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Product(s): ArcticCooling Accelero X2
Provided By: Arctic Cooling
Price: ~$39.95 CDN (Memory Express )

Introduction:

It seems like every month some company is releasing a newer and faster video card. These cards are running faster and faster, but a byproduct of that means they run hotter and hotter. Stock cooling just doesn't cut it anymore like it used to, it seems like most stock coolers are either two loud, or don't adequately cool your video card, and that's where Arctic Cooling comes in. The product we are looking at today is the Accelero X2, and this is produced for the ATI X1800, X1900, and X1950 series of cards. This cooler originally did not support the X1950 Pro (and later the GT), but thanks to a new voltage regulator head spreader module, it's now compatible (heat spreader is included with the Accelero X2 now).

Arctic Cooling is a big name in GPU cooling, they have created a ton of great coolers for video cards, so let's see if this one can live up to the long tradition of top-end aftermarket video card coolers. Let's see if this card can live up to the all the hype.

Test System:

• Intel Core 2 Duo E6300
• MSI P965 Neo - Provided by Memory Express
• ATI Radeon X1900GT
• 2 GB Kit of Crucial Ballistix PC2-8000 - Provided by Crucial
• Western Digital 250 gig (16 MB Cache)
• OCZ Modstream 450 Watt PS
  

What's in the Box:

• Accelero X2 Cooler
• VR Heat Spreader Module for ATI X1950PR
• Installation Instructions
• Thermal Compound Strips for Memory Modules

First Impressions:

I've used other Arctic Cooling GPU cooling products in the past, so I was pretty sure I knew what I was getting myself into. The first thing I noticed was that this cooler was pretty light (260g), the quality of the cooler is also pretty obvious, this unit looks like it's built for the long-haul.

Bottom of Cooler

Top of Cooler

Side of Cooler