ARCTIC Accelero Hybrid Review (with Nvidia GTX680)

1. Introduction2. ARCTIC Accelero Hybrid3. Installing the Accelero Hybrid (1)4. Installing the Accelero Hybrid (2)5. Performance Results6. Closing Thoughts7. View All Pages

The ARCTIC Accelero Hybrid is undoubtedly a niche product targeting a select audience of enthusiast users. The high asking price is certainly going to be prohibitive, focusing on the wealthy user base who own a high end, expensive graphics card.

We tested today when paired up with Nvidia's high end GTX680 and we are certainly impressed with the results. When compared directly against the reference cooler, the Accelero Hybrid drops load temperatures by a whopping 30c-33c. In real world terms, the Accelero Hybrid gaming load temperature is close to the idle temperature of the reference cooler. This is about as good as you could expect from any ‘all in one' cooling solution.

The audio performance is also noteworthy, with most of the noise originating from the small 80mm fan which is installed into the graphics module. It thankfully has been optimised with a passively configured profile and when gaming it was barely audible. In regards to performance there is little to fault.

The installation phase is certainly not aimed at the inexperienced user, you will need a lot of patience as the process will take a couple of hours from start to finish. If you are familiar with a graphics card layout and construction, then it certainly helps, especially when adhering the heatsinks to VRM's and memory chips.

The biggest factor to take into consideration will be the pricing. The Accelero Hybrid retails for $179.90 / €143.92 and can be bought directly from the ARCTIC store. This will cost more than a low end solution, and would be difficult to justify installing on a sub £300 graphics card. We could in all honestly only recommend the Accelero Hybrid to the high end enthusiast audience, those people who own a GTX680/670 or high end AMD solution.

If you are unwilling to buy a dedicated watercooling kit for your new system then the Accelero Hybrid is currently the best solution you can buy for your graphics card.

Pros:

• 30c better than the GTX680 reference cooler.
• quiet.
• well built.

Cons:

• Expensive.
• Not suitable for inexperienced users.

Kitguru says: Fantastic performance for a no compromises system build.

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