Final thoughts and rating
ARCTIC's Accelero Xtreme 7970 is a significantly better cooler than the reference card's. It produces fundamentally lower temperatures and noise across a range of testing scenarios. What's more, it also enables a higher overclock to be achieved, though, of course, your results may vary.
Slap it on the Radeon HD 7970 PCB and it turns the GPU into a near-silent graphics card when running at stock speeds and voltages - impressive given that the GPU temperature is just 63°C. Increase the speeds and the Accelero Xtreme 7970's trio of fans produce a low-pitch humming sound that never turns into the kind of shrill that can be plain annoying.
Performance, then, is excellent, handily beating the reference card's heatsink-and-fan unit in every test. But do be aware that installation isn't a five-minute exercise; it can be frustrating at times, and, once on, the card effectively becomes 12in long and three slots high.
Based almost entirely on the Accelero Xtreme PLUS II, and no worse off for being so, ARCTIC Accelero Xtreme 7970 represents a solid investment if you wish to coolly, quietly overclock the best single-GPU card on the planet. Priced at £75, thereby pushing an Xtreme-cooled 7970 up to £515, enthusiasts who want the last drop of performance from the underlying Radeon HD 7970 GPU should put it on their shortlist.
The Good
Excellent cooling performance
Very quiet
Package includes all manner of heatsinks
Can still add another for CrossFireX
The Bad
Installation can be frustrating and awkward
Turns card into 12in-long monster with triple-slot profile
HEXUS Rating
ARCTIC Accelero Xtreme 7970
HEXUS Awards
ARCTIC Accelero Xtreme 7970
HEXUS Where2Buy
TBC.
HEXUS Right2Reply
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