Accelero Xtreme GTX 280 mini review and support

[Retro*]

Thanks again Retro.

I got it installed and what a process that was but at least all is well so far. The sinks weren't as bad as I thought to remove but the long sinks did worry me a bit. I had to hit the uni-sink on the bench grinder and it took a while to grind it down enough to make room for the heatpipes. Then I also had to make a new retention bracket and don't laugh at it too much since it does look pretty bad but you don't see it anyways. I did use a sawzall and a bench grinder to make the bracket and there not really made for finish work.

So far it does seem like the vrms are staying cooler than with the stock cooler and quite a bit better than the enzos. Anyways here is some pics.

Edit: I just did some testing and apparently those aluminum sinks on the ram didn't do as good of a job as I thought. I was just playing around with GPUTool and with the aluminum sinks anything over 1225mhz on the ram would cause artifacting almost right away. I just ran GPUTool with 1268mhz on the memory for a few minutes with no errors. I would need to do more testing to see if thats truly stable but definitely an improvement in cooling on the ram.

Wow!
That looks fantastic! Great job
The custom retention bracket you made is excellent! Nicely bolted on, too. So you were able to grind away enough from the Uni-Sink to clear the heatpipes. That's ideal as you were then able to use all of the rest of the Uni-Sink.
Doesn't the card look so much better installed now, with the stock black backplate attached? And no more bowing, the Uni-Sink and backplate keep it nice and straight.

Testing time! You did get much better ram cooling, that's quite a jump in the clock speeds. The Uni-Sink and backplate are much beefier than the aluminum sinks and do seem to be dissipating more heat. As I also found, the Enzos didn't work that great on the vrm's, nice to have that big sink attached to them now.

Very impressive, you have a real cool-running 280 now. I don't think anyone could do any better than that on air cooling. What fan are you using on it? I strapped two 120mm Skythes together and had to strap them to the heatsink for full coverage, when I first did mine. But you might be fine with one fan mounted normally.
You da man

 

[BababooeyHTJ]

Wow!
That looks fantastic! Great job
The custom retention bracket you made is excellent! Nicely bolted on, too. So you were able to grind away enough from the Uni-Sink to clear the heatpipes. That's ideal as you were then able to use all of the rest of the Uni-Sink.
Doesn't the card look so much better installed now, with the stock black backplate attached? And no more bowing, the Uni-Sink and backplate keep it nice and straight.

Testing time! You did get much better ram cooling, that's quite a jump in the clock speeds. The Uni-Sink and backplate are much beefier than the aluminum sinks and do seem to be dissipating more heat. As I also found, the Enzos didn't work that great on the vrm's, nice to have that big sink attached to them now.

Very impressive, you have a real cool-running 280 now. I don't think anyone could do any better than that on air cooling. What fan are you using on it? I strapped two 120mm Skythes together and had to strap them to the heatsink for full coverage, when I first did mine. But you might be fine with one fan mounted normally.
You da man

Thanks

It is nice to do away with the bowing but I am up in the air on the backplate. I like it but I did grow to like the look of the bare pcb and sinks. There was one problem because of my impatience. Apparently 4-40 screws are a hair too big to fit through the mounting holes on the pcb so I had to tap them out. I'm pretty sure that that voided the warranty. Either way I think that it was worth it.

Sadly I can't really use my old test results as a comparison since I have added slower case fans since that test. My rig was just too loud and it did raise the temps of my card and motherboard a bit. It was a little warm yesterday and when running GPUTool to scan for artifacts at the default window size the vrms seemed to top out at 90C at 725mhz while drawing around 70a according to rivatuner and they still hit 100C in Furmark but it took a while to get there. Honestly I was hoping for a bit better but it is still an improvement with the vrms, seems like about 10C difference. Aside from the vrms I was shocked by the difference in memory clocks, I really wasn't expecting that. I'm using a 1900rpm S-Flex, I may try a second like you had mounted but I still had to support the back of the card since this thing is HEAVY.

Yeah, I'm not sure that I could get much better on air with this, I'm happy with the performance. I would love to see what this thing could do on water but I doubt that will ever happen.

 

[Retro*]

Thanks

It is nice to do away with the bowing but I am up in the air on the backplate. I like it but I did grow to like the look of the bare pcb and sinks. There was one problem because of my impatience. Apparently 4-40 screws are a hair too big to fit through the mounting holes on the pcb so I had to tap them out. I'm pretty sure that that voided the warranty. Either way I think that it was worth it.

