ARCTIC Accelero Hybrid Review (with Nvidia GTX680)

Rating: 9.0.

If you have recently bought a new high end video card then there is a good chance you will want to improve upon the cooling proficiency of the reference cooler. Nvidia's GTX680 ships with a decent standard cooler, but today we are ripping the reference card apart and installing the ultra high end ARCTIC Accelero Hybrid – an integrated air and liquid cooling solution. ARCTIC claim a 200% cooling performance improvement with a 9 times noise reduction. For around £130 it will certainly need to deliver the goods.

Last month we reviewed the excellent ARCTIC Accelero Xtreme II, which claimed our top award. We installed this cooler onto the Asus GTX 680 Direct CU II TOP, one of the finest graphics cards on the market and it greatly enhanced the overall cooling performance, while reducing noise levels.

When it comes to ‘all in one' cooling solutions for the mass enthusiast market, ARCTIC have been releasing proven solutions for many years.

The Accelero Hybrid is an interesting new cooler for the company, ditching the tried and tested triple fan air cooling solution. This product is a similar design concept to the array of ‘all in one' liquid coolers already available on the market for AMD and Intel processors.

The Hybrid comprises a single unit comprising a radiator, fan, pump and copper block. The main plastic shell section which mounts to the card also contains a fan, which forces cool air over the VRM's and memory.

ARCTIC don't seem to have missed a trick, but does it perform as well as it sounds?

Before we install the Accelero Hybrid, we needed to line up a ‘test subject' … so we opted for a reference card by Palit courtesy of ARIA.

They sent us a PALIT GTX 680 which features a standard board design. You can pick this up for £403.04 inc vat today.

It is worth pointing out early in the review, that the Accelero Hybrid will work perfectly with the reference GTX680 design, shown in the image directly above. The two 6 pin PCI e power plugs are ‘stacked’ above each other as shown in the image above. The Accelero Xtreme III which we reviewed in June does NOT work with this stacked power plug design.

This card is clocked at 1006mhz, with a rated core boost speed of 1,058mhz. This is the style of card that many people will want to upgrade.

A structural diagram of the Accelero Hybrid highlights the liquid flow system, flowing a traditional design implementation identical to CPU units we have tested recently. It is capable of dealing with 320watts of heat. The graphics card module weighs 363g and the Heat Exchanger Module weighs 503g.

The ARCTIC Accelero Hybrid ships in a plain white box with a high resolution image taking centerstage on the front of the box.

Inside the packaging, the bundle is extensive. There are 31 separate heatsinks to cover the installation on various graphics cards.

Accessories

The main shroud for the video card is made from plastic with the name of the product highlighted on the front. ARCTIC have installed an 80mm white fan underneath which is designed to cool the PCB components, such as the VRM's and memory heatsinks, which we will install later in the review. This fan only pushes 13.1 cfm, controlled by PWM to spin between 900 rpm and 2,000 rpm.

The radiator and pump are enclosed and our unit arrived in good condition from the Far East. Occasionally we have seen some minor surface damage to the radiator fins during transport but ARCTIC are using very heavy duty packaging to reduce the chances of this happening.

We have also no concerns with the engineering quality of the Accelero Hybrid. The pump and radiator are all well finished, and the seals held in place during transit across the world. The copper cold plate is also flawless, finished to a fine, smooth base. The tubes are 416mm in length.

The radiator cooling fan is a fluid dynamic bearing 120mm unit,  rated to operate between 400 rpm and 1,350 rpm. It is PWM controlled, with 74 CFM airflow.

Like many of these products, if you are a completely inexperienced user then you will want to get help from a friend or family member who has at least some experience building and disassembling a system. We wouldn't say this was rocket science, but you need to have plenty of patience and at least a little grounding on graphics cards.

The first stage is to remove the reference cooler which only takes a complete of minutes. Not every card is held in place identically, so there may be some additional screws to remove to get the cooler away from the PCB. The first course of action should be to remove the thermal paste on the GPU core. The image above shows the ‘naked' GTX680 with the cooler removed.

Depending on the card you are using, there may be excessive left over materials on the GDDR5 memory. We strongly suggest you use an eraser to totally clean each of the memory surfaces. It only adds a few minutes to the build time and will ensure that the thermal glue adheres perfectly to each chip. There is no need to apply excessive pressure, just carefully clean the surfaces of all memory chips.

The next step is to install a layer of insulation tape over the circuit components close to the VRM's – this will negate any problem with short-circuiting (image above left – the area to protect highlighted in red. image above right – the clear protective tape in place).

I don't really feel there is any need for this protective tape if you are careful later when applying the heatsinks, but for the sake of being thorough in this review I will follow the ARCTIC instructions.

The next stage is to install three rubber pads over the base block of the card where the heat exchanger section will mount. This is to help stop vibration related audio emissions when the card is in operation and the liquid is pumping.

