$159
Unpacking
Getting Cooler Master’s HAF (High Air Flow) 932 out of its box was a piece of cake—the Styrofoam protecting it was thin and brittle, so it easily broke away. Nevertheless, the chassis itself was intact and undamaged.
Inside the case, Cooler Master includes a well-illustrated instruction manual that should simplify setup for gamers unaccustomed to piecing together their own hardware. Also inside the HAF’s packaging is a generously-large bundle of screws, standoffs, and zip ties, a 5.25” bay adapter for 3.5” devices, and a complete caster set. There’s an 8-pin extension cord, too, for power supplies with an auxiliary +12V lead that’s just not able to reach your motherboard. Given the HAF’s power supply placement at the bottom of the case, this is a very smart inclusion.
Once everything’s unpacked, you’re ready to start installing. Cooler Master ties off its front panel connectors, headers, and eSATA cable to keep them out of your way, resulting in a very clean interior.
Build
Upon pulling off the HAF’s plastic bag, it quickly became clear that the chassis doesn’t offer much in the way of acoustic insulation, as most of its top, most of its left-hand side, most of its front, and much of its backside is riddled with ventilation holes. No doubt this is because Cooler Master isn’t worried about its own fans creating much of a racket. There’s a massive 230 mm cooler under the top cover, spinning at 700 RPM and generating 19 dBA, according to Cooler Master. There’s a second 230 mm fan inside the left side panel, a 230 mm LED fan inside the front panel, and a 140 mm fan in the back. The idea is that the HAF moves a massive amount of air without creating much in the way of noise pollution—so long as the components inside the case aren’t exorbitantly loud, either.
The HAF’s nearly 30-pound steel exterior is painted flat black, except for the back, which retains its flat grey steel appearance. The sides are peppered with raised bumps, a window, and of course the massive fan. In front of the top’s 230 mm cooler you’ll find a raised bit of plastic with power and reset switches. There’s also a rubber pad, under which is a fill port that’d go to a reservoir if you were using a water cooling system inside the HAF—ideal, given all of the case’s airflow considerations and its reliance on quiet CPU/GPU cooling for an overall low-noise profile.
Front-panel connectivity includes four USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire port, headphone output, microphone input, and an eSATA interface, which runs straight to one of the SATA ports on your motherboard of choice. Each unused 5.25” drive bay provides extra airflow through its mesh grille, though most ventilation is a result of the 230 mm fan at the bottom blowing air over as many as five hard drives mounted up front.
- Introduction
- ABS Canyon 695--Unpacking And Build
- ABS Canyon 695--Build And Installation
- Antec Twelve Hundred--Unpacking And Build
- Antec Twelve Hundred--Build And Installation
- Cooler Master HAF 932--Unpacking And Build
- Cooler Master HAF 932--Build And Installation
- Thermaltake Spedo--Unpacking And Build
- Thermaltake Spedo--Build And Installation
- Test System And Acoustic/Thermal Performance
- Conclusion



I'll be sure to add the HAF to my recommendation list. I hadn't before because I thought all the extra holes would hinder cooling more than help. The hole in the MB tray sounds especially useful.
I would have liked to see on of the Cosmos cases included, although I suspect they are simply quieter but hotter.
Though, I'm curious. 40db+ isn't whisper quiet. That's freak'n loud. What's up with calling it whisper quiet?
I have so many innovations regarding case designs that I hope someone buys them and excutes them in reality!!
To put it plainly: air needs to be moved in one direction, preferably from down-upwards, since hot air tends to go upward by nature and the hottest part of any system (that's the GFX cards) is located at the lower part..Hence a PSU mounted at the upper part of the case (with its 120-140mm fan), with another 120mm top-panel exhaust fan and two 120mm buttom intake fans will be by far more efficient than all the available cases. To achieve this efficincy I close any other holes (even the ones the manufacturer meant for ventilation) so the air enters the case only from the buttom fans where I put dust filters to minimize dust inside my case. Furthermore I use a case with long "legs" to minimize inhalation of the dust at my desk's surface.
To minimize noise: I use
1.low RPM silent fans.
2.rubber washers between the fans and the case to minimize vibration noise.
3.cover all the interior surfaces with a layer of an insulator, that can be as simple as sponge!!!
4.even design external air ducts that divert the exhausted air (which carries the interior noise) to the back.
I'm curious about putting sinulation in a case. I'd love to see measurments of noise levels in a case with just random sponges in the case versus not.Heya,
I'm curious about putting insulation in a case. I'd love to see measurments of noise levels in a case with just random sponges in the case versus not, and other solutions. Personally, I don't like lights and other stuff in the case, I don't look at my case, I look at my display. Reducing the case's obvious footprint and pressence is a nice thing. Less noise would be wonderful (especially since I use mine as a HTPC too). I've always been a fan of the blow hole (top fan to draw hot air out). Sealing up a case to reduce all holes to just air flow from bottom to top, with insulation of some kind to reduce noise would be a great project to try.
Again, I'd love to see some noise and temp measurements! To the forum? Got some ways to measure it?
Cheers,
I don't have the means to measure the noise level but I can tell you -though subjectively- it is very quiet when using all the mentioned steps. In the end I wish someone with enough resources (like the guys at Tom's) tests my project and give the whole world accurate objective measures and compare them to the available cases..Even the high end ones.
600$ for a case? hahahahaha
almost spit out my drink when i saw the price tag
Shadow,
Kept the number lower so I could spend more time with the cases involved--takes a deceptively long time to build each system up, test it, etc. The ABS case is actually the one that set the whole roundup off--it was a struggle finding enclosures that could compete. I think we'd all love to have that thing, but the price is just prohibitive. Even still, very nice to look at.
1.low RPM silent fans.
2.rubber washers between the fans and the case to minimize vibration noise.
Okay, these 2 ideas are pretty well established. Although personally i have doubts about #2 really making a difference.
3.cover all the interior surfaces with a layer of an insulator, that can be as simple as sponge!!!
Right, but it can also be as simple as extreme fire and inhalation hazard. Make sure what you are using doesn't burn easily.
4.even design external air ducts that divert the exhausted air (which carries the interior noise) to the back.
This may seem like a good idea on the surface, but by restricting the air flow (you build additional pressure in the outlet) you might actually be increasing fan noise and heat buildup.
High legs are a good idea to prevent dust (i have this problem as well) but can be dangerous for someone who has the case on a carpet or other uneven surface, since it increases the chances of the case tipping over.