Le Grand Macho RT (with Fan TY-147B)

WOW!! This thing is amazing compared to my Corsair H100i V2 water cooler. I used to idle around 32-33C and at load would get around 45-50C. Recently, though my H100i was allowing idle temps at 44 and the load to spike to 68C on my AMD FX 8370 (8 core). Keep in mind this whole time I never overclocked, because I never feel it's worth the risk and don't feel the need to.So, I ordered this Thermalright Le Grand Macho RT. I put it in, which took about 30 min, due to the fact that it wasn't as straight forward as previous Noctua solutions I've used. I put the Macho in using Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut thermal paste, which I've found to be better than Artic Silver 5 and Tuniq TX-4. Following the instructions for my AMD was easy enough, but I had to concentrate more on each step than I would with a Noctua, because of the way this thing is installed. I didn't find it very difficult to install. In fact, I had a much harder time getting the H100i out of the case.So, how did it do? I ran Prime95 for 10-12 min. The idle temps were 22-24C (72-76F) with load temps maxed at 44C (111F). This means it's idling at cooler than the office I put this thing in! I couldn't believe what I was seeing, so I booted into the BIOS and checked and saw the same idle temps. I decided to overclock by 5% (yes, I'm cautious). I won't overclock more than that, but the temps are literally running at 24C with DOTA, Chrome, and a good number of other apps running. Playing Battlefield 1 pushed it to 44-45C at max settings. I may update this later, as time goes on, but this initial run is incredible! Btw, I have this in a Be Quiet! Silent Base 800. I was going to purchase a Thermalright fan duct to funnel air to the back outtake fan, but this thing sits almost flush against it anyway.So how does it look? Well, it's big. It's advertised at 159mm tall, but I believe with all the gear it sits on, it's more likely 162mm. My case still has room for it, so you'll need a decent-sized case for it. It looks OK, if not a big overwhelmingly big. What I love, however, is that while there are no lights on this thing, my case lights make the white fan glow and it looks very cool. All RAM slots are completely unblocked, so I can pretty much put whatever I want in there. I also noticed that with my motherboard, all card slots are available, as well. I love this thing! I still have some cable management to do now, since I have so much more room at top (now that I don't have a radiator in there and other places. With the LED stips I have in my case, i can change the lighting speed, color, brightness, and other things, but what I found was it really bounced off the white fan so well I don't really need to look for a lighting solution for it. Also, at lower brightness, the fan blades start to look more spread out and give a neat affect (see photos and you'll see one of those).As far as quality, the design put into this thing is astounding. I heard it was supposed to be fanless originally, and considering the temps I'm getting, I believe that's true. With the fan, though I don't see how this thing isn't beating out even Noctua's offerings at a cheaper price. The fins are very thin and you could end up bending them, if you're not careful. The kit came with everything, including thermal paste (which I didn't use), gloves, and a screw driver (which you'll need). Only time will tell, but if this holds up as it is now, I would buy Thermalright's solutions and from this seller again.EDIT: I put a fan at the top of the case blowing in and down onto the cooler, now that the radiator was out of the way. I did further cable management and moved the graphics card up. I also removed two fans I had at the bottom of the case. I also realized my tests were a little off, since I hadn't run them while the system was on for at least 15 min. So, I ran the system for about 15 min and then ran my tests. I now idle around 25-27C and hit a ceiling at full load for 12 min at 41C. That's more realistic and still VERY impressive.Update (6 Feb 2019): Still super happy with this cooler! It's amazingly quiet, and no matter how many times I've checked over the past year on temps, they stay very stable and low. I'm going to build a new system in the next few weeks and plan on putting another Thermalright cooler in.EDIT: 18 Jan 2020This thing is still going strong as the day I got it. Still quiet, still cool.

FYI for anyone installing the Le Grand Macho RT CPU cooler on their AMD AM4 CPU - Here is my lesson learned the hard way:Tip #1: You will need to install the manufacturer's AM4 mounting brackets. Good news is the brackets were shipped with the CPU cooler from Amazon.There are 2+ sets of brackets that need to be installed on an AM4 - an on-top-of-the-motherboard bracket(s) and an underneath-the-mother-board bracket.Tip #2: You will need a long { minimum 6 inch long phillips-head screwdriver with magnetic tip }, this length doesn't include the handle lenght.The reason you need a looooooong phillips-head screwdriver is because the 2nd of 2 screws to connect the cooler with the mounting bracket on the top-side of the motherboard is to thread the 2nd screw through the very narrow hole that is near the middle of the cooler. Even with a long screwdriver with a magnetic tip it took my friend (who is an expert at building desktop PCs) ~ 6 tries to finally (figuratively speaking) thread-the-needle and screw in the very-difficult-to-reach 2nd screw.Tip #3: Your PC desktop case needs to be minimum 8.5 inches wide for this CPU cooler to fit OK with some clearance. If your case is only 8 inches wide or narrower, your taking a risk that your case might (?) be too narrow for this cooler. My other PC case that is 7.5 inches wide was tooooo narrow for this cooler.Tip #4: Depending on your motherboard, you may need to plug in a power cable for one of your PC components in the power port that is located near the where this type of CPU cooler will be mounted. If you 1st mount this cooler before you plug in whatever component needs to be plugged into the power port near the CPU, you will very likely unfortunately BLOCK access to that power port due to massive (let me reiterate: MASSIVE) size of this CPU cooler.FYI - Once this cooler is installed, it works most excellently!!! Superior to the stock AMD coolers, but the stock AMD coolers install easily.