The processing power of the current graphic card generation is phenomenal, in fact some of the newer graphics chips can run distributed computing projects such as Folding at Home. This processing horsepower of course requires some pretty potent cooling. Most of these cards come with large GPU coolers attached and sometimes take up two PCI slots on the motherboard, however, some of these cards get pretty darn loud when the card is under load. I have had a few NVIDIA cards that sounded like small vacuums when playing F.E.A.R. or some other graphically intensive game. These stock coolers perform their job, but at the price of higher noise levels, if you want to overclock your card, then they will get even louder.
Arctic Cooling makes some of the best GPU coolers on the market and they are about to unleash their newest model, fortunately, we were able to get our hands on the Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme 8800 Video Card Cooler. This cooler is designed to fit the nVIDIA 8800Ultra, GTX, GTS(G80) model graphic cards.
Please note, this cooler is designed to fit the G80 GPU versions of these cards.
Arctic Cooling has garnered a reputation for making excellent products that provide superb performance with whisper quiet operation. Lets see if they can continue the trend with the Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme 8800 Video Card Cooler. Lets get started.
Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme 8800 Video Card Cooler Review
Reviewed by: Tomas Ratas
Sponsor: Arctic Cooling
Tech Specs,Features or the Basic Info:
Accelero Xtreme 8800: nVIDIA GeForce 8800Ultra, GTX and GTS(G80)
Main Features:
3 x 80mm PWM Fans
5 Heatpipes Penetrate 107 Fins
Optimized Air Flow
Patented Fan Holder Eliminates the Humming Noise
Low Noise Impeller
Integrated Memory Cooling
Voltage Regulators Cooling
Pre-applied MX-2
SLI Compatible
The Accelero Xtreme features with 5 heatpipes, 107 fins and 3 PWM fans. The radical optimized air flow design is targeted to cool effectively up to 240 Watt heat dissipation. Accelero Xtreme can dramatically bring down the heat from GPU at least 20C lower than the stock cooler. Together with the integrated memory cooling and voltage regulator cooling, Accelero Xtreme not only enhances the overclock potential but also extends the card’s service life.
The three PWM fans from Accelero Xtreme bring maximum air flow but operate extremely silence, thanks to the low noise impeller design and the patented fan holder which eliminates the humming noise. The unnoticeable operation of Accelero Xtreme brings you the unparalleled non-disturbed gaming experience ever before.
{mospagebreak title=A Better Look at things}
A Better Look at Things
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The Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme 8800 Video Card Cooler comes in a plastic clamshell with the coolers front, top and sides visible through the packaging.
The back of the package features a black cardboard insert listing the specs of the Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme 8800 Video Card Cooler, a comparison of noise and cooling performance versus the stock NVIDIA cooler and a picture with the components and features of the cooler and heatsink.
The package snaps open from the front. No need to whip out the scissors to cut this package open, thanks AC!
Inside, one finds the Accelero Xtreme 8800 cooler, a slot cover, a bag with twelve thick thermal pads and one thinner thermal pad, four voltage regulator heatsinks, a bag of screws, an Arctic Cooling decal and the instruction sheet.
The heatsink measures in at 25.6 cm x 8.8cm x 2.1 cm and weighs 440 grams.
The fan sections features three 90mm PWM fans. The outside fans have the AC logo in the center and the middle one features the Accelero logo in the center. The fan section measures out to 25.2 xm x 10.0 cm x 3.2 cm. The fans bearings are fluid dynamic bearings, which helps reduce the noise produced by the fans. Fan speed ranges from 1500-2000 via PWM.
A Better Look at Things
Continued:
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Appearance wise, the AC cooler is similar to most of the Arctic Cooling line. Black fans with the AC logo in the middle and clear plastic casing. It is aesthetically pleasing and is without the LED bling that many cooler products now employ.
The heatsink is way, way longer than the 8800GTS heatsink. I would assume that it is comparable in size to the GTX stock cooler in terms of length.
The unit is composed of 107 aluminum cooling fins with five heatpipes. There is a main heatsink with sixty two fins and a second heatsink with around thirty five fins. This type of setup increases the cooing surface of the Accelero Xtreme 8800. The second section of the heatsink is composed of shorter fins as to keep the cooler from blocking access to the video cards 12V port.
