CM HAF Owners...Chime in

[BoomerD]

While I really don't NEED a case as big as the HAF 932 or the HAF X, I'm seriously considering one of them for my upcoming build.
I have big hands and have a tough time hooking up all the damned little wires as it is, but in a tight case, I leave blood and bits of hand everywhere.
I like that these cases have enough room for a large CPU cooler should I decide I need one...and they look like they're very well ventilated. Air flow is always a good thing.
I also like that they LOOK very well built. Lots of room for cable management, lots of room for big video cards, lots of options for adding more fans if they're needed, but why don't they paint the inside of the 932 case black like they've done with the X? That's a much nicer look than the silver.

So people...tell me about your CoolerMaster HAF case.

What do you like about them, what do you hate, what would you change, and what changes have you made?

(me, I don't like the red LED fans...and will probably change that somewhere down the road.)

 

[faxon]

this case will be perfect for you. they sell a blue version of the 932 now as well if you prefer that color over red. the case has tons of space inside, i could easily fit my entire fist above where my motherboard is if i had a large cooler installed (im WCing with the radiator installed in the top), and theres enough space for cabling behind the motherboard tray to hide even the thickest cable mess. you should have no problems working inside this case at all

 

[Ruger22C]

Some of the 932 do have a black interior, I'm told.

It's a very nice case. I thought the design was much better than his chief competition, the 1200.

It's near silent, which I LOVE - and yet, cools better than my beta evo did.

One thing I would change, is making a large space between the mobo tray and the side panel, so you can hide your cables and still close the panel easily. I must be doing something wrong, though.

Here's a good mate for your HAF

http://www.svc.com/y720dcd-25t1-gp.html

 

[Chocu1a]

I love my HAF932. Only thing I would want different is the interior painted black, but they do have a HAF Black edition, as well as the HAF X. Best case I have owned.

 

[james1701]

After using the HAF X in my last build, I will never go back to a smaller case. It was so nice having room to work. The black interior looks great, and the cable management lets anyone do a professional job.

The biggest suggestion I have is if you get a HAF X, check your mobo cpu back plate mounting position before bolt it down. The hole is not big, I did not notice this the first time I bolted down my RE3. I had to take everything apart to put the back plate on because it was not centered over the hole. That board is just a little larger than standard ATX design. Other than that, perfect case for me.

 

[Ruger22C]

James, can I get a photo of your wiring please? esp. the mobo side panel.. I think I did mine stupidly.

 

[james1701]

I hope that helps. I also included a pic of the back plate. You can see where the RE3 is just a little too wide, and the hole is not big enough to get the plate on with the mobo installed. I have a clan mate that has the 932, with the blue fans. It looks good, except no black interior, and it does not have the nice rubber grommets for the wires to go through, just open holes.

I also have large hands. This case was god send for me. I will never go back to smaller cases again. As you can see, those are 5870's and still have gobs of room left inside.

 

[BoomerD]

Damn James, that's a clean build. VERY nice cable management.

What are the two blue cables I see snaking in from the back?

Which Corsair cooler is that? Like it? I've heard a lot of mixed opinions on them.

 

[james1701]

Those are for the 3.0 usb ports on the front. CM includes mobo header cables to change those to normal mobo header cables if you get a mobo that had onboard usb 3.0.

Its an H50. It does great. I had to change them over to exhaust because they were sucking up heat put out by the 5870's. It never got overly hot, but once I did that, it really cooled down my cpu.

Anyone can do a really good cable job with this case. You would have to try to do a bad job on cables with this case. If forgot to mention, the tooless drive slots are some of the best I have ever seen. They are not flimsy, and hold and release very well. This is also the first case I have ever had the even puts thumb screws on the pci covers and to hold in the power supply. They have really gone all out and made a quality case.

 

[Rubycon]

Isn't that a HAF-X though?

The 932 I had was grommet-less unpainted steel.

Oh and the REXIII socket placement is different than most X58 boards so you'll run into that issue with most cases that have a cutout for the CPU cooler holes.

 

[james1701]

Yes, that is the X. The 932 is still grommet-less, and unpainted.

 

[rgallant]

-you guys might think I nuts , but I find with the high air flow of he 932 , I have less dust build up in my case . looks like the vent holes block the big stuff ,eg. cat hair and the finer dust gets blown out and does not settle in the case like any filtered cases I've modded with filters.
-my finding any ways .
-also the back pan cpu bracket access hole , I had cut it down for a ASUS mb ,then went with a E760 , then had to take a bit off the front side. lol big hole now.

 

[BoomerD]

-you guys might think I nuts , but I find with the high air flow of he 932 , I have less dust build up in my case . looks like the vent holes block the big stuff ,eg. cat hair and the finer dust gets blown out and does not settle in the case like any filtered cases I've modded with filters.
-my finding any ways .
-also the back pan cpu bracket access hole , I had cut it down for a ASUS mb ,then went with a E760 , then had to take a bit off the front side. lol big hole now.

Sounds like you need to mod a case fan to fit over that hole...

 

[Ruger22C]

I hope that helps. I also included a pic of the back plate. You can see where the RE3 is just a little too wide, and the hole is not big enough to get the plate on with the mobo installed. I have a clan mate that has the 932, with the blue fans. It looks good, except no black interior, and it does not have the nice rubber grommets for the wires to go through, just open holes.

