Arctic Cooling launches GeForce GTX 200-series cooler

Posted at: 5:30pm 16th January 2009 by Ben Hardwidge

Accelero XTREME GTX 280 promises to drop GPU temperature by 31°C while also cutting down the noise

Arctic Cooling, the company that brought us the legendary Freezer 7 Pro, as well as the classic Silencer graphics coolers, has announced that it’s designed a new cooler for Nvidia’s hot and powerful GeForce GTX 200-series of GPUs. Called the Accelero XTREME GTX 280, Arctic Cooling says that the cooler will be much quieter than the Nvidia stock cooler, as well as much cooler.

The Accelero XTREME GTX 280 will come equipped with three PWM-controlled 92mm fans with fluid dynamic bearings that can spin between 1,000 and 2,000rpm. Meanwhile, five copper heatpipes will connect the cooler to the GPU, and Arctic Cooling says that the kit will also feature cooling for the RAM chips and VRMs, which we assume will come via separate heatsinks.

Impressively, Arctic Cooling says that the cooler will knock up to 31°C off the temperature of the stock cooler. In its own tests, the company says that the temperature of a GeForce GTX 280 hit just 48°C using the Accelero cooler at 2,000rpm, but this increased to 79°C using the stock cooler at the same fan speed and 64°C using the stock cooler at 2,900rpm.

The company also claims that the cooler will be significantly quieter, rating the noise at 0.5 Sone with the fans spinning at 2,000rpm. Comparatively, according to Arctic Cooling, the stock cooler hit 2.5 Sone at 2,000rpm and 5 Sone at 2,900rpm, making it significantly noisier. Arctic Cooling also claims that its patented fan holder will reduce buzzing noises from the fans. Disappointingly, though, Arctic Cooling is continuing its strategy of making GPU coolers that don’t have a direct exhaust to the back of your case, unlike the Nvidia reference cooler.

Due to be released in March 2009, the Accelero XTREME GTX 280 will fit GeForce GTX 260, 280 and 285 cards and will also come with Arctic Cooling’s MX-2 TIM pre-applied. No UK pricing has been announced yet, but Arctic Cooling has announced Euro pricing of €42.95 (ex VAT), which works out at £38.63 at the current exchange rate.