel Stock 39 °C 83 °C


To measure the cooling capacity we took temperatures in idle and load with the fans at 7 and 12 V. The idle temperature represents the lowest temperature hit by the processor package after 10 minutes in idle. The load temperature is the highest temperature hit by the processor after one pass of wPrime v2.10. The wPrime test takes 4 minutes and puts load on all 8 threads. Room temperature is at 25°C.

12V Idle Load
Deepcool Captain 360 30 °C 48 °C
Fractal Design Kelvin S36 30 °C 49 °C
EK Predator 240 31 °C 49 °C
Raijintek Triton 31 °C 49 °C
Corsair H90 Single Fan 32 °C 50 °C
Corsair H110 Dual Fan 32 °C 50 °C
Noctua NH-D15S 31 °C 50 °C
Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan 32 °C 50 °C
Deepcool Maelstrom 240 33 °C 50 °C
NZXT Kraken X61 31 °C 50 °C
Fractal Design Kelvin S24 31 °C 51 °C
Noctua NH-C14S 31 °C 51 °C
SilverStone Tundra TD-02 Lite 31 °C 51 °C
Corsair H75 Single Fan 32 °C 51 °C
Enermax Liqtech 240X 32 °C 51 °C
Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan 33 °C 51 °C
Cooler Master Nepton 240M 32 °C 52 °C
Cryorig R1 Universal 32 °C 52 °C
Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E 32 °C 52 °C
Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 33 °C 52 °C
Enermax Liqtech 120X 31 °C 53 °C
Deepcool Maelstrom 120 33 °C 53 °C
Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan 33 °C 53 °C
Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX 34 °C 53 °C
Fractal Design Kelvin T12 34 °C 54 °C
NZXT Kraken X41 33 °C 54 °C
Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Dual Fan 33 °C 54 °C
Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan 33 °C 54 °C
Raijintek Themis EVO 33 °C 54 °C
Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster 34 °C 54 °C
Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan 33 °C 55 °C
NZXT Kraken X31 34 °C 55 °C
Prolimatech Lynx 34 °C 55 °C
Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan 34 °C 55 °C
Scythe Ashura 34 °C 55 °C
Antec Kühler H2O 1250 35 °C 55 °C
Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister 35 °C 55 °C
Thermalright Macho Rev.B 34 °C 55 °C
SilentiumPC Fortis3 MCE 34 °C 56 °C
be quiet Pure Rock 35 °C 56 °C
Antec Kühler H2O 950 36 °C 56 °C
Raijintek Pallas 36 °C 56 °C
Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure 34 °C 57 °C
Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Single Fan 34 °C 57 °C
Lepa LV12 35 °C 57 °C
Cooler Master Hyper 103 36 °C 58 °C
Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 35 °C 59 °C
Scythe IORI Scior-1000 37 °C 60 °C
Thermolab Bada 2010 39 °C 64 °C
Thermolab LP-53 37 °C 65 °C
Enermax ETS-N30 34 °C 68 °C
Thermolab ITX30 36 °C 69 °C
Intel Stock 35 °C 70 °C


