Cooler master haf x v2 review: Revisit: Cooler Master HAF X Case in 2018, the Once-King | GamersNexus

Revisit: Cooler Master HAF X Case in 2018, the Once-King | GamersNexus

 

Cooler Master HAF X Specs

Materials	Steel, mesh, polymer
Dimension	230 x 599 x 550 mm / 9.1 x 23.6 x 21.7 inch (W x H x D)
Weight	14.35 kg / 31.6 lbs
M/B Type	microATX, ATX, E-ATX, GIGABYTE XL-ATX
5.25″ Drive Bays	6 (2 from X-Dock)
3.5″ Drive Bays	5 (hidden) (supports 2-in-1 2.5″ and 1.8″ SSD)
2.5″ Drive Bays	2 (from 5.25″ drive bays)
I/O Panel	USB 3. 0 x 2 (internal),USB 2.0 x 2, IEEE 1394a x 1, e-SATA x 1, Audio x 1, Mic x 1
Expansion Slots	9
Cooling System	Front: 230×30 mm red LED fan x 1 Top: 200x30mm fan x 2 (one is optional) Side: 200x30mm fan x 1 Rear: 140x25mm fan x 1 VGA card fan duct: 120×25 mm or 120x38mm fan x 1 (optional) VGA card holder:8 0x15mm fan x 1 (optional)
Power Supply Type	Standard ATX PS2
Maximum Compatibility	VGA card length: 342mm / 13.5 inch CPU cooler height: 190mm / 7.5 inch

The first step for this revisit was thoroughly cleaning Steve’s old case. The HAF X, like many 2010-era enclosures, was practically designed to catch dust. There’s mesh everywhere; even the 5.25” bay covers are made of mesh. That’s obviously good for cooling, but the filters on the HAF X are part of the outer shell of the case, which makes them much more difficult to clean than the magnetic filters most manufacturers use now. The manual suggests simply removing them and brushing them off, but really cleaning them out required bending metal tabs flat, disassembling the panels to extract the inner mesh layer, and then washing them. Even on the non-mesh surfaces, there are tons of dust-collecting bumps and flanges for the “tactical” look that was fashionable at the time. Steve kept this HAF X fairly clean, but wiping off the light coating of dust it had gathered in storage took ages, and there are probably going to be quite a few commenters letting us know that we missed a spot. With the full complement of VGA supports, air ducts and other accessories that come with the case, cleaning would be even harder.

And there were a ton of accessories (a. k.a. “plastic crap”) compared to modern cases. A duct around the side panel fan, a VGA support to prevent sag (with a built-in fan mount), a duct behind the drive cages to direct air towards the GPU (with another fan mount), an internal SATA dock, pass-through USB 3.0 and SATA cables, a sliding plastic door for the front I/O, button-controlled LEDs on the front fan. One thing that case manufacturers and consumers have both learned over the years is that more is not necessarily better, and the biggest case with the most junk crammed into it isn’t the best. Steve removed the drive cage duct, the VGA support, and the PSU shroud years ago (good riddance). Of the various bells and whistles, the removable partial PSU shroud ranks last in usefulness—it just hides a little cable clutter, and there was none with our modular PSU. The removable casters on the bottom might rank first, both because they make the bulky case easier to move and lift the bottom vents away from the dusty floor a little more.

The side panels make it hard to excuse modern cases that still use flimsy tabs to slide into place. The HAF X uses two heavy steel panels that hinge out simply and easily along the front edge, but are sturdy enough to press cables into place. Cable tie points aren’t tidily placed in pairs like cases we’ve reviewed lately, but they exist, which is good enough in an enclosure this big: there’s plenty of room to spread out cables and tie them down, especially with the bulky stock USB and SATA cables cleared out. The side panel window is pathetic compared to the huge sheets of tempered glass that are now commonplace: not much is visible because of the space taken up by the side fan, and the dim red LEDs from the front fan leave the interior dark.

Front I/O includes two USB 3.0 ports (pretty good for 2010), as well as firewire, eSATA, and two standard USB. Unfortunately, the USB 3.0 ports don’t connect to an internal header, they’re just extension cables that can be routed through the case and plugged into the back (although it seems like new HAF Xs come with true internal connectors). There’s also a button that controls the LEDs on the front fan, but no built-in fan controller. The plastic door over the panel is a bit excessive considering that it has to be opened to turn on the computer, but it could help keep dust out of the upwards-facing ports. The USB ports on Steve’s case haven’t survived the years, but the other ports and buttons remain functional.

Case Testing Methodology

We tested using our new Skylake case test bench, detailed in the table below. This particular configuration is brand new with the launch of the 570X & 270R. Results on this test platform cannot be compared to previous case benchmark results, as the platform has completely changed.

Conducting thermal tests requires careful measurement of temperatures in the surrounding environment. We control for ambient by constantly measuring temperatures with thermocouples and laser readers. We then produce charts using a Delta T(emperature) over Ambient value. This value subtracts the thermo-logged ambient value from the measured diode temperatures, producing a delta report of thermals. AIDA64 is used for logging thermals of silicon components, including the GPU diode.

All case fans are manually configured to their maximum throughput using BIOS, then we configure to an RPM closer to 1050 for a universal «quiet» testing. If a fan controller is present, we opt-in and test on multiple settings. This forces testing of case fan performance in addition to the case’s air channeling and airstream design. This also ensures minimal variance when testing, as automatically controlled fan speeds can reduce reliability of benchmarking. The CPU fan is set to 1100RPM (constant) for consistency, and the CPU is overclocked to 4.4GHz with a vCore of 1.272V (constant). C-States and power saving states are disabled.

GN Case Testing Bench (Sponsored by CableMod)

	Component	Courtesy Of	Price
Video Card	MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X (OC Mode)	MSI	$640
CPU	Intel i7-6700K @ 4. 4GHz	GamersNexus	$300
CPU Cooler	MSI Core Frozr L	MSI	TBD
Motherboard	MSI Z170A Gaming M7	MSI	$180
Memory	Corsair Vengeance LED 32GB 3200MHz	Corsair	$200
SSD	Samsung 850 EVO 120GB	Samsung	N/A
PSU	Corsair RM650x	Corsair	$100
Cables	CableMod Pro Mesh Cables	CableMod	$50-$100
Case	This is what we’re testing!	—	—

The video card is configured to run at 55% fan speed at all times.

