ARCTIC Accelero Xtreme 7970 VGA Cooler - nVidia & AMD, 3 Quiet 92mm PWM Fans, CrossFire

Pros: +Actual heatsink for the die works fantastic.
+Included Thermal Paste does a good job
+Simple Installation

Cons: -VRM/RAM Heatsinks dont work the best.
-As mentioned previously, included G1 Thermal Adhesive is poor.
-Cost.
-Large. Barely fit on my powercolor 7970 in a CM Storm Trooper case.

Other Thoughts: The actual heatsink for the GPU worked fantastically. Temps and noise dropped, something I was happy about.

However, as a word of caution; The included heatsinks are NOT the best. Furthermore, most cards may or may not have good airflow around the VRM/RAM, which in turn creates a hotpocket unless you somehow arrange the heatsink fins properly (IE not like how the instructions indicate).

The VRM on my card overheated and now refuses to POST due to poor airflow for the VRM Heatsinks. I'd assume that it would be moreo f a design flaw on Power Color's end than Arctic, however, just use caution if you plan on using this heatsink.

Personally, if your card came with a heatplate for the VRM/RAM, try your best to retain that plate with fresh thermal adhesive (preferably tape). If thats not a option, carefully think out the layout of your airflow and heatsinks.

Power Color didnt come with heatsinks on the VRM/RAM. I should have just left them bare. Thankfully, the card has been RMAed since, and I'm not out a 400$ card.

I wish I could give better reviews on this product because the heatsink is fantastic. Infact, thats the only reason it got a 3 egg. But because those heatsinks can potentially cause a hotspot and minimal airflow through the VRM heatsinks, I cant give it more than 3.

Pros: purchased this cooler for my refrence sapphire radeon 7950's about 2 weeks ago and so far it works great. dropped my idle temps by 7 celsius gameplay temps in crossfire by 22-24 celsius and benchmarking temps by 16-18 celsius. this cooler performs best when you have great airflow in your case and it is big so im sure it only fits in full tower cases. i have a antec 1200v3 and i had to rock the end of the card in first then the pci slot end last. and the revies are true with my stock fan on my second card on 50% fan speed it over takes the arctic accelero fans on 100% as far as sound so this thing is very quite for its size.

Cons: only con for me is since i likes a lil flare....lol it has no leds :( all good though performance over looks in my books but if you have uv lights the white fans glow pretty brite under uv.

Other Thoughts: like to see this model come with different fan color options and leds as well as colored transparent fans or uv......cause a lil flare is atractive

Pros: It was awesome when it worked. GPU temps were in the 50C at max load, while VRM temps during gaming sessions were around 60C. MUCH better than the reference cooler.

Cons: Bitcoin mining raised VRM 1 temps to nearly 100C for some whatever reason.

I tried using the included 12v fan connector for 100% fan speed, but after installing and trying to turn it on, the wiring on the fan-to-molex connected shorted and the melted the wire insulation off.

I RMA'ed the unit to Newegg and tried a second card. Again, same thing happened (wire sparked, melted, and split itself) and now my 7970 and Accelero are dead.

Other Thoughts: I've been building computers for over 15 years and this is the first time I've had such a catastrophic issue like this ever happen to me. I have no confidence in this product and would not recommend it to anyone.

Pros: Read other review.

Cons: Upon installing the included VRM heatsinks, temperatures have risen to over 105°C thus making the card unusable in its current state.

Other Thoughts: Included VRM heatsinks are a far cry from even the standard coolers VRM solution. I will be replacing the VRM heatsink with something far more substantial.

Pros: Temps dropped substantially, which is expected when paying ~$90 for a aftermarket cooler.
Much quieter then stock cooler, again, this is to be expected.

Cons: Instructions are completely useless.
Thermal 'adhesive' is also useless.
No thermal tape included for whatever reason. (Why?!)
Packaging left something to be desired.

Other Thoughts: Step 1: Open package.

Step 2: Throw away instructions and thermal 'adhesive'.

Step 3a: Buy thermal tape, wait for delivery/get from local store.

