PSU Installation And Cable Management
PSU Installation
The Cooler Master HAF XB accommodates PSUs up to 180 mm in length, according to the manufacturer’s specifications. In reality, this is a very conservative estimate. Even PSUs a bit over 200 mm in length should fit without butting up against the hard drive backplane, which sits opposite the power supply. Our 170 mm Cooler Master V700 with fully modular cables even leaves enough space to comfortably get your hand back there after installation, if you need to.
The case employs a separate PSU cover that attaches to the case with thumb screws. This lets you use longer power supplies. According to Cooler Master's manual, the cover is supposed to be detached from the case, attached to the PSU, and then reattached. In practice, you can simply slide the power supply into the case from an open side if that's easier. This saves on step, at least. All screw holes line up nicely.
The PSU is decoupled from the case to prevent rattling. Your power supply will sit on a large, soft pad.
Cable Management
Due to its unique design, managing cabling in the HAF XB is different from more traditional tower configurations. Nevertheless, you can still expect to route cables out of sight, yielding a clean installation. There’s a lot of space between the top and bottom edges of the motherboard tray and their respective side walls, for instance. This gives you the room to run wires from the bottom level to the top, while keeping them out of the way. More cables can be routed between the two drive cages up front, and even more can go through an opening in the bottom part of the motherboard tray.
Cooler Master's design is such that you don't really need grommet-covered holes cut out from random panels. Most of the cabling simply remains out of sight on the lower level. But if you want to keep your cables tied together in one place, the HAF XB features lots of cable holders. They’re basically everywhere: on top of the 3.5” and 5.25” drive cages for the top level, on the sides between the two levels, and in every perceivable orientation all over the bottom of the lower level.
One last boon for cable management is easy access to the case’s lower level after the motherboard tray is out. We’ll talk more about this on the motherboard and graphics card installation page.
