Arctic Cooling Accelero X2 Review

Name: Arctic Cooling Accelero X2
Brand: Arctic Cooling

W1zzard

on Jan 8th, 2006,

in VGA Coolers.

Manufacturer: Arctic Cooling

(30 Comments) »

Fan Noise

In order to give a measurement of how loud the fan is, we used an IEC651 Type II sound level meter on the dbA slow setting.

The distance between fan and sound level meter was 10 cm. Please note that this is very little, compared to the "standard" measurements, which are made at 1 m distance. We had to do this, to get proper readings with our sound level meter, because we obviously can't spend thousands of dollars on audio measuring equipment.

The cooler was connected to an external lab PSU. 12V is the standard rated fan speed. For easier comparison we also tested the fan noise at 6V.

Very impressive numbers here again, on the previous page we saw how well the cooler keeps temperatures down, it accomplishes this without creating much noise as well.

Value and Conclusion

The Arctic Cooling Accelero X2 will be available starting end of Feb 2006, for a price in the $30-$40 range.
While that price might not be a bargain, you should be able to afford it if you have the money to buy a Radeon X1800.

Quiet
Good performance
Cools voltage regulators
Easy to install
Comes with preapplied thermal paste
Fits X1900
Nice design

Air not vented outside the case
Not that cheap

If you are tired of the fan noise of your X1800 card, you should get the Arctic Cooling Accelero X2. Not because there is no other alternative on the market, but because it unites everything you would want from an aftermarket cooler.
Temperatures are a good deal better than the cooler from ATI, which is already well-engineered. The installation is a charm and can be performed by novices, too. What will please you the most is that the fan noise is reduced a lot. Where the X1800 fan sounds like a leaf blower, the Accelero X2 will easily blend in with the other fans running in your case.