The elusive Thermalright HR-02 Macho - ordered, received, installed, tested!

[wheresmybacon]

Update 12/8/2011

Built my semi-new rig yesterday. Here are my thoughts on the Thermalright Macho HR-02:

HUGE! This thing did not fit in an unaltered Antec 900 case, nor could I use the first DIMM slot closest to the CPU. I made it work, but my case now has a much bigger vent on the side by virtue of me having to remove the (unused) side plexi-glass case fan mount.

Installation wasn't too bad. Any of these large coolers aren't always fun to install, but with a little patience and planning it's doable. Note to prospective buyers of the Macho: that big hole down the center of the heat sink? Yeah, it's there for a reason. You don't need to be a downer like me and try to fasten the back side screw to the mounting plate with your go go gadget arms. Just stick a long screwdriver down that hole and tighten away.

Performance wise, I'm impressed. I'm running 4700 Mhz stable @ 1.34. Under load it's maxed out @ ~ 70°, while as I type this now it's idling @ 35°.

IMO, this cooler is going to be at or near top of the food chain in that price range, and the good reviews I've seen almost everywhere online are well deserved.

====

I'm finally putting together a new rig, and I've elected to go with the Thermalright HR-02 Macho for cooling. CPU will be an I5-2500k. Link to review of the Macho:

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/07/26/thermalright_hr02_macho_cpu_air_cooler_review

I had a bitch of a time locating any retailers who have this thing in stock, but I found one on Amazon. Only $39.99. Crazy that such a seemingly good product is so hard to find.

I considered the nh-d14, nh-c14, and silver arrow, but in the end I stuck to my goal of building this rig on the cheap, and the Macho won out.

Anyone have any experience with this beast? IMO it's ugly as shit, but it's performance at a good price I'm after, aesthetics are secondary.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

i considered getting the macho, but it wouldn't have fit in my box. thermalright has had the best mounting for a while, i guess noctua has matched them now.

IMO it's ugly as shit

:biggrin: it's not bad

 

[SZLiao214]

I loooove products that perform way above their price point Enjoy your cooler.

 

[Corporate Thug]

great cooler...apparently the only place you can get it is Nan's Gaming Gear though.

 

[Zap]

i considered getting the macho, but it wouldn't have fit in my box.

That's what she said! :whiste:

Isn't Nan's Gaming Gear listed with Thermalright as an official vendor?

 

[The Boston Dangler]

That's what she said! :whiste:

show a little maturity, please






i'm just kidding. that was pretty awkward to type

 

[LintMan]

I had to order my Thermalright True Spirit 120 through Nan's Gaming Gear for the same reason - I couldn't find it anywhere else.

It's the final piece I need to put my new system together and it should arrive today, so I'm pretty excited.

 

[wheresmybacon]

great cooler...apparently the only place you can get it is Nan's Gaming Gear though.

Yep. Impressive service by 'ol Nan. I ordered this on Wednesday night and had it in my hands by Friday.

 

[MarkLuvsCS]

please report back with results from overclocking

Every review I've looked up typically uses first gen i7 @ 3.8-4ghz. I would love to see some SB results just to be certain of my expectations . I just need to make the decision between hyper 212 evo and hr-2 macho for overclocking SB to 4.5-4.8.

 

[wheresmybacon]

Will do. I won't get the proc for this new rig until probably next week, but for fun I'm going to document everything.

 

[wheresmybacon]

Bump for great justice. And updates in the OP!

 

[ClockHound]

What a beast! I love it! Definitely on my top 3 list for the next SB build. By why only one fan? There's so much extra space with such a svelte cooler. ;-)

 

[mv2devnull]

How about turning the fan 90 degrees? The specs say 160mm*140mm, so after turn it would not use as much space between memory and side panel.

 

[DigDog]

curious, what were you using before?

tho i'm still on S775, i got a 212+ and from the frostytech reviews it pretty much makes everything else obsolete.

anyone willing to post a real-life comparison between that nad the macho ?

(also, i thought it looked a lot nicer in the press photos)

 

[fffblackmage]

HUGE! This thing did not fit in an unaltered Antec 900 case, nor could I use the first DIMM slot closest to the CPU. I made it work, but my case now has a much bigger vent on the side by virtue of me having to remove the (unused) side plexi-glass case fan mount.

I had my HR-02 rotated 180 degrees (relative to how you have it installed), and that somehow managed to fit in my Antec 900 without any modification. I'm also not using the fan, so I guess that might have helped. I jsut wish I could have the HR-02 rotated 90 degrees though, but it doesn't look like that would work with my AM2+ socket (while it worked for my friend's Intel LGA775 socket).

 

[wheresmybacon]

What a beast! I love it! Definitely on my top 3 list for the next SB build. By why only one fan? There's so much extra space with such a svelte cooler. ;-)

If I end up needing another fan I'll get one, but right now I'm completely satisfied with this setup. My core temps @ load haven't got above 70°, and that's with the Intel Burn Test...for games I'm playing it's nowhere near that.

 

[wheresmybacon]

How about turning the fan 90 degrees? The specs say 160mm*140mm, so after turn it would not use as much space between memory and side panel.

That's actually not a bad idea. If I ever end up populating all my DIMM slots that would be something I'd consider trying...

 

[wheresmybacon]

curious, what were you using before?

tho i'm still on S775, i got a 212+ and from the frostytech reviews it pretty much makes everything else obsolete.

anyone willing to post a real-life comparison between that nad the macho ?

(also, i thought it looked a lot nicer in the press photos)

This is a new build, so I don't have another cooler to compare. Actually I was using this case and PSU before, but it was with an Intel E8400 + Zalman CNPS9700...different "guts".

 

[Belegost]

I just grabbed a pair to put on my 2500Ks.

Advice when mounting: once you have the mounting base on the socket, after you put your thermal paste down, but before you actually stick the heatsink on.

Take the hold down plate put it in place and put the screw opposite the dimm slots in, just like 1/2 a turn so it doesn't fall back out, but the plate is still loose enough to pull up.

Now, hold the plate up and slide the bottom of the heatsink under it and place it on the core. Put the screw in the dimm side loosely.

Tighten down screw under the sink, if you have a long screwdriver use it! If like me you have no bloody clue where your long screwdriver went, the wrench they include works with a little patience. Though I think if you have large power heatsinks around your socket you may be in a bad spot. On the Asrock Extreme3 the sinks are low enough to get the wrench and fingers in.

After that side is tight, tighten the dimm side down, then go back and check the tightness on the other side. A lot of times tightening one side will loosen up the other side.

Get annoyed with the fan clips that just don't seem to be very secure, as you try to put the fan on over your RAM.

Last, enjoy quiet coolness.