I also have large hands. This case was god send for me. I will never go back to smaller cases again. As you can see, those are 5870's and still have gobs of room left inside.[/QUOTE]

Hey...

Actually, can I get a picture of the whole area where the back plate is? that is, I can't see the wires next to your back plate (mobo tray), just the plate it's self...

Thanks...

 

[james1701]

I don't have anything with all my wiring in. This is the only pic I have of the back. You can tuck it all behind the door with no problems. One thing that's not advertised is the doors are hinged, and swing out. You don't have to slide them side ways on the chassis to lock them. Also, see the humps in the middle of the case going down, those are for zip ties to keep the back organized if you want.

 

[Ruger22C]

Dang, you put my wiring to SHAME....

 

[BoomerD]

Dang, you put my wiring to SHAME....

VERY nicely done, James, are you one of those OCD folks?

I'm thrilled if, when I'm done, I don't have wires falling out the door and interfering with the fans. :biggrin:

(which is one thing I dislike about multiple door fans)

 

[james1701]

Thanks, but to be honest, with this case, just about everyone can have a wiring job like this. You have to try pretty hard to screw it up.

This is the side door from the inside. One thing that would make it a little easier is to run a small fan extender from the bottom mobo fan header to hook up the door fan. There is room for the wire to drop down beside the ps and stay out of sight. It can get a little tricky with such a big door, and trying to plug in that big fan, and set it on the hinge to shut it. Every thing runs nice and cool in this case. I thought about adding the second 200mm fan in the top, but from everything I have read, it does not make that big of a difference.

I am running an SSD and a second 160gb platter drive in the hot swap bays.

 

[CVSiN]

heres Mine

man wish I had gotten the HAFX instead of the 932.. looks so much better.

 

[alfa147x]

My roommate has one:
Pros:
Side mounted HDDs
Low PSU
Huge fan
Lot's of air holes

Cons:
I don't like CM's build quality on this case (Out of the 3 I'v seen)
Looks ugly as shit. But apparently I have an odd taste for cases: I like the Antec 180, and the fractal design r3.
Fan opening are not filtered
It's a bitch to clean the industrial cheese grater front on those :\

 

[Chocu1a]

Here is the inside of mine:

Like I said above, the only thing I wish different is the inside being painted black. One day I might just paint it myself.

 

[Rubycon]

My roommate has one:
Pros:
Side mounted HDDs
Low PSU
Huge fan
Lot's of air holes

Cons:
I don't like CM's build quality on this case (Out of the 3 I'v seen)
Looks ugly as shit. But apparently I have an odd taste for cases: I like the Antec 180, and the fractal design r3.
Fan opening are not filtered
It's a bitch to clean the industrial cheese grater front on those :\

You like the 180 and complain about the build quality on the HAF series? Well from using both I can tell you the HAF can take a (physical) beating that will make the 180 cry (in pieces). Just simply letting the 180 fall over will break it. The 180 is also a thermal nightmare in comparison. The only case I've found as it comes that can "outcool" the HAF series is the silverstone RV02/FT02 series and those are generally in another price tier particularly the FT02.

Of course without filters it's gonna get dusty inside but if dust is that big a concern anything with dust filters will clog and temps will soar. Any filter worth a hoot is going to impede airflow too. Perhaps people should work on the indoor air quality some?

I don't mind the ultilitarian look at all. As long as it has the toughness to back it. The heavy steel panels are plenty tough. The HAF-X will also fit larger motherboards like the EVGA Classified 762 (4 Way SLI) and ridiculously overpriced Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD9.

The Lian-Li Lanboy series is also another modestly priced (for Lian-Li haha) case that people seem to like.

 

[Ruger22C]

Chocua, beautiful picture. Nice editing.

 

[james1701]

I am surprised how well the built in filters on the X work. My interior stays much cleaner than when I had my Antec 900 up and running.

I had a shock about a month and a half ago. I had my Haf X setting on top of a 3 shelf book case beside my desk. It was about midnight, and I was gaming with my clan, and all of a sudden I heard a bang, like someone shot at me. I pulled of my headphones, and looked over, and the book case had collapsed from the weight. Luckily for my, the Haf X wedged itself between the wall, and the top of my desk, so it did not hit the floor. When I seen it teetering, in mid air about 3 feet off the floor, I am dropped a brick in my computer chair. After I saved it from hitting the floor, I was surprised, there was not scratches, or and of the top plastic broke around the fan mount where it hit the wall. Nothing dislodged in the case either. After that, I installed the included casters on just let it set on the floor.

 

[Mistwalker]

Just got my HAF-X a couple weeks ago, and going from an Antec p180 I was stunned at how much more room I had to work with.

The case is massive and heavy (steel all the way) and has its very industrious look that may turn off some. But with the HAF it doesn't matter how big your hands are, how much hardware you have, the thing just sucks in whatever you install and with room to spare.

I did a horrible job with cabling even despite the ample routing holes and included zip ties, but it still hums along. I somehow hoped for something quieter than the p180 and got a case that was louder but with a deeper hum that is easier to treat as background noise. Of course, even then it's pretty damn quiet for having 5 fans.

Don't forget you can turn the red LED lights off with the button on the front of the case, I leave mine dark and unobtrusive.