Prior to load testing, we collect idle temperature results for ten minutes to determine the unloaded cooling performance of a case’s fans and air channels. Thermal benchmarking is conducted for 1400 seconds (23 minutes), a period we’ve determined sufficient for achieving equilibrium. The over-time data is aggregated and will occasionally be compiled into charts, if interesting or relevant. The equilibrium performance is averaged to create the below charts.

Load testing is conducted using Prime95 LFFTs and Kombustor “FurMark” stress testing simultaneously. Testing is completely automated using in-house scripting, and executes with perfect accuracy on every run.

We recently validated our test methodology using a thermal chamber, finding our approach to be nearly perfectly accurate. Learn more here.

THERMALS & NOISE

HAF stands for High AirFlow, and the HAF X certainly is that. The stock configuration includes 230mm front intake, 200mm top exhaust, 200mm side intake, and 140mm rear exhaust fans. All of the fans are huge, which doesn’t automatically mean they push a larger volume of air, but it does mean airflow is distributed over a wide area—at least, if the ducts are removed.

In the stock configuration, airflow from the front and side intake fans is concentrated exclusively on the GPU, while the CPU left to be cooled by whatever air is drawn towards the exhaust fans. The VGA and side panel ducts further focus air towards the GPU, especially if their fan slots are filled. Although the entire front panel is mesh, including the 5.25” bay covers, the only intake fan is at the very bottom. The drive cages are permanently attached, so there’s no chance of a PM01-style configuration with intake pointed towards the CPU. We never used the VGA cowl, but we did use the side panel one (rotated 90 degrees so that it would clear our GPU) in all but one test. Side intake is the best way to get air to a GPU, but it doesn’t work well with windows or sleek designs, so it’s a rare sight these days.

One area where the HAF X shows its age is the lack of radiator support, although there are holes for liquid cooling punched in the chassis. It wouldn’t be too hard to get a modern AIO bolted to the inside-top of the case with fans mounted on the outside (or vice-versa), but that clearly wasn’t a priority when the case was first created. 120mm or 140mm square radiators are the exception, since they would fit neatly into the rear exhaust vent.

Our additional tests for the HAF X were removing the front panel, removing the duct on the side panel, and switching from a single 200mm top exhaust fan to two 200mm top intake fans. We did this last test to improve CPU thermals and because the top panel is filtered, unlike the bottom. Cooler Master’s product page suggests a standard front intake, top/rear exhaust configuration, but with the case lifted up on casters that configuration allows air to flow up and in the large vent at the bottom of the case.

CPU Torture

The CPU averaged 50. 9C dT in the torture test. With no shroud on the side panel, dT averaged 49.1C—a difference within margin of error, but which could also be due to the more distributed airflow pattern. Switching to double 200mm top intake had a more dramatic effect, and dT lowered to 45.9C. Our CPU cooler is oriented to move air from the front of the case to the back, so the top intake fans didn’t point directly into it, but they still provided much more air than is otherwise sent to the top of the case. Removing the front panel had no significant effect on CPU dT, since the only intake fan that benefits from removing the panel isn’t pointed towards the CPU. There’s a large distance between the front panel and the CPU cooler, it’s partially obstructed by an optical drive bay, and the front panel is so well ventilated anyway that it wouldn’t make much difference.

Cooler Master HAF X vs. H500P CPU Thermals

50.9C dT isn’t as good as the RL06 at 47.8C or the Cougar Conquer at 48.5C, but it’s still among the very best scores for a stock case on our chart. Given how little emphasis the stock configuration puts on CPU cooling, that’s impressive. With an additional fan and the top intake configuration blowing more air through the top of the case, the HAF X’s 45.9C dT score is only beaten by the Silverstone RV02, which lines three 180mm Air Penetrator fans up with the CPU cooler. The stock H500P was nowhere close at 56.1C dT, but with the front panel removed it averaged 43.7dT.  That’s impressive, and it shows the cooling potential of two unrestricted 200mm fans, but it’s not that much better than the top intake configuration in the HAF X.

GPU Torture

46.9C was the average GPU dT during the same test. Removing the side panel shroud raised this to 50.6C dT as the airflow was less concentrated, and removing the front panel again caused practically no change from baseline. The top intake test was slightly warmer than baseline at 47.5C, but within margin of error. The upper section of the case is separated from the bottom by the GPU backplate, and a top intake/rear exhaust air cycle doesn’t interact much with the heatsink side of the GPU. In the stock configuration, some incoming air must pass by the GPU to get to the top-rear of the case.

Cooler Master HAF X GPU Thermals

Thanks to the side intake fan, the stock score for the HAF X is the coolest GPU dT on our chart, although it’s within margin of error of a tie with the RL06. Even with the top intake arrangement intended to benefit the CPU, the GPU was cooler in the HAF X than in any other case besides the RL06. The stock H500P averaged 54.9C dT, a difference of 8C: this is why we were so disappointed in the H500P’s middling performance. Even without the front panel, GPU dT in the H500P averaged higher than the HAF X by a couple degrees because of lack of side intake.

HAF X 3DMark Thermals

46.9C is easily the lowest average GPU dT we’ve seen in the Firestrike Extreme stress test. Next best are the Silverstone RV02 and PM01 cases, neither of which have side intake fans. The stock H500P averaged 58.9C dT, on the opposite end of the chart.

HAF X Blender Thermals

The case was in stock configuration for the 3DMark and Blender tests, so CPU cooling wasn’t as good as it could be with top intake. Rendering on the CPU, CPU dT averaged 36.6C, almost exactly the same as the PM01 and Cougar Conquer, and a bit warmer than the RV02 and RL06. It’s still among the top performers, though, just as it was in the torture test.

Rendering on the GPU, GPU dT is again the lowest we’ve seen, at 23.2 versus the PM01’s 23.7C. The H500P averaged 28.8C GPU dT, a difference of 5.6 degrees in a test where most cases fall within a 10 degree range.

Noise

Noise isn’t nearly as bad as it could be on a case with four fans (the 44.6dBA RV02 proves that). 41.1 dBA is definitely loud, but the major advantage of using only a single fan smaller than 200mm is that none of them individually produce much noise. The side cowl helps by concentrating the air from a large and therefore quiet fan into a small area rather than just using a 120mm fan. If the additional fan mounts on the VGA support and drive cage were filled, noise levels would rise significantly.