Fan Speeds

  7 Volt 12 Volt
Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan 840 rpm 1'180 rpm
Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E 840 rpm 1'320 rpm
Enermax Liqtech 240X 750 rpm 1'300 rpm
Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan 780 rpm 1'200 rpm
Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 520 rpm 1'260 rpm
Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX 840 rpm 1'320 rpm
Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 780 rpm 1'380 rpm
SilentiumPC Fortis3 MCE 840 rpm 1'440 rpm
Cryorig R1 Universal 960 rpm 1'440 rpm
Raijintek Pallas 960 rpm 1'440 rpm
Scythe Ashura 600 rpm 1'440 rpm
Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan 900 rpm 1'500 rpm
Thermalright Macho Rev.B 780 rpm 1'320 rpm
Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan 900 rpm 1'500 rpm
Corsair H90 Single Fan 960 rpm 1'500 rpm
Corsair H110 Dual Fan 960 rpm 1'500 rpm
Noctua NH-C14S 960 rpm 1'500 rpm
Noctua NH-D15S 960 rpm 1'500 rpm
Raijintek Themis EVO 960 rpm 1'500 rpm
Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure 660 rpm 1'530 rpm
Fractal Design Kelvin S24 1'270 rpm 1'540 rpm
be quiet Pure Rock 1'000 rpm 1'560 rpm
Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan 960 rpm 1'560 rpm
Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan 1'020 rpm 1'560 rpm
Fractal Design Kelvin S36 1'400 rpm 1'740 rpm
Prolimatech Lynx 600 rpm 1'740 rpm
Fractal Design Kelvin T12 420 rpm 1'800 rpm
Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister 1'020 rpm 1'860 rpm
Enermax ETS-T40 White Cluster 1'260 rpm 1'860 rpm
Lepa LV12 1'100 rpm 1'850 rpm
NZXT Kraken X41 1'180rpm 1'840 rpm
Thermolab Bada 2010 1'140 rpm 1'980 rpm
Corsair H75 Single Fan 1'200 rpm 1'980 rpm
NZXT Kraken X31 1'200 rpm 1'980 rpm
NZXT Kraken X61 1'180 rpm 1'980 rpm
Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Dual Fan 1'500 rpm 1'980 rpm
Intel Stock 1'260 rpm 2'040 rpm
Enermax Liqtech 120X 1'270 rpm 2'050 rpm
EK Predator 240 1'020 rpm 2'160 rpm
Thermolab LP-53 300 rpm 2'180 rpm
Scythe IORI Scior-1000 280 rpm 2'220 rpm
Deepcool Maelstrom 240 1'440 rpm 2'220 rpm
Deepcool Captain 360 1'400 rpm 2'240 rpm
Deepcool Maelstrom 120 1'500 rpm 2'280 rpm
Cooler Master Nepton 240M 1'140 rpm 2'300 rpm
Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Single Fan 1'560 rpm 2'400 rpm
Cooler Master Hyper 103 1'580 rpm 2'400 rpm
Antec Kühler H2O 950 1'620 rpm 2'400 rpm
SilverStone Tundra TD02-Lite 1'440 rpm 2'460 rpm
Antec Kühler H2O 1250 1'620 rpm 2'480 rpm
Thermolab ITX30 1'620 rpm 2'580 rpm
Enermax ETS-N30 1'080 rpm 3'080 rpm
Raijintek Triton 1'140 rpm 3'450 rpm


Fan speeds (RPM) at 7 and 12 V.

Noise Levels

  7 Volt 12 Volt
Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 33.4 dBA 34.9 dBA
be quiet Pure Rock 33.3 dBA 37.0 dBA
Enermax Liqtech 240X 33.5 dBA 37.0 dBA
Intel Stock 33.3 dBA 37.1 dBA
Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan 32.2 dBA 37.4 dBA
Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan 32.3 dBA 37.4 dBA
Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure 32.3 dBA 38.4 dBA
SilentiumPC Fortis3 MCE 33.0 dBA 38.5 dBA
Lepa LV12 34.6 dBA 38.8 dBA
Thermolab ITX30 33.4 dBA 38.9 dBA
Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan 33.7 dBA 38.9 dBA
Raijintek Pallas 34.7 dBA 39.3 dBA
Cooler Master Hyper 103 34.2 dBA 39.5 dBA
Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan 33.4 dBA 39.6 dBA
Thermolab LP-53 31.2 dBA 39.7 dBA
Raijintek Themis EVO 33.9 dBA 40.1 dBA
Scythe IORI Scior-1000 32.8 dBA 40.3 dBA
Thermalright Macho Rev.B 32.5 dBA 40.4 dBA
Thermolab Bada 2010 32.3 dBA 40.4 dBA
NZXT Kraken X31 35.5 dBA 40.5 dBA
NZXT Kraken X61 35.7 dBA 40.6 dBA
Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 32.4 dBA 40.6 dBA
Enermax Liqtech 120X 33.4 dBA 40.6 dBA
Prolimatech Lynx 33.0 dBA 40.3 dBA
Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister 33.1 dBA 40.7 dBA
Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster 33.3 dBA 40.7 dBA
Scythe Ashura 32.0 dBA 41.0 dBA
Noctua NH-C14S 32.0 dBA 41.1 dBA
Noctua NH-D15S 32.0 dBA 41.1 dBA
Corsair H90 Single Fan 34.1 dBA 41.2 dBA
Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E 34.7 dBA 41.2 dBA
Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX 34.7 dBA 41.2 dBA
Corsair H110 Dual Fan 33.3 dBA 41.7 dBA
Corsair H75 Single Fan 34.5 dBA 41.7 dBA
Enermax ETS-N30 34.2 dBA 43.0 dBA
Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan 35.8 dBA 43.1 dBA
Cryorig R1 Universal 36.7 dBA 43.2 dBA
Deepcool Captain 360 36.6 dBA 43.4 dBA
Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan 36.1 dBA 43.6 dBA
Cooler Master Nepton 140XL 34.3dBA 43.8 dBA
Cooler Master Nepton 240M 34.9 dBA 44.5 dBA
Fractal Design Kelvin S24 37.0 dBA 46.3 dBA
Fractal Design Kelvin T12 25.4 dBA 46.5 dBA
Deepcool Maelstrom 120 38.2 dBA 46.9 dBA
Fractal Design Kelvin S36 37.8 dBA 48.7 dBA
NZXT Kraken X41 37.5 dBA 48.8 dBA
Deepcool Maelstrom 240 39.7 dBA 49.3 dBA
EK Predator 240 33.6 dBA 49.6 dBA
Raijintek Triton 37.0 dBA 49.7 dBA
SilverStone Tundra TD02-Lite 41.9 dBA 53.3 dBA
Antec Kühler H2O 950 46.3 dBA 58.2 dBA
Antec Kühler H2O 1250 47.9 dBA 65.2 dBA


