Thermalright Macho 120 - new or old version ?

Cooling Processors quietly

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

Post Reply
SilentCold
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Dec 16, 2013 5:11 am

Thermalright Macho 120 - new or old version ?

Post by SilentCold » Mon Dec 16, 2013 5:23 am

I need a cooler for a 4570. It's a non-K, so no overclocking and mostly for development, so no long CPU-intensive tasks.

My plan is to not use a fan on the cooler, but only use the rear case fan (this is how I run my current E6750).

I have considered the True Spirit 120, but with the new revision price has increased, and I'm not sure about the new fan mounting and vibrations (if I should choose to use a fan later).

So I'm mostly considering the Macho 120 (not HR-02), but should I get the old version with a backplate or the new version without backplate ?

I'm not sure if there has been any other important changes.

Thank you for any input.

Abula
Posts: 3662
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:22 pm
Location: Guatemala

Re: Thermalright Macho 120 - new or old version ?

Post by Abula » Wed Dec 18, 2013 5:28 pm

SilentCold wrote:So I'm mostly considering the Macho 120 (not HR-02), but should I get the old version with a backplate or the new version without backplate ?.
I honestly havent seen the two versions you talk about, the Macho 120 is relative a new cooler, much newer than the HR02, the only version i seen is Thermalright Macho 120, and seem to come with the same mounting mechansim as the HR02 macho with the backplate.

quest_for_silence
Posts: 5275
Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2007 10:12 am
Location: ITALY

Re: Thermalright Macho 120 - new or old version ?

Post by quest_for_silence » Wed Dec 18, 2013 11:17 pm

Abula wrote:
SilentCold wrote:So I'm mostly considering the Macho 120 (not HR-02), but should I get the old version with a backplate or the new version without backplate ?.
I honestly havent seen the two versions you talk about, the Macho 120 is relative a new cooler, much newer than the HR02, the only version i seen is Thermalright Macho 120, and seem to come with the same mounting mechansim as the HR02 macho with the backplate.

When I read that post, I was in doubt to reply as, according to me, this was the classical question to which you can't give a meaningful answer.

The newer Rev. A of the Macho 120 looks like more a simplification rather than an improvement over the original design: will it work at least equally?
I don't know: currently there isn't any reliable review of the TR Macho 120, and any review at all of the Macho 120 Rev. A
I also doubt there were any people around who have bought both the coolers: so what?

Usually a backplate is a safety measure for the board, usually in order to prevent some severe bending or cracking of the board itself.
Personally I doubt that any version of the Macho 120 will be effective to passively cooling an Ivy Bridge in a proper way, but it mostly depends of personal expectations: if SilentCold feel so, my advice is to buy the cheapest he may find.

SilentCold
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Dec 16, 2013 5:11 am

Re: Thermalright Macho 120 - new or old version ?

Post by SilentCold » Thu Dec 19, 2013 3:28 am

Thanks, I actually thought the question was simple enough:

Would you buy a 650g cooler with or without a backplate ?

but maybe it wasn't clear with the other information I put in. I don't know if it can run 'fanless', but the rear case fan is only 1-2cm away, and the CPU is really not being stressed at all. But that wasn't really the question, if the temperature should get to high, I will just attach the fan to the cooler instead.

Regards.

quest_for_silence
Posts: 5275
Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2007 10:12 am
Location: ITALY

Re: Thermalright Macho 120 - new or old version ?

Post by quest_for_silence » Thu Dec 19, 2013 3:52 pm

SilentCold wrote:Would you buy a 650g cooler with or without a backplate ?

I mean your question is simplified now, but it's not that simple at the same time.

The backplate surely stiffen the "keep out zone" on the motherboard: does this measure prove to be really effective, with reference to board reliability (set aside the cooler effectiveness)?

I can't help: I was used to think that a backplate is better (=safer) than no backplate, but without any evidence of it (in the 478' and 775' days there were several heavy coolers relying solely on their push-pins).
So personally I would rather that a 650g weight (usually with a strong cantilever effect) do come with a backplate, but again to be fair this mine is not such an educated guess.

thierry.
Posts: 126
Joined: Fri Nov 15, 2013 8:07 am
Location: Vienna - Austria

Re: Thermalright Macho 120 - new or old version ?

Post by thierry. » Fri Dec 20, 2013 3:00 am

I have never installed an aftermarket heatsink in my life. Planning soon.
As completely new to this world, I would take the back plate.
Especially here we are talking about the same cooler, with or without.

It would certainly be different if the old one was discontinued, and if I would need to choose between new-without-backplate and other model, less good, with back plate.


There is an additional question that I would ask, in this comparison "with or without": do I get the same performance with the new model, with possibly less pressure to the CPU?

quest_for_silence
Posts: 5275
Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2007 10:12 am
Location: ITALY

Re: Thermalright Macho 120 - new or old version ?

Post by quest_for_silence » Fri Dec 20, 2013 11:34 am

thierry. wrote:There is an additional question that I would ask, in this comparison "with or without": do I get the same performance with the new model, with possibly less pressure to the CPU?


IMO/IME no one can answer such a question.

At any rate, with that specific cooler the applied pressure should be, more or less, about the same.

Post Reply