Arctic Readies the Accelero Xtreme 7970 VGA Cooler

[Cristian_25H]

The soon-to-be-released Radeon HD 7970 is certainly getting its share of waterblocks but there are also air-based custom coolers coming for AMD's flagship card. One of them is Arctic's Accelero Xtreme 7970 which measures 288 (L) x 104 (W) x 54 (H) mm, weights 653 grams, and features 84 aluminum fins, five 6 mm copper heatpipes, a copper base, and three 92 mm PWM fans that work at 900 to 2000 RPM.

Arctic's cooler comes with pre-applied MX-4 thermal compound, is CrossFireX compatible, and is backed by a six-year warranty. The Accelero Xtreme 7970 costs $97.95 / €73.83 and is set to become available on January 31st.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[pantherx12]

No difference between this and the 6970 one : /

 

[LiveOrDie]

These bend the PCB to much there good but they need better support.

 

[20mmrain]

No difference between this and the 6970 one : /

It seems your right.... I really don't se any difference between this one and the one designed for the HD6970.....

something else I just wanted to comment on though.... I would buy AC's coolers if they didn't look so bubbly. The design of their coolers are really ugly despite how they cool. There I've got that off my chest I have thought that for about 4 years now.

 

[1Kurgan1]

No difference between this and the 6970 one : /

What else could possibly be changed? The heatsink is the length of the card, the fans are as wide as the card and almost touching, and adding more heatpipes might make a slight difference (seems there is already enough). That cooler looks amazing, only problem is that it doesn't vent out of the case.

 

[pantherx12]

What else could possibly be changed? The heatsink is the length of the card, the fans are as wide as the card and almost touching, and adding more heatpipes might make a slight difference (seems there is already enough). That cooler looks amazing, only problem is that it doesn't vent out of the case.

Well what they could do is stop naming them specifically to cool x card when they are clearly a "universal" Solution.

 

[AsRock]

It seems your right.... I really don't se any difference between this one and the one designed for the HD6970.....

something else I just wanted to comment on though.... I would buy AC's coolers if they didn't look so bubbly. The design of their coolers are really ugly despite how they cool. There I've got that off my chest I have thought that for about 4 years now.

Ahh yes the thinnish roundish plastic shroud.. Well take the shit of and get ya own fans on it..

Well what they could do is stop naming them specifically to cool x card when they are clearly a "universal" Solution.

Sad really even more so with that price tag along with it.. And i bet they do a 1/2 baked small'n'cheap stick on heatsinks with it too.

And with the reference card screw holes were they are no on the 7970 it be waaaay to much effort for them do nice screw on stuff as they could not do decent ones when the screw holes were on either side of the vrms.

$100 i think you should get a plate(s) to screw on over the vrm and mem chips. Pretty much why i got the MK-13 and with that setup you can extract the air flow though the side of the case.

 

[bear jesus]

No difference between this and the 6970 one : /

I would assume it probably has different heat sinks for VRMs or memory, many of the versions of the same cooler that are for specific cards just have different sets of stick on heat sinks and apart from that everything is exactly the same.

I don't know if it saves the consumer anything but it surly saves the company producing them something as they have to include less stick on heat sinks so i can understand from a business point of view although i agree a universal kit including stick on heat sinks for all the current high end cards would be nice.

 

[1Kurgan1]

Well what they could do is stop naming them specifically to cool x card when they are clearly a "universal" Solution.

It's not universal, have you compared the 2? The 6970 GPU is more in the center of the card, the cooling on the side closest to the HDD's is longer on the 6970 version.

**Edit**
Nevermind, looks like I was looking at the wrong card. Though looking at their site it shows a massive compatibility list for their coolers that spans generations of cards. And this has the same naming scheme as the others, I think that this is just going to be put on that compat list, and that this isn't a new product by itself.