Conclusion

The HAF X wasn’t the endpoint of case design and, since 2010, requirements have changed and innovations have been made. A new-in-box HAF X is not the best case for its price in 2018. It’s hard to clean, the drive cages can’t be removed, the fans aren’t great, and it’s so big it needs wheels, but the “Gigabyte XL-ATX” form factor it supports hasn’t been used for years. Enthusiasts willing to drop around $200 on a case probably want to use some form of liquid cooling, which could be difficult in this case. This isn’t a review deciding whether the HAF X is worth buying, though: this is a revisit, primarily to decide whether the HAF X was really all that.

For the most part, the answer is yes. CPU and GPU cooling are great (especially GPU, where the HAF X dominates the charts), and there aren’t many definitively bad aspects. The excessive 3.5” and 5.25” bays and the overall appearance of the case are dated, but they made sense at the time. The multicolored cables are old-fashioned, too, but they make it a lot easier to plug in front panel connectors without a flashlight and tweezers. The SATA dock, VGA support, PSU shroud, drive cage shroud, and pass-through cables have always been unnecessary, but could always be cleared out (as well as the side panel shroud, but that’s actually useful). One of the few irreparably bad features is the style of filter, which is far more difficult to clean than it needs to be. $200 launch MSRP was steep, but considering that it’s still a serviceable case eight years later, that may have been a good investment.

The Cooler Master HAF X remains one of the best performers for GPU thermals, and that’s entirely attributable to the side intake. CPU cooling is also reasonable, and even better with added top intakes. To answer the article’s starting question of whether the HAF X was really as good as we remembered, it’s “yes,” and the case remains one of the best. It’s dated, we wouldn’t recommend buying it today, and it uses old design modes — but it was good for the time.

Editorial: Patrick Lathan
Host: Steve Burke
Video: Andrew Coleman

Cooler Master HAF X Review

The most important task for any case is to keep your hardware cool. Whatever components it houses, regardless whether they’re running at stock speed or are overclocked, if your hardware overheats, stability issues will creep in and the lifespan of all your expensive gear will be reduced. This is a particular problem if you use your PC for demanding tasks such as gaming, benchmarking or rendering, especially during the summer months.

To give the cases that we review a good workout, we updated our test kit to include an ATI Radeon HD 5870 2GB Eyefinity 6 graphics card and an Intel Core i7-870 CPU, which has been overclocked from 2.93GHz to 3.4GHz using a vcore of 1.305V and a CPU PLL of 1.9V. While this is a modest overclock, our test kit will spend most of its life under high load, so pushing it to within an inch of its life isn’t in anybody’s interests. More importantly, some of the poorer-performing cases topped a CPU temperature of 80°C, so even this overclock will prove to be too much for some cases.

The CPU is cooled by a Gelid Tranquillo CPU cooler with a Noctua NF-S12B ULN 120mm fan. The NF-S12B ULN is a low airflow fan, so it will highlight cases with poor cooling for the CPU. We also locked the fan speed on the graphics card to 30 per cent. The reason for this is to prevent the automatic speed control interfering with the results, making them inconsistent.

After all, we’re interested in how well the cases on test are able to provide your graphics card with cool air, rather than how well the cooler on the HD 5870 2GB Eyefinity 6 graphics card works. After some experimentation, 30 per cent proved to be fast enough to keep the graphics card cool enough in poorly performing cases, while giving better cases the chance to shine.

We recorded the temperature of the CPU using RealTemp, noting the temperature of the hottest core, and used GPU-Z to log the temperature of the graphics card. Having recorded the ambient temperature in front of the main air intake of each case, we were then able to calculate the delta T, the difference between the ambient temperature of our lab and the temperature of the hardware.

As we don’t test in a temperature-controlled lab, this allows for small changes in ambient air temperature, which renders absolute temperature measurements of the hardware useless. To load the system, we used a combination of the Canyon Flight benchmark in 3DMark06 and the smallfft test in Prime 95. We looped/ran each test for a minimum of 30 minutes or until the temperatures plateaued and recorded the highest temperature in the log files. The combined test represents a worst-case scenario, with both the CPU and graphics card under sustained high load.

• CPU:

Intel Core i7-870 CPU overclocked to 3.4GHz

• Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 5870 2GB Eyefinity 6 Graphics Card
• Motherboard: Biostar TPower I55 motherboard
• RAM: 2 x 2GB OCZ PC3 15000 DDR3 RAM
• Hard Drive: 1 x 160GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 Hard Disk
• Heatsink: Gelid Tranquillo with a Noctua NF-S12B ULN fan
• Power Supply: Seasonic M12D SS-850EM PSU

• Antec Dark Fleet DF-85 (Full Speed)
• Antec Dark Fleet DF-85 (Minimum Speed)
• Antec Twelve Hundred (Full Speed)
• Cooler Master HAF X
• Antec Twelve Hundred (Minimum Speed)
• Cooler Master CM 690 II (Full Speed)
• Xigmatek Utgard (Full Speed)
• Cooler Master CM 690 II (Minimum Speed)
• Xigmatek Utgard (Minimum Speed)
• Sharkoon Rebel 9 Aluminium

• • 43

  • 38

• • 45

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  • 40

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• • 54

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• • 74

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10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

°C, lower is better

• CPU Delta T

• GPU Delta T

• Cooler Master HAF X
• Antec Dark Fleet DF-85 (Full Speed)
• Antec Dark Fleet DF-85 (Minimum Speed)
• Xigmatek Utgard (Full Speed)
• Antec Twelve Hundred (Full Speed)
• Cooler Master CM 690 II (Full Speed)
• Sharkoon Rebel 9 Aluminium
• Xigmatek Utgard (Minimum Speed)
• Antec Twelve Hundred (Minimum Speed)
• Cooler Master CM 690 II (Minimum Speed)

• • 48

  • 36

• • 43

  • 38

• • 45

  • 38

• • 50

  • 40

• • 45

  • 40

• • 49

  • 41

• • 74

  • 42

• • 54

  • 42

• • 49

  • 43

• • 53

  • 44

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

°C, lower is better

• CPU Delta T

• GPU Delta T

1 — Cooler Master HAF X Specifications2 — Cooler Master HAF X Cooling Performance3 — Cooler Master HAF X Conclusion

Case overview Cooler Master HAF 500

We received a rather interesting gaming case from Cooler Master — HAF 500 for testing. It is richly equipped with fans, equipped with ARGB backlighting and a multifunctional controller. The case is offered in two colors: black and white. We will study the white option.