Above, the copper block heat exchanger head slotted into the cooler shroud.

The cabling should be run around this block as shown above, although I actually ignored this slightly and decided to apply my own routing. There isn't really a hard and fast rule here, the main concern is that the cable doesn't get tangled up in the cooling fan close by. I think ARCTIC overcomplicated this instruction phase a little, because as long as you apply a little common sense it is hard to go wrong here.

Four screws are needed to mount this block in place. Carefully line up the head with the four holes and bolt into place.

When this is in place, it should look like the above. This can take a few minutes, but if you are unsure just re-read the detailed guide and take some time.

This phase of the install may be a little confusing, so we will try to clarify. The Accelero Hybrid has basically ‘three lanes' for the liquid intake and out take cooling tubes. On the GTX680, the ‘outer' two lanes must be used. When the cooler is mounted later, this gives enough physical space underneath for the board components. It also ensures that the tubes can run past the PCI power connectors without issue.

As shown above, ARCTIC include black and white diagrams explaining this, however above we have highlighted the three ‘lanes' with red arrows. The two lanes to the right, outer part of the cooler must be used for the GTX680, leaving the inside lane (with the brighter red arrow in our photograph), free.

When these are in position, they are held in place with screws and a broad metal plate.

Above, both plates and screws holding the tubes securely in place. This means they can't slip out of the support lanes, subsequently causing issues later in the build. These mounting plates are also designed to not compress the tubes, reducing liquid flow.

We then attach the header cables together so the pump can get power later. There is a locking position for this cable header built into the plastic shroud.

On the other side of the card is a header plug, this is used to power the radiator fan. Just check everything is in the right place, but more on this later however.

Before we install the cooler ‘module' onto the GTX680 PCB, we need to prepare the card.

Earlier we removed the cooler, cleaned the memory surfaces and adhered an insulation strip over the circuitry close to the VRM's. ARCTIC have supplied thermal glue in a small white tube, so pierce the package and start applying to the individual heatsinks.

There really is no need to go crazy with this glue because it takes much longer to dry and may even have an adverse effect. We advise only a thin layer applied carefully. When we had finished we had almost half the tube left, so there is no need to panic. ARCTIC recommend using a pair of pliers to get every last drop from the tube if you manage to run low.

It is important to adhere these carefully, directly above the memory and not to underhang close to the GPU central section in the middle. This can cause serious mounting issues when the cooler has to be fitted.

The simple rule of thumb I use is this:

1. use the thermal glue sparingly, only spread a thin layer across the complete surface of each heatsink.
2. line up the heatsinks on the memory one at a time.
3. hold each of the heatsinks in place for 60 seconds, with moderate pressure.
4. double check they aren't intruding on the central section close to the GPU mounting block area.

ARCTIC have improved this part of the installation phase by including a template sheet which can be placed over the GPU core, shown above. If any of the memory interferes with the ‘dummy' heatsink placement then you need to move the heatsinks before they glue firmly in place. Take time with this part of the installation as if you make a mess of it, it is very difficult to remove the heatsinks later.

The other heatsinks can be adhered as shown above. Every card will have a slightly different layout, requiring the use of other heatsinks included in the package.

Leave the card now for at least an hour while the heatsinks adhere in place. If you have used too much glue be prepared to wait much longer.

The company supply a long, thin tube of high grade MX4 thermal paste for the GPU core (shown in the image above). It may seem obvious, but make sure you haven't mixed up the thermal paste and thermal glue tubes! Hopefully we don't need to explain why.

For some reason ARCTIC detail that the paste be applied to the copper base of the graphics card module, but due to the much larger diameter, it seems a rather inefficient, messy way to complete this procedure. Potentially an excess of thermal paste could be hanging from the copper block, outside the physical parameters of the GPU core underneath.

Set the GTX680 card safely to one side.

While you are waiting for the heatsinks to glue firmly in place, now is a good time to adhere the spacers onto the graphics card module. This can be the most frustrating section of the install, although this time around I didn't experience many problems.

Locate the correct spacers for the graphics card you are using. The GTX680 needs the 1.5mm spacers, shown above (tiny white spacers).

Firstly, locate the adhesive tape and stick to one side of the 1.5mm spacers. Peel off the other protective cover and stick to the cooler mount. The GTX680 uses the outer mounting holes shown in the image above (right), but other cards may need different positions. Refer to the user guide.

I really do think ARCTIC should look into improving this specific section of the install phase. Supplying the spacers with pre-adhered sticky tape would make this much less (potentially) frustrating.

When you are sure the heatsinks are firmly glued into place flip the card over and stick the foam pad in the middle of the four main mounting holes, as shown above.

