Page 7

The Verdict

So as you can see, this really is an enthusiast targeted product. The Accelero Xtreme 2900 definitely is a great performer, yet does need to be tweaked a little as AMD is ruining the results a little with the RPM values set too low. But as explained on the previous page, just grab Rivatuner, set the RPM level to 60-70% and the cooling values will be awesome while you get to keep the extremely low noise levels. When you combine these two together, the cooler is just fantastic.

But granted there are severe downsides to this product as well. The cooler is just massive ... you'll loose not two but three PCI/PCIe slots which will be a bad thing if you need that room. Definitely be aware of this. Secondly the heat is dissipated from the cooler is not exhausted outside the PC yet will remain in the PC heating other components up. This is requiring you to have some good ventilation in your PC. Standard ventilation will probably suffice, but just be sure you have an intake and exhaust fan installed in your PC.

The entire installation process was a breeze, really dismantling the 2900 XT is pretty simple. Installing the new cooler onto it was just easy. So yeah,  very quick to install and an easy process. You also don't have to be scared of the price, the VGA cooler as tested today will cost roughly 30 EUR which is a nice investment on the videocard. The temperatures will go down and that means you can even overclock it higher or simply go for an even longer life-span.

All in all, a very satisfactory product, but don't forget, you'll likely need to tweak it a little with the help of Rivatuner. But once you do that, good times will come. And just look at that photo above .. you can tell that that cooler means business. Nice stuff.

Thanks to Arctic cooling for supplying this sample. The product should be available quite soon in both the Radeon 2900 version and the mentioned GeForce 8800 versions.

Product: Arctic Accelero Xtreme 2900
Info: www.arctic-cooling.comPrice: 30 EUR