A Closer Look

In terms of looks and design, the SilentiumPC Fera 5 heatsink is a textbook example of a traditional tower cooler. It is comprised of aluminium fins with no special coatings, copper heat pipes with no special plating, and a heat pipe base. At first look, the cooler doesn't appear all that different from the value-oriented heatsinks offered years ago. However, updated mounting hardware, better fan designs, and improved material quality all have an impact. So while the Fera 5 heatsink may not be flashy or even remotely new, the design is tried and true. Even the sawtooth-like fin edges have been around for years. Now, with that said, there is again nothing wrong here in terms of design and implementation. There just are no truly distinguishing features.


In terms of surface area, the Fera 5 does have more than you might expect. Unlike most coolers, these two have a rather dense heatsink with 56 aluminium fins used to dissipate heat. Compare this to say a Mugen 5 at 39 and that's quite a difference. While the latter is a larger cooler, the extra surface area of the increased fins should help improve overall performance on the Fera 5 and Fera 5 Dual Fan as long as the included fan(s) can push enough air, which, spoiler alert, they do.


The heat pipes are hidden via a plastic cover that snaps into the top fins. While it's nothing special to look at, it is aesthetically more pleasing than a bare tower heatsink. Better yet, since it is simple, one can easily customize it if one wishes. It is also worth noting that the fins are not smooth, instead featuring a dimpled surface which should further improve cooling performance, though minimally. As for the four heat pipes, they make up the base as they directly touch the CPU's IHS, and while said base is flat, it did have noticeable high and low spots, but it is neither convex nor concave.


SilentiumPC paired the Fera 5 and Fera 5 Dual Fan with their own Fluctus 120 mm PWM fans. This fan uses a fluid dynamic bearing and has an RPM range of 300 to 1800.