The SilentiumPC Fera 5 CPU Cooler Review: Quiet Cooling on a Budget

Stock cooling solutions seldom satisfy an advanced PC user, even if the system is not intended for heavy workloads or overclocked. While stock coolers are perfectly adequate for their intended purpose, often they simply are too loud or the user is uncomfortable with the operating temperature of the system. On the other hand, as fancy as huge air coolers and liquid cooling solutions may be, it is an indisputable truth that the bulk of the market consists of users that are driven by a limited budget, and thus seeking cost-effective, practical solutions.

In today’s review, we are taking a look at the Fera 5 tower CPU cooler from SilentiumPC. SilentiumPC is a Polish company that was founded in 2007, modestly marketing just a few case fans at the time. The company grew significantly over the past decade and now they have a noteworthy range of PC cooling and power products, which allowed them to establish a significant presence in the European and UK markets.

SilentiumPC's main focus is to design and produce products with a very good price-to-performance ratio – which is to say, budget products for the mainstream market. They do have a few high-end designs, but the company is much more strongly focused on the high-volume (and highly competitive) mainstream market. The Fera 5 CPU cooler that we are putting to the test in this review embodies the company’s ideals, with SilentiumPC listing great features for a cooler that sells for around €30.

Packaging & Bundle

We received the Fera 5 CPU cooler inside a simple cardboard box with limited artwork on it. Its walls are thin and flimsy but the cooler is very lightweight, so it should provide adequate shipping protection. A picture of the cooler itself decorates the front side of the box. Plenty of information regarding the cooler is printed on all sides of the box.

As expected from a product of this price range, the company supplies only the fundamental parts required to mount and operate the cooler. Inside the box, we found only the mounting hardware, a syringe with plenty of thermal grease for multiple applications, and illustrated mounting instructions.

The SilentiumPC Fera 5 CPU Cooler

The SilentiumPC Fera 5 is a standard single tower cooler, with four copper heatpipes transferring the thermal energy from the tiny base to the aluminum fin array. It is 155 mm (6.1-inches) tall, requiring at least a standard ATX case to fit. The design of the Fera 5 is rather straightforward, with the plastic top cover being virtually the only highlight that makes it stand out from the crowd.

Close inspection of the cooler’s fins reveals a saw tooth edge. This is a common practice for designers nowadays as it is a proven method to slightly reduce noise. The fins are pressed on the heatpipes and feel a little flimsy, but we find the mechanical strength of the cooler to be adequate overall. Airflow directions are engraved on the plastic cover of the cooler.

Flipping the cooler upside-down reveals the direct contact heatpipe design. This means that the heatpipes come in direct contact with the CPU shim and the aluminum part of the base exists only for the mechanical cohesion of the construct. The 6 mm heatpipes are not plated and surface corrosion may darken them over time.

The contact surface is not machined down to a perfect mirror finish but it is very smooth and flat. What is important to note, however, is that the contact surface is very small – a mere 27 mm long and wide. That is smaller than the vast majority of CPU heatspeaders, but we can declare it borderline acceptable for socket 11xx/12xx and AM4 processors, as the dies are entirely within a 27mm x 27 mm area. Meanwhile LGA 1700 is a bit trickier; the chip package is bigger, but the current Alder Lake silicon is only ~20.5 mm in its longest direction, so it fits within the bounds of the Fera 5. Past that, while it's difficult to imagine Intel making a 27 mm tall consumer die, there's certainly space in LGA 1700 to do so.

Ultimately, the Fera 5's base is big enough for all current consumer CPUs. But we would not recommend trying to fit the cooler on a CPU with a larger die than that.

SilentiumPC includes a single Fluctus 120 PWM fan with the Fera 5, or two identical fans with the dual fan version. It is a Fluid-Dynamic Bearing (FDB) engine fan of very good quality, with its blades modified so as to minimize turbulence noise. The company claims that this is a high-pressure fan, designed for highly restrictive applications. They do not release actual test figures but the multi-blade design of the fan suggests that this is a product balanced between airflow and pressure, not designed for maximum static pressure.