Tech Reaction

We had a monstrosity show up at our doors today! When we finally got close enough to see what it was, there was the HAF 932 Black Edition! The HAF Black Edition (MSRP $179.99)  is another version of the HAF line of chassis Cooler Master offers. They seem to have struck gold with this line of chassis due to the superior quality and amazing cooling power the case provides. Weighing in at just under thirty pounds, it definitely shocked us once we started moving it around and reviewing it. Well, enough chit-chat, let’s get on with this review!

Cooler Master’s quick introduction to the case:

“With pure innovative strength, Cooler Master, the leader in enthusiast computer components, has unleashed yet another prevailing arsenal to compete in the full-tower chassis segment. Proud and robust in its appearance, the HAF 932 Black Edition presents its sturdy sentinel housing and revolutionary High Air Flow structure to enhance and protect any hardware component that is worthy of the highest performance.  The Black Edition comes with an all black interior on top of all the features along with a window side panel.”

Features:

Specifications:

Packaging:

Picture Montage:

With the pictures of the front, you can see an aesthetically pleasing view. The solid black finish has always been a classic look with computer cases. As far as we are concerned, you cannot get any better! Each drive bay has a honeycomb mesh covering adding to the pleasing look of the case. The HAF also gives you extremely easy access to the I/O panel. This is a nice touch and will save you a lot of hassle from trying to dig around in the back of your computer.

The top of the HAF has several interesting features. You first may notice the monstrous exhaust fan at the top, which is a staggering 230mm large! Needless to say, this fan removes a lot of air. The other feature on the top, is the tray that could hold flash drives or keys or whatever you would like to store there.  However, if you lift up the rubber top, you can install a fill port for your water cooling. This is a great addition to the case, because Cooler Master has taken out the potential disaster of you destroying the case while trying to add water yourself. I give it a big thumbs up for the well thought-out design for the top.

The honeycomb mesh slot covers are a nice touch, and go well with the overall look of the case. The tool less expansion card slot addition is another great feature. The clips are easy to work with and, although it may take a minute or two to figure out, they are well worth it!

The motherboard installation cheat sheet is always helpful to see. Especially when it is inscribed into the motherboard tray where it is easy to find and read. Now, you will never have extra stand-offs or stand-offs in the wrong holes. We have had our fair share of battles throughout the years with this.

Cooling Solution:

Air Cooling:

The pictures above show the massive fans that will cool your case. With the large 230mm exhaust fan up top and the and another 230mm fan in the front, this case will move a large volume of air around. The front 230mm fan is positioned so it will blow fresh air over your hard drives to keep them nice and cool. The front fan will also be blowing on your GPU which is another big plus. Anything you can do to help keep your GPU cool is always a good thing.

Water Cooling:

Wire Management:

A big key to successful airflow in a case is the wiring. If wires are everywhere, and not neat and orderly, it will restrict airflow and raise the temperatures of your components. With the HAF 932, Cooler Master did a wonderful job with cable management options. You have holes cut in the motherboard tray specifically to route your wires behind in order to come through those holes. This helps to keep the clutter in front of the motherboard to a minimum and also increases airflow. With as big as full-tower cases are these days, we would expect nothing less. This case does not let us down, it brings a multitude of options to help hide wires.

Installation:

Test System:

• CM eXtreme Power Plus 550w
• MSI 785GM-E65 AM3  m-ATX
• ASUS GTX480
• WD 320GB
• ASUS DVD RW

With everything installed, you can see that even with the big ASUS GTX480 installed, there is plenty of room. The cover does not contact the card as you will see below. It is good to see all the extra room you will have.   If you wanted to go SLI/Crossfire, you would be able to and not have to worry about anything.

As you can see from the picture on the left, there is no contact with the cover and GTX480. Now you can feel comfortable about leaving it in the case and not having to throw it away. On the right, you can see how snug expansion cards will fit with the tool less installation for them. The clips snap right into place and hold the card firm and in place.

The drive bays are also another easy install. All you do is slide in the drive of your choice, get it to where it is flush with the front, and push the button. When you push the button, it pushes out pins that will go into the drive holes and hold it into place. If you ever want to take the drive out, push the button again and it will retract the pins and you are set to take out the drive.

One last tool less installation to check out. The hard drive was very easily installed. Just pull out the bracket where you want to install the hard drive, and line up the pre-installed pins with your hard drive holes, and you are done! Pretty simple, eh?

Final Thoughts:

To sum it up in one word, “wow!