Arctic Cooling Accelero X1800XT Cooler

[cantankerous]

Come on Gnome, I understand you are just playing devils advocate but stop breaking Dnottis' balls over this. He suffered a loss and was fair and honest enough to share all details with us. I am sure if this happened to your card you would be far from impressed yourself. Perhaps because of issues like this, the final retail product will be better than it is now, not to mention as should be for us general, non review users.

[Gnome]

Come on Gnome, I understand you are just playing devils advocate but stop breaking Dnottis' balls over this. He suffered a loss and was fair and honest enough to share all details with us.

i'm not trying to brake his balls or play devil's advocate... i just wanted to know if he tried anything to make the cooler work... I'm verry happy he warned about the issue and the extent of the damage caused, i just want to get as many details as i can...

I am sure if this happened to your card you would be far from impressed yourself. Perhaps because of issues like this, the final retail product will be better than it is now, not to mention as should be for us general, non review users.

this actually happened to me soooooo many times... when 9800pros were 400 euros a shot i fried 4...

[megatron]

I have broken 2 pieces of hardware trying to reclaim the worthless heatsinks on them. I broke an epox nforce2 vdd chip in half when I removed a heatsink attached with an artic silver5/artic epoxy mix. I bought a new one and with great difficulty solder the new vdd chip back and it worked.

I broke a 9700pro removing its heatsinks attached with 3M double sided sticky tape. The memory was obviously too much torsion and testing 3dmark2001 showed error.

Im sure that once u stick a heatsink down with thermal tape is not meant to be removed.

The last time I attached heatsinks, I used silicon thermal paste anda dab of super glue in the corner. Then force to twist it off is minimal and the super glue can be cleaned from the memory chips using a flat head screwdriver and great care.

So I wouldnt be surprised if it the memory which has failed on the card due to the use of thermal pads.

[IvanAndreevich]

megatron
Thermal pads are non-sticky, so why should memory be damaged at all?

[megatron]

megatron
Thermal pads are non-sticky, so why should memory be damaged at all?

There may be varying degrees of stickyness but I doubt any thermal pads designed to hold something in place are completely non-sticky. Edit: 2nd thoughts maybe Im confusing it with the zalman - ur right doesnt need to be sticky for the accelero.

Edit2:
"At the end of the night last night (about 4:15am) I removed the unit only to have the thermal pads stick and tear." Dnottis

This made me think that it could be the memory which is borked.

My r9700pro was not even obvious that it was damaged - only came to light when using it after removing the sinks. Got a full refund on it after 2 years so not all bad.

Everyone seems to think this cooler is a step back from the original design (putting it politely). Its not all that stupid though considering conventional cpu coolers, do the same thing.

Zalman vf-900 ftw however I think.

[dnottis]

oh I tried with the stock paste and arctic ceramique.

The problem was 1. when it shipped they had washers on the unit that should not have been there - check previous page for the email that I was sent. the core was making contact but my load temps shot up to 90 using Riva Tuner - started getting artifacts in any load test I ran... ati tool, rthdrdribl, q4, etc. I had already checked contact twice before even powering up.

[W1zzard]

Maybe they went back and edited the review after they received the email.

the manual didnt say anythign about the washers them so i left them there.
ngohq removed them because he didnt read the manual at all and thought they should be gone

original testing has been done with washers, but i retested without and updated everything. the difference was about 3°c. the numbers in the review are without washers

i tested with both stock TIM and arctic silver lumiere. as written in the review the difference is less than 1°C.

for the contact photos i took the stock tim one because it had squeezed the paste away so well, despite being rather thick

[mbm]

When does it become avalible in shops?
I was wondering have it would do, if the stock fan and chassis was removed.
And then attached a big fan 9cm or 12cm blowing on the heatsink??
I think it would do alot better, because the heatsink it self is relative big.
Are someone in to triying this?

[Starscream]

@dnottis

i know ur getting ru card RMAd cause of connections u got.
but AC has nothing todo with this RMA? and have they apologized to you that ur card died cause they screwed up?

