Endorfy Fortis 5 Dual Fan CPU Cooler Review: A High-Performance Cooling Solution for Budget-Conscious Builders

When it comes to standard CPU coolers, they’re great at handling basic thermal loads, but they often fall short when it comes to noise reduction and superior cooling efficiency. This limitation drives advanced users and system builders to seek out aftermarket solutions tailored to their specific needs. The high-end aftermarket cooler market is highly competitive, with manufacturers constantly striving to offer products with exceptional performance.

Endorfy, formerly known as SilentiumPC, is a Polish manufacturer that’s undergone a significant transformation to expand its presence in global markets. They’re known for delivering high-performance cooling solutions with a strong focus on balancing efficiency and affordability. By rebranding as Endorfy, the company aims to enter premium market segments while continuing to offer reliable, high-quality cooling products.

SilentiumPC gained popularity in the value/mainstream segments of the PC market with their products, including the Fera 5 cooler that we reviewed a little over two years ago. It had an impressive value for money. Today, we’re putting Endorfy’s largest CPU cooler, the Fortis 5 Dual Fan, to the test. The Fortis 5 is the largest air cooler the company currently offers and is significantly more expensive than the Fera 5, yet it’s still a single-tower cooler that aims to strike a balance between value, compatibility, and performance.

Here are the key specifications of the Endorfy Fortis 5 Dual Fan CPU Cooler:

We received the Fortis 5 Dual Fan in a brown cardboard box with schematics and text printed on it. Inside, we found the essential mounting hardware and clear instructions, without any unnecessary parts. The only notable inclusion is a syringe of premium Pactum PT-3 thermal paste, which comes with enough for at least three applications. The provided mounting hardware supports a broad spectrum of CPU sockets, making the Fortis 5 Dual Fan compatible with several Intel and AMD processors.

The Fortis 5 Dual Fan cooler features a substantial single-tower design, measuring 159 mm in height. This dimension ensures compatibility with a wide range of PC cases, from mid-tower to larger ATX designs, without risking clearance issues. The cooler weighs around 800 grams, striking a balance between effective cooling and manageable weight. This design choice is particularly important for users concerned about motherboard stress or who frequently transport their systems.

At the heart of the Fortis 5’s cooling efficiency are its six high-performance copper heat pipes. These heat pipes are designed to efficiently transfer heat away from the CPU, distributing it evenly across the cooler’s large aluminum fin array. The heat pipes are arranged in a way that maximizes the contact area with the fin stack, which should enhance thermal dissipation while maintaining a relatively compact form factor. The fins are serrated, a method used to reduce air turbulence and noise. A plastic cover shields the top of the fin array, mostly to improve the design’s aesthetics. While it doesn’t feature RGB lighting, its clean design appeals to users who prefer a more understated look. The quality of the build is exceptional, with no flimsy fins or sharp edges anywhere around the cooler.

One of the defining features of the Fortis 5 Dual Fan cooler is its asymmetric dual-fan setup, which includes two Endorfy Fluctus PWM fans (140 mm and 120 mm). These fans are optimized for static pressure, a crucial factor when pushing air through dense fin arrays. Both fans have a range from 250 to 1400 RPM. The unique serrated blade design of the Fluctus fans is supposed to minimize turbulence and vibration, reducing noise output.

The base of the Fortis 5 is relatively simple, with most of the body made out of aluminum and a steel brace mounted at its top. The body provides the mechanical strength needed to hold the copper heatpipes together, which are formed to come into direct contact with the CPU. The aluminum part of the base has fins that form a tiny heatsink but will do very little compared to the entirety of the tower. We can notice that the base is shifted towards one side of the tower, which is meant to move the tower away from the RAM slots.