# Thermalright Macho Rev.B



## crazyeyesreaper (May 19, 2015)

Thermalright looks to improve upon the ever-popular Macho series with the new Macho Revision B. This revision offers an offset design for better memory compatibility while sticking with a massive single tower. Offering fantastic performance for the price when compared to ultra high end solutions, it could very well be just what you are looking for.

*Show full review*


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## Petey Plane (Jun 11, 2015)

Good assessment.  I have the first (Rev.A ?) Macho, and for the past 3 years, it has kept my OCed 4.6mhz 2500K under 40° during light workloads and under 75° after a couple hours of BF4 online without any issues.  Like you pointed out, it does come within millimeters of encroaching on the first PCI slot on a lot of boards, so cards with back-plates may not fit.  But you get close to AIO performance for half the price and none of the worries of leaky fittings or failed pumps.  It's so big that, even if the fan fails, it still functions as a passive heat-sink if your CPU is idling, so there is a little extra insurance there that AIOs can't offer.  Should definitely be at the top of anyone's list if they're wary of AIOs (like i am) or AIOs aren't an option.


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## techy1 (Jun 11, 2015)

this looks like a kickass price/preformance/silence cooler... price in $ will be lower - cuz everything (tech, Electronics) in EU is more expensive.


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## buildzoid (Jun 12, 2015)

Well this makes me disappointed with my PHTC-14PE. I wonder if you put the 2500RPM fans that he Silver Arrow SB-E has would this beat the the PHTC-14PE?


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## crazyeyesreaper (Jun 12, 2015)

keep in mind Buildzoid I use an overclock of only 4.2ghz and 1.2v if you keep going up the high end coolers will pull away from mid range parts. A happy middle ground had to be found. pushing 4.6ghz means alot of entry level coolers fail and look awful in comparison when in reality they are just fine. Its something to keep in mind however that more heat = high end heatsinks will keep on doing there job while entry to mid range will possibly thermal throttle.


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## GreiverBlade (Jun 12, 2015)

the HR-02 Macho Rev.B in test  i can die happy now ... (i used a Rev.A for a long time but the B.W. edition)
price/perf it beat nearly all 140/150mm dual tower, and look beastly.

for the cons
Memory clearance could be better? it barely touch the 1st slot with a 25mm fan, i used it on a 1366 Rampage III Extreme with all 6 memory slot filled with Corsair Dominator and Patriot Viper (medium height heatsink on them) if using LP : no problems (plus the fan can be shifted up a bit in case of extreme necessity) Raijintek and Cryorigs need to fit a slim 12mm fan instead of a 25mm to reach that
well ... with LP indeed no problem, also i remembered that i had to bent a bit the Viper heatsink but nothing dramatic (also ... it did fit with the fan in the wrong position and RAM in the 1st slot, which is a bit longer ) and on a AM2+ with XMS2

    




crazyeyesreaper said:


> Its something to keep in mind however that more heat = high end heatsinks will keep on doing there job while entry to mid range will possibly thermal throttle.


well for me the Macho is a hig end heatsink with a mid range price ... 



buildzoid said:


> Well this makes me disappointed with my PHTC-14PE. I wonder if you put the 2500RPM fans that he Silver Arrow SB-E has would this beat the the PHTC-14PE?


i had the same idea : http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/your-pc-atm.65012/page-1014#post-3015365

anyway : good review, quite pleased to see it.


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## Ferrum Master (Jun 12, 2015)

Push pull tests? Any gains adding the second fan on max load?


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## crazyeyesreaper (Jun 12, 2015)

performance would likely improve by 1 to 2 degrees with another fan add into the mix.


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## qubit (Jun 12, 2015)

So it has the same performance as my Noctua NH-D14 and it's using only one fan. That's pretty good. I get the impression that performance isn't improving much without using much bigger coolers, because good old physics is preventing it, lol.

I don't like the way these big coolers nowadays prevent use of the first expansion slot though and don't think that it's really acceptable. That slot can be pretty important and I'm using it for a PCI-E sound card at the moment as I have an SLI setup so using the bottom slot would restrict airflow to the bottom card.

Even my Noctua is a bit like that, as the bottom fan clip presses against the expansion card slightly. I have to put a fairly thick layer of electrical insulation tape on the card to ensure that there's no short circuit.

All manufacturers have to do to fix this problem is offset the cooler a little bit, just a few millimetres is all it would take so I don't understand why they don't do this.

@crazyeyesreaper Any chance of adding another fan, doing a small rebench and giving us the result in a forum post?


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## crazyeyesreaper (Jun 12, 2015)

@qubit 

The other problem Qubit is TDP.

4770k 80-90w Overclocked maybe 120w.  The biggest issue in TDP rise being the crappy TIM used between the die and IHS.