Decibel meter (Voltcraft SL-200) has been placed 1 meter away from the cooler. Measurements are conducted in a quiet room, where there are no other noise source. 32 dBA is the lowest we can get in our room. Also here the measurements are conducted at 7 and 12 V.


Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications
Page 2 - Photo Gallery
Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup
Page 4 - Absolute Performance
Page 5 - PWM Performance
Page 6 - Price comparison
Page 7 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

PWM Performance

Temperatures

  Idle Load
Corsair H110 Dual Fan 33 °C 50 °C
EK Predator 240 34 °C 50 °C
SilverStone Tundra TD02-Lite 32 °C 51 °C
Corsair H90 Single Fan 33 °C 51 °C
Noctua NH-C14S 32 °C 52 °C
Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan 32 °C 52 °C
Noctua NH-D15S 33 °C 52° C
Fractal Design Kelvin S36 33 °C 52 °C
NZXT Kraken X61 33 °C 52 °C
Deepcool Captain 360 34 °C 52 °C
Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E 33 °C 54 °C
Fractal Design Kelvin S24 34 °C 54 °C
Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan 33 °C 54 °C
Deepcool Maelstrom 240 34 °C 54 °C
Enermax Liqtech 120X 34°C 54 °C
Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan 34 °C 54 °C
Cryorig R1 Universal 35 °C 54 °C
Enermax Liqtech 240X 36 °C 54 °C
Cooler Master Nepton 240M 34 °C 55 °C
Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan 33 °C 55 °C
Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan 34 °C 55 °C
Corsair H75 Single Fan 35 °C 55 °C
Raijintek Triton 33 °C 55 °C
Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 36 °C 55 °C
Fractal Design Kelvin T12 35 °C 56 °C
NZXT Kraken X41 35 °C 56 °C
Raijintek Themis EVO 35 °C 56 °C
Deepcool Maelstrom 120 36 °C 56 °C
Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX 36 °C 56 °C
Prolimatech Lynx 34 °C 57 °C
SilentiumPC Fortis3 MCE 34 °C 57 °C
Enermax ETS-T40 White Cluster 35 °C 57 °C
Thermalright Macho Rev.B 35 °C 57 °C
Antec Kühler H2O 1250 36 °C 57 °C
NZXT Kraken X31 36 °C 57 °C
Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan 36 °C 57 °C
Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Dual Fan 37 °C 57 °C
be quiet Pure Rock 38 °C 58 °C
Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister 35 °C 58 °C
Scythe Ashura 36 °C 58 °C
Raijintek Pallas 37 °C 58 °C
Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Single Fan 38 °C 58 °C
Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure 35 °C 59 °C
Antec Kühler H2O 950 37 °C 59 °C
Cooler Master Hyper 103 36 °C 60 °C
Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 36 °C 62 °C
Thermolab Bada 2010 39 °C 64 °C
Scythe IORI Scior-1000 42 °C 66 °C
Thermolab LP-53 39 °C 67 °C
Lepa LV12 37 °C 70 °C
Thermolab ITX30 39 °C 70 °C
Enermax ETS-N30 38 °C 71 °C
Intel Stock 39 °C 75 °C