**Double Edit*
But then again looking at their stats for the old cooler, this one is 1mm less wide, 4mm taller, and about 40 grams heavier, and has 1 more fun, so there might be minor changes to it that allow it to fit that don't seem noticeable. And if that causes it to not be backwards compatible, there would be your reason for it not just being called universal like the older coolers. This seems more likely now looking at the actual figures, just can't tell the difference by eye, so it's not as "clear" as you might think.

**And the Triple Edit**
Found the difference you were looking for.
6970 Version

7970 Version

Notice the GPU is "turned" for the 7970, so it can't use the coolers from the old cards.

 

[bear jesus]

I just realized that it still has the shortened area that was needed for the second DVI port on the 5xxx and 6xxx cards, they could have at least extended that bit out like on the plus below.

It's not universal, have you compared the 2? The 6970 GPU is more in the center of the card, the cooling on the side closest to the HDD's is longer on the 6970 version.

**Edit**
Nevermind, looks like I was looking at the wrong card. Though looking at their site it shows a massive compatibility list for their coolers that spans generations of cards. And this has the same naming scheme as the others, I think that this is just going to be put on that compat list, and that this isn't a new product by itself.

**Double Edit*
But then again looking at their stats for the old cooler, this one is 1mm less wide, 4mm taller, and about 40 grams heavier, and has 1 more fun, so there might be minor changes to it that allow it to fit that don't seem noticeable. And if that causes it to not be backwards compatible, there would be your reason for it not just being called universal like the older coolers. This seems more likely now looking at the actual figures, just can't tell the difference by eye.

The one difference that is easy to see by eye is it has 7970 on the middle fan sticker so with what you pointed out it does seam like it is a more specific model than some of the others but it is so very similar.

*edit*
Stop editing while i'm trying to quote you

But yes the base is a major difference i had not noticed.

 

[pantherx12]

Notice the GPU is "turned" for the 7970, so it can't use the coolers from the old cards.

Yes it can, having the chip rotated does not affect anything at all.


The chip is rotated on my 6870 as well and that affected nothing, the only thing that did affect cooling compatibility was the VRM being in a stupid place as well as poorly layed out.


In fact that AC have made a little nub completely defeats the purpose of the protective "cage" around the 7970 gpu : /

Now it's possible to over tighten and crack the chip again, good design that. [/sarcasm]


AC are just mugging people off, which is a shame as they used to specialise in good value products or amazing cooling.

 

[bear jesus]

Yes it can, having the chip rotated does not affect anything at all.


The chip is rotated on my 6870 as well and that affected nothing, the only thing that did affect cooling compatibility was the VRM being in a stupid place as well as poorly layed out.


In fact that AC have made a little nub completely defeats the purpose of the protective "cage" around the 7970 gpu : /

Now it's possible to over tighten and crack the chip again, good design that. [/sarcasm]

I assumed that it was the size of the package not the die, if you are right that seams like an even worse idea on this heat sink due to its size and weight.

*edit*
I'm way too slow today, everyone is editing their posts before i reply.

 

[halfwaythere]

Seems like a massive overkill for a 28nm chip. I still think an Accelero S1 with a decent 120mm fan should do the job.

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

Wish sparkle did AMD. Look so much better in purple http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814187127

 

[1Kurgan1]

Yes it can, having the chip rotated does not affect anything at all. The chip is rotated on my 6870 as well and that affected nothing, the only thing that did affect cooling compatibility was the VRM being in a stupid place as well as poorly layed out. In fact that AC have made a little nub completely defeats the purpose of the protective "cage" around the 7970 gpu : /

[sarcasm](you were missing a tag )Now it's possible to over tighten and crack the chip again, good design that. [/sarcasm]

AC are just mugging people off, which is a shame as they used to specialise in good value products or amazing cooling.

I hate to be the bad news bear to your negative nancy party here... but the new cooler is actually $2.50 cheaper than the current one on the market. So tell me again who exactly is Artic ripping off here? Seems like they made a new cooler with an additional fin and cut the cost slightly, and over-tightening would be exactly as it states, going beyond specified figures, that would be user error, so I don't see how thats Artics problem.

