Thermalright HR-02 Macho CPU Air Cooler Review @ [H]

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

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Thermalright HR-02 Macho CPU Air Cooler Review - Thermalright is a long time tried and true brand here at [H]. Very rarely have we seen a product from Thermalright that did not deliver a solid product to enthusiasts in one way or another. The new Macho aims to hit the value, quality, and performance segments...all at the same time.
 
wow... Super impressed with the value of this cooler!!! I might just have to get one, even though I've got a decent cooler already!
 
This thing looks huge...i'd forgotten how big air coolers had gotten it almost blocks everything. How much does it weigh?

It's a wierd name they picked... makes me unavoidably think of... this...
 
I have to say...I'm normally not impressed with air coolers considering I've primarily used water cooling (with a few exceptions) for the last few years. The Thermalright HR-02 Macho altered my thinking based on the review. The Thermalright HR-02 would be high on my list for clients or friend's who want good cooling yet don't want to fork out the money for a good water cooling setup. At only $40, how could anyone pass it up?

Thanks for the review, [H]. Great read. :)
 
Nothing in this coolers price range is going to touch it. Its pretty big and I wish that the heatpipes were nickel plated but you can't go wrong at $40.
 
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I paid $30 more for my Silver Arrow and thought it was a good deal. For nearly equal performance at this price, that's pretty fantastic. FWIW the fan itself usually costs around $14, which would make the cooler without fan cost around $26.

The only caveat I would say is: "as long as it fits"
 
Wow, I paid so much for my HR-02, and now this thing comes along and gives all the performance of the original for almost half the price... I wonder why TR is doing this? Surplus HR-02's that they want to get rid of? Wonder if the slight advantage can be attributed to the different mounting system or something else altogether, such as the flat vs. convex base.
 
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Wait

$40 ?!

The original, which came without a fan, cost $80.

Half price, PLUS a $14 fan included

Deal of the century
 
Thanks Kyle, When a friend of mine decides to upgrade his computer his cooler will be a macho one.
 
wtf, it's only $40 and includes a fan? i just recently bought the HR-02 for $80 after tax and shipping :mad:. is this confirmed retail price or is this just to get everyone excited?
 
I want to know one thing:

How does it compare to my classic Ultra 120 eXtreme?

I've been teetering between keeping it and going for a DYI water-cooling system, feeling guilty for not just buying an H70/H100.

But 40$? That's an awesome deal.
 
Could someone provide a link to this $40 cooler because I call BS. My locale shop has the older HR-02 and with a fan it's only $10 off what I would pay for a Corsair h100.
 
DOH!!! Someone at [H] owes me 20 minutes of my life back! Saw yesterday in the Corsair H100 review that the HR-02 Macho was listed in the conclusion graphs but couldn't remember ever reading the [H] review about it. So spent about 20 minutes looking through [H] and Google trying to find that review I had thought I missed!! Where was this review yesterday when I needed it!

Finally a product properly named! Can't wait for it's replacement which I suspect will be named "HR-02 Awesomely Macho"! Finally, after all these years, something MACHO to get excited about!!

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Good review, glad to see some attention paid back to the air cooling side. But yes as others have said...how much better is this than a TRUE? ive used mine for a couple of diff builds now and love it just wondering where the Thermalright Ultra Extreme sits these days? Thermalright make awesome products, maybe not always the cheapest...but quality coolers for sure!
 
Seriously amazing performance, and if the $40 is indeed true, I'll be upgrading my current cooler without a second thought. Great review.
 
How are you liking that Fractal Design case?
 
It would be nice to see if it would fit on a p67 board with a fan and allow the use of the first ram slot. Could the first ram slot be used on the Gigabyte x58?
 
D'oh.

I literally just finished screwing the first gen one I bought last week into a new motherboard >.<

Oh well, I'm not planning on OCing that PC, so I'm sure I can live with it :p

btw I was really impressed with the fit, it's freaking massive and I was concerned that it would block access to slots/headers/screws/everything on the motherboard, but it doesn't at all (although if you want to orient it so the overhang is facing into the case, you'll probably want to install the RAM before the cooler depending on the board you use :p).
 
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhHxLG9_ZBo"]&#x202a;Cartman - Must Go, Must Buy!&#x202c;&rlm; - YouTube[/ame]

Will definitely use this when I go SB.
 
The PWM fan alone is worth $20 easy. I don't need a new cooler but damn, I want this one now. :D
 
Great temps for air, about the same as the Megashadow I used to run, but it was tested against the Antec Kuhler 920 on low. On high, it doesn't seem like it would be quite an even run.

Even if it were, while it's great for an air cooler, with the AIO water coolers available in easy-to-install set-ups for people these days, I'd think the days of hanging ridiculously huge and weighty air coolers on your mobo would be a think of the past.

At the very least, the AIO water coolers perform equally to the highest-end air coolers, but without all the weight and room taken up on your mobo. I don't see a huge future for air cooling/giant towers anymore, given the ease and performance of the AIO water coolers such as the Antec 920, or Corsair's offerings.
 
From what I can tell this is only available in Europe and runs about 40 Euros, not dollars.
 
So has anyone found out where to buy this my coolit eco alc is slowly dying an im looking for a new cooler. and well this thing for forty dollars has to be the best cpu cooling value ever.
 
Interesting review. I'd like to know more about it however. The review showed WAY to few air coolers, including the previous mentioned 120 and the Hyper 212+. How are we supposed to know how good it is if you only compare it to a few "water" coolers?
 
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Interesting review. I'd like to know more about it however. The review showed WAY to few air coolers, including the previous mentioned 120 and the Hyper 212+. How are we supposed to know how good it is if you only compare it to a few "water" coolers?
Click to expand...

This review (in german) shows this HR-02 Macho beats the TRUE 120 Rev C by 3 degrees Celsius.
 
Great review.

A question -- the HR-02 Macho didn't look like it blocked any RAM slots on the tested mainboard. Will there be clearance enough to use all RAM sockets on most motherboards, or is there potential to block 1-2 sockets?
 
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