[dnottis]

@dnottis

i know ur getting ru card RMAd cause of connections u got.
but AC has nothing todo with this RMA? and have they apologized to you that ur card died cause they screwed up?

I've never had a vendor of a GPU cooler take responsibility for anything. In fact I am emailing AC photos now of the install and how it was mounted in my case. Neglect the fact that none of my video card ever have the stock coolers on them and Ive probably installed 15 OTHER Arctic Cooling GPU coolers. My X1800XT had a Zalman VF700 on the card until the Accelero arrived. As much as they want to blame it on my installation of the card, their cooler is to blame and thats the bottom line.

The NF4 is the most popular selling chipset right now and even with a the retarded design layout placing the chipset directly under the PCI-e slot AC goes about designing a cooler that exhausts downward onto the motherboard and the chipset? Is this the dumbest R&D decision ever made or is it just me? Why would you exhaust hot air onto the motherboard when you've got a tried and true layout that people exepct from you that exhausts out the back of the Case? I just dont understand the R&D department at AC sometimes.

Recall a few months ago AC released the Nv 5 Silencer Rev 3 that had the wiring harness wires reversed. I was the one that reported this to AC, their response - send me another cooler the first one must be defective. So the next one arrives and still there is no power with the default layout of the wires. Checking against stock I notice they are reversed... I call AC again and again they doubt my installation ability... until I send them pictures and their engineers confirm they ed up. What kills me about this is that thousands of products went out the door with the wires reveresed in the wiring harness... was this product ever installed on the 7800GTX???? Is there a QA department that even tests the quality of the products they ship? ...and they assume it's me?

Anyways - I used to respect AC for their superior aftermarket GPU coolers but the last two products to come from AC have been flawed. Im quickly losing faith...

[Starscream]

AC fooked up them washers were not mentioned in the instal guide so i take it that a big part fo the people would leave em on.

was planning on putting a AC cooler on my new 7800GT but seeing how AC treats the people that help them i wont buy one of their coolers till they grow up and buy a zalman instead.

[Gnome]

I've never had a vendor of a GPU cooler take responsibility for anything. In fact I am emailing AC photos now of the install and how it was mounted in my case. Neglect the fact that none of my video card ever have the stock coolers on them and Ive probably installed 15 OTHER Arctic Cooling GPU coolers. My X1800XT had a Zalman VF700 on the card until the Accelero arrived. As much as they want to blame it on my installation of the card, their cooler is to blame and thats the bottom line.

The NF4 is the most popular selling chipset right now and even with a the retarded design layout placing the chipset directly under the PCI-e slot AC goes about designing a cooler that exhausts downward onto the motherboard and the chipset? Is this the dumbest R&D decision ever made or is it just me? Why would you exhaust hot air onto the motherboard when you've got a tried and true layout that people exepct from you that exhausts out the back of the Case? I just dont understand the R&D department at AC sometimes.

i must admit you make a point, why didn't they just develop on the exhaust system which everyone likes... i sent some pics to a friend who's doing engineering research @ Rennesalear Plytech, and he said "that's one of the coolest looking heatsinks i've ever seen, but by far the dummest design, what were they smoking ?"

so he agrees :p

[dnottis]

the manual didnt say anythign about the washers them so i left them there.
ngohq removed them because he didnt read the manual at all and thought they should be gone

original testing has been done with washers, but i retested without and updated everything. the difference was about 3°c. the numbers in the review are without washers

i tested with both stock TIM and arctic silver lumiere. as written in the review the difference is less than 1°C.

for the contact photos i took the stock tim one because it had squeezed the paste away so well, despite being rather thick

W1zzard -

You also used an XL which would generate less heat than an XT. It may be effective on the XL but on an overclocked XT I have a feeling that it would be rather useless. If not to the video card itself then to the rise in internal case ambient temperature - would make any overclock within the case unstable dumping all that hot air inside.