Using the 3.5mm spacers, the backplate should be attached to the card and fed into the graphics card module on the other side. This is quite fiddly and requires the use of a both hands and a level eye to line up the mounting holes from the rear.

Above, the finished install. It is important not to over tighten the backplate into the front graphics card module as it can actually distort the shape of the card. A moderate amount of clamping pressure is all that is needed.

It is important you use the plastic spacers underneath as the metal base can touch the PCB, potentially causing a short circuit when powered up, subsequently frying the video card. It would be an expensive lesson to learn, particularly after spending over £400 on a GTX680.

Earlier in the review we mentioned the three ‘lanes' underneath the card. If you didn't pay attention with the GTX680 and used the inner two lanes then the cooler won't install. The stacked power connectors will interfere with the tubing. The image above shows the correct fitting.

The 120mm ARCTIC fan has to be attached to the radiator, as shown above. You need to use a thin Phillips head screwdriver for this so it will fit through the outer fan holes.

ARCTIC have listed various ways to install the Accelero Hybrid into your case, as shown above. The fitting procedure will depend hugely on the chassis you are using and if you have free space at the rear of the case. If you are using a Antec 920 CPU cooler for instance, you may need to mount the Accelero Hybrid radiator at the front of the case, intaking cool air over the hard drives.

The importance of organising the cabling earlier is now becoming evident. The 120mm radiator fan needs to be attached to this side of the card.

The final ARCTIC Accelero Hybrid build completed. While the install procedure is straightforward, it is time consuming and quite fiddly, with a certain amount of pre-planning required. If you are inexperienced or unsure then it might be best enrolling the help of a experienced friend or family member.

We firstly tested with the reference cooler installed on the GTX680, recording the results to use as the all important baseline. The card was then disassembled and the Accelero Hybrid installed. The room environment was maintained at 24c throughout all the tests.

Firstly we checked temperatures after booting the system and letting it idle at the desktop for 15 minutes.

The ARCTIC Accelero Hybrid drops the temperature by 8c when compared against the reference Nvidia GTX680 cooler. Impressive results.

Next, we test with Furmark, using the intensive stress test for a solid 15 minutes, then taking a snapshot of the results.

For ‘real world’ gaming results, we let the card idle for 15 minutes then play Max Payne 3 for an hour, recording the maximum temperature during the playing session.

Some incredible results with the Accelero Hybrid cooler installed. The gaming load and synthetic load drop by 30c and 33c respectively. We have never seen a GTX680 run at 42c when gaming … these are normally close to the idle temperature results!

The reference cooler took over 3 minutes to return to idle after being primed with Furmark for 15 minutes. By comparison, the Accelero Hybrid dropped to idle in the space of 11 seconds.

The Accelero Hybrid is much quieter than the reference cooler, almost silent, even when under Furmark load. The small 80mm fan does spin up a little when under synthetic load to deliver a high level of airflow over the VRM and memory heatsinks which produces most of the noise recorded.

Maximum noise levels we recorded were 30.8 dBa, which is barely audible, and certainly not when paired up with several enthusiast grade chassis fans.

The ARCTIC Accelero Hybrid is undoubtedly a niche product targeting a select audience of enthusiast users. The high asking price is certainly going to be prohibitive, focusing on the wealthy user base who own a high end, expensive graphics card.

We tested today when paired up with Nvidia's high end GTX680 and we are certainly impressed with the results. When compared directly against the reference cooler, the Accelero Hybrid drops load temperatures by a whopping 30c-33c. In real world terms, the Accelero Hybrid gaming load temperature is close to the idle temperature of the reference cooler. This is about as good as you could expect from any ‘all in one' cooling solution.

The audio performance is also noteworthy, with most of the noise originating from the small 80mm fan which is installed into the graphics module. It thankfully has been optimised with a passively configured profile and when gaming it was barely audible. In regards to performance there is little to fault.

The installation phase is certainly not aimed at the inexperienced user, you will need a lot of patience as the process will take a couple of hours from start to finish. If you are familiar with a graphics card layout and construction, then it certainly helps, especially when adhering the heatsinks to VRM's and memory chips.

The biggest factor to take into consideration will be the pricing. The Accelero Hybrid retails for $179.90 / €143.92 and can be bought directly from the ARCTIC store. This will cost more than a low end solution, and would be difficult to justify installing on a sub £300 graphics card. We could in all honestly only recommend the Accelero Hybrid to the high end enthusiast audience, those people who own a GTX680/670 or high end AMD solution.

If you are unwilling to buy a dedicated watercooling kit for your new system then the Accelero Hybrid is currently the best solution you can buy for your graphics card.

Pros:

• 30c better than the GTX680 reference cooler.
• quiet.
• well built.

Cons:

• Expensive.
• Not suitable for inexperienced users.

Kitguru says: Fantastic performance for a no compromises system build.

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