Thanks to improving thermal efficiency, graphics cards sport a huge variety of coolers these days, with some recent GeForce GTX 960 and GTX 970 cards using semi-passive coolers that only spin up their fans during games. Arctic, though, claims its aftermarket GPU cooler, the Accelero S3, offers a passive experience even during games.
It won't cope with a GTX 980, but with a 135 W TDP limit, a 120W GTX 960 should be surmountable. The Accelero S3 is also compatible with a range of other graphics cards although some, such as the GTX 650 Ti, should only be used in well-ventilated cases. It can also be used to cool much more powerful models, but requires an optional fan module to boost cooling.
The heatsink comes in two main parts. The main section sits atop the PCB and sports four 6mm heatpipes, while a large heatsink sits on the rear, dealing with excess heat from the far side of the PCB. Sadly, the huge size of these components means you'll need a sizeable case. The heatsink protrudes outwards by nearly 60mm from the side of the PCB, and the Accelero S3 won't work with most mini-ITX motherboards either, as it fouls the DIMM slots.
Installation is also complicated. It isn't particularly clear what components you need to use for a particular graphics card, and then you have to deal with a mass of washers, screws and thermal pads in addition to a large metal support bracket to cope with the 700g weight. The worst part is dealing with the protective plastic film that protects components on the rear of the PCB from being shorted by the heatsink, which you tediously need to cut to size yourself.
We used a Lian Li PC-A76WX case and a KFA2 GTX 960 Mini OC as our test subject. The stock cooler topped out at a delta T of 53°C under load, although it wasn't particularly loud. The Accelero S3 did manage to keep the temperature at a steady 62°C, but only when installed in a case with a front fan pointed at it. The heatsink was definitely working, but without the fan, the temperatures quickly skyrocketed to unsafe levels.
Arctic lists the GTX 960 as being able to be cooled with little airflow, but it actually needs a fair amount of direct airflow - you're really just moving the active cooling job to a case fan, rather than the GPU cooler. This setup might theoretically result in a slightly quieter PC but, given the low noise levels of so many cards with active coolers (especially with semi passive modes), there won't be much difference.
If you already have a large case with plenty of airflow, the Accelero S3 can effectively cool a GTX 960, albeit at a comparatively toasty temperature. However, actively cooled cards based on Nvidia's latest GPUs run fairly quietly anyway, even in games. Even with AMD GPUs, the Accelero S3's massive size, fiddly installation and lacklustre, case-dependent cooling mean you're better off buying a graphics card with a better cooler instead. ANTONY LEATHER