I still stand by my comments regarding this product. I would not install another one on an X1800XT or any compatible video card I owned.

[cantankerous]

I wonder how the temps are going to be on the X1900XTX when it is released. Probably hotter due to more going on but Im hoping for a change in its design to yield cooler temps.

[dnottis]

I wonder how the temps are going to be on the X1900XTX when it is released. Probably hotter due to more going on but Im hoping for a change in its design to yield cooler temps.

Its already X1900 compatible. Im sure the X1900 will run hotter or at least as hot as the X1800XT.

...And if you have the desire to dump hot air on your motherboard and surrounding areas or the extreme desire to lower your overall CPU overclocks by creating oven like ambient temps within a closed case then the Accelero is for YOU!

My load temps never broke 68 with the Zalman VF700 - do yourself a favor and either pick one of these up (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835118117) or wait for the new Zalman 900 - there is really no reason anyone should have any interest in the Accelero product at this time.

[cantankerous]

I don't mean to doubt you but I still cant see how the Zalman is up to the task of an overclocked 1.48+v PE card. I had it on my XL and yea it was fine however that is a much slower, lower voltaged card. You seem to be the only one to get desireable results with that cooler as others have gotten at least the same as stock if not higher which is something I really don't want. I will wait to see how users try the VF900 on the card to see how it does as perhaps that may get slightly better results. That cooler doesn't exhaust out of the case either unfortunately. I am hoping someone will since AC isn't.

I know the Accelero is compatible with the X1900 simply due to same pcb layout and mounting holes however with the card not even out yet I can't see how they can accurately state what the cooling performance will be without even knowing the voltage used or temperature output of the new cards. I guess only time will tell. A local online shop has the X1900 listed but obviously no availability. I hope to get one by the end of this month if they are actually available to compare to my XT flashed PE.

[mbm]

I also find it very hard to believe, that you could have a XTPE (1,48V) card cooled by the ZalmanVF700-CU and stay under 68C at load. Mine was in the 80ish.
Im will give the 7000 i tried. Still wonder about the backplate?

[perkam]

Reseating can sometimes help mbm...and ol as5 never gets old

So does this seem to be the final verdict on the Brake-erro ?

Perkam

[cMw]

@dnottis

sucks about your card :[ least its getting replaced and thx for the info on the cooler >:O ill make sure not to purchase anything from them anytime soon ~

[dnottis]

So does this seem to be the final verdict on the Brake-erro ?

Perkam

Yea - dont bother. I'd say wait for the new Zalman 900.

[Jodiuh]

Yea - dont bother. I'd say wait for the new Zalman 900.

And it will exhaust heat out the rear, right? I'm so bummed about this. My stock x1900xt can get soo loud, but not only does it "shoot out the rear", but it's VERY effective at higher speeds using Atitool.

[gr8golf]

And it will exhaust heat out the rear, right? I'm so bummed about this. My stock x1900xt can get soo loud, but not only does it "shoot out the rear", but it's VERY effective at higher speeds using Atitool.

This is what I was waiting to hear - the noise levels from a x1900 in actual use. How noisy is it when in 2D mode? I'd heard it was nearly silent. I was wondering if the reference design stock cooling was basically performing like the AC Silencer series in exhausting hot air out the back of the case at decent noise levels. I have installed and used at least 4 Silencer models with both ATI and NVidia cards and none of them were ever noisy - even at full tilt. The cooling was pretty impressive too.

[dnottis]

The stock X1900XTX cooler is quiet even when it kicks up. the X1800XT cooler was louder. 2d is silent, 3d is pretty quiet as well. However max CCC clocks locked up and load was into the 90s.

Swapped for the zalman 700 and load is now 70s with idle at 39 and it's quiet the whole time

[gr8golf]

What is CCC?

[OmegaMerc]

So I guess we can all agree that the Ac x1/2 are just quiter versions of the stock coolers, which isn't impressive. Now im geard towards an dual NV silencer's which is still available may I remind everyone