Accelero X2 Installation

Since we covered the Accelero design, we’ll get to the installation right away.

ATI has 8 screws on the back. Four hold together a small backplate and the core, and another four hold the cooler to the PCB. First remove the outside and then the inside screws, pull away the heavy cooler, and unplug power cable.

After the stock heatsink is removed, clean off the existing thermal paste. Here is a size comparison between the 7900GTX and the X1900 coolers. The larger fan, more fins, and 4 heatpipes help the GTX cooler stay quieter, while the X1900 cooler sounds like a jet engine when the fan pulls away heat at max load.


Apply the thermal pads onto the RAM chips. This process is once again extremely annoying because the pads stick to anything they touch. Line up the X2 with the mounting holes and place it on the board. The screws that come with the Accelero X2 are only one length, 6mm. Thread seven (7) of them through washers and flip over the card slowly.

Screw in the screws starting from the four (4) inside ones and then three (3) outside. Note, in the above photo they are not screwed in. It just shows how they are supposed to look like. Flip the card over again and plug in the power cable which is customized to fit only the X1800 and X1900 cards.