The design of the case can hardly be called outstanding, rather it is functional and neat, which is required in most cases.

The case packaging is a regular cardboard box with monochrome printing. The scope of delivery includes a standard mounting kit in one bag.

Layout

The layout solutions of this model are determined by modern trends in hull construction. In this case, the developers abandoned the 5.25″ device bay, and the usual 3.5″ device bay is located near the front wall of the chassis, but it is present in a truncated form — only two disks. The compartment can be removed by unscrewing the screw.

The case is a tower-type solution with a vertically placed E-ATX (up to 330 mm wide) or ATX (and smaller) format board and a horizontal power supply at the bottom of the case.

The cover covers the power supply installation site from the left side, giving the inside of the case neatness and completeness. In this case, the casing is made of plastic and performs an exclusively decorative role.

The back of the system board base also has drive slots. But there are no seats for drives with external access in the case.

Illumination system

The housing has an extensive illumination system controlled by a standard multifunctional controller.

Three fans with individually addressable LEDs are used as light sources, which are connected to the built-in controller using standard three-pin ARGB connectors with a 1×4 block.

It should be noted that all light sources have standard connectors, so if desired, they can be connected not to a regular controller, but to a compatible motherboard or a third-party controller.

The controller supports manual control via the button on the top panel, control via Asus Aura Sync and similar solutions is also supported. The lighting system is powered via the SATA Power connector.

A total of five lights can be connected to the controller.

Cooling system

The controller in the case is really multifunctional: in addition to controlling the backlight, it can also control the rotation speed of four PWM fans (with four-pin connectors).

The case can accommodate 120, 140 and 200 mm fans. Seats for them are available at the front, top, rear, and also inside the case on a swivel holder.

Four fans pre-installed in the chassis:

• one 120mm SickleFlow PWM ARGB (1800 RPM) fan located on the back, it has two connectors: a standard four-pin with the ability to connect to the motherboard with PWM control and a standard three-pin with header 1 ×4 (ARGB) for backlight control
• one 120mm SickleFlow PWM (1800 rpm) fan is located inside the case on a swivel holder and is designed to blow the video card, it has a standard four-pin connector with the ability to connect to a motherboard with PWM control
• two 200 mm (800 rpm) fans are located on the front panel, they have a standard three-pin connector with rotational speed control by changing the supply voltage and a standard three-pin connector with a 1×4 (ARGB) socket for lighting control

So, from the point of view of the complete set of fans, a combined hodgepodge is obtained, which during operation will lead to certain inconveniences for the user, since the controller controls the fans by transmitting a PWM signal from the motherboard connector to which it is connected, and the front fans do not support PWM control , so they always rotate at maximum speed (albeit low).

We should also note the fan inside the case, mounted on a swivel frame, which can be tilted at an angle from 0 to 90 degrees relative to the bottom of the case, which allows you to organize additional airflow for a video card of almost any size. If desired, this fan can be rearranged on the top panel, improving exhaust ventilation.

Up to three radiators can be installed in the chassis, two of which can be 280mm or 360mm (front and top).

The filter on the bottom wall of the chassis is made of fine synthetic mesh, which is enclosed in a plastic frame. It can be considered quick-detachable, since it does not require any additional steps to remove it.

The air inlets located on the front of the front panel are covered with a non-removable large-mesh steel grill, which can only be called a dust filter with a very big stretch.

The filter for the top wall is most conveniently removed and put in place thanks to the magnetic edging, but it is made of a rather large plastic mesh, and therefore most of the small dust particles will seep through it into the case. On the other hand, it will greatly help against falling coins, keys, any small objects inside the case, and it will also save you from some of the dust.

In general, protection against dust ingress is at a low level, since formally there are filters, but their effectiveness leaves much to be desired.

Construction

Left side panel made of tempered glass with steel lining. The fastening system is of the guillotine type: the wall is put on from top to bottom, where there is a hook, thanks to which the wall is fixed.

Right wall is all steel. Mounting system — standard tongue-and-groove. There is a hook on the front.

Chassis of the body is used budget, but quite high quality. Efforts are noticeable both to increase the rigidity of the structure (by using specially shaped parts) and to increase ease of assembly.

The weight of the case is 9.39 kg, of which 2.18 kg weigh the glass wall and 1.28 kg the steel wall. That is, if both walls of the case were steel, it would weigh 8. 5 kg. The rigidity of the structure is not the highest, but quite decent.

The top panel is made of steel and has a large vent that covers the top of the filter. The panel is made removable, its fixation is carried out with the help of screws for a Phillips screwdriver.

The front panel leads to the top through a beveled platform that houses the controls and switching: two USB 3.0 ports, one USB 3.2 Gen2 (USB 3.1) Type-C port, a combo jack for connecting a microphone and headphones or a headset.

Thus, the case allows you to connect wired headsets with both digital and analog interfaces from the front panel. But I would still like to see a little more USB connectors, two connectors (type A) are not always enough to use peripheral equipment.

It is gratifying that the power and reset buttons differ not only in location, but also in size and appearance. However, by default, the reset button is used to control the backlight, if necessary, it can be disconnected from the controller and connected to the system board to perform its usual function.

The power button has a white circle indicator. The drive activity indicator (also white) is located nearby.

Carrying part of the front panel is made of plastic, which is colored in the body. The mount is not familiar (on spacer elements), but much less common — on lamellar latches that need to be bent from the inside of the case. In fact, the entire front of the front panel is one large vent, which is covered by a steel grill.

No wires are connected to the front panel, so if desired, it can be removed and washed entirely, or you can use a vacuum cleaner to clean it.

The legs of the case are entirely plastic, they have shock-absorbing pads made of rubber-like material.

Hard Drives

Full-size hard drives are installed in a double-seat drive cage. The basket in this case is made removable.

Drives are installed in the basket through plastic frames, the hard drive is attached to them using pins. Reliability of fastening rather high.

