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The staff of XtremeHardware review, today, a heat sink for high-end video cards. This is the flagship product of ARCTIC COOLING, the Accelero XTREME Plus II, available directly from the store of the company at a price of 69,78 €.

[VERSIONE ITALIANA]

 

 

ARCTIC COOLING is a Swiss company, with factories in Hong Kong and the United States, founded in 2001 and leader in cooling systems. Since few years the company has expanded its portfolio by launching devices such as keyboards, speakers, mouse, cases and power supplies.

The staff of XtremeHardware, after testing and published the reviews on some models that are part of these new solutions, today will test a VGA cooler, the Accelero XTREME ARCTIC Plus II.

 

logo

The product in review is for the user looking for a cooling system able to offer excellent temperature and low noise.

This solution uses the design of the Xtreme series; it is equipped with well 83 aluminum fins and 5 copper heat pipes with a diameter of 6 mm, that can provide a cooling capacity equal to 250W. The best conductivity is ensured by the thermal paste, the ARCTIC MX-4, pre-applied.

Among the strengths described by the company are also the aid of the G-1 thermal glue that can provide the best thermal conductivity between RAM, VR and their heat sinks. Other interesting aspects are the quietness, touted by the company thanks to the 3 92mm fans, and the broad compatibility with video cards currently available on the market.

Below are the detailed specifications and the compatibility list.


 

Component Technical Properties

caratteristiche

 

Video card compatibility list

compatibilita

 

For more information, please consult the manufacturer's site:

http://www.arctic.ac/en/p/cooling/vga/376/accelero-xtreme-plus-ii.html?c=2182

 


Box and Bundle

BOX

We begin the description of the product, starting as usual from the box and its contents. The product, contained in a blister protection, comes wrapped in a cellophane transparent packaging; it allows quick visual inspection of the heat sink.

 

0x_accelero_boxfront1


The front shows the product name and a sticker that highlights the main features; you can see the product very well and also the three 92mm fans.

 

0x_accelero_boxfront

 

On the side of the box we can see the name of the product on one side and a list of features, written in ten different languages, on the other, reproducing the main features.

 

0x_accelero_boxside 0x_accelero_boxside1

0x_accelero_boxsidezoomspech

 

The back of the pack, unlike the front, is rich of information; we find, besides the main features, the technical specifications, the compatibility list, the method of installation and three graphs that compare the temperatures and the noise featured using an NVIDIA GTX 580 with stock heat sink and the Accelero XTREME Plus II.

 

0x_accelero_boxback

BUNDLE

Let's open the box and gradually extract the components to evaluate the content.


0x_accelero_boxopen1

 

Once removed the actual heat sink we find, in the shelf below, the VR and RAM heat sinks, a 7V/12V power cord, a bag containing screws, washers and spacers, a rear mask, G-1 glue and other accessories.

0x_accelero_boxopen2

Below is the table containing all the accessories included in the package, this list is also included in the printed manual, also integrated in the box.

accessories

0x_accelero_bundle

 


 

The heat sink

The heat sink looks massive and generous in size, equal to 288 L x 103 W x 50 H mm and having a weight of well 0.9 kg. The upper part is characterized by 3 92mm fans with 11 white blades and protected by a black plastic grille bearing the name of the company and of the product.


0x_accelero_triplefan 0x_accelero_fan

The lower part is characterized by 83 aluminum fins, crossed by 5 copper heat pipes starting from the central core, which is also entirely of copper, with ARCTIC MX-4 thermal paste already applied.

0x_accelero_dissipator

In the image below we can see in detail the core of the heat sink, of copper, surrounded by a metal base/adapter with 3 holes in the four corners.

These holes are needed to anchor the various video cards on the market and each hole is related to different boards. Below is the table provided in the manual.

0x_accelero_dissiCu

fori_dissicu

In the following images we can take a closer look at the structure of the cooling system.

0x_accelero_dissiside1 0x_accelero_dissiside2pipe

 


 

Test: installation

Let's go to the testing of this product starting from the installation.

We tested this solution produced by ARCTIC COOLING on an AMD Radeon HD 5870 VGA distributed by Sapphire.

0x_accelero_stockvsaccelero

From the image above we can see the difference between the stock heat sink and the Accelero XTREME II Plus; what leaps to the eyes is the difference in size, in fact the ARCTIC product is longer than the entire AMD video card.

Let's proceed with the removal of the stock heat sink that came with the card; the operation is simple and fast. Simply unscrew the four spring screws on the back PCB of the card and unplug the 4-pin fan connection. After this we find ourselves in front of the video card without heat sink and with the GPU in sight.

