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If you have just purchased a brand new HD7970 or HD7950 then this cooler will be particularly interesting. The ARCTIC Accelero Xtreme 7970 is an exceptional cooling solution, often running with a 20c lower overhead than the reference solution. It is worth bearing in mind that even if you own an older AMD graphics card such as the 6970, 6950, 6870, 6850, 6790, 5870, 5850 and 5830, then this cooler will work fine.
It is not just the cooling performance that is improved however, the noise emissions are significantly lower, especially when gaming. The Accelero Xtreme 7970 is unlikely to be heard at all inside an enthusiast chassis, unlike the reference AMD card, which is clearly audible when tasked. The three fans spin slowly, generating a high level of airflow with minimal noise emissions.
The build quality is up to the standard we would expect from ARCTIC, and the bundle is extensive. The only extras you need are a screwdriver, eraser and a lot of time. This leads me into the only real negative I can mention. The install procedure is lengthy and not ideal for an inexperienced user. It doesn't help that ARCTIC decided to make the lengthy install support literature available only online, which adds a little to the confusion.
If you are very inexperienced and have just bought a new video card, then we would be surprised if you would feel happy following the long drawn out install procedure, highlighted earlier in this review. This really is a shame, because the end result is fabulous and well worthy of the time involved. The purchasing decision will really fall down to the individual, anyone with confidence and experience won't have a problem following the fitting procedure.
Just be aware that once you start fitting the cooler, there will be at least a 6 hour time frame when you can't use the card. This is the minimum time for the install and then for the glue to completely dry. I would recommend a mid afternoon start, with the goal of using the system again in the morning.
It is a great cooler, and the design, and attention to detail is first class. It just might be a little complex for some people.
You can buy the ARCTIC Accelero Xtreme 7970 Cooler direct from ARCTIC over here for $97.95.
ARIA in the UK also stock ARCTIC products over here. No listing yet for the Accelero Xtreme 7970, but it might appear shortly.
Pros:
- Fantastic end result.
- Quiet.
- 20C+ cooler than reference cooling solution.
- Great build quality.
Cons:
- No instructions in the box.
- Quite expensive.
- Fairly length and complex install procedure.
Kitguru says: If you want the ultimate air cooling for your AMD graphics card, this is about as good as it gets.
wow thats wicked!
Excellent, but boy thats expensive, about £70 when it hits in UK I reckon!
Its a great video card, but im not sure about that install, seems to take forever and im not that confident. was going to get a 7950, but I might just opt for a sapphire card which has a good cooler already. ill probably kill the card completely
Hi, I just installed all the heatsinks on mine card, except this one: http://i.imgur.com/Iyr2N.jpg
Do I need to install the last one to the blank slot aswell or not? Seems like you’ve put it in but I’m wondering if it may cause some kind of conflict.
Hey. Nice review, though I got a question. I got the cooler today aswell, I’ve put all the heatsinks except this one http://i.imgur.com/Iyr2N.jpg because seems like mine board does not have a component and neither does your. Do I still need to put it there?
The installed cooler pics seem to show the weight of the heatsink bending the plastic cooler, did you have another pic of it in the case? The design worries me as it puts all the weight to one side and when installed I imagine that could look pretty precarious.
I have the Artic Cooling Accelero Twin Turbo II. The smaller 250 watt two-fan version of this cooler for my Sapphire Flex 6950. I agree that the install seems very hard, but there are two thing s you can do to make things easier: 1) get an eElmer,s glue stick ( glue in a lipstick type container ) 2) get some Artic Silver or other brand thermal adhesive glue. Artic Silver’s glue dries in 3 minutes, not 5 hours.
The stupid little washers that go between the card the spacers are a monumental pain in the butt. If you have the glue stick, you will be able to use it to attach the washers you screw up because their glue sticks to your fingers before you get the washer to your card. You will see what I mean. I got two done right and used the Elmer’s on the other two. It made no difference. The Elmer’s only has to hold the spacer to the washer until the cooler is finally attached to the card. I tried gently moving the spacers and couldn’t tell which had the original glue and which had the Elmer’s, they were all stuck just fine. If you go with Artic Silver epoxy, realize it is permanent. This might scare you, but when you realize that you would have to be a complete moron to not be able to fit the perfect sized heat sink to the ram chip, your blood pressure will go down. I guarantee you can do it and you will still have 3 minutes to to make any minor adjustments to make your heat sinks line up with laser precision. I knocked 11C off my idle and 18C of my load ( Heaven DX11- GPU maxed ). The original sapphire cooler was quiet, but didn’t cool anywhere near the reviewed specs. My system is in a Silverstone Raven II case ( 3 180mm fans on the bottom firing up), so there were no excuses for the poor cooling performance of Sapphire’s original cooler. The Artic Cooling GPU coolers are excellent and well worth the effort.
just ordered one, looks great.
At last they included a set of heatsinks, the last coolers they launched didn’t and the VRMS got too hot.
@ Yopa – I just followed the instructions for the 7970, but I dont think you need that heatsink really in that position as you say.
@ Omegared – its actually pretty secure, but there will always be a little bit of movement as the cooler is basically only secured with 4 screws from the back.
Just bought one today, looking forward to getting it 🙂 will use the review for the install, thanks !
Bought one this morning after reading this, great looking product. never done this before, but looks easy enough, if time consuming.
Hello, I’ve order this cooler also but i got a simple question.
I really don’t understand from the PDF manual where to apply the Insulation Tape.
It must be applied on the VRMs only ?
The only area of importance would be close to the ram heatsinks, to the right. but I really dont think you need it at all on the 7970 if you are careful with the heatsink application.
Guys,
Has anyone purchased this Acelero 7070 in the UK yet? I cannot find anyone who is even advertising it, isually QuietPC does, but they arnt yet wither 🙁 Where have you purchased from?
Hi Guys.
Can you please tell me where you purchased from in the UK, I cannot find anyone who is stocking this yet..?
Thanks!
I think you can order direct from ARCTIC to the UK…. on their website.
Could any of the owner of the Arctic Accelero Extreme 7970 send me the pdf file for the installation? I could not find it on the Arctic website.
“The compound has to be mixed by hand for 5 minutes. It is important to time this fairly accurately, otherwise it won’t work as well as it should. After this is done, then you need to wait for a further 15 minutes before applying the thermal glue to the heatsinks.”
NO. You apply the glue within 15 minutes. That is a fatal mistake for those installing the cooler according to the instructions provided here.
No you don’t …. you need to let the mixed compound bond for 15 minutes. you dont apply the glue that quickly. This is epoxy glue not instant bond, it needs to bond the two elements before adhering to the parts supplied.
My temp on my hd 7970 where a lot lower than this test my card was running at 90c with the ref cooler. But now it runs at 44c max and vrm,s at 47c max. The adhesive now is it one tube and you can apply straight away and takes under 1 hour it took 20 mins for me. What a great bit of kit. Ps it is big so you will need a big case