GlacialTech UFO V51 CPU Cooler Review

Heatsink Construction & Design

For anyone who actually remembers the GlacialTech Igloo 5750 review I did way back when, you will instantly recognize this cooler. It really does appear to be a bigger brother of that design or at least a Revision of the Igloo rather than a brand new model. For everyone who either did not read that review or can’t remember it….don’t worry I had to look it up too.


In a nutshell this cooler is your typical downdraft / C type unit. It has four large C-shaped heatpipes to suck the heat away from the CPU with a fairly large cooling fin array to then radiate that heat into the air. To even be more precise it is 130mm (L) × 157mm (W) × 138mm (H), weighs in at 780 grams and is cooled by not one but two 92mm fans (in a push / pull configuration) with one being on the top and the other on the bottom.


We admit that we do have a soft spot for downdraft coolers as they are the perennial underdog in the air cooling world. Regardless, these types of coolers do have one redeeming factor: increased cooling for the motherboard. In today’s world of motherboard chipsets which are only passively cooled, any extra air flow over those heat sinks will not only help cool them down but may actually allow you to push you overclock higher (as the board will not hit a thermal wall as fast). The downside is they can be harder to install, they are not as efficient as the best tower cooler designs and are not to everyone’s liking.


When you take a close look at the UFO the very first thing which becomes abundantly clear is that it is literally covered in plastic. While they do add a bit of “Bling” to the unit, this is not the main reason they are included. These plastic pieces fit together over the fin array and help act as an air dam / funnel. Without them in place, air could escape to the sides and not go over all the fins. This in turn would reduce its effectiveness…so while they do make the UFO look pretty they do have an awfully good excuse for being there.


With these plastic pieces removed you can easily get a much better look at this cooler's setup which has numerous aluminum fins that are formed into a multi-faceted “face”. All these grooves will certainly help reduce static pressure and allow the fans to work more efficiently…not harder.


The base of the UFO is perfectly flat, polished to such a bright shine we had to have NO light shinning on it or it would wash out the shots (thus the black looking base in the photos!), which certainly makes it above average. All in all, there is not much to complain about except the sticker GlacialTech stuck on the base to keep it from scratching. As with all of these dreaded stickers we recommend a good alcohol cleaning before use to make sure none of the glue residue is left.


It’s funny but when you strip away all the glitz and goo-gaws (which admittedly do serve a purpose) this the UFO looks a lot like many other C type coolers out there. Where it “only” uses 92mm fans we think that this is going to be the weak spot of this unit's capabilities, they may be an upgrade from the Igloo’s single 80mm but this cooler really should have been designed with 120mm fans in mind….especially since it is labeled as a “silent cooler”.