Note that these frames are universal, they can be used to install 2.5″ drives with drives mounted through the bottom.

There are two identical slots on the back of the motherboard base for mounting 2.5″ drives.

Mounting design is rather original: screws with a cylindrical head are screwed into the drive, which are inserted into rubber bushings inserted into the mounting holes, that is, fixation is carried out only due to friction.

The bushings are already installed at the factory, which is convenient.

For an SSD, this installation option is quite acceptable, but installing laptop hard drives in these places may cause some inconvenience, especially if the drives are relatively massive.

A total of 4 2.5″ or 2×3.5″ and 2×2.5″ drives can be installed in the case. This is more than enough for a typical home or office computer. The basket is blown by the forward fan.

System unit assembly

The tempered glass wall is fixed with spherical spacers at the top, a hook at the bottom and one knurled screw, which is traditionally screwed into the rear wall of the case. After unscrewing the screw, the wall does not fall off by itself — to remove it, it must be tilted to the side, overcoming the force of the spacer elements.

To comfortably deflect it, there is a steel trough-shaped finger rest. In this model, this emphasis was modified by making a flat area at the point of contact with the finger, which significantly increased the convenience of manipulation when removing the wall.

If necessary, the top wall can also be removed by unscrewing the Phillips screws. This may be relevant when installing the radiator on the top seat. In other cases, there is no special need to do this.

The right steel wall is fixed with two knurled screws. The screws are anti-removable threaded, that is, they do not fall out of the hole after unscrewing.

The walls have standard dimensions, the glass wall is quite convenient to put on a vertically standing case, the steel wall is noticeably worse in this regard.

All motherboard stands are pre-installed by the manufacturer. This was done based on the dimensions of the ATX format board with a width of 244 mm. You don’t need to screw anything in addition, although the kit includes an external hexagon for screwing the racks.

In addition to the original fan holder, there is another interesting element inside — a decorative trim that covers one of the columns of mounting holes for wiring.

There are two such columns in total: the first column from the front panel is equipped with black petal membranes, and the second is covered with the mentioned overlay, which is made of plastic and is removable. It is located at a distance of about 290 mm from the back of the case, so this is the size of the board that can be installed by default. This allows you to install almost any household board, even top-end overclocker models usually do not exceed 280 mm in width.

The assembly order of the PC in this case does not really matter, since the components are spaced apart and do not interfere with each other, but it is better to start by installing the power supply and wiring.

First remove the plastic cover by sliding it towards the front panel.

The PSU is installed on the left side and fixed with four screws. On the seat for the PSU there are spherical stampings, inside of which shock-absorbing pads are installed.

The case provides for the installation of power supplies of standard sizes, the possibility of installing a PSU with a case length of up to 180 mm is declared. The distance between the rear panel of the housing and the basket is approx. 260 mm with a casing length of approx. 240 mm.

For our part, we recommend choosing a PSU with a body length of no more than 160 mm, or even better — 140 mm, since in this case there will be more space for laying wires. In this case, it is better to prefer models with detachable wires, since there is not much space for laying unused cords.

The case, according to the manufacturer, can install a CPU cooler up to 167 mm high. The distance from the motherboard base to the opposite wall is about 185mm.

The depth of the wiring compartment is approx. 20 mm at the back and up to 30 mm in some places. For mounting wires, loops are provided for fastening screeds or other similar products.

Next, you can install the required expansion cards, such as a video card, which, according to the manufacturer, can reach a length of about 410 mm. If the volume of the case between the motherboard and the front wall of the chassis is not occupied by anything, then you can install an even longer card: the distance between the front wall of the chassis and the expansion card mounting panel is about 430 mm. However, this is of no practical importance, cards of this length are not found in reality.

You can also install a second video card in the case, but much smaller dimensions — no more than 250 mm. If you need more space, you will have to remove the internal fan and its holder.

Expansion card fixing system is the most common — screw-mounted from inside the case with individual fixation. All plugs for expansion cards are reusable and fixed with screws.

Buttons and connectors on the front panel are connected quite standardly: USB and audio — with monolithic multi-pin connectors, everything else — with single-pin and double-pin connectors. Note that the smaller button is connected by default to the fan and light controller and controls the backlight. You can reconnect it to the connector on the motherboard so that it will control the restart of the computer.

Acoustic Ergonomics

We measured the noise level of the case cooling system when changing the PWM duty cycle from 0 to 100% in 20% steps.

Desktop placement

In the assembled case, the noise level of the cooling system varies from 37.2 to 43.6 dBA at short circuit = 0 … 100% and the microphone is located in the near field. With a PWM duty cycle of no more than 60%, the noise of the case cooling system can be considered satisfactory for a living space in the daytime, although such a computer cannot be called quiet. At maximum speed, the noise is already quite high for a residential area during the daytime.

Floor placement

When placed on the floor and the sound level meter microphone is at the level of the head of a person sitting near the computer, the noise is expectedly reduced: it varies from 30.9 to 41 dBA at short circuit = 0 … 100%.

The reason for the relatively high noise floor is that the controller does not control the front fans: it controls by broadcasting a PWM signal from the motherboard connector it is connected to, and the front fans do not support PWM control, so they always rotate at maximum speed and create noticeable noise.

To reduce noise, we switched the front fans to 5V and 7V (the two remaining fans were PWM controlled as before).

5V front fans operation 7V front fans operation

Measured noise level when the case is placed on the desktop (at a distance of 0.35 m from the front panel) in such conditions was already from 22. 5 to 43.6 dBA in the first case and from 25.7 to 43.6 dBA in the second. In both modes, a noticeable decrease in the noise level was recorded at short circuit = 0 … 60%. At the same time, at SC=100% the noise level remained close to 44 dBA, and at SC=80% it was 38-40 dBA for all three operating modes.

From which we can conclude that at short circuit = 0 … 60%, the front fans were the main source of noise in the standard version of the case, at short circuit = 100%, the main source of noise is always 120 mm PWM fans, and at KZ \u003d 80% they make about the same noise.

Thus, if it is necessary to ensure a low noise level of the ventilation system of this enclosure, there are two options. In the first case, you need to connect the front fans not to the standard controller, but to the connectors on the system board and control their operation mode using the board. This option is preferred if you have a compatible motherboard, as it allows you to adjust the fan performance based on the temperature of the components. The second option is to use a channel with a lower (relative to 12 V) voltage to power the front fans. For example, you can power them directly from a 5 V power supply. True, it is still advisable to use a voltage of at least 7 V, otherwise the performance of the fans will suffer greatly.