The bottom of the heatsink is composed of a large aluminum block with a central copper square core. This block cools both the GPU and memory through the thermal pads that Arctic Cooing has included.
The five heatpipes connect to the copper core allowing the dispersal of thermal energy along the length of the cooler. Arctic Cooling has pre-applied thermal compound on this core to help speed up installation. The compound is MX-2 Thermal Compound.
Installation, Testing and Comparison
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The first step to installing the Accelero Xtreme 8800 Video Card Cooler is to remove your stock cooler. During the installation process, the removal of the stock cooler was the most time consuming.
For testing, I will be using the EVGA 8800 GTS 640.
Removing the stock cooler involved removing around ten screws from various locations.
It is amazing how much thermal paste and other thermal compounds that are applied to these products. There is a noticeable difference between the hobbyists and the large companys application of these thermal interfaces.
Once the heatsink cooler was removed from the graphics card, we need to clean off all the goo!!!! I used some Isopropyl Alcohol, several Q-Tips, some compressed air and coffee filters to clean off this residue.
Now this looks much better, dont you think?
For size perspective, here are the two coolers laid next to on another.
Installation, Testing and Comparison Continued:
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For the installation process, the first step was to apply the voltage regulator heatsink onto the graphics card.
Next, apply the thermal pads onto the memory chips, ten on my graphics card and one thermal pad onto the NVIO chip on the side.
Now, turn over the cooler and lay it on the graphics card, carefully align the mounting holes of the VGA to the Accelero Xtremes nuts, then fasten the screws. Finally, they recommend attaching their slot cover in place of the existing one; however, my VGAs slot cover was a dual cover, so I was unable to swap it out.
You will notice that the card is much longer with the Accelero Xtreme 8800 Video Card Cooler and in terms of size, it is now similar in length to the 8800GTX Ultra. So make sure your case and motherboard can accommodate such a beast.
For testing the following setup was used:
Motherboard: ABIT IP35-E LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
CPU: Intel Q6600
HeatSink: Cooler Master GeminII using Arctic Cooling MX-2 thermal compound
RAM: Crucial Ballisitx DDR2 800 – 2GB
PSU: OCZ ModXStream 780Watt Power Supply
Graphics: eVGA 8800 GTS 640
Hard Drive: 74GB WD Raptor SATA running Windows XP Pro (SP2)
NVIDIA Forceware Drivers 169.21
For stressing the graphics card, I used ATITool 0.26 and for temperature monitoring, RivaTuner v. 2.06 was used.
For comparison, the same tests were performed with the stock cooler.
Without further ado, here are the results. As you can see the advertised 20 degree drop from Arctic Cooling is not just talk.
That is a pretty remarkable improvement. This can definitely be attributed to the three fans used on the Accelero Xtreme 8800, since most stock coolers use just one fan, plus, since the fans are PWM enabled, you can control the fan speed through RivaTuner and even run them at 100% if you so desire.
The remarkable aspect of the AC cooler is that the Accelero Xtreme 8800 is quieter than the stock NVIDIA cooler during idle activity and under load.
This type of cooling should allow you to overclock your card into higher stratospheres and still have safe temperatures.
Truly amazing stuff from the folks at Arctic Cooling!
Summary:
Arctic Cooling makes some of the best CPU and Video coolers on the market and the Accelero Xtreme 8800 Video Card Cooler continues this trend. With its quiet operation and phenomenal cooling prowess, this cooler you need to get if you want to get the most out of your 8800 series NVIDIA graphics card.
Installation of the Accelero Xtreme 8800 Video Card Cooler is fairly simple once the stock cooler has been removed. Just pay attention to the spatial requirements of your case and motherboard, as this cooler will take up a lot of real estate.
DragonSteelMods gives the Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme 8800 Video Card Cooler a 5 out of 5 score and our Recommended Award as well.
Pros:
– Quieter than Stock Cooler
– Excellent cooling performance
– Simple to install
– Adjustable Fan Speed through Software
Cons:
– Fits on G80 GPU model 8800 cards
– Comparable in size to a GTX Ultra card when installed
I would like to thank Arctic Cooling for the chance to review the Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme 8800 Video Card Cooler and for their support of DSM.
Discuss, Questions HERE
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