At this point we plugged the fan(s) to the motherboard CPU fan header and let the motherboard take care of fan speeds. In other words the motherboard will adjust the fan speed via PWM signal according to CPU temperature. The idle temperature is the lowest temperature hit by the processor after 10 minutes in idle. The load temperature is the highest temperature hit by the processor after one pass of wPrime v2.10. The wPrime test takes 4 minutes puts load on all 8 threads. Room temperature is 25°C.

Fan Speeds

  Idle Load
Thermalright Macho Rev.B 306 rpm 680 rpm
Scythe Ashura 436 rpm 550 rpm
Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan 380 rpm 687 rpm
Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan 450 rpm 740 rpm
Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure 471 rpm 770 rpm
EK Predator 240 600 rpm 800 rpm
Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 580 rpm 805 rpm
Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 413 rpm 825 rpm
NZXT Kraken X31 750 rpm 830 rpm
Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E 637 rpm 854 rpm
SilentiumPC Fortis3 MCE 666 rpm 856 rpm
Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan 466 rpm 860 rpm
Scythe IORI Scior-1000 424 rpm 880 rpm
Noctua NH-D15S 840 rpm 900 rpm
be quiet Pure Rock 380 rpm 920 rpm
Enermax Liqtech 240X (600 - 1300 rpm Preset) 790 rpm 950 rpm
Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan 560 rpm 955 rpm
Raijintek Triton 955 rpm 955 rpm
Noctua NH-C14S 860 rpm 960 rpm
Corsair H75 Single Fan 800 rpm 969 rpm
Enermax Liqtech 120X 580 rpm 970 rpm
Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX 490 rpm 990 rpm
Cryorig R1 Universal 800 rpm 980 rpm
Corsair H90 Single Fan 870 rpm 1'000 rpm
Prolimatech Lynx 765 rpm 1'077 rpm
Deepcool Captain 360 710 rpm 1'090 rpm
Corsair H110 Dual Fan 950 rpm 1'100 rpm
Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister 820 rpm 1'110 rpm
Raijintek Themis EVO 990 rpm 1'115 rpm
Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Dual Fan 740 rpm 1'140 rpm
Deepcool Maelstrom 240 760 rpm 1'150 rpm
Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster 920 rpm 1'170 rpm
Raijintek Pallas 952 rpm 1'170 rpm
Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan 1'120 rpm 1'190 rpm
Fractal Design Kelvin T12 715 rpm 1'200 rpm
Fractal Design Kelvin S24 780 rpm 1'200 rpm
Fractal Design Kelvin S36 800 rpm 1'210 rpm
NZXT Kraken X61 840 rpm 1'270 rpm
Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan 1'120 rpm 1'270 rpm
Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Single Fan 800 rpm 1'280 rpm
NZXT Kraken X41 1'190 rpm 1'320 rpm
Deepcool Maelstrom 120 790 rpm 1'360 rpm
Lepa LV12 870 rpm 1'400 rpm
Cooler Master Nepton 240M 700 rpm 1'430 rpm
Cooler Master Hyper 103 950 rpm 1'465 rpm
Thermolab Bada 2010 1'250 rpm 1'500 rpm
Antec Kühler H2O 950 1'280 rpm 1'610 rpm
Intel Stock 1'230 rpm 1'630 rpm
Antec Kühler H2O 1250 1'390 rpm 1'690 rpm
Thermolab LP-53 1'475 rpm 1'672 rpm
SilverStone Tundra TD02-Lite 1'650 rpm 1'950 rpm
Enermax ETS-N30 970 rpm 2'250 rpm
Thermolab ITX30 1'475 rpm 2'253 rpm


Values are in RPM, we took the lowest speed hit by the fan(s) in idle and the highest under load.

