SilentiumPC Grandis 2 XE1436

[crazyeyesreaper]

SilentiumPC has of late been focusing on value for money. Enter the Grandis 2 XE1436. This dual tower, dual fan CPU cooler uses a popular tried-and-true design. Size isn't always indicative of performance, however, so let's see just what the Grandis 2 has to offer!

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[FreedomEclipse]

It's a bit of a 'chunky monkey' as some British people say

 

[xkm1948]

So the big size does not bring any advantage. I wonder why.

Also how will this stack against, say a Hyper212X, which is also dual fan but only $35 on newegg

 

[_UV_]

So the big size does not bring any advantage. I wonder why.

Me too . Recently replaced Ninja 3 with Performa 11 (not extreme) and got better ventilation and lower temps for CPU and VRM zone. Fan speed noise near the same, almost inaudible.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

So the big size does not bring any advantage. I wonder why.

Also how will this stack against, say a Hyper212X, which is also dual fan but only $35 on newegg

The Hyper 212X is in the charts it also fails in the same tests dual fans will not change that. With the Silentium PC i tested other 120 mm fans even dual 140s etc made no difference i gained a degree or 2 here and there but otherwise it still failed the OC FPU test. My gut tells me the base just is not shaped well for coffee lake. Add in the fact that coolers like the Scythe Fuma use higher mounting pressure. I would say lack of mounting pressure with a base thats not optimized for coffee lake is the main cause for the coolers lackluster performance. Its fixable with a design update but the Grandis 2 has been around awhile its certainly not their latest or greatest.

 

[Athlonite]

Lousy finish on the base probably doesn't help matters also there's the memory clearance issue which is really bad would it have killed them bend the heatpipes in such a way as to move the towers back from over dimm slots do they even do product testing to see where it blocks things or do they just draw up a new design and say fuck it that'll do

 

[IceShroom]

So the big size does not bring any advantage. I wonder why.

The CPU is the bottleneck, thats why.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

The CPU isnt so much a bottleneck as the limited heat transfer due to the TIM under the IHS. With that said if the CPU was the bottleneck then the The Dark Rock Pro 4 / R1 Ultimate / D15S should not be performing 11-13'C better. Considering they use similar designs.

Other single tower single fan designs like the Thermalright True Spirt 140 Direct offers better clearance and performance at a similar price even the relatively lightweight H7 (not the updated quad lumi) gives the the Grandis 2 a run for its money.

While heat transfer from Intel's mainstream platform isn't great it doesn't change the fact all coolers are battling the same problem and in this case a 1030g cooler can barely keep up with offerings that come in at 700-800g like the Cryorig H7 which only has 3 heatpipes. Suffice to say it Grandis 2 doesn't hold up well vs other established offerings. Overall the cooler just doesn't cope well with the Intel i7 8700k. Compared to 4c/8t offers the extra cores / cache and issues result in it not keeping pace. Just like every generation of CPU coolers tend to change to adapt to the IHS or problems that arise. (scythe with too high a mounting pressure / thermalright with a PCB support to handle said mounting pressure etc)

Hell even something like sub par heatpipes could be holding the cooler back but thats hard to quantify without cutting it apart.

 

[IceShroom]

The CPU isnt so much a bottleneck as the limited heat transfer due to the TIM under the IHS. With that said if the CPU was the bottleneck then the The Dark Rock Pro 4 / R1 Ultimate / D15S should not be performing 11-13'C better. Considering they use similar designs.

Other single tower single fan designs like the Thermalright True Spirt 140 Direct offers better clearance and performance at a similar price even the relatively lightweight H7 (not the updated quad lumi) gives the the Grandis 2 a run for its money.

While heat transfer from Intel's mainstream platform isn't great it doesn't change the fact all coolers are battling the same problem and in this case a 1030g cooler can barely keep up with offerings that come in at 700-800g like the Cryorig H7 which only has 3 heatpipes. Suffice to say it Grandis 2 doesn't hold up well vs other established offerings. Overall the cooler just doesn't cope well with the Intel i7 8700k. Compared to 4c/8t offers the extra cores / cache and issues result in it not keeping pace. Just like every generation of CPU coolers tend to change to adapt to the IHS or problems that arise. (scythe with too high a mounting pressure / thermalright with a PCB support to handle said mounting pressure etc)

Hell even something like sub par heatpipes could be holding the cooler back but thats hard to quantify without cutting it apart.

I can agree with the points, though like see cooler review on soldered cpu.
It seems the cooler has poor mounting pressure or poor baseplate contact with IHS.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

I can agree with the points, though like see cooler review on soldered cpu.
It seems the cooler has poor mounting pressure or poor baseplate contact with IHS.

