SilentiumPC Grandis 2 in the test

– The SilentiumPC Grandis 2 is a double-tower air cooler that is sold at an extremely attractive price of only 45 euros. In the test, the well-made cooler is strong, but is more concerned with its price class than its size class.

Two towers for the price of one

SilentiumPC is a manufacturer of power supplies, PC cases and cooling solutions, which has set itself the task to score with the best possible price-performance ratio. The company's own products should undercut the price of the competition without sacrificing functionality. The Polish company wants to put less emphasis on marketing and instead focus on the products themselves.

The largest air cooler from SilentiumPC also follows this approach: the Grandis 2. This is a double-tower air cooler, i.e. the high-end variant of CPU air cooling. This type of cooler is so large that there are some limitations with high RAM, but it offers a larger surface area for heat dissipation compared to single tower air coolers.

At the price level of a single tower air cooler

Well-known double tower coolers like the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro or the Noctua NH-D15 can be remunerated for the larger area: With purchase prices between 65 and 80 euros, they represent the upper end of the cost of conventional air coolers. SilentiumPC, on the other hand, offers the same size for about 45 euros , with which the cooler is priced with large single tower instead of dual tower air coolers. The test shows how the inexpensive option of SilentiumPC compares.

SilentiumPC Grandis 2 in detail

At first glance, the Grandis 2 does not reveal its relatively cheap purchase price: the cooler is well made. Stable aluminum fins meet a copper base plate and even a matt black decorative fin as a finish for the heat pipes is offered. Differences to other high-end air coolers only become apparent when you look at the bottom of the cooler. For example, there is no nickel plating for the six heat pipes or for the copper base plate of the CPU cooler.

The coating of the metal, however, only serves optical purposes and is not visible in any case in the built-in state, which is usual for a processor cooler. SilentiumPC consequently saves in a place that is not visible in the end and should not have any influence on the cooling capacity, which fits well with its own company philosophy.

Another practical feature of the cooler is its format: With a height of 159 mm, it fits just below the magical 16 cm limit, which is the height limit in many PC cases. There is no asymmetrical structure for increased memory compatibility. As is not expected with a double-tower air cooler, the front fan protrudes significantly above the main memory.

Scope of delivery and serial fan

SilentiumPC does a lot in the scope of delivery despite the low purchase price. The cooler offers mounting material for all current CPU sockets (except AMD TR4). Even a third pair of fan brackets has been considered in case buyers shouldn't have enough of the two standard fans supplied. The only point of criticism with the mounting material is a missing magnetic screwdriver. In contrast to many competing products, the installation of the Grandis 2 can be carried out with a Phillips screwdriver in a commercial size instead of an extra long variant, but the screws for attaching the cooler must be loosely attached and then tightened. A magnetic screwdriver proves to be a useful helper.

The Grandis 2 has a central 140 mm axial fan as standard between the two cooling towers and a 120 mm fan in the front. This asymmetrical configuration is not uncommon, because the smaller format in front of the cooler means that the working memory has fewer height limits. To ensure that the air throughput of both fans remains similar, the front fan operates at a different speed range than the central fan: SilentiumPC specifies 500 to 1,650 rpm for the smaller fan and 500 to 1,000 rpm for the larger fan. The fans are controlled by PWM and the supplied Y cable can both be operated via a single fan connection on the mainboard.

In the test system, the 120 mm fan reaches a speed range of 550 to 1,750 rpm. The 140 mm fan works at 550 to 1,000 rpm. At the minimum speed, a quiet running noise is noticeable, but this is not noticeable when the PC case is closed and at a normal distance from the computer. When idling, the Grandis 2 thus fulfills the requirements of the company name SilentiumPC, even if the fans cannot keep up with expensive premium fans. As the speed increases, the processor cooler becomes louder, but remains within a reasonable framework: Even at maximum speed, it is still far from the maximum volume of conventional compact water cooling.

Installation on the AM4 base

The mounting system of the Grandis 2 is pleasantly flexible: not only on Intel systems with square screw receptacles, but also on AMD platforms, the cooler can be rotated freely in 90 ° steps. In the test system, the classic orientation with the air flow towards the ATX panel of the mainboard is selected. Brackets are screwed to the mainboard using the supplied plastic backplate, on which the cooler is then fixed with two screws. Due to the use of many individual parts, assembly is not as practical as with current Scythe or Noctua coolers, but is largely problem-free.

Fastening the fans is less pleasant. The wire clips for attaching the fans only hold onto the fan and cooler as soon as they are locked in their end position. So it becomes a matter of patience to align the fan, cooler and wire bracket at the same time without having to move one of the parts and having to start all over again.

A look at the attached cooler shows that SilentiumPC has done its homework. The cooler is generously spaced from the first expansion slot on the mainboard and no major restrictions are to be expected even with RAM. As expected, the fan protrudes significantly above the memory banks (three slots), but even without moving the front fan in height, 4 cm high memory modules are not a problem. If the RAM has even higher heat spreaders, the front fan can be pushed up a few millimeters without increasing the overall height of the cooler. For a double tower cooler, the compatibility is very good.

On the next page: test system and methodology