Step 3b: Get online, find instructions that should have been included with your
premium aftermarket cooler.

Step 4: Disassemble card, reassemble using all of your tech prowess (and materials that should have been included).

Step 5: Profit.

Pros: awesome. cut my temps in half at full load. stock cooler overclocked i would sit anywhere between 75-90 celsius, now full load never goes over 45. idles at around 28-29 c.

Cons: pricey, directions suck and adhesive that it comes with is terrible. i did my homework and read reviews before i did this and i must say get the http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100013 with the cooler, came out to around 78 bucks which is a pretty pricey upgrade on an already $400 + card.

Pros: + Good Cooling (Before 40C/80C~ -> After 30C/50C~)
+ Doesn't get past 60C
+ Able to do 1200/1700 now, before that heat was an issue
+ Silent
(of course ambient temp will also play a big factor as you cant go below that)

Cons: - Big (but thats a given for premium air cooling), already had an AXP on my HD6970 that I replaced so used to it.
- G1 thermal glue, was never a fan of it so I used thermal tape for the ram and vrms and they worked well on my 6970 so figured to use them again on the 7950.
- Price, wish these were cheaper lol

Other Thoughts: I know the Accelero Xtreme is good at cooling, had one on my HD6970 and it cooled that well. When I got my MSI HD7950 it had a cheapo GPU only cooling, nothing on ram/vrms (not the TF version) so I went ahead and got this as I was planning to do that anyway. Was able to do 1200/1700 (easily broke 10k 3dmark11 lol) and for my 24/7 gaming I do 1100/1600. Hits about 55C~ doing heaven/valley on extreme and other benchmarks. Pretty good cooling, just had to use thermal tape since I prefer that and they come off easier just in case I need to RMA. Many will say these don't cool the VRMs well but I did get a good drop (had no cooling on them prior) so 80/90C -> 60/70C on load/gaming, would like them lower but gets the job done.

Pros: This thing is huge! Looks super fantastic in my setup. You do need a lot of room though, about an extra 2 inches as quoted earlier, the online instructions on the site are doable, just follow them, and watch some online how to videos and you'll be fine, oh and quiet!

Cons: The thermal adhesive is Horrible!!! I was originally using a Ceramique adhesive from AS but because that stuff dries so quicly I was unable to apply the rest to my voltage chips, so was forced to used the stuff out of the box, and now all I have on my chips is a big soggy mess! I ordered some more ceramique adhesive and now the system is down for a couple days till I get it from newegg :(

Other Thoughts: this will work and keep it cool, just be sure you know what you're doing first, and take your time

Pros: Virtually silent (even at 90% fan speed). Significantly lower GPU temps even when overclocked to 1200/1800

Cons: - the G1 thermal paste included is complete garbage. The slightest touch on a VRM heatsink will cause it too fall off.

Other Thoughts: Love the cooler but ended up being more work than it needed to be installing it. Initially installed using the supplied paste but noticed VRM temps were way higher than GPU temps. I figured this was due to the cheap G1 paste they supplied so I ordered the Arctic Silver Thermal Adheisive ATAA-5G. The stuff cures so much faster (10 mins max) and it ACTUALLY STICKS! Haven't tested the temps yet on VRM but I'm sure I'll see a difference.

NOTE: If you decide to use Arctic Silver Thermal Adhesive I highly recommend the ceramic based AATA-5G as opposed to the AATA-7G which contains silver and has a chance of shortening your board if it touches other components on the card.

Pros: -this is the QUIETEST way outside of water cooling to dissipate the heat from the 7970
-looks awesome
-install is intimidating but actually not very difficult

Cons: -heavy and hence makes the card sag just a little on the slot, nothing to be concerned with as long as you dont travel with your rig all together very often, mines a desk system so no issues
-install requires confidence and methodical reasoning. very easy to actually accomplish, but attention to detail is necessary to not damage any of the fragile components on your video card

Other Thoughts: -dropped my XFX 7970 DD from 72* on load with stock clocks to 52* on load overclocked and MUCH quieter
-As good as it gets for air cooling your GPU