Introduction
ARCTIC initiated the trend towards quiet cooling systems for desktop PCs in 2001 and has given distinction to it ever since. Today ARCTIC is one of the leading manufacturers in computer cooling and has acquired profound know-how in consumer electronics.
Up until 2009, ARCTIC COOLING focused solely on cooling solutions. In 2010, we became ARCTIC with the additional aim to provide a comprehensive set of innovative consumer electronics and peripherals. ARCTIC’s long term goal is nothing less than being present in everybody’s home.
Official product link:
http://www.arctic.ac/eu_en/accelero-xtreme-iv.html
Packaging and accessories
The product comes packaged in a white box with blue accents. The front side of the box shows the product, the name of the product, a QR code and the manufacturer’s name “Arctic”. Here we also have the carbon free green logo. The sides of the box are blue and they show the product’s features, the graphics card compatibility list and the installation methods of the radiator in several languages. The back side showcases the heatsink along with two charts about the noise level and fan speeds.
Accessories
The product is accompanied by the following accessories:
– Heatsink;
– Graphics Card Holder;
– Thermal Pads;
– Protective Film;
– Manual;
– Fan power adapter;
– Screws and accessories for mounting the cooler.
Specifications
Cooling Capacity: 320 Watts
Fan size: 120mm
Speed: 400 – 1,300 RPM (PWM)
Bearing: Fluid dynamic Bearing
Heat Exchanger Type: Aluminium 1.0″
Noise Level: 0.3 Sone @ 1,350 RPM
Airflow: 74 CFM / 125.7 m³/h
Tube Length: 420mm
Tube Diameter: 11mm
Net Weight: 793 g
Compatibility:
Nvidia GeForce:
GTX Titan (Black), 780 (Ti), 770, 760, 750 (Ti), 680, 670, 660 (Ti), 650 (Ti,Ti boost), 580, 570, 560 (Ti,SE), 550 Ti, 480, 460(SE), GTS 450, 250, 240 (OEM), GT 740
AMD Radeon:
R9 290(X), 270(X), R7 265, HD 8870, 7870(XT, GHz), 7850, 6970, 6950, 6870, 6850, 6790, 5870, 5850, 5830, 4890, 4870, 4850, 4830, 3870, 3850, 3690
Visual inspection
The cooler has a sleek and elegant look, the frame that holds the three white 92mm fans is black maintaining the Arctic black & white color scheme. In the middle of the fans we have the name of the product as well as the name of the manufacturer. The black heatsink measures 218 mm in length, 98mm in height and 23mm in width. The black frame that holds the fans measures 288mm in length, 54mm wide and 104mm height.
The GPU heatsink is really sturdy and high quality, it doesn’t flex at all. The heatsink is 218mm long, 98mm wide and has a thickness of 23mm. This heatsink is meant to cool the RAM and voltage regulators.
Testing
The cooler was tested using the a Nvidia MSI GeForce GTX 660 Twin Frozr IV 2 GB. The core frequency during the tests was aproximately 1098MHz and the memory frequency was aproximately 3004MHz. The tests were conducted using the software MSI Kombustor 2.5.2 to stress the graphics card and EVGA Precision X to measure the temperatures. Each test was 12 minute long.
Four tests were conducted two tests for each cooling system. The stock MSI Twin Frozr IV and the Arctic Accelero Xtreme IV. Those two tests were conducted using a different RPM.
The thermal compound used while testing both cooling systems was Arctic Cooling MX-4.
The noise level at minimum RPM was approximately 22 db. And at the highest RPM level, it was 41 db. The sound measuring device was placed at 10 cm. away from the cooler.
The three 92mm fans are connected to the connected to the 4 pin header on the graphics card, being controlled with the help of a dedicated GPU software. Arctic recommends using the EVGA Precision X.
The installation of the cooler on the GPU was fairly easy, the manual is easy to read and the schematics have a good layout.
Arctic clearly states that “the Arctic Accelero Xtreme IV is compatible only with the graphics card using a standard size PCB with a width of 98mm.” – Arctic website.
The tests results are as follows:
Performance at 1200 RPM – MSI Twin Frozr IV
The performance of the MSI Twin Frozr IV at 2900 RPM was 56° C, and the noise level was 50-53 db. The noise level generated at 1200RPM was 32db.
Performance minimum RPM – Arctic Accelero Xtreme IV
Performance minimum RPM – Arctic Accelero Xtreme IV
The idle performance is as follows:
Arctic Accelero Xtreme IV- 30° C
MSI Twin Frozr IV – 26° C
Final thoughts
The Accelero Xtreme IV cooler brought numerous improvements over the version III, one of the most important of them is using the blue thermal pads instead of the classic adhesive, the use of the black heatsink on the back of the graphics card with the thermal pads improved the ram cooling and reduced the hassle of the adhesive installation. We have to give Arctic some credit because they managed to make those improvements while maintaining the same price, thus the performance-price ratio is really good.
In conclusion, the Arctic Accelero Xtreme IV cooler is a exceptional product at a reasonable price and I don’t really see what improvements Arctic can make to this product.
