Arctic Cooling Accelero Hybrid VGA Cooler Review: Not For the Faint of Heart
by Dustin Sklavos on December 28, 2012 8:15 PM EST- Posted in
- Arctic Cooling
- graphics
- cooling
Testing Methodology
Testing something like the Arctic Cooling Accelero Hybrid is kind of tricky. I'm not fond of using an open testbed for a product that is never going to see the outside of your case, so I appropriated the testbed used for the radiator roundup (and radiator fan roundup) with a couple of minor changes for my own edification.
| Fan and Radiator Testing Configuration | |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-2700K overclocked to 4.4GHz @ 1.4V |
| Motherboard | Zotac Z77-ITX WiFi |
| Graphics |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB GDDR5 at stock speed (1008MHz core/6GHz memory, 100% Power Target) at overclocked speed (1108MHz core/6.2GHz memory, 132% Power Target) |
| Memory | 2x4GB Corsair Value Select DDR3-1333 |
| Drives | Kingston SSDNow V+ 100 64GB SSD |
| CPU Cooler | Corsair H100i with dual 120mm Noctua fans |
| Power Supply | Corsair CX430 |
| Enclosure | BitFenix Shinobi XL Window |
The i7-2700K was left overclocked, but for the purposes of our testing that doesn't make too much difference as it won't be pushed very hard at any point. The H100i is undoubtedly going to be the source of some consternation, especially since I've customized it with Noctua fans. The Noctuas are more efficient and quieter than the stock fans included with the H100i, and I was also curious to see just how well the Accelero Hybrid would handle occupying similar space with the H100i. It handled it well, as you'll see.
I needed a case that could produce adequate airflow, handle all of the different cooling systems without much trouble, and did not include any sound dampening features. You might be surprised at just how difficult that was to find, but BitFenix came to the rescue and sent over a Shinobi XL. BitFenix's enclosure didn't get the best review when I tested it, but it's actually ideal for this testbed. I removed every case fan but the front intake, which I ran at 5V to prevent it from affecting acoustics while still providing adequate airflow.
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My experience with the GeForce GTX 680 has taught me that while at stock speeds the cooler is capable of running fairly quietly and effiiciently, once an overclock is applied it starts to buckle and can get a little obnoxious. I felt like a mild overclock would be the perfect test to see just how much better the Accelero Hybrid could perform.
Thermal and acoustic test cycles were done the same way as our case reviews. First, the system is left powered and idle for fifteen minutes. At this point the sound level is tested, room ambient temperature is recorded, and idle temperatures are recorded. Then I run EVGA's OC Scanner X (Furry Test) for 15 minutes.
Thank You!
Before moving on, we'd like to thank the following vendors for providing us with the hardware used in our roundup.
- Thank you to iBuyPower for providing us with the Intel Core i7-2700K.
- Thank you to Zotac for providing us with the Z77-ITX WiFi motherboard.
- Thank you to Kingston for providing us with the SSDNow V+ 100 SSD.
- Thank you to Corsair for providing us with the CX430 power supply and H100i.
- Thank you to BitFenix for providing us with the Shinobi XL Window enclosure.
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boyang1724 - Saturday, December 29, 2012 - link
This is quite pathetic actually. Just get an Antec 620/ Corsair H60 cooler and a bracket from dwood for any high end gpu. Also comes with a fan mount, and only costs around $70-80 total. Brought my GTX 670 down from 80C+ max to 55C, and idle from 38C to 25C. It's a much better deal than this thing.SodaAnt - Saturday, December 29, 2012 - link
I'll second this. You get just as much performance for only around $60 (in my case). Plus it actually seems easier to install than this thing.BrightCandle - Saturday, December 29, 2012 - link
A custom water loop specified at 10C delta can produce temperatures around +20C delta at peak load. So these figures are certainly pretty decent comparatively. This goes a long way towards custom loop performance for less cost. Its about the same amount of pain in terms of modifying the GPU for watercooling however, just without the pain of cutting the tubing, fitting larger radiators and other water cooling pain.Your methodology doesn't mention your soak time for the water loop. Due to the heat capacity of water you do need to run at peak load for 30 minutes. So it might not be quite as impressive as it first appears.
mayankleoboy1 - Saturday, December 29, 2012 - link
"Your methodology doesn't mention your soak time for the water loop. Due to the heat capacity of water you do need to run at peak load for 30 minutes. So it might not be quite as impressive as it first appears. "+1
Unless you allow the water temperature to stabilise for some time (1 hour ?) , these results are erroneous.
Death666Angel - Sunday, December 30, 2012 - link
I get ~20K delta between ambient and GPU with my WC rig (4x120mm radiator mounted to the side of the case). It cost me 382.52€, 117.74€ for monitoring and control equipment and 51.56€ for the 4 fans, the rest for the WC stuff (pump, connectors, radiator, tubes...). But I also cool my CPU (which achieved 500MHz higher OC compared to my air cooler (Noctua NH-C12P)) and the system is not audible for me. The GPU was bought used with the WC mounted already and cost as much a new retail, so I got the cooler for free. I can use this equipment for the next CPU, mainboard, GPU upgrade. I can reinstall the stock air cooler on the GPU easily. I can add other components to the loop.I just don't see how these CLCs are seen as competing with custom WC rigs. Yes, they are a bit more expensive, but they also deliver many more options. CLC for CPUs does at least offer a few extra things (better clearance around the socket, extra fan controls...) but I doubt this offers that much more compared to after market GPU air coolers.
ziv_ew - Saturday, December 29, 2012 - link
how dose it compare to the eVGA 680 Hydro Cooper?IanCutress - Saturday, December 29, 2012 - link
Makes me think of the total cost of a pair of MSI Lightnings or ASUS CUII TOPs with these coolers. In simulations the GPU gets hammered extensively over days, and the cooler the whole system the better.dannoddd - Saturday, December 29, 2012 - link
I'd really like to see this put up against one of the DWOOD systems, where you take your choice of ALC mixed with his $8 bracket and put it on any card. I've been concerned about doing it due to the lack of VRM/RAM heatsinks. I think it'd be great if you could grab one of those and bench it against this setup and compare the difficulty of installation.Great article Dustin, love your work.
DanNeely - Saturday, December 29, 2012 - link
As fiddly as this is I suspect that if you've got a supported card a custom loop and a full cover heatsink would be less work to assemble than gluing all the individual ram/vrm sinks in place. Unfortunately they still don't have nVidia 6xx parts available yet.http://www.swiftech.com/graphics.aspx
Shiitaki - Saturday, December 29, 2012 - link
Rather ironic, I had commented in the last water cooling article that the gpu is the one that needs water cooling, not so much the cpu. Why is the radiator mounted to the video card? That's the only reason it's so expensive, and it's silly given how many fan mounts come in cases these days.