Sadly I can't really use my old test results as a comparison since I have added slower case fans since that test. My rig was just too loud and it did raise the temps of my card and motherboard a bit. It was a little warm yesterday and when running GPUTool to scan for artifacts at the default window size the vrms seemed to top out at 90C at 725mhz while drawing around 70a according to rivatuner and they still hit 100C in Furmark but it took a while to get there. Honestly I was hoping for a bit better but it is still an improvement with the vrms, seems like about 10C difference. Aside from the vrms I was shocked by the difference in memory clocks, I really wasn't expecting that. I'm using a 1900rpm S-Flex, I may try a second like you had mounted but I still had to support the back of the card since this thing is HEAVY.

Yeah, I'm not sure that I could get much better on air with this, I'm happy with the performance. I would love to see what this thing could do on water but I doubt that will ever happen.

With or without the backplate, you can experiment with that. I like the look of it with the backplate, but when I had 8 full-height Enzotech copper sinks attached to the back ram chips, I would think it had to run that ram cooler than the stock metal plate would. One of the differences of the 275's etc., is that there are no ram chips mounted on the back of the card. Also no backplate for the EVGA 275's, although a custom one is available.

I also voided the warranty on my 280 when I cut off the stock vrm sink, but I can live with that. Nice thing about the lifetime warranty is knowing that EVGA will ship you another working replacement for your card if it gets borked, under warranty conditions, of course
For me, after each next-gen release, the warranty becomes less of a factor, I usually have sold off the card by then, I actually did have the 280 sold off before I was asked if I could buy it back!
The 4-40's are stronger than the thinner bolts you would have had to use for the stock mounting holes, so I think it was worth drilling the holes out a bit.

I see what you are saying about comparing temperature results. Same with me, I had three 120's stuffed into the front of my Antec 902, along with the other 120 and 200mm, I had one on the side panel. I have since cut back to two fronts and none on the side, reduces the noise somewhat. You went to quieter fans, a bit less airflow but a lot easier on the ears!
Your current temps. have got to be an improvement. As I recall, I went beyond 100C on the vrm's very quickly with Furmark, up to the high teens after a few minutes. Your current results are much better, and that's with less case airflow then you had before.
I'd say to stay with your one Skythe fan, I don't think two really made much difference for me.

I think we still have quite a while to enjoy our cards, they will play today's games just fine, and any future releases for some time to come. DX11 means diddly to me right now, and Fermi or whatever it's called still isn't even available yet. ATI's new cards look good, but I chose to stick with my proven last-gen Nvidia's.
But I have already started scheming up a plan to cool these 275's a bit more, with SLI, the HR-03 isn't an option, but I do like the specs. on the new Accelero, and it appears to be well-suited to the 275 and SLI. Looks like it will be a while before they are available, but I will be looking at the reviews in the meantime

 

[OnBoard]

Nice looking card you ended up with BababooeyHTJ Did you test the memory stability? Big boost indeed you got there, always though GDDR3 wasn't so picky about cooling, but seems it'll help.

Here's another possibility for dual slot SLI users:
Scythe Setsugen GPU cooler tested
http://www.fudzilla.com/content/view/16556/1/

Though no pictures of it installed in card, but if Thermalright T-Rad2 fits with 12mm fan, sure that has to be a bit less.

Has NVIO sink and VRM sink for GTX 260/280 too. For the price (33€) it's almost worth buying just for the sinks to Accelero and use the cooler for some other card

 

[Makou107]

Has anyone tested the VRM temps with this new Accelero Xtreme GTX Pro? I'm curious if they have fixed the problems with the older one.

 

[OnBoard]

Has anyone tested the VRM temps with this new Accelero Xtreme GTX Pro? I'm curious if they have fixed the problems with the older one.

It's not available yet and I doubt it has any VRM sink for GTX 280. Just individual sinks that could maybe used, but are not going to offer that much improvements.

The Pro is designed for 55nm cards and they don't have VRM issues and it comes with sinks for all.

 

[Makou107]

Well damn, I may just try out putting some aftermarket sinks then. What is recommended again? Was it those Scythe sinks?

 

[OnBoard]

Well damn, I may just try out putting some aftermarket sinks then. What is recommended again? Was it those Scythe sinks?

