INTRODUCTION

   CPU Cooling may have become far more complicated compared to what it was even just a decade ago but still regular CPU air coolers hold the largest piece of the market for one single reason, their great price/performance ratio which has yet to be beaten to date by the relatively new (always compared to air coolers) AIO liquid coolers. The good news is that CPU coolers undergo minor tweaks all the time and although not very ground breaking still the slight performance boost these offer is more than sufficient enough to keep regular air coolers competitive against AIO and even custom water cooling kits. The Macho Rev.B by our friends over at Thermalright which is here with us today has undergone such minor tweaks and we're here to see what kind of performance increase one can expect because of them.

   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.

   The Macho Rev.B is basically a Macho Zero (without the black nickel plating) but with an 140mm fan strapped onto it which should help further boost the already excellent performance of the cooler quite a bit at the price of noise however. This was really a move we did expect from Thermalright since the Macho Zero performed incredibly well in our charts just by using the 140mm fan duct so offering the same heatsink but with a fan seemed like the logical next step. Of course to keep noise levels to a minimum Thermalright has used their brand new ultra-low-noise 1300RPM TY-147A 140mm PWM fan model (300RPM minimum compared to the 900RPM minimum of the regular TY-147) which although not really fast it does offer good airflow and pressure levels. So who wants to see how the Macho Zero performs when you strap a 140mm TY-147 PWM fan onto it?

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

From time to time Thermalright uses colorful boxes to ship some of their coolers and the Macho Rev.B did arrive inside such a box that has a product image at the front along with several award logos for Thermalright and of course their own company logo.

The product specifications are listed on the right side of the box in three languages.

Several award logos are placed at the left side of the box along with drawings pointing to the contents of the box.

Everything is nicely packed inside the box between several foam spacers.

Thermalright has once again provided a very rich bundle so aside the Macho Rev.B heatsink you will also get the TY-147 140mm fan, a full size screwdriver, installation manual, thermal paste pouch, set of fan wire mounts, 4 rubber fan pads, two backplates and all the necessary screws and mounting hardware for Intel LGA775/1150/1155/1156/1366/2011/2011-3 and AMD AM2/AM2+/AM3/AM3+/FM1/FM2 mainboards.

THE MACHO REV.B

The black colored fin at the top is only one of the things that reveal the connection between the Macho Zero and the Macho Rev.B.

With 162mm in height, 140mm in length, 102mm in width and a weight of 720g the Macho Rev.B is identical to the Macho Zero.

The body of the Macho Rev.B features a grand total of 31 aluminum fins (0.4mm thick spaced 3.1mm from each other).

The areas of the fin bend upwards are there to keep the air trapped between them. From the side it's also very easy to see that the heatsink will not interfere with memory modules and mainboard components.

Six 6mm all-copper nickel plated heatpipes start from the base of a CPU Cooler and through all of its fins.

As expected from Thermalright the copper base of the Macho Rev.B features a nice mirror like finish.

Using vibration absorbing rubber pads for the fan(s) is one of the things we've always liked about Thermalright.

The TR-TY147A 140mm PWM fan model by Thermalright can reach speeds of up to 1300RPM to produce airflow levels of up to 73.6CFM with just 21dBA of noise.

With the fan mounted the Macho Rev.B now weighs 860g and measures 129mm in width.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   We always take things quite seriously when it comes to work so just like with the previous LGA1366 database we will not be testing each CPU Cooler on its own and with different ambient temperature levels and thus we can actually have yet another valid CPU Cooler database. Testing a CPU Cooler automatically means that you need to know where it stands against the immediate competition and to accomplish that we have spent both money and time through the years, something that we plan to continue to do so in order to get the most accurate results for the end consumers who read these lines. Every CPU cooler in this database is tested with the bundled 140mm/120mm/92mm/80mm fans while working at both idle speed and 100% of their speeds for all the temperature tests. CPU Coolers that do not come bundled with a fan/s are measured using a Noctua fan (size dependent on the model) to test for the temperature tests but due to the lack of a stock fan dBA level tests are obviously skipped. Single (120/140mm) watercooling solutions are tested with the radiator mounted at the rear of our test rig while dual/triple/quad (240/260/280/360/420/480/560mm) solutions with the radiator mounted at the top. For the dBA tests every cooler in the database was measured both while on idle mode or with the fan controller in the minimum setting and while on extreme load or with the fan controller all the way to the highest possible setting (PWM fans do that on their own without our intervention). Every single test takes place in a temperature controlled room of 23 degrees Celsius Ambient Temp with the help of two AC units placed diagonally inside the room. The Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste is used with every CPU Cooler in our latest LGA2011 database (although initially this was not the plan we had to change things to get the most accurate results). Finally it's very important to point out that just because a CPU Cooler is better than another when tested with our test rig that does not necessarily mean that the same performance differences will apply 100% for other CPU models and in other situations (such as different ambient temps and system configurations).

     To successfully record the load temperatures we use the latest OCCT application for around 5 minutes to push the processor to its limits and after that is done and the temperatures are recorded we wait for about 10-20 minutes for the CPU to cool down and record the idle temperatures. This is done to allow time for the thermal conductive material to achieve the optimal performance level. Same procedure is then repeated with the Passmark BurnIn Test as a failsafe just in case the OCCT results are wrong. This procedure takes a lot more time than the usual peltier/thermometer tests but this way not only can we deliver real world results to our readers based on real CPUs but we can also triple check the results using a variety of programs. Last but not least the temperatures were recorded using both the latest versions of AIDA64 and RealTemp while the noise level tests are performed using a high precision ExTech HD600 Decibel Meter placed about 10-15cm above the CPU Cooler. Still although the same testing procedure applies to all units do take into consideration that unlike the official numbers which are measured in special noise isolated labs with just the fans here we also have both the rest of the cooler and the rest of the system (although all system fans are turned off when recording noise levels).

TEST RESULTS

CONCLUSION

   When we took the Macho Rev.B out of its box and placed it next to the Macho Zero the only thing we wanted to see was how the first would compare to the second since aside the 140mm fan they were identical. Unfortunately a direct/valid comparison between the Macho Zero and the Macho Rev.B wasn't really possible in the end since aside the 140mm fan duct we've used with the first a very large part is played by the rear exhaust fan (in this case a Noctua NF-A14 PWM @ 1500RPM). Had we used a TY-147A fan for the rear exhaust fan a comparison would had been possible but that's not our system configuration and changing it for a single review would in a way affect past reviews (a better/faster fan may get you even closer to the Macho Rev.B and vice versa of course). That being said the Macho Rev.B did surpass the Macho Zero with ease (although not by much) and came really close to the NH-D15 by Noctua something which really took us all by surprise. As for noise levels well thanks to the TY-147A (TR-TY147A) fan used the Macho Rev.B is only second to the True Spirit 140 Power in our charts so although not completely silent it's inaudible from even just 1 meter away.

   According to Thermalright at launch the Macho Rev.B will retail for 42.99Euros inside the EU which means it will cost roughly the same with the original Macho when it got launched roughly 3 years ago. Numbers speak for themselves so unless you want complete silence or your tower is way too small to accommodate the Macho Rev.B CPU cooler i really can't come up with a reason as to why anyone wouldn't want to own it. Performance is great, thanks to its design you will almost certainly avoid any clearance issues with memory modules and mainboard components, noise levels are very low and the price is right so what else is there to ask from such a product? We can't think of something that's why the Macho Rev.B gets our Platinum Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Size & Weight (Compared To The Larger HR-22)
- Excellent Performance
- Almost Inaudible
- Zero Clearance Issues
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Size (Overall)
- Current Availability