As such Bigger coolers don't really do as well. I would prefer using say X99 or even an AMD setup due to better heat transfer but they are not the "Popular platform"  I also limit the OC to 4.2ghz and 1.2 volts. Pushing higher results in the larger coolers doing better because they do not get thermally saturated. Still if you want to OC to the limit you need a big cooler if you want a 200-300 Mhz and a quieter system most mid range coolers will suffice. What ends up making the real difference is warranty / Bundle / build quality / noise levels.

As for testing with a second fan I don't need to I have tested that before on various coolers across various sockets.

Cryorig R1 Universal 2 fans to 3 fans = 2'C drop

SilentiumPC Fera 2   single to 2 fans = 2'C drop

Zalman CNPS14X 1 fan to 2 fans = 2'C drop 2 fans to 3 fans = 3'C drop for 5'C drop from 1 fan to 3 fans.


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## Ferrum Master (Jun 12, 2015)

Well 2011 has bigger surface area as such. That totally changes the math when seeking a cooler.

Warning! I am drinking beer.

I guess the only soltion really to use a real heat source... Like Peltier module hot side and a thermometer. The peltier should be mounted via copper shims reflecting cpu sizes, you can emulate test results for each load, the wattage will be easly calculated using an ampere meter.. It should give best results imho.


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## crazyeyesreaper (Jun 12, 2015)

Yet while that does determine the best cooler it doesn't determine the best cooler per socket or CPU generation etc. Which is the main issues. No perfect method as it were.


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## Jeffredo (Jun 14, 2015)

Almost bought one of these but ended up with a Thermalright True Spirit 140 (which is also quite good).  Regardless, Thermalright products seem to be very good.


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## GreiverBlade (Jun 14, 2015)

oinkypig said:


> nice to see some single tower proficiency finally


well ... it's more a dual tower with the 2 tower linked and no place for the middle fan ... due to the surface occupied by the Macho ... (altho a better memory clearance than most dual thanks to the ex-centered base)


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## Zen_ (Jun 15, 2015)

Still rockin the Rev. A on a 2500K too 

Probably should have put the fan clips as a negative. They work fine outside the case for install and getting the fan clipped in, but they are a nightmare to work with while the heatsink is installed inside a case. The get bound up in the fins, bend the fins, and are really tough to clip onto a fan. Other than that, I love the heatsink, and TR products in general.


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## GreiverBlade (Jun 15, 2015)

Zen_ said:


> Probably should have put the fan clips as a negative. They work fine outside the case for install and getting the fan clipped in, but they are a nightmare to work with while the heatsink is installed inside a case. The get bound up in the fins, bend the fins, and are really tough to clip onto a fan.


not really .... not matter what case i fitted my Macho Rev.A in i rarely had any problem to install fan clip on a fan or fan clipped fan on the Macho in a case... no bent fins or other issues (personal opinion eh? )
tho they are way better than the one you had on the IFX-14 (albeit having only 1 pair instead of 2 )


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## Petey Plane (Jun 16, 2015)

Zen_ said:


> Still rockin the Rev. A on a 2500K too
> 
> Probably should have put the fan clips as a negative. They work fine outside the case for install and getting the fan clipped in, but they are a nightmare to work with while the heatsink is installed inside a case. The get bound up in the fins, bend the fins, and are really tough to clip onto a fan. Other than that, I love the heatsink, and TR products in general.



Name a better CPU that the 2500k.  

Protip:  You can't


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## GreiverBlade (Jun 16, 2015)

Petey Plane said:


> Name a better CPU that the 2500k.
> 
> Protip:  You can't


well ... my i5-4690K ... (never had a 2500K but i had a 2400  )


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## Petey Plane (Jun 16, 2015)

GreiverBlade said:


> well ... my i5-4690K ... (never had a 2500K but i had a 2400  )



I'll take my soldered heat spreader and 4.6ghz on air (on all 4 cores), thank you very much .  It is getting to that time to starting thinking about upgrading though.  Probably gonna wait for Cannonlake and 16gb (2 8gb DIMMs) of DDR4 to drop bellow $100.


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## Zen_ (Jun 17, 2015)

GreiverBlade said:


> not really .... not matter what case i fitted my Macho Rev.A in i rarely had any problem to install fan clip on a fan or fan clipped fan on the Macho in a case... no bent fins or other issues (personal opinion eh? )
> tho they are way better than the one you had on the IFX-14 (albeit having only 1 pair instead of 2 )



Yes, it is an opinion based on my experience...

Even in the photos posted for the review you can see how the wire fan clips are bending inside, which makes it so they don't line up in the tiny holes, and has a tendency to bend the outer layer of fins. There are better systems for mounting a fan on a heatsink.


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## toouur (Jun 23, 2015)

For those, who want to use the first expansion slot. MB - Asus H97-PRO. Audio card - Asus Xonar DX. Clearance is enough.


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## Joss (Jul 2, 2015)

toouur said:


> For those, who want to use the first expansion slot. MB - Asus H97-PRO. Audio card - Asus Xonar DX. Clearance is enough.View attachment 65979



Thanks


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