Depends on the card you have. The original version has sinks needed for 65nm cards, but VRM cooling is lacking for GTX 280. For 55nm cards Scythe sink pack works, you can find examples in the #270 post.

 

[Makou107]

I got a 280

 

[OnBoard]

I got a 280

Well then it's Accelero + stock VRM part (on first page) + lower voltages and it's as good as it gets.

There won't be anything better coming for the VRM cooling in these cards.

 

[ChrisHansen]

Hey,

I have this GTX280 backplate, how do I remove the glue / stickers . It's so sticky. I tried to scrape it with a knife but still the sticker ''glue'' leaves some weird spots/marks.

onboard/anyone i need your help!

 

[ChrisHansen]

Btw, what do you guys think of my mod ?

 

[OnBoard]

Hey,

I have this GTX280 backplate, how do I remove the glue / stickers . It's so sticky. I tried to scrape it with a knife but still the sticker ''glue'' leaves some weird spots/marks.

onboard/anyone i need your help!

You have any rubbing alcohol? It would melt the glue and get it off.

If no such thing available, then some water (maybe a little bit of soap) and rub with your finger.

Also believe it or not, dust helps Find a dusty spot (for example monitor top) and stick finger there and then on the glue. Rub and repeat. That is for just glue, if it still has sticker on, then water first.

 

[OnBoard]

Btw, what do you guys think of my mod ?

http://i45.tinypic.com/29beuwy.jpg

Haha, great Shouldn't have any VRM temp problems with that

Maybe peel of the right heatpipe black sticker. It's there just so that copper doesn't show between the original fan blades.

btw. did you notice anything coming out of the pipes while cutting the stock cooler? Nice to see how thick they are in reality.

 

[ChrisHansen]

You have any rubbing alcohol? It would melt the glue and get it off.

If no such thing available, then some water (maybe a little bit of soap) and rub with your finger.

Also believe it or not, dust helps Find a dusty spot (for example monitor top) and stick finger there and then on the glue. Rub and repeat. That is for just glue, if it still has sticker on, then water first.

okay thanks, the glue is really sticky , ugh

Haha, great Shouldn't have any VRM temp problems with that

Maybe peel of the right heatpipe black sticker. It's there just so that copper doesn't show between the original fan blades.

btw. did you notice anything coming out of the pipes while cutting the stock cooler? Nice to see how thick they are in reality.

the pipes were just hollow from the inside

just like this :

nothing special i guess

 

[dr emulator (madmax)]

Hey,

I have this GTX280 backplate, how do I remove the glue / stickers . It's so sticky. I tried to scrape it with a knife but still the sticker ''glue'' leaves some weird spots/marks.

onboard/anyone i need your help!

http://i48.tinypic.com/f36goy.jpg

use some aftershave always works for me
alternatively if it's just a plate that can be cleaned there's always wd40 but that takes some getting of by hand (easier than glue though)

 

[tjmagneto]

My apologies for not posting this sooner after telling you all about me tossing my AC coolers and getting the t-rad2s.

Here's what they look like with the Scythe fans. One of the supplied fans is on the right og the picture.

And after installing one card. Still blocking the PCI slot but that's OK.

And now for installing the second one.

Daylight between the cards and even the power supply. No real tests yet but I'm not exceeding 70 degrees C on one card while the other is running just under 60 while folding. With the Element S case there are spots to mount 2 60 mm fans which I did as well but are not in the pics. It's cool enough, very quiet, and can SLI.

 

[Retro*]

My apologies for not posting this sooner after telling you all about me tossing my AC coolers and getting the t-rad2s.

Here's what they look like with the Scythe fans. One of the supplied fans is on the right og the picture.

Daylight between the cards and even the power supply. No real tests yet but I'm not exceeding 70 degrees C on one card while the other is running just under 60 while folding. With the Element S case there are spots to mount 2 60 mm fans which I did as well but are not in the pics. It's cool enough, very quiet, and can SLI.

Nice job setting up the T-Rad2 GTX's. Are you using two 100mm Scythe fans?
Keep us informed on their performance.
I bought two for my 275's at Xmas and am testing one now. I chose to run one 275 for now with the T-Rad2 GTX as I am experimenting with different fans to try to get the best results.
So far, I am not too impressed. I am running two tests for each setup, Idle for 15 min. and Load running OCCT's version of Furmark for about 7 min., enough to get the gpu plenty hot.

