Cooler Master HAF 932--Unpacking And Build
$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.