0x_accelero_5870a 0x_accelero_5870b

 

Now it’s time to install the heat sink manufactured by the Swiss company; also this operation is very simple and fast, thanks to the excellent guide in the manual that we report below.

installation

First identify which of the three holes in the corners of the anchor is the right one for our video card; in our case is the hole # 2 (step 4)

In the table we can see that for our hole and then for our card are required the 3mm spacers, to be applied with adhesive to the anchor plate at the hole # 2 (steps 5 and 6).

Having done that we can place the video card with the holes with the spacers applied to them and screw the 4 screws; the installation of the heat sink is finished.

0x_accelero_5870accelero_top

In the above image we can see the video card with the new heat sink mounted. From this image is hard to see how much has actually lengthened the video card; but this difference is easily seen by looking at the board from the rear.

0x_accelero_5870accelero_bottom

This sink, in fact, extends the video card a few centimeters bringing it to about 320 mm, making it impossible to install it on computers with small and medium-sized cases.

0x_accelero_5870accelero_length

The height of the card is about 55 mm, occupying a total of three slots. You will not be able to use the two slots below the x16 one where the card is installed.

0x_accelero_5870accelero_side

To install the heat sinks on VR and RAM the operation is very simple; you can just apply the G-1 thermal glue on RAM and VR, then go to the application of the included heat sinks. After completing the installation of the heat sink do not forget to connect the fan power to the appropriate molex adapter transformer.


Tests: measured temperatures

We recorded the video card temperatures both at idle and during testing situations.

The software used for our test are HWMonitor of CPUID family that can detect the temperature of processor, video card, hard drives and other peripherals and the ATI Overdrive panel in the Catalyst Control Center that allows us to monitor temperature, load percentage of video card and operating frequencies.

To stress the card we used the BOINC software, a platform capable of using hardware resources made available by users to carry out distributed computing projects.

To test the video card we have adhered to the Moo! Wrapper project with the goal of decrypting a 72bit RC5 key; this project, like many others, takes full advantage of parallelization of the video card, utilizing it at 100%. For more detailed information visit

http://moowrap.net/

We will compare the performance of the Accelero XTREME Plus II with the stock heat sink which was given with the card.

Under idle conditions, the temperature of 53° was detected while initiating processing and reaching a load equal to 97/100%, the temperature reached 78° in a short time causing the increase of the fan speed.

0x_accelero_stock_idle 0x_accelero_stock_full

After this test, we assemble the Accelero XTREME Plus II, using the pins relative to 7V, and we launch the same programs again. We notice immediately that the temperature has dropped dramatically bringing to 40° at idle and once started BOINC, 60° in full load, with 13 degrees of difference at idle and 18 at full load.

0x_accelero_accelero7V_idle 0x_accelero_accelero7V_full

Let's test the system with the power at 12V.

At idle we detect a temperature of 39°, very close to that made ​​out with the power to 7V. Starting the project Moo! Wrap, we note a temperature of 54°; therefore 6° less than the previous measure, and as many as 24° than the standard heat sink.

0x_accelero_accelero12V_idle 0x_accelero_accelero12V_full

Below is a comparison chart of all the measured temperatures, with both stock heat sink and with the Accelero XTREME II Plus at 7 and 12 volts.

0x_accelero_graficotemp

The recorded performances were very good, the temperature recorded with the video card at full load is reduced by 32% compared to the standard heat sink. Another positive aspect to note is the remarkable silence of the three 92mm fans, in fact, the entire cooling system, even when fully loaded, it is hardly noticeable.


Conclusions

oro

 

Performance: 5 stelle
Quality/price ratio: 4 stelle
Overall: 4,5 stelle

Even on this occasion ARCTIC COOLING proves to be at the forefront of peripherals and high-level cooling systems. This system also allows the hottest video card to work at full throttle while maintaining a reduced temperature and an excellent acoustic comfort.

In our tests, the AMD HD 5870 recorded a full load temperature of 54 degrees, or one degree more than that recorded by the stock cooler at idle mode! Another positive side is represented by the well-stocked bundle with VR and RAM heat sinks.

The only flaws of this system are the generous size and the cost not so low; € 69.78 at the ARCTIC COOLING store, even if provided with 6-year warranty. Nevertheless, the Accelero XTREME Plus II has revealed to be a great product for more demanding users and, especially in summer, want to keep their video card cool.

Pros:

  • Silent
  • Easy to install
  • Manual easy to understand
  • Dual power
  • Accessories in the kit

 

Cons:

  • Generous size
  • Slightly high price

 

We wish to thank ARCTIC COOLING for the sample supplied to us.

Angelo Ciardiello
Translated by Marco Comerci

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