Results

The Cooler Master HAF 500 case turned out to be quite interesting, with a couple of original or at least rare solutions. In particular, the video card is blown locally by a fan on a swivel holder.

As a small, but quite appropriate addition, there is a decorative overlay that covers part of the mounting holes for wiring. In general, the case, especially in white, looks very nice. True, I would like to complain about the black wires and black membranes inside the white case, but perhaps it was intended that way. In our opinion, all the same, in a completely white design, such elements would look better in white or at least gray. By the way, the use of black elements is typical for the vast majority of white cases on the market, and not only for this model.

Assembling and upgrading the system in the case is quite convenient thanks to the quick-release left panel, the right panel is noticeably less convenient in this regard. It is also worth noting the ability to remove the top panel, someone may be relevant. The internal volume allows the use of modern high-performance components of large sizes.

The case is not very well protected from dust ingress, since all the filters are made of stamped plastic sheet and have large enough holes, and some effort will be required to clean the filters, especially in the case of the lower one.

This model is clearly not aimed at office use, but at home, primarily gaming systems of not the lowest cost, so before deciding to purchase a case, you should carefully study the features of this model (as well as any other) .

In conclusion, we invite you to watch our video review of the Cooler Master HAF 500 case:

Case review of the Cooler Master HAF 700 EVO case — i2HARD

A large case with almost no restrictions on the size of components with an impressive front panel and customization options. To all this, a built-in USB shield and a riser with PCI-e 4.0 are added.

Perhaps every enthusiast has had the idea to get a case that will have room for a video card of any length, without problems with installing large heatsinks, and preferably three or even six at once. Naturally, at least a dozen disks should also fit, and it would be absolutely wonderful if the appearance is no less spectacular and bold than desires for compatibility with components. It seems incredible, but it looks like the Cooler Master HAF 700 EVO is ready to fulfill all these dreams and even offer a little more.

Specifications

motherboards

Model	H700E-IGNN-S00
Compatible with	Mini ITX, Micro ATX, ATX, E-ATX, SSI CEB, SSI EEB
Power supply type	ATX, up to 200 mm
Expansion slots	8
Front panel ports	1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type C, 4 x USB 3. 2 Gen 1 (3.0), 1 x 3.5 mm 4 Poles Audio Jack, 1 x 3.5 mm Mic Jack
Fan slots (top)	2 x 200 mm, 3 x 140 mm, 6 x 120 mm
Fan slots (bottom)	3 x 120/140 mm
Fan slots (front)	2 x 200 mm, 3 x 120/140 mm
Fan slots (rear wall)	2 x 120 mm
Fan slots (on motherboard tray)	4 x 120 mm / 3 x 140 mm
Radiator locations (top)	1 x 420 mm / 2 x 360 mm
Radiator slots (bottom)	420 mm / 360 mm
Places for radiators (front)	420 mm / 360 mm
Radiator slots (rear wall)	240 mm
Heat sink locations (on motherboard tray)	480 mm / 420 mm
CPU cooler maximum height	166 mm
Maximum video card length	490 mm
Number of 2. 5″/3.5″ bays	12
Warranty	2 years
Body size (LxWxH)	666 x 291 x 626 mm (with all tabs)
Package size (LxWxH)	770 x 400 x 720 mm

Appearance and packaging

The HAF 700 EVO box is huge — you should take care of the appropriate delivery method from the store in advance. On the edges of the package, all the important characteristics of the case are described in detail and there is a visual image of its design. The front side is decorated with a large image of the HAF 700 EVO with the illumination turned on. Attention is paid to the designation of the location of the box with fasteners in the bowels of the protective seal.

The case itself is no less impressive in size than its packaging; empty HAF 700 EVO weighs more than 24 kg. The unusual front panel immediately attracts attention. Another notable design element is the huge glass in the side wall.

The six decorative plates on the front appear to be made of thick glass, their primary purpose is to diffuse the RGB light, but even with the LEDs off, the front looks fantastic. The width of the case made it possible to take the power supply out of the motherboard tray.

Front panel ports and controls split into two areas. On one side are four USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1 (3.0) and faster USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C. The power and reset buttons of different sizes and two audio jacks are located on a similar platform on the other side of the case. It should be noted that a four-pin mini Jack is provided for connecting a headset. The geometric and semantic center of the composition of the front panel is a round screen with a useful diameter of almost 5.5 cm.

The ventilation mesh on the top panel, like the panel itself, is made of metal. Accentuated side panel bevels and embossed mesh stripes make the top of the case visually not very massive, although the overall width of the HAF 700 EVO is almost 30 cm.

The second side wall is not blank, there are two ventilation zones with curly cutouts, one of which is near the power supply unit and storage basket.

There are four strong plastic feet on the bottom. The lower dust filter covers the ventilation holes of the main volume of the case. In the front part, you can see the handle of the lock for fixing the front panel.

Interior arrangement and equipment

HAF 700 EVO will not open the side walls immediately, you must first unscrew the large knurled screw on the back of the case. After that, it is necessary to release the top cover from the fixation points, and only after this procedure it will be possible to remove the side covers.

The top panel is devoid of dust filters, but there are seals at the points of contact with the side walls.

Both side covers rest on the rib along the underside of the body with hooks and are fixed in the upper part with shaped spikes. The heavy glass wall will not accidentally fall out during installation or dismantling.

The glass has a seal at the points of contact with the vertical ribs of the body.

A cardboard box with a kit for mounting the video card vertically is fixed inside the case. The set of fasteners removed from the niche in the seal of the packing box is placed in a branded plastic organizer.

All screws sorted by type. The long compartment holds disposable plastic and reusable fabric ties. A special cloth for wiping glass and glossy surfaces is folded in a separate bag.

Video card vertical mounting kit (MCA-U000R-KFVK02) is a mounting frame for the PCI-e slot extension (riser), necessary fasteners and installation instructions. In our case, there was also a 120 mm fan in the box, but this is the cost of long trips of the case to publications; most likely, your copy of the fan will be pre-installed on the bottom of the case. Three trays with gray plastic handles are designed to hold drives on them.

