Question 1

Will this fit a gtx980?

Accepted Answer

That depends on the 980 that you have. It is designed to fit the reference board design cards, but will also fit many others. Certain manufacturers like to swap things around or even change the shape of the boards. You can contact Arctic about your particular card, or the manufacturer of the cad to see if it is a reference designed board. The cooler itself if great. I run it on 2 cards in 2 separate machines. One on an ASUS 580GTX, and one on a EVGA 970GTX SSC.

Question 2

Do I have to use the backplate heatsink? If I use RAMsinks and a heatsink for the VRMs, is the backplate still necessary?

Accepted Answer

You can try it like that.  Seems like a waste.. the backplate design is critical to the cooling effectiveness of the VRMs and memory.    you'd have to find a way put air flow over the heatsinks.  To do it as you say would drive your VRMs off the chart without some other mod.  Let's put it this way.. I have two R9 290s in Crossfire.  My top card has this cooler on it.  The bottom card has the NZXT G10 with heatsinks on the RAM and VRMs and a Thermaltake Water Pro 2.0 for the core.  My top card often runs a bit cooler on the core.. and at least 10c - 15c cooler on the VRMs when running fullscreen crossfire in a game like Far Cry 3.

Question 3

Is that included heatsink optional or required?

Accepted Answer

Hi,

I have tried different set up, with and without the heatsink.

The conclusion is, it's better with the heatsink. The back of the card produces a lot of heat that will damage the card on the long run.

Regards,

Gilles

Question 4

has anyone tried this on a 7970?

Accepted Answer

I don't know about a 7970, but i have a R290x and didnt have any problems. The instructions are good and it took me about 45 minutes to assemble. Performance is great it idles at 35C and under load it gets to 55c.....compared to 85c with stock cooler.I give this product 5 stars and would buy it again with next build.
Hope this helps

Question 5

Would this fit onto an XFX R9 290 Double Dissipation? This is the card in question: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA24G28N6239&cm_re=xfx_r9_290-_-9SIA24G28N6239-_-Product. Thank you.

Accepted Answer

I'm pretty sure it does, it's designed so that it can be made to fit all kinds of card configs. I'm not certain though...
Mainly I would discourage buying this at all. I have one on a reference 290x and at the time it was for mining, so it did help. And it does run cooler, but for gaming I don't think in any way it's worth it. Especially if you already have an aftermarket cooler. 
It also kills the slot behind the card, effectively taking up 3 slots.

Question 6

Does the fluid ever need to be replaced?

Accepted Answer

Nope it lasts 5 years

Question 7

Hi, will it fit to a gtx 780 GLH Gainward ?

Accepted Answer

This answer's going to come in two parts: short and long.

Short answer: yes, it will fit. It definitely fits the GPU socket, and probably the back of the card too.

Long answer: Yes but why? You're buying a card with a high factory overclock and a well made custom cooler to support that overclock. For those things you are already paying a premium price.  Why not buy a cheaper reference card and the ARCTIC COOLING DCACO-V860001-GB Fluid Dynamic VGA Cooler? Then you can get good overclocks w/o the added price premium.

Also, the heat-sync only covers the back of the card. It looks like the Gainward has a lot of it's VRM cooling done through the fans from the custom cooler which is on the front of the card. You'll need good case airflow to the GPU to make up it. Also, I have no idea how many of the Gainward's chips are on the back vs the front of the card.

As I noted in my review, the  ARCTIC COOLING DCACO-V860001-GB Fluid Dynamic VGA Cooler is probably best when it's used on reference cards. It will "fit" just about any card out there but the benefits of VRM and DRAM cooling are going to vary when you start looking at custom built cards where the PCB layout could be very different

Question 8

How easy/hard was installation?

Accepted Answer

Hi Kyle,

Yes, it is quite simple. The new instructions on line are easier to understand. 
http://www.arctic.ac/worldwide_en/accelero-hybrid-ii-120.html
Scroll down the page and pick up your language. 
Tips :
the plastic film on the back is painful to cut. I have found no difference with and without it as the clearance on the card is large enough.
Don't forget the plastic spacers ( clear color ) otherwise you might screw the cooler on the processor with an angle, therefore loosing the point...It has to seat perfectly flat, obviously.
Be careful when screwing the four screws of the cooler. I recommend to tighten those slim and long screws by hand, not using a screw driver as they are very fragile.
The cooler works very well once you use a cooling profile. Increase the fan speed to match : 60 deg - 80 PC, 80 deg - 90 PC. Otherwise the default fan speed is too slow.
Let me know if you need anything else.
Kind regards,
Gilles

Question 9

I have two r9 290x's in a mid size case on the msi 970 gaming motherboard.  I am concerned that the heatsink might not fit in the back because it might touch the heatsink on my motherboard. this cooler will have to go in slot 1 because the way my case works, the other video card is almost touching the power supply in slot 2 (this motherboard only has 2 pcie slots.)  This looks like the best option for me.  My other card is custom water cooled and only gets up to 80 degrees but this card i need to cool is getting up to 94 and crashing my pc when i use crossfire.  Will this cooler work for me?  I cant seem to find a smaller cooler that will help my issue of my two video cards being close together.  Help!

Accepted Answer

It depends on weather or not you have the equivalent of a slot in terms of space between your pcie slot and other hardware this cooler will make any card you pair it with a 3 slot card.  This is due to the heat sink on the top of the card and the backplate on the back of the card.  The cooler is awesome but it dose take up plenty of space.

Question 10

This is compatible with gtx 970wf3?

Accepted Answer

Yes! I originally bought this for a PNY GTX 760, but just upgraded to a EVGA GTX 970. I moved the cooler to the new video card and it fit perfectly! Temps on the 970 after adding the cooler are 20 degrees cooler! Even when running GTA5 at high settings, the temps never go above 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Very happy with the cooler!

Questions & Answers