INTRODUCTION

   Many times when we get to test one of the latest CPU air coolers to hit the market i always point out that it's not really hard for a manufacturer to sit down and design one since the same basic concept has been used for well over two decades now. True the size and shape of a cooler may change but in the end performance is always tied with the total surface of a cooler and of course the supplied fan or fans that accompany it. What happens however when a manufacturer aims to release a completely passive CPU cooler? Well we've seen quite a few attempts in that field by some manufacturers but it wasn't until the excellent HR-22 (HighRiser series) by Thermalright that we really felt that you can have a small HTPC beast in your living room without having to worry about noise. Well today we'll be taking a closer look at what seems to be the successor to the HR-22 the Macho Zero.

   Thermalright is an elite design house that manufactures cooling products for computer components for the best quality and performance your money can buy. In 2002, AMD released its first generation Thunderbird CPU and since then we have been there every step of the way to counter high voltage and high heat with innovative design and highly acclaimed cooling solutions not only for AMD but for Intel as well. One of early well known solutions was the SK-6. With many positive and rave reviews under its belt Thermalright bolted to the top as the heat sink manufacturer mostly preferred by Overclockers and enthusiasts around the World. To this day, innovation never left our vocabulary as we keep coming up with leading edge designs staying ahead of the competition.

   For a passive CPU cooling solution the HR-22 HighRiser was excellent but because of its massive size and weight it didn't fit in every HTPC case out in the market something which obviously Thermalright needed to improve on to cover even more consumers. Well the brand new Macho Zero is quite smaller, looks a lot better thanks to the nickel black coating placed on its entire body and comes ready with the same innovative 120/140mm fan ducts which improve the cooling efficiency of the cooler (semi-passive cooling) by connecting the rear of the cooler with your systems rear exhaust fan (wind tunnel concept). Of course what had all of us thinking is the size of the Macho Zero since being smaller and with less heatpipes compared to its predecessor the HR-22 probably means we're basically talking about a cut-down version and it's up to us to see if that's so.