To sum it up, I got terrible results with the stock TR 27cfm 92mm fans, about the same temps. as the stock cooler at 100% fan speed, about 80C. on load.
One 54cfm 120mm Noctua was only slightly better, 79C on load!
Using my fastest fan, an 87cfm 120mm Panaflo, the load temps dropped to 73C.
(I had a Silverstone 110cfm kicking around which I also installed to test but it was d.o.a.!)

I am not planning on buying some insane cfm Delta fans to get the necessary cfm needed to get the T-Rad2 GTX performing as I would like, so I may not use the Thermalright coolers after all.

OnBoard: If you are still monitoring this great thread of yours
Happy New Year
I have only found two reviews on the Accelero Xtreme GTX Pro, both from Germany:
http://translate.google.ca/translat...&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&sa=N&start=20
This other one is not translated but has some good tests:
http://www.awardfabrik.de/kuhlung-luft/arctic-cooling-accelero-xtreme-gtx-pro.html

The results look very good for the new Accelero.

Kind of kicking my rear for not trying out the new Accelero first, but I may buy one anyhow just to compare it's performance with the disappointing T-Rad2 GTX. I just can't justify fitting a loud 120mm x 38mm or two 92mm screamers on the T-Rad2 GTX's to get a still very low temperature reduction

 

[OnBoard]

OnBoard: If you are still monitoring this great thread of yours
Happy New Year

I have only found two reviews on the Accelero Xtreme GTX Pro, both from Germany:
http://translate.google.ca/translat...&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&sa=N&start=20
This other one is not translated but has some good tests:
http://www.awardfabrik.de/kuhlung-luft/arctic-cooling-accelero-xtreme-gtx-pro.html

The results look very good for the new Accelero.

Kind of kicking my rear for not trying out the new Accelero first, but I may buy one anyhow just to compare it's performance with the disappointing T-Rad2 GTX. I just can't justify fitting a loud 120mm x 38mm or two 92mm screamers on the T-Rad2 GTX's to get a still very low temperature reduction

Yeah, I'm here. Thanks, happy new year you and rest too Sorry to hear about the poor cooling performance of T-rad.

Forgot to put a link when I spotted the new Pro version coming to quietpc.com, then it said little over a month. Now it says:

Accelero Xtreme GTX Pro [280 due in 4 days]

So not long to go for those that were waiting for it. And reviews of course are a sign of it coming too. Off to read them now, will edit if there is something interesting.

edit: hmm nice, they tested with GTX 280 and got good VRM temps with the new sinks. Granted the fan speed was quite high, but even on stock PWM settings way better than the old VRM plate. Though that just with Wow, hardly comparable to FurMark The maximum value with the FUR benchmark today we save. <- bad google translation, but still sounds like temps hit quite high.

So everyone buy the new Pro version. It should fit all cards and offer adequate VRM cooling straight from the box. But if you are handy and don't need the new sinks, you get the old version (with same cooler) cheaper.

 

[tjmagneto]

Retro,

I installed two of the Scythe Kaze Jyu Slim 100 mm, 2000 RPM, 27.6 cfm model per cooler.

The cooler and fans definitely don't have the cooling capacity of the AC but I could not install both of my videocards to run SLI.

All I can really say about their performance is that compared to the stock coolers is that they are much quieter and cooler while performing folding@home work units. Versus the AC, temps went up 3-5 degrees C depending on what the card was working on.

 

[Devil May Cry]

Hey, I'm having weird overheating problems, but I dont know whats overheating.

Noticed it when I played Cryisis, my core temp is really good and VRM temp is not even over 90. It cant be my VRAM they dont really get that hot and they all have sinks on them. So what is it? How I know its overheating issue well, when I open my window the white artifacts stops. So what is it?

 

[Retro*]

Retro,

I installed two of the Scythe Kaze Jyu Slim 100 mm, 2000 RPM, 27.6 cfm model per cooler.

The cooler and fans definitely don't have the cooling capacity of the AC but I could not install both of my videocards to run SLI.

All I can really say about their performance is that compared to the stock coolers is that they are much quieter and cooler while performing folding@home work units. Versus the AC, temps went up 3-5 degrees C depending on what the card was working on.

tjmagneto:
Thanks for the info. The Scythe 100mm fans fit really well on your T-Rad and certainly outperform the stock TR 92mm fans. I am going to do the opposite and switch to the Accelero's. I should have enough flexibility for sli with them, as I also have an EVGA FTW200 (3-way sli-capable) board to install, and I may even drop the power supply mounting a bit if more room is needed.

