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Glacialtech's UFO V51 Silent is rather futuristic looking heatsink which has been designed with lower noise operation in mind. It contains two low-speed 92mm fans arranged in a push-pull orientation - ensuring sufficient airflow without excessive noise - that direct exhaust airflow down towards the motherboard and adjacent components like memory. The UFO V51 Silent draws on a combination of 6mm and 8mm diameter copper heatpipes to conduct heat from the processor to a large aluminum heat exchanger sandwiched between the bulky plastic components that give it a distinctive appearance. In the course of this review, Frostytech will peel back the layers of plastic to reveal the heatsink at the center of the Glacialtech UFO V51 Silent, test its acoustic performance and examine its thermal capabilities for both Intel and AMD processor platforms. Flashy plastic and fancy names always fall by the wayside, because if there's one thing we've learned in nearly 10 years of heatsink reviews...is that you can never tell how a heatsink will perform by its appearance. And in the end, it's the performance that matters most. At it's core, Glacialtech have equipped the 136mm tall UFO V51 Silent heatsink with two 1600RPM fans surrounding a large aluminum fin array, and framed in by a plastic casing that acts like a shroud to duct air through it. The heatsink weighs 780grams and is compatible with both Intel socket 775, 1366 and the entire family of AMD socket 939/AM3 processors.
All four copper heatpipes are pressed flat and soldered to a 2mm copper baseplate, capped by a small extruded aluminum heatsink that receives the CPU socket mounting bracket and distributes the force evenly. Stripping away the plastic reveals a fairly straightforward 'over-under' thermal design that will be familiar to frequent Frostytech readers.
Interestingly, Glacialtech have scalloped the leading and trailing edges of the aluminum fins in place of creating a space for a plenum below/above each fan.
According to Glacialtech, air is supposed to be drawn in through the open sides of the UFO V51 Silent heatsink in addition to the air ingested by the top fan. In tests with a simple mylar-film air flow indicator, side air intake was minimal to non-existant. An airflow indicator is a simple device; a length of rigid wire 80mm long onto which are attached strips of 0.0003" thick mylar cut into tassels 2mm wide by 25mm long. The thin mylar is flexible and flutters in whichever direction the air is moving.
Heatsink Installation Mounting brackets can be good and simple, but in reality there's a long list of mechanical, force, alignment and engineering minutia that comes into play. The heatsink should sit flat on the CPU, with good amount of static force to compress out residual thermal compound. Generally speaking the static load values can vary from ~60-85lbs/in force (ballpark).
Fulcrums, spring clips, cam levers and shouldered cap screws with compression springs are the typical tools of the trade, but the devil is in the details. A tab here and a dimple there can make or break a mounting clip - the trick is to center the load.
Glacialtech use a combination of mounting feet and a single common bar which sits across the centerline of the heatsink base. Thumb screws apply the force, but if you're not careful they can be over tightened and cause the UFO V51 Silent heatsink to tilt crookedly on one edge of the processor, essentially leaving only 2/3rds of the base in contact. A copper heat spreader on the bottom of the Glacialtech UFO V51 mitigates the impact of this somewhat, but it's something manufacturers need to be mindful of. The Glacialtech UFO V51 Silent heatsink is compatible with Intel socket 775,1366 and AMD socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3 processors. The heatsink comes with a set of metal clips that accommodates all the CPU sockets, assorted standoffs and thumbscrews. It's not tool free, so be prepared to open up the PC take your time. FrostyTech's Test Methodologies are outlined in detail here if you care to know what equipment is used, and the parameters under which the tests are conducted. Now let's move forward and take a closer look at this heatsink, its acoustic characteristics, and of course its performance in the thermal tests!
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12:37 PM 02.09.10
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