An important part of the package is a detailed illustrated user manual. It details the many uses of the chassis and provides step-by-step instructions for creating typical configurations.

The internal space of HAF 700 EVO is vast, it is possible to install motherboards not only of household size ATX and E-ATX, but also rare in home use SSI CEB, SSI EEB. Holes for cable routing are provided for each format.

Removing the glass side panel allows access to the lower dust filter. The frame has a hook to pull it out of the grooves, a human finger is fine, no special tools are needed.

An excellent mirror is attached to the bottom of the case. Again, most likely, this is not a regular location and in the configuration from the store it should be placed on the side wall of the main compartment. There are several places to install a mirror, we will sequentially get to each. Mounting the mirror does not require tools, the spikes at the corners are fixed in the holes with a rubber ring tightly.

Fan and heatsink frame with mirror holes at the bottom of the case has a pivoting part. The maximum elevation angle is close to 45°.

Such an adjustment can help to fine-tune the airflow or bring the interior of the case to the desired look. For example, by tilting, you can adjust the part of the video card visible in the reflection of the mirror, or it is advantageous to show the luminous area of ​​the fans. The quality of the mirror coating is excellent, the reality reflected in it is beyond doubt.

Naturally, like many other parts of the HAF 700 EVO, the fan frame and mirrors are removable. There are a lot of ventilation holes on the bottom of the case, but there are no pronounced places for mounting fans and radiators, the use of a multi-purpose frame is implied.

Ventilation openings on the second side wall are covered with dust filters on a magnetic mount. The mesh is not too fine and should not create excessive resistance to air currents.

Without a side wall, the compartment for the power supply, drives and cable management looks very neat.

First of all, this neatness is due to the wide section that covers most of the space behind the motherboard. The trim is removed without the use of tools with a swivel plastic handle, like many other parts of the HAF 700 EVO.

Lots of room for cable management. In the closed position of the metal cover to the motherboard tray is about 9.5 cm, which should be enough even for the most difficult case.

There was enough space behind the motherboard to accommodate a basket of drives. Four 2.5″ or 3.5″ drives can be placed in dedicated quick access rails. The basket itself is also fixed without the use of tools with a metal latch.

There are also two controllers behind the motherboard to synchronize the RGB lighting and control the fans. Three channels of addressable backlight control are provided.

By default, one of the backlight controller channels is connected to the fan control module at the top of the case. This controller can control up to seven PWM fans and has space for five addressable 5V RGB connectors.

The controllers are powered through SATA connectors, it is curious that the shape of the connectors is different. The fan controller is controlled and transmits rotational speed data through a 4-pin connector, it can be plugged into a header on the motherboard. The backlight controller is controlled via USB, from the USB 2.0 box the connection block is common for it and the front panel screen.

The front panel controls and ports are connected with five cables: two for internal USB 3 Gen 1, one for Type-C USB 3 Gen 2, a cable for audio jacks, and a set of connectors for buttons and indicators. It should be noted a convenient plastic device for combining 2-pin connectors into a single block for connecting to a standard block.

The front panel can be removed completely, the latch lock is opened by the handle at the very bottom. The installed dust filter covers the entire area of ​​the panel.

Power and reset buttons, ports are implemented on the frame of the case, in the front panel there are only cutouts and decorative parts of the buttons. The front panel lighting elements have a quick disconnect, so when removing the front panel, you do not need to worry about the wires.

Two huge 200 mm fans are hidden under the decorative front panel, they are without a doubt the most important element in organizing the cooling inside the HAF 700 EVO. Find out the full specifications of the preinstalled SickleFlow PWM Performance Ed. 200mm failed, but judging by the «Perfomance» in the name and the specified 0-1000rpm they should be more performant than the separately available ARGB versions of the 200mm SickleFlow 200 ARGB fans. Length of 4-pin PWM connection cable — 110 cm.

Three other bundled SickleFlow 120 ARGB fans (MFX-B2DN-18NPA-R1) have stated RPM limits from 650 to 1800. The length of the 4-pin PWM and 3-pin ARGB 5V connection cables is 60cm to the connectors.

Continuing the topic of detachable elements in the HAF 700 EVO, the upper part of the frame is also worth mentioning. The cover is removed entirely, thus providing convenient access to the main space of the case.

In addition, it is possible to comfortably fix top radiators or fans. A frame for radiators and fans with a swivel mechanism is pre-installed on the top wall, it can be removed and placed on the front wall from the inside. The frame contains mounts for the mirror panel.

Up to six fans can be placed on the top wall without a frame, appropriate mounting points are provided for 120/140/200 mm fans.

The number of places for installing liquid cooling radiators inspires respect. Of course, some combinations of the largest radiators are not available, but even without this desire for maximalism, it is possible to assemble a circuit with an excessive number of ventilated sections.

Computer assembly

Let’s start by installing the power supply. Cooler Master does not state any restrictions on the length of the power supply, large 22 cm blocks will fit easily, we can talk about trouble-free installation of devices up to 25 cm for sure. The 170 mm block used in the test assembly was placed with a large margin. The PSU is fixed with two pre-installed knurled screws.

There were no difficulties in assembling a PC, huge dimensions, modularity and easy access to all important places simply eliminate the problems of building a typical computer. A nice detail was the presence of a special decorative trim in the main compartment of the case for hidden wiring to the ports at the bottom of the motherboard.

A standard-sized ATX motherboard with a monstrous-sized RTX 3090 looks a little forlorn in the HAF 700 EVO, clearly lacking a sophisticated custom liquid cooling system. It is worth noting that the air cooler of the DeepCool AS500 processor with a height of 164 mm was placed without problems and visually you can fix a margin of several millimeters to the glass of the side wall, the declared 166 mm for the height of the cooler can be trusted.

The concept of tool-free access to important components is continued by the extension card mounting system. The plastic cover releases the fasteners and allows you to change the set of PCI devices; in the closed position, the expansion card covers are fixed in place.

The lower location of the mirror and tilting the frame to the desired angle allow you to achieve constant visual contact with the fans of the video card cooling system, which, with a developed video accelerator backlight, can seriously enhance the visual component of the assembly.