Noise Levels

  Idle Load
Noctua NH-C14S 32.0 dBA 32.0 dBA
Noctua NH-D15S 32.0 dBA 32.0 dBA
Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan 32.0 dBA 32.0 dBA
Thermalright Macho Rev.B 32.0 dBA 32.1 dBA
Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan 32.1 dBA 32.3 dBA
Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan 32.0 dBA 32.4 dBA
Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan 32.1 dBA 32.6 dBA
Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure 32.0 dBA 32.7 dBA
Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 32.5 dBA 32.7 dBA
Enermax Liqtech 120X 32.1 dBA 32.8 dBA
Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister 32.3 dBA 33.0 dBA
SilentiumPC Fortis3 MCE 32.4 dBA 33.0 dBA
be quiet Pure Rock 32.4 dBA 33.1 dBA
Corsair H75 Single Fan 32.2 dBA 33.2 dBA
Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster 33.0 dBA 33.2 dBA
Thermolab LP-53 33.0 dBA 33.2 dBA
Scythe Ashura 32.0 dBA 33.4 dBA
NZXT Kraken X61 34.6 dBA 35.8 dBA
Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 33.1 dBA 33.5 dBA
Enermax Liqtech 240X Dual Fan (600 - 1300rpm Preset) 33.2 dBA 33.5 dBA
Cooler Master Hyper 103 32.0 dBA 33.6 dBA
Prolimatech Lynx 33.3 dBA 33.9 dBA
Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan 33.5 dBA 34.2 dBA
Corsair H90 Single Fan 33.7 dBA 34.2 dBA
Thermolab Bada 2010 33.8 dBA 34.2 dBA
EK Predator 240 32.9 dBA 34.4 dBA
Corsair H110 Dual Fan 33.3 dBA 34.4 dBA
Intel Stock 33.3 dBA 34.4 dBA
Scythe IORI Scior-1000 33.2 dBA 34.6 dBA
Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan 33.7 dBA 34.6 dBA
Lepa LV12 34.4 dBA 34.7 dBA
Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E 34.0 dBA 34.8 dBA
NZXT Kraken X31 34.5 dBA 34.9 dBA
Deepcool Captain 360 33.9 dBA 34.6 dBA
Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX 33.8 dBA 34.6 dBA
Fractal Design Kelvin T12 36.5 dBA 35.1 dBA
Fractal Design Kelvin S36 34.2 dBA 35.3 dBA
Raijintek Themis EVO 34.8 dBA 35.3 dBA
Fractal Design Kelvin S24 34.7 dBA 35.6 dBA
Deepcool Maelstrom 120 34.9 dBA 35.7 dBA
Raijintek Triton 36.2 dBA 36.2 dBA
Enermax ETS-N30 33.8 dBA 36.9 dBA
Cryorig R1 Universal 33.5 dBA 37.1 dBA
Thermolab ITX30 34.1 dBA 37.6 dBA
NZXT Kraken X41 34.8 dBA 37.9 dBA
Deepcool Maelstrom 240 36.1 dBA 37.9 dBA
Cooler Master Nepton 140XL 34.8dBA 39.4 dBA
Cooler Master Nepton 240M 33.8 dBA 40.1 dBA
Raijintek Pallas 35.9 dBA 41.4 dBA
Antec Kühler H2O 950 41.7 dBA 45.8 dBA
SilverStone Tundra TD02-Lite 43.1 dBA 46.2 dBA
Antec Kühler H2O 1250 43.5 dBA 47.9 dBA


Decibel meter (Voltcraft SL-200) has been placed 1 meter away from the cooler. Measurements are conducted in a quiet room, where there are no other noise source. 32 dBA is the lowest we can get in our room. Also here the measurements are conducted at lowest and highest fan speeds in idle and under load respectively.


Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications
Page 2 - Photo Gallery
Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup
Page 4 - Absolute Performance
Page 5 - PWM Performance
Page 6 - Price comparison
Page 7 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

Price comparison

Model

Geizhals.eu

Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure
Antec Kühler H2O 1250
Be quiet Pure Rock
Cooler Master Hyper 103
Cooler Master Nepton 140XL
Cooler Master Nepton 240M
Corsair H75 Single Fan
Deepcool Captain 360
Deepcool Maelstrom 120
Deepcool Maelstrom 240
EK Predator 240
Enermax ETS-N30
Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister
Enermax ETS-T40 White Cluster
Enermax Liqtech 120X
Fractal Design Kelvin T12
Fractal Design Kelvin S24
Fractal Design Kelvin S36
Intel Stock Cooler
Lepa LV12
Noctua NH-C14S
Noctua NH-D15
Noctua NH-D15S
Noctua NH-U12S
NZXT Kraken X31
NZXT Kraken X41
NZXT Kraken X61
Prolimatech Lynx
Raijintek Nemesis
Raijintek Pallas
Raijintek Themis EVO
Raijintek Triton
Scythe Ashura
Scythe IORI Scior-1000
SilentiumPC Fortis3 MCE
SilverStone Tundra TD02-Lite
Thermolab Bada 2010
Thermolab LP53
Thermolab ITX30
ThermalRight Silver Arrow IB-E
ThermalRight Silver Arrow ITX
ThermalRight Macho Rev.B


Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications
Page 2 - Photo Gallery
Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup
Page 4 - Absolute Performance
Page 5 - PWM Performance
Page 6 - Price comparison
Page 7 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

Conclusion

General + -

Overall, the SilentiumPC Fortis 3 MCE is a decent cooler with a very aggressive price point. While the SilentiumPC Fortis 3 MCE is an affordable model aiming at the mid-range market, it comes with impressive manufacturing quality as well as decent performance, comparing it to similarly priced offerings from competitors. The overall performance could still be much better. While some coolers might be cheaper, you'll simply not get the same levels of design and build quality, expcept for the mounting kit. The differently colored cover plates make for great looks and the allow for making the Fortis 3 MCE blend in perfectly with your rigs color scheme. We are quite sure that there is a bunch of modders out there waiting exactly for this option in a CPU cooler. The overall performance is not bad for the price, and noise levels are decent. The cooler comes bundled with a 140mm PWM fan, which runs very reasonably quiet. The fan is not noisy at 7V and 12V and neither when set to work in PWM mode. We also liked the compatibility with a vast variety of sockets.

  - Socket compatibility - Build quality
- PWM
- Design
 
 
Installation   + -
Mounting the SilentiumPC Fortis 3 MCE is quite simple and self-explanatory to experienced users. Nevertheless we would have like to see a higher quality mouting kit in the delivery. When it comes to thermal compound, you get that in a separate syringe and the compound is easy to apply due to reasonable viscosity.   - Syringe with thermal compound - Very wide compatibility list - Cheap mounting kit
 
Performance   + -
The cooling performance of the SilentiumPC Fortis 3 MCE is ok considering its price. Taking a closer look at our test results reveals that at 7V and 12V,  it ranks in the bottom third of our charts. With the fan running in PWM mode this cooler marks about the entry to the bottom third of our comparison tables.     - Cooling capacity
 
Noise Levels   + -
The overall noise levels quite good. When checking 7V and 12V, it is quite surprising that the Fortis 3 MCE managed to make it quite close to the top of our chart. Also using the PWM mode the cooler is subjectively silent. If you are wondering about the overclocking capabilites, bear in mind that we did not have any issues running our test CPU at 4.4 GHz while the fan was set in 7V mode.   - Silent at 7V and 12V and PWM driven    
 
Recommendation / Price   + -
Should you be looking for a cooler with nice looks, good manufacturing quality, customizeability and attractive price tag, then the Fortis 3 MCE from SilentiumPC is definitely a safe bet. When it comes to pricing, we believe that the 32 Euro price tag is definitely more than fair in this case.   - Price - Mini-ITX Gaming  
 
Rating
We gave the Fortis 3 MCE from SilentiumPC 4.5 out of 5 stars.
 





Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications
Page 2 - Photo Gallery
Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup
Page 4 - Absolute Performance
Page 5 - PWM Performance
Page 6 - Price comparison
Page 7 - Conclusion