Endorfy Fortis 5 Black ARGB
With the Fortis 5 Black ARGB cooler, it’s not enough to just note that it has a backlit fan compared to the Fortis 5 Black. There are more specifics that shape its characteristics. It’s not visible on the external features, because the stated parameters are the same as those of the non-ARGB model, but we’ve come across a few differences when dissecting the results. And we can certainly write about remarkable differences that are worth reflecting on.
One Fortis 5 came out quite a while ago (still under the SiletniumPC banner), now we have the second variant of a pair of new ones announced earlier this year. The Black ARGB variant, like the Fortis 5 Black, has a dark (black) coating on the heatsink and ARGB LED elements.
| Basic parameters | Endorfy Fortis 5 Black ARGB | |
| Supported sockets | Intel LGA 1851, 1700, 1200, 20xx, 115x, 775; AMD AM4, AM5, AM3(+), AM2(+), FM1, FM2(+) | |
| Build type | tower | |
| Height (with fan) in mm | 159 | |
| Width (with fan) in mm * | 107 | |
| Depth (with fan) in mm ** | 144 | |
| Daisy chaining of fans | yes | |
| (A)RGB elements | yes | |
| Number of fans and their format in mm | 1× 140 | |
| Fan speed (rpm) | 250–1800 | |
| Weight (with fan) in g | 792 | |
| Approximate retail price in EUR | 57 |
* This dimension specifies the width of the heatsink along with the fan typically towards the DIMM slots. That is, assuming the cooler is installed vertically.
** The distance between the shorter sides of the fins of the cooler. The larger it is, the closer the cooler is to the first PCIe ×16 slot in the case of symmetrical heatsinks. Or in a horizontal position, possibly to memory slots already covered by the cooler.
Details of the Endorfy Fortis 5 Black ARGB cooler
What you’re getting is a tower cooler that consists of aluminum fins and copper heatpipes. Specifically, six of them (heatpipes) with a diameter of 6 mm pass through 47 fins. Same as with the “Black” variant. The difference here, as far as the heatsink is concerned, is in the light-conducting top panel. However, it does not change the dimensions and the height of the cooler is still (like the Fortis 5 Black) 159 mm. In fact, the same top panel is also used in the variant of the cooler without lighting, only without the ARGB LEDs. The LED implementation is also behind the small weight increase (approx. 657 g vs. 630 g) of the heatsink. Besides the fan and the height (159 mm), the width (107 mm) and depth (144 mm) of the cooler do not change either. Overall, this is a single-tower model with a medium thickness.
The fins behind the fan, which is by the way the Fluctus 140 PWM ARGB (we also have it in tests), are completely serrated on the long edges (the shape of rather sharp triangles). This is primarily to improve the acoustic properties and to suppress unwanted tonal peaks that arise in these places as a result of the air currents breaking up.
Contact with the processor is through six heatpipes, with their base cut and ground flat.
In the context of the chosen modification (DTH), faster heat dissipation is often mentioned in comparison to coolers with coldplates, which is not always true. In cases where the contact area with the CPU is smaller, the efficiency of the outermost heatpipes decreases. We have already discussed this in the context of the Fortis 5 Black on AMD Ryzen processors.
Although the first and last heatpipe only have a symbolic contact with the processor due to the relatively smaller IHS of Ryzen CPUs, it does naturally dissipate some heat from them. The only question is how efficiently and how much heat is then transferred to the surroundings from the locations of the fins that these outermost heatpipes reach. The base design looks really good among the DTH types though, also because of the pipes being placed very close together, with no gaps in between. Thus, there are virtually no dead spots on the base with inferior heat conducting properties.
On memory compatibility: the Fortis 5 Black ARGB is a relatively wider cooler, but it doesn’t extend above the DIMM slots due to some asymmetry with the base being rotated. This makes it possible to install modules with tall heatsinks next to the fan. Sure, they may reduce the fan’s airflow or participate in increasing its noise level to some extent, but they won’t physically interfere with the cooler’s structure.
The fan used is a Fluctus 140 PWM ARGB, adapted for installation on the fins of the cooler, via steel clips. This means (in relation to the fan being 140mm), among other things, atypical mounting holes (105 × 105 mm) or angled corners of the frame.
This is not intentional, but an oversight discovered only later. For this reason, the results measured in the tests may differ slightly from those after a completely correct installation of the cooler. This means also using the anti-vibration pads. Their presence can be particularly noticeable at higher speeds, where the mitigation of the vibration transfer to the cooler’s heatsink reduces the secondary noise (generated by a certain vibration of the fins). At lower speeds, when fan vibration is already negligible and it does not increase the noise of the cooler, the offset of the fan from the fins of the heatsink will play a bigger role in this matter. The latter is a bit larger with the anti-vibration pads, due to which the pressure or airflow through the heatsink is reduced. All in all, it is certainly nothing significant, but this also shapes the cooling performance and acoustic properties to a certain extent. We will find out how much later when we test the Fortis 5 Black (ARGB) with the use of the pads. Because of this “accident”, there will also be an idea of how useful those (anti-vibration) elements can be.
The impeller is “milky” for the best light-conducting properties possible. The LED light flows from the center where the LEDs are on the PCB around the impeller hub. The luminance is greatest at these locations and naturally decreases towards the blade tips. However, the brightness is still high enough to make all the fan elements prominent.
In fan tests, the Fluctus 140 PWM ARGB still has the highest luminosity of any fan we’ve measured. At the same time, however, it’s possible to reduce the brightness to a level that’s not distracting even for users who are more sensitive to such things.
- Contents
- Endorfy Fortis 5 Black ARGB
- Testing methodology
- Results: Maximum cooling performance
- Results: Higher performance (45 dBA)
- Results: Medium performance (42 dBA)
- Results: Lower noise level (39 dBA)
- Results: Low noise level (36 dBA)
- Results: Very low noise level (33 dBA)
- Results: Threshold of audibility (31 dBA)
- Conclusion
