A new cooler from the SilentiumPC's popular family, Fera 5, has been released
The Fera series has the best long-term sales among cheap coolers. And it should be noted that quite deservedly so. However, the Polish manufacturer found weak spots in both the heatsink and the fan and significantly modified the design. That is both great and frightening. But this mostly seems correct and a detailed analysis with the internal tests of the new fan also makes a good impression. The shape of the blades and the bearings were changed.
SilentiumPC Fera coolers have been at the top of the low-end for a really long time and, ironically, even the five-year-old design of Fera 3 is enough for that. Although, some tests start to favor other coolers, too (see the tests of Arctic Freezer 34 and FSP Windale 4).
SilentiumPC can get an advantage again with Fera 5. It is strange that the cooler skips logical numbering scheme (Fera 4 never came out, the last one is Fera 3 ARGB), but of course the build quality and physical structure of the passive and active part of the cooler is important.
The stated dimensions of Fera 5 are similar to Fera 3. It is the same 155 mm in height, the width (77 mm) should be one millimeter smaller with the new cooler, but the area is extended (+ 3 mm) in the last axis, in the direction of the fin length. Whether it is due to the long fins or a more significant protrusion of the fan clips, we will find out in the tests.
SilentiumPC states they reduced the total weight (562 g), compared to Fera 3 by 48 g. Some part of it got lost in the jagged fins – they were straight in the predecessors, which is part of the acoustic optimizations that SilentiumPC focused on during the development.
In order to achieve the highest possible efficiency in terms of the best possible ratio of noise level to important static pressure, the fan itself should also be adjusted. The leading edges of the new Fluctus 120 PWM fan are also jagged. In addition, compared to the Sigma Pro 120 PWM (from Fera 3), the total area of the blades is larger (but also because Fluctus has 9 blades instead of 7) and the rpm is also increased from 1600 to 1800. Last but not least, SPC promises more robust bearings (FDB).
The comparison of fans (Fluctus 120 PWM with Sigma Pro PWM) at the level of frequency response and intensity of individual frequencies is remarkable. According to SilentiumPC measurements, Fluctus 120 PWM is quieter when achieving the same static pressure, especially at lower frequencies.
The base of the cooler is also new. Although the heatpipes are still in direct contact with the processor’s heat spreader, SPC has removed the gaps between them. These were previously filled with aluminum from a small heatsink, which does not contribute much to the cooling and more or less just holds the pipes together.
There was higher warmth in these places, which is no longer true for the new heatsink. All pipes are close together according to the pattern that Cooler Master once used with the Hyper 212 Evo, but later ironically abandoned it (for example, the Hyper 212 Evo v2 again has “aluminum” gaps between the tubes).
The passage of the heatpipe through the fins has not changed. But notice that the entire surface of the fins has holes, in order to achieve a larger area. Another detail is the more closed design of the heatsink along the short sides, which can also be beneficial in terms of cooling efficiency.
The Fera 5 cooler will be shipped with one or two fans. If you buy the single-fan version, you can add another fan later – there will be two pairs of clips in the accessories.
Finally, the small accessories for mounting to the socket are changed, too. On the one hand, it promises better contact (higher pressure) on the processor, on the other hand, it has fewer components (for example, instead of a pair of typical base brackets, there is only one solid frame in it) and thus the installation should be more comfortable. All current platforms (AMD AM4, Intel LGA 115x and 1200) are supported, as well as some obsolete ones (AMD AM3(+), AM2(+), FM2(+) or Intel LGA 775 and 1366), which can still be used.
The Fera 5 and Fera 5 Dual Fan coolers are available from today (April 8, 2021) for the recommended prices of 25.90 euros and 32.90 euros, respectively. The SilentiumPC’s warranty is six years.
