Exceptional case
review by
shinigamibob
I have nothing but good things to say about this case with the exception of one tiny thing (see below).
When the box arrived to my house, I was taken back by the sheer size of the thing - its ridiculously big. I've been using the stock HP cases for years and compared to those, this case is about 2.5 times as big. It really does live up to its HAF logo (High Air Flow) because this thing is riddled with holes - in a good way. The front bays are a mesh, the side panel is a mesh (with a 230mm fan included!) the top of the case is a mesh (with another 230mm fan!) and the front air intake is also a mesh (check this - another 230mm fan!, the bottom has ventilation for PSU's and even the PCI brackets have meshed covers.
The whole thing is incredibly sturdy which is probably attributed to its weight. Its quite heavy - heavier than it looks in fact. The bottom does come with casters so you can move it around easily - a fully built system in this case is extremely heavy. It took two people to move it after it was done being installed.
The airflow in this case is ridiculous - there is so much air flowing through it even when the fans are on their lowest speeds. However, this does pose a bit of the problem since there are no dust filters anywhere on the case. However, this might have changed with the "Advanced" version, but I do not know for sure. Even when the fans are running full tilt, they are amazingly silent. You cannot hear the fans at all - rather just a very nice whooshing of the air as it passes. The side panel fan is pointed directly at the GPU area whic helps in cooling multiple gpu systems; however, this has very minimal effect as far as I can tell. The top fan is effective at removing heat - the heated air around the cpu is immediately pushed out the top of the case, and the rear 92mm fan takes care of the rest. This case does have positive air pressure which does make it somewhat does after a while, but it does mean that fresh air is always being sucked in through various meshes in the case.
The front 230mm red LED fan does a great job at cooling the hard drives - although it does seem a bit over the top. The HDD bays are spaced perfectly as to allow the air flowing from the front of the case to pass through the drives and carry the heat out the back. Unfortunately, the front red LED cannot be switched off, but it is far from intrusive. However, the same cannot be said about the top I/O panel LED's. Those lights are incredibly bright - and there are two of them.
In my case, the case in the TV room and this makes for a very annoying movie watching experience. I quickly covered up the front two LED's with some black electrical tape. Whatever brightness you have in mind, this is brighter than that. I beats me as to why they'd put such bright LED's in a case. Again, this might have been changed in the newer "advanced" edition.
Speaking of the top I/O panel, it has the usual stereo headphone and mic ports as well as 4 USB 2.0 ports and a e-sata port. However, the the USB ports are grouped into pairs and are extremely close together and upside down. This makes for a somewhat frustrating experience when trying to plug into two flash drives into the same header. Its worth mentioning again that those USB ports are upside down. The Advanced version does have USB 3.0 ports, but I do not know about the orientation of the ports.
The top does have a very convienient liquid fill port if you plan on running a water-cooled system. This case is easily one of the best for water-cooling enthusiasts. There is plenty of space for a 360 radiator and even a 240 radiator on the bottom. The water cooling grommets at the back of the case allows for an external 360 radiator as well.
The whole case is designed to tool-less. The optical drive bays have a push-button that locks in the drive when properly aligned. This implementation does work extremely well with the exception that sometimes it does feel a bit flimsy. The HDD bays also have tool-less drive caddy's which allow for hot-swapping drives quite easily.
Cable management in this case is a breeze. There is plenty of space between the side panel and the motherboard tray to hide and organize all the cables. Furthermore, the pre-cut holes in the tray make it really easy to route cables to the back.
One down side to this edition is that the interior is not painted black. However, the Advanced version does have a fully black interior.
I am extremely pleased with this case for its value and its superior cooling performance. I plan on buying its newer brother (HAF X) for my next build.
Pros | Cons |
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Value, size, excellenting cooling, silent operation, expandability | Size, weight, non-black inside |
Ratings