Finished Looks

Much like other dual-tower coolers, like the Noctua NH-D15, Deepcool Assassin III, and Zalman CNPS20X, the SilentiumPC Grandis 3 EVO ARGB and Grandis 3 are large, heavy coolers that take up nearly the entire top half of the motherboard. The black top plate and heat-pipe caps on both keep things looking clean and functional, while black fans on the Grandis 3 make it blend in rather than stand out in our test system. Those looking to stand out will likely want the Grandis 3 EVO ARGB as the white semi-translucent fans add some much-needed contrast that really helps the cooler grab your attention.


Due to the cooler's size, it is not friendly in regards to component clearance because it lacks any kind of offset. When the fans are installed for optimized airflow, you will be limited to standard-height memory. The 120 mm front fan can be moved upwards somewhat to allow for some of the less gaudy memory heatsink designs, but beyond that, you will see performance degrade. As such, you are better off using standard-height memory just to avoid any potential headaches. As for graphics card clearance, it's okay on our test bench as the first expansion slot is empty. However, on many Micro-ATX and Mini-ITX boards, you may encounter issues, which is something to keep in the back of your mind.


When it comes to lighting, the ARGB fans are the only illuminated component, but even so, it is well done. The semi-translucent fans diffuse the light quite well, and even when set to red, the individual LEDs are not super noticeable. In general, while not exactly new or exciting, the ARGB implementation as a whole is good, so I found no serious issues or problems to speak of.