Yeah, I'm here. Thanks, happy new year you and rest too Sorry to hear about the poor cooling performance of T-rad.

Forgot to put a link when I spotted the new Pro version coming to quietpc.com, then it said little over a month. Now it says:

Accelero Xtreme GTX Pro [280 due in 4 days]

So not long to go for those that were waiting for it. And reviews of course are a sign of it coming too. Off to read them now, will edit if there is something interesting.

edit: hmm nice, they tested with GTX 280 and got good VRM temps with the new sinks. Granted the fan speed was quite high, but even on stock PWM settings way better than the old VRM plate. Though that just with Wow, hardly comparable to FurMark The maximum value with the FUR benchmark today we save. <- bad google translation, but still sounds like temps hit quite high.

So everyone buy the new Pro version. It should fit all cards and offer adequate VRM cooling straight from the box. But if you are handy and don't need the new sinks, you get the old version (with same cooler) cheaper.

OnBoard:
Here's a shot of my new "toys".
I can finally provide some input on the Accelero now.
Looking forward to installing and testing these beasts

 

[OnBoard]

Here's a shot of my new "toys".
I can finally provide some input on the Accelero now.
Looking forward to installing and testing these beasts

Nice, double pleasure Take plenty of installation pics =)

Not that they differ, but the mounting seems more refined. Will be interesting to know how Fermi comes out with, is it same hole spacing than GT200. Older Accelero had more playroom with it's alternate mounting holes, if they go smaller.

 

[OnBoard]

Hey, I'm having weird overheating problems, but I dont know whats overheating.

Noticed it when I played Cryisis, my core temp is really good and VRM temp is not even over 90. It cant be my VRAM they dont really get that hot and they all have sinks on them. So what is it? How I know its overheating issue well, when I open my window the white artifacts stops. So what is it?

Nearly missed your post, wasn't on new posts list when I last logged in, but here goes.

Most likely VRMs. What is your fan speed? On summer I noticed graphics anomalies when playing for a long period, higher fan speed fixed that.

You're card name would help and also room temperature, but higher fan speed with EVGA Precision for example should fix it. The default 40% is too low and it only goes up if core goes up to about 80C.

 

[Retro*]

Nice, double pleasure Take plenty of installation pics =)

Not that they differ, but the mounting seems more refined. Will be interesting to know how Fermi comes out with, is it same hole spacing than GT200. Older Accelero had more playroom with it's alternate mounting holes, if they go smaller.

No idea what Fermi will have for hole spacing, but I bet it will be different. The "Pro" has fixed hole spacing for the 200's.
A few shots and comments on my initial Accelero installation:

Stock heatsink and bare GTX275.

Opening up the clamshell, lots of sinks for most cards, pre-applied MX2 which I scrubbed off and applied MX3 on the entire gpu base.

The sinks I mounted were all from the Accelero kit. They stick well (after the eraser and isopropyll alcohol treatment). The new Pro version really suits the GTX275, the sinks all fit like a glove, and the vrm sink was sized perfectly.

A comparison to the T-Rad2 with a 120x38mm Panaflow mounted on it for max. airflow, but not very sli friendly!

A shot of the card installed, not going to sli the cards until the motherboard upgrade is done.

The temperature reduction at load was better than the T-Rad2 by 14C. (66C. vs 80C.) running OCCT'S GPU test. But that was with the stock fans on both coolers, both running at 100%. The T-Rad2 did get down to 73C. with the 120X38mm 86cfm Panaflow, a good fan but very expensive, bulky, and loud!
The T-Rad2's stock 2x92mm fans are very quiet, but barely move any air, not even able to better the stock cooler's results when running at 100%.
Idle temps. dropped as well with the Accelero, by about 2 degrees.
The Accelero has provided the best results for me. I will post some screenshots later with comparisons of the stock, T-Rad2, and Accelero showing the load temps. using OCCT's version of Furmark.

I'm very pleased with this cooler, it's excellent sink kit, and how quiet it is even at 100%. Another difference from Thermalright's coolers, the fans use a stock connector for the card's fan header, no separate molex or motherboard connections needed. The gpu mounting screws on the back of the card fit flush, not sticking out like TR's.

This is a well designed cooler, certainly the next best thing to water for my needs