Cooling And Dust Protection
Air Cooling
Cooler Master includes two of its A12025-18CB-3EN-F1 fans, running at 1800 RPM. Without an integrated controller, you end up with quite a bit of fan noise. But then again, let's not forget that HAF stands for "High Air Flow." That should give you some indication that this thing isn't appropriate as a home theater PC enclosure. Cooling performance is clearly the priority, even though the case can be made significantly quieter by adding your own fan control.
The bundled blowers have three-pin connectors and come with a four-pin Molex adapter you can use to hook them straight up to a power supply. Alternatively, Cooler Master's 120 mm fans can be replaced with 140 mm fans. But even though the screw holes are there, swapping out old for new doesn't really make sense. As you can see in the shot below, much of the outside edge would sit behind the case's wall, Even though the necessary screw holes are in place, the switch doesn’t really make a lot of sense, since a lot of the larger fans would just sit behind the case’s wall.
Up to two additional fans can be installed: one 120 mm fan in the back and a 200 mm fan on the mesh covering the opening at the top of the case.
If the case’s lower level is filled with a lot of drives and you feel like you need to keep some air moving over them, two 80 mm fans can be installed at the back.
Water Cooling
As a result of the HAF XB’s nice internal layout, you can get a pair of closed-loop or water cooling radiators installed.
First, there's room for a 240 mm radiator behind the two front fans. Depending on the unit you're using, it's possible to get two more fans installed for a push-pull setup. You have 80 mm to work with before hitting the motherboard.
The space where the 120 mm rear fan comes installed can just as easily hold a similarly-sized radiator attached to a compact closed-loop system cooling your CPU.
Dust Filters
The PSU air intake opening is covered by a removable dust filter. It settles into place with a satisfying click, and locks in securely. It doesn't slide around like the dust filters in some other cases.
The air intake and dust filter are long, allowing even longer fans with uncommon placement to draw in filtered air without a problem.
The entire front cover (which is to say the part right in front of the two 120 mm fans, as well as the openings in front of the 5.25” bays) is also protected by a dust filter. The mesh in front of the fans cannot be removed, but it’s easy to pull off that entire front fascia for easy access and worry-free cleaning.
