Endorfy Fortis 5 Black ARGB Review: All you need for AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X3D

CPU-only thermal results without power limits

Because the CPU reaches its peak temperature (TJ Max) with air coolers like the one we’re looking at with this review, I’ve measured the CPU package power to determine the maximum wattage cooled to best compare their performance. This is why you won’t see results from the best AIO coolers in this chart.

It’s important to note that thermal performance can scale differently depending on the CPU it’s being tested with. First, we’ll look at results with Intel’s i7-14700K.

Looking at the results with Intel’s Raptor Lake CPU, you might think this cooler isn’t very impressive. It’s the worst-performing result I have in this chart, outside of a compact SFF cooler. Let’s take a look at how it handles AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X3D now.

This is a much more impressive result. With 219W cooled on average, Endorfy’s Fortis 5 is able to handle the full “stock” power of AMD’s flagship CPU (~200W) and has a little bit of room to spare to let PBO push the CPU beyond its typical performance.

Noise levels are where this cooler shines. While thermal performance on Intel’s hottest CPUs isn’t the greatest, this cooler isn’t designed to win overclocking competitions. It’s designed to provide quietly running, essential cooling performance. With a maximum noise level of 37.3 dBA, this cooler is the quietest product I’ve tested on Intel’s Z790 Platform.

CPU-only noise normalized thermal results

Finding the right balance between fan noise levels and cooling performance is important. While running fans at full speed can improve cooling capacity to some extent, the benefits are limited and many users prefer a quieter system.

For noise-normalized testing with Intel CPUs, I typically set the noise levels of the cooler to reach 38.9 dBA. But this presents a problem: Endorfy’s Fortis 5 doesn’t reach that level of noise! Because this issue prevents a proper comparison to the other results I’ve collected, I’ll be skipping noise-normalized tests on Intel’s Core i7-14700K.

Let’s take a look at my initial noise-normalized results using AMD’s flagship Ryzen 9 9950X3D instead. This chart is still lacking the amount of comparison results I’d like, as I’ve just started sting with this CPU. That said, let’s take a look at what I have recorded thus far.

This test was run a little differently than I have done with previous tests on Intel CPUs. I’ve lowered the noise threshold of the CPU cooler down to 37.3 dBA, as some readers have indicated they consider 38.9 dBA “too loud” for this type of test. The other change is that I’ve measured the thermal performance of the cooler while also running Furmark 2 on MSI’s RTX 4070 TI Super, increasing the heat inside the case and increasing cooling difficulty.

The results here are encouraging. With 195W cooled, that’s almost the full power budget of AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X3D at “stock” settings while the system also handles the full heat of a GPU. It performed significantly better than Thermalright’s impressive Royal Knight 120 SE in the same scenario!

“Stock” 200W results

My recent reviews have focused more on tests with both the CPU and GPU being stressed, but many have indicated they would like to see more CPU-only tests. So let’s take a look at how Endorfy’s Fortis 5 handles the Ryzen 9950X3D with default power levels, which limits consumption to ~200W.

Going by temperature data alone, the results aren’t very impressive here. The CPU reaches a toasty 83.7 degrees. But that really doesn’t matter, because it keeps the CPU under its peak temperature and does so while running very quietly, at or below the lowest measurement my noise meter can measure, at 36.4 dBA. This means the true measurement of noise level might actually be lower.

150W CPU + 290W GPU results

Testing a CPU Cooler in isolation is great for synthetic benchmarks, but doesn’t tell the whole story of how it will perform. If your GPU is running a full load, that heat doesn’t just disappear – it makes it harder for your CPU cooler to do its job due to the increased heat within your computer case.

The CPU power limit of 150W was chosen based on the worst CPU power consumption I’ve seen reported in gaming with AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X3D. In my personal experience, most games use much lower power, but this might be biased by the games I play.

Again, looking at thermal performance alone would give you the incorrect assumption that this cooler is not impressive. The important thing is that the CPU is operating well under its peak temperature, and the cooler is running whisper quiet – 36.4 dBA!

140W CPU results

The last round of test results we’ll look at in today’s review is a test with a 140W power limit imposed. This level of power is much easier for most CPU coolers to handle. But I’ve recorded lower power results for comparisons with SFF and air coolers for future reviews.

As with previous results, Endorfy’s Fortis 5 keeps the CPU within reasonable thermal values while running whisper quiet.

Conclusion

Endorfy’s Fortis 5 ARGB is a single tower air cooler with whisper-quiet noise levels, intended for users who value silent operation over maximum thermal performance. It’s powerful enough to handle AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X3D at stock settings, handling 219W when power limits were removed. However, the performance on Intel CPUs was not as impressive. If you’re looking to compete in overclocking competitions or running a previous-generation Core i9, you might want to pass on this one. But for everyone else, this is the level of cooling I’d recommend for AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X3D, so anything lesser should also run below thermal thresholds and extremely quiet with this cooler.