A Closer Look

The Grandis XE1236 is comprised of two cooling towers with fourty-seven aluminum fins. These twin cooling towers are cooled by dual 120 mm fans, and you have the option to add a third fan to further improve cooling performance.


In order to keep costs down, users won't find elaborate pieces of plastic or crazy LEDs on the Grandis XE1236. Instead, the design is clean and simple, with a black aluminum fin at the top adding just a small bit of flair.


For even heat distribution, the heatpipes have been spaced apart evenly and placed at the center of the fins. You won't find fancy nickle-plating as these are just ordinary copper heatpipes.


The cooler's base is flat, with the heatpipes soldered to the base rather than touching the CPU's integrated heat-spreader directly, as is the case with the Fera 2 HE1224. A small nitpick it may be, but the quality of the copper base could be improved as machining marks can easily be seen and felt.


SilentiumPC has paired the Grandis XE1236 with two PWM fans. Their RPM range is 500-1500, and both use a hydraulic bearing and feature seven fan blades. The wires on both fans are sleeved, which is always nice to see, especially at this price point.