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For many years ARCTIC have been creating some of the finest cooling solutions. Today we are looking at their latest Accelero Xtreme III triple fan cooler which has support for Nvidia's flagship GTX680 graphics card. We know this cooler will annihilate Nvidia's reference cooler, but can it possibly outperform the stunning triple slot DirectCU II TOP cooler which features on the overclocked Asus GTX680?
Today we will find out if the cooler is worth an eye popping $120.
First, let us take a look at the graphics card we are using as the guinea pig ‘test subject' today.
The Asus GTX 680 Direct CU II TOP is one of the best graphics cards on the market, aimed at the high end audience who don't mind paying a little extra for enhanced cooling and clock speeds.
At £480 inc vat it is certainly not an impulse purchase but it includes one of the best ‘out of the box' dual fan coolers, so we feel it is worth paying a little extra. The only downside with this hefty metal cooler is the triple slot design, which can cause some install problems, especially if you want to run in an SLI configuration.
The Asus GTX 680 Direct CU II TOP ships at faster clock speeds than the reference card, 1137mhz on the core (from 1,006mhz), with a boost speed of 1202mhz. Memory is clocked at 1502mhz, or 6GBps effective.
Before we get to the install phase of the review, let's take a look at the ARCTIC Accelero Xtreme III.
Specifications:
| Max. Cooling Capacity | 300 Watts |
|---|---|
| Heatpipe | Ø 6 mm x 5 |
| Heatsink Material | Aluminum fins x 84, thickness 0.3 mm |
| Fan (mm) | 92 mm, 900 – 2,000 RPM (controlled by PWM) x 3 fans |
| Bearing | Fluid Dynamic Bearing |
| Noise Level | 0.5 Sone |
| Current, Voltage | 0.12A / 12V |
| Power Consumption | 4.32W |
| Dimensions (Product) | 288 (L) x 104 (W) x 54 (H) mm |
| Net Weight | 653 g |
| Heatsink | 31 pcs |
| Screw (M2) | 4 pcs |
| Washer | 4 pcs |
| Spacer (2.5 mm) | 4 pcs |
| Spacer (3.5 mm) | 4 pcs |
| Spacer (4.5 mm) | 4 pcs |
| Adhesive Tape | 2 pcs |
| Insulation Tape | 5 pcs |
| Thermal Pads | 3 pcs |
| EVA Foam | 1 pc |
| GPU Back Plate | 1 pc |
| Thermal Adhesives (3 g) | 1 pc |
| VGA Bracket | 1 pc |
| 4-Pin Fan Power Adapter | 1 pc |
| Limited Warranty | 6 years |
| Dimensions (Packaging) | 292 (L) x 110 (W) x 60 (H) mm |
| itemnumber | DCACO-V15G400-BL |
| UPC | 0872767005693 |
| Gross Weight | 1.1 kg |
that is quite incredible when you look at the temperature results, its running cooler than my 6750 in my media center. only downside is the cost, about the same price as my video card just for the cooler…….
Will there be per-installed cards released, do you know?
I don’t want to take chances by spoiling a 680 >.<
Unless a manufacturer works with arctic to release a model with the cooler installed, no.
Kfa2 did it before with another model however, maybe they will….
Wow that’s most impressive considering the DirectCU II is already a fairly quiet and cool cooler to begin with. I can’t see a lot of people paying the premium for the Top model just to remove that cooler but for review purposes it sure does show how awesome the Accelero Xtreme cooler is.
Awesome review!! Lov this beast Cooler!
Need Video on this one!
Thanks for COOL review kitguru!
Hey guys, i recently bougt this cooler. See my videon demonstration
http://youtu.be/EhuGXdEUX9g
In your review you didn’t explain why you removed the backplated and the support bracket. Couldn’t the Accelero Xtreme still be installed with them on?
I have a thing for gpu coolers. Currently have a gtx 570 with a zalman vf3000f, which maxes out at 47 degrees. Also have an inno3d ichill 660 ti with a very similar cooler and also 47 degrees max, maybe a bit lower.
So if your looking for a card with cooling similar to the arctic xtreme III but preinstalled, look at the inno3d ichill series, they have a 670 and 680 model also.
which means “only two slot” ?
with the Accelero it also occupies three slots
Wow thank you for this great tutorial 🙂 I changed the Asus Direct Cu II cooler whit Success trough this 🙂