Speaking about the video card, you can not ignore the complete riser and frame for vertical installation. Its main advantage is the reliable operation of PCI-e 4.0. When using a large air cooler and a wide graphics card, vertical installation may not be possible, but in other combinations, this configuration will be pleasing to the eye. Moreover, in this case the video card is located far from the glass of the side wall, and the use of fans in the lower part of the case for blowing can significantly improve the temperature regime of the video accelerator.

Let’s move on to the disk subsystem. 3.5″ drives are mounted in the basket rails without a screwdriver, rubber dampers are provided. 2.5″ drives will need to be fixed to the rails with screws.

Another way to effectively use the free space behind the motherboard tray is to place the drives on the cover covering the niche from the inside. There are holes for both popular disc sizes, rubber inserts for vibration decoupling are provided. The supplied screws for the drives imply quick-detachable placement in these holes, the pins of the screws are tightly held in rubber dampers.

The included drive trays allow you to mount 2.5″ and 3.5″ drives with either left or right connector orientation. Each tray has four rubber dampers.

The trays mount in standard 120mm fan slots and can therefore be placed in fan/radiator frames. If you get the required number of trays, then the total number of drives simultaneously available for installation exceeds 10 pieces.

During the test assembly, the goal of neat wiring was not pursued, but even in this scenario, everything fit with a margin in a huge compartment behind the motherboard. The installation of a metal cover hid all visual flaws and brought this part of the case without a side cover to almost perfect condition.

RGB Backlight and MasterPlus+

It’s hard to imagine a modern computer without RGB lighting elements. HAF 700 EVO has a rich arsenal for creating a light image right out of the box, which is only worth the glass diffusers on the front of the case.

You can control the pre-installed backlight synchronization controller using the MasterPlus + application, available for download on the official page. The application tries to combine many functions and supports the creation of settings profiles.

A separate section is devoted to setting the front panel displayed on the screen. You can display the frequency of the processor or video card cores, their temperatures, fan speed, network delay to a specific server, or just a line of text of the desired color. You can upload your video or picture. If it is difficult to choose one of all this variety, then you can set up an alternate change in the displayed information.

The RGB controller itself can be set to a different lighting mode not only for a single channel, but also for a single element in each channel with support from devices. And the conversation is not only about the components of the system unit, you can connect monitors and keyboards, even some gaming tables have synchronized backlighting. In addition to more or less standard backlight modes, you can set the color for specific LEDs in the «setup» mode. If you wish, you can create interesting combinations, for example, set a different scenario for the upper and lower parts of the front panel of the case, which, given common glass diffusers, will create an unpredictable effect.

The easiest way to evaluate the unusual glass diffusers of the front panel is in the video.

Testing

The components used in the assembly are as follows:

• AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 4. 5 GHz, 1.2V;
• CPU Cooler Deepcool AS500 164mm;
• MSI MPG B550 Gaming Plus motherboard;
• RAM G.SKILL F4-3200C14D-16GTZ 2×16 GB, 3600 MHz «XMP» 1.45V;
• ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 309 graphics card0;
• SSD NVME ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro, 512 GB;
• Cooler Master V850 power supply, 850 W.

To ensure repeatability, the processor frequencies are fixed at 4.5 GHz with a load voltage of about 1.2V. For the video card, the mode with a voltage of 0.975V and a frequency of 1815 MHz is selected. CPU cooler fan with a constant speed of rotation — about 900 rpm, 1550 rpm mode is selected for the video card. The DDR4 RAM works with a simulated XMP 3600MHz CL 14 at 1.45V.

The stress test of the processor (CPU) from the Aida64 package and the render on pause of one frame in the Heaven Benchmark 4.0 package for the video card were selected as a constant load. In this mode, the total system consumption exceeds 500 watts from the outlet. The temperatures of the main components stabilize after 30 minutes of such a load, it is at this moment that the values ​​\u200b\u200bare measured for comparison.

We will monitor the processor temperature sensor Tctl / Tdie, the value for the RTX 3090 video chip «GPU Temperature» and the memory bar farthest from the processor cooler, other PC parameters can be seen in the screenshots. Room temperature — 25-26°C.

The subject of interest is the temperature values ​​for three operating modes of case fans: silent, comfortable and with maximum performance. Two complete 120 mm fans are installed on the rear wall, the third one is under the video card, a mirror panel is on the inner side wall, two 200 mm fans are on the front wall of the case.

Using one hub to control different fans with a PWM signal is not optimal, in percentage terms, comfortable noise zones for different types of fans will be different, so 120 mm and 200 mm SickleFlow bundles are configured individually.

Select the following modes:

• Noise limit: 900 rpm for a 120 mm fan and 550 rpm for a 200 mm fan;
• Comfortable noise limit: 1200 rpm for 120 mm fan and 700 rpm for 200 mm, in this mode the fan noise is almost indistinguishable at a distance of 70 cm from the system unit;
• Maximum speed: 1800 rpm for a 120 mm fan and 1100 rpm for a 200 mm fan, it is curious that the maximum rotation speed for large fans differs from the declared maximum passport 10%.

For the first of the selected fan speeds, which is actually silent for case fans, the temperatures of the processor cores are excellent, those of the video card and RAM are a bit high, but within normal limits. Given the total amount of heat that needs to be removed from the case, and the speeds of the fans of the video card cooling system are fixed at a low level, there is nothing to complain about at all.

Curiously, the increase in fan speeds in the second mode selected for the test did not greatly improve the temperatures of the RAM and video card.

At maximum speeds of the case fans, the removal of hot air from the case has improved significantly, which had the greatest effect on the temperatures of the RAM and processor.

Let’s summarize the obtained values ​​into one diagram. The marked changes are clearly visible. It’s hard to pick the perfect one. It can be assumed that the bundled fans in a comfortable noise mode will be able to remove a significant amount of heat from modern productive hardware, and adding additional fans can solve even more complex tasks, not to mention custom liquid cooling.

Conclusion

Cooler Master HAF 700 EVO can’t be called a simple and pass-through case. Huge dimensions, a high degree of customization of the internal space, almost no restrictions on compatibility with components. There are no questions about the materials from which the case is made: high quality and durable. Separately, it is worth noting the rich package bundle: two high-performance 200 mm and three 120 mm fans with addressable illumination, an interesting mirror panel and, of course, a kit for vertical installation of a video card with PCI-e 4.