That what I am figuring as well. When this cooler technically launched a few years ago the CPU landscape was a bit different than it is today. As such its a good reason to always verify performance of older coolers with newer platforms. Just because something performed top of the class previously does not mean it will do so as time goes on. Granted some coolers are timeless but again as seen here thats not always the case. I will be keeping the SIlentium PC Grandis 2 XE1436 on my bench until the next platform change much further down the road in order to revisit it and see how things change.

 

[IceShroom]

That what I am figuring as well. When this cooler technically launched a few years ago the CPU landscape was a bit different than it is today. As such its a good reason to always verify performance of older coolers with newer platforms. Just because something performed top of the class previously does not mean it will do so as time goes on. Granted some coolers are timeless but again as seen here thats not always the case. I will be keeping the SIlentium PC Grandis 2 XE1436 on my bench until the next platform change much further down the road in order to revisit it and see how things change.

Keep up the good work.

 

[bug]

Yeah, at that size it should have beaten everything else hands down.

It's also relatively easy to check what went wrong: look at the temperature of the heatsink. If it's low, the heat is trapped onto the CPU (poor contact), if it's high, it's trapped within the heatsink (fans not cooling fast enough).

 

[MrFrogSD]

Simple question. You used to include many more coolers for comparison, e.g. Scythe Fuma, Cryorig R1, etc. You seem to have trimmed the list mightily and it doesn't appear to be thoroughly representative of different classes of cooler. Curious as to why, and wondering if you can include the more complete list.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

Simple question. You used to include many more coolers for comparison, e.g. Scythe Fuma, Cryorig R1, etc. You seem to have trimmed the list mightily and it doesn't appear to be thoroughly representative of different classes of cooler. Curious as to why, and wondering if you can include the more complete list.

New test bench went from a 6700k to an 8700k At which point doing the switch over and continuing to do reviews means I do not have time to push out 20+ rebenches + new coolers in a timely manner. People forget this is a hobby not a day job I have bills to pay and a shitty day job. So I carry over about 9-10 coolers to start. Then rebuild from there. Considering many sites only carry over a few or have convoluted charts. Techpowerup and Tweaktown are really the only two sites that offer an easy to read graph format with lots of coolers. As shown here however with the Grandis 2 using a modern platform is a bit of a requirement as that cooler does well on older sockets but just didn't live up to expectations here. As such constantly using an up to date platform means I can only rebench / update so many coolers.

Currently the Test results include
AIR:
2 entry level $35 / $40
3 mid range $47 / $51 / $65
4 high end $80 / $90 / $90 / $90

Water:
3 high end $110 / $110 / $130 /
2 enthusiast $170 / $275

The only price bracket not represented is in the $70 range which would likely be occupied by a single 120 / 140 AIO which have lost popularity.

 

[gamerman]

budget cooler not so usefull.

but, its been nice if Techpowerup review Alpenföhn Olymp cooler.
its better tha noctua D15.
TDP 340W!!

dunno why hardware site not test it?

link

https://www.alpenfoehn.de/en/products/cpu-cooler/olymp

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

budget cooler not so usefull.

but, its been nice if Techpowerup review Alpenföhn Olymp cooler.
its better tha noctua D15.
TDP 340W!!

dunno why hardware site not test it?

link

https://www.alpenfoehn.de/en/products/cpu-cooler/olymp

Send me one Ill review it.

However that said its not better than a D15 or R1 its similar. Its a huge ass cooler for sure but in terms of metals and weight its actually lighter. Judging from review images the fins seem to be rather thin and easily bendable so quality isn't quite there in that regard from what I am seeing. That said its an older design and Alpenföhn isn't exactly all that active in pushing / marketing their products.

 

[Athlonite]

@crazyeyesreaper This alone would make it worth while though

100% compatibility with your memory
Due to the asymetrical heatsink all memory slots can be populated – even if high heatspreaders are used on the modules.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

@crazyeyesreaper This alone would make it worth while though

100% compatibility with your memory
Due to the asymetrical heatsink all memory slots can be populated – even if high heatspreaders are used on the modules.

Like i said if i got one i would review it however I am stateside so with no marketing arm in the states and no current contact = SOL. Sucks but thats the way the cookie crumbles. Other manufacturers on the other hand reach out to me or others on TPU with every product they release for me to review it if possible. So with limited time to handle a limited number of samples I try to be as good about spreading the love as I can but not every manufacturer gets the coverage I would like to give them. It is what it is. Silentium PC is smaller local EU manufacturer they stepped up and I reviewed the hardware. Good or bad I respect them for looking and trying to capitalize on that opportunity. They are also really good about taking constructive criticism and improving their products.