Thermalright Macho 90 and Macho Rev. B Reviews

Performance Analysis

The first thing to note is that since we've switched to entirely new systems, we don't have much by way of comparative results. As such, we've used one air cooler, the SilverStone Argon Ar01, and one closed loop liquid cooler, the Corsair Hydro Series H75, to give us a baseline of comparison. These both offer performance that's solid but not best in class, so should serve our needs well enough.


On our LGA1150 system, the Macho 90 offers a delta T that's within 2°C of the SilverStone Argon AR01. Even though this is a less expensive cooler, it can be considered a good result for the Macho 90 as it will fit into smaller cases and is significantly quieter too. However, on the AMD AM3+ system the showing isn't as good; this time it's 7°C behind SilverStone's offering.

The Macho Rev.B is a much more powerful cooler, what with it being double the weight of the Macho 90. It delivers some very impressive numbers, trumping the Corsair H75 in both the LGA1150 and AMD AM3+ systems. Admittedly, it does so only by 1°C, but given that it's also whisper-quiet these are excellent numbers. In fact, with its single, slow spinning 140mm fan it's one of the quietest air coolers around. In our LGA2011 system, however, it still puts in a decent showing, but with the ability of flowing water to transfer heat faster than heat pipes the Corsair H75 comes out on top by 5°C.

Conclusion

Thermalright's build quality with both of these coolers is very good, and we think many users will appreciate the neutral colour scheme courtesy of the nickel-plating and black and white fans. The installation process is decent enough but there is room for improvement. Still, it can be done within a case and most people won't have too much trouble.

Taking the Macho 90 first, it is a rather expensive cooler given that it only uses a single 92mm fan. That said, while it may be shorter than your average tower there's still plenty of metal on offer, and this helps it achieve very good results with low noise output on our overclocked LGA1150 system. We're happy to recommend it for such a build if you're planning to use a small to mid size case – just remember to use low-profile memory. However, for AMD builds, we think it's worth shopping around as the results aren't as strong.


The Macho Rev.B is a very impressive cooler, especially if you're an LGA1150 or AMD user. It will keep your overclocked CPU very cool with hardly any noise output, although it is a very large cooler so you'll want to check that it will fit with the rest of your hardware. For LGA2011 users, this is still a decent air cooler, especially given the low noise output, but stepping up to a liquid cooler is likely worthwhile if you've a hefty overclock in mind.