It just seems like you are ranting to rant, I seen the price tag and figured it was high, so I looked and seen the old one is slightly more, so I really don't see the point to what you are saying at all, or why you are upset about it and saying they use to specialize in good value (especially when the new product is actually cheaper, that sounds like a good thing to me?).

 

[LiveOrDie]

It's not universal, have you compared the 2? The 6970 GPU is more in the center of the card, the cooling on the side closest to the HDD's is longer on the 6970 version.

**Edit**
Nevermind, looks like I was looking at the wrong card. Though looking at their site it shows a massive compatibility list for their coolers that spans generations of cards. And this has the same naming scheme as the others, I think that this is just going to be put on that compat list, and that this isn't a new product by itself.

**Double Edit*
But then again looking at their stats for the old cooler, this one is 1mm less wide, 4mm taller, and about 40 grams heavier, and has 1 more fun, so there might be minor changes to it that allow it to fit that don't seem noticeable. And if that causes it to not be backwards compatible, there would be your reason for it not just being called universal like the older coolers. This seems more likely now looking at the actual figures, just can't tell the difference by eye, so it's not as "clear" as you might think.

**And the Triple Edit**
Found the difference you were looking for.
6970 Version
http://img.techpowerup.org/120104/Capture001201.jpg

7970 Version
http://img.techpowerup.org/120104/Capture002232.jpg

Notice the GPU is "turned" for the 7970, so it can't use the coolers from the old cards.

Its just away for AMD to make money Arctic pays them to change some think small so people cant use there old coolers, Nvidia didnt do this from 480 to 580 both could be used on ether GPU.

 

[1Kurgan1]

Its just away for AMD to make money Arctic pays them to change some think small so people cant use there old coolers, Nvidia didnt do this from 480 to 580 both could be used on ether GPU.

I like how you accuse AMD of that, the point out NV didn't do it on a single generation jump, whats NV not doing something have to do with anyone else doing something thats the opposite (usually you would say, something like "they are doing this, just like these other people did this")? That just seems like a fanboy belief, (I haven't looked at your comp specs yet, will after I post this, but assuming you have an NV) especially considering that the old cooler supports all the way back to a 3870 (released 4 years ago!) all the way up to a 6970 (thats 4 generations of cards).

Either way, I don't buy that story, seems like bull to me, especially considering the other cooler has a 4 generation span. And either way, whats it matter, if you are in the market for a used cooler and you really think the older cooler will fit, buy it (then this article has no effect on your at all). And if you are in the market for a new cooler, the new one costs $2.50 less than the old one, sounds like a win/win/win to me?

 

[treehouse]

unless my eyes are deceiving me, there is a very big difference between this and the reference one, each fan is 1cm bigger as they actually reach the edge unlike all the reference ones i have ever seen.

 

[1Kurgan1]

Yeah they mean vs the older Artic cooler, not vs the reference coolers.

 

[treehouse]

Yeah they mean vs the older Artic cooler, not vs the reference coolers.

ah!

 

[Delta6326]

Wow $100 thats a lot of money and it doesn't even come with a backplate.

It's not like they need to change a lot from the 6970 because the 7970 takes up less power anyway so less heat. Would be cool if the could make this a single slot version.

 

[THE_EGG]

These bend the PCB to much there good but they need better support.

not in a Raven or FT02 case

 

[radrok]

What about doing something for the VRM instead of forcing you to use the crappy small heatsink?

This was a good idea and unless they implement something like this and maybe include a backplate, even if you purchase it separately, I might consider this kind of solution.

 

[erocker]

So.. are the mounting holes the same for the 6970/7970?

 

[BrooksyX]

I remember when Arctic Cooling used to be the $hit in PC cooling. Used to have a couple acceleros and 64 freezer pro. Havent even though to buy their products recently though. But then again I got my dark knight for $10 shipped on ebay and higher end video cards have such massive stock coolers its not worth replacing them unless you want to go H20 or need complete silence IMHO.