Results Analysis

At this stage we can only compare the results of the cooler with the reference design as we haven't seen any other after market models for the HD 4870 X2. Considering the engineering challenges behind cooling one these monster graphics cards at a consumer friendly price, it's likely that we won't see too many more either.

The HD 4870 X2's reference cooler sucks air in at one end of the PCB and then pushes it down the card, first hitting GPU1 and then GPU0. The result is that GPU0 runs much hotter than GPU1 so it's interesting to see the roles reversed when Accelero was fitted, as GPU0 has its own source of direct, cool airflow.

Putting the card under load we were surprised to find that the Accelero knocked a whopping 30°C off the temperature of GPU1 under full load. Even with our stress test running for an hour for the fans where considerably quieter than the one used on stock cooler.



The three fans whirred away at respectable noise levels throughout testing. Because the cooling responsibility is shared out between three 92mm fans, they're never going hit anywhere near the same whining decibels levels of the stock fan when it's spun up.

Final thoughts

Arctic Cooling's Accelero Xtreme adds the icing to the cake with ATI's dual-GPU behemoth - it makes it quieter, cooler and better-looking. However, the cooler is large - it measures just under 1ft (12in) long, takes up three expansion slots and doesn't exhaust air from your case in the same way that the reference design does. You're going to need a large tower case to install the cooler in addition to the free expansion slots. However, it is a big improvement over the reference design.


If your HD 4870 X2 is happy to overclock, then this cooler with its superior thermal performance, may help you push the frequencies further than the reference design. If not then you can still enjoy the benefits of lower noise levels and most likely longer lifespan of your hardware. Realistically though the cost - £50 - isn't an insignificant one so it would only be worth investing in if your card spends a good deal of time under high load, you find the noise annoying and are perhaps suffering overheating problems. If you're happy with the way your HD 4870 X2 is running and are not having any heat-related issues then your £50 would probably be better spent elsewhere.

• Features
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• 8/10

• Performance
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• 8/10

• Build Quality
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• 8/10

• Ease of Use
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• 8/10

• Value
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• -
• 7/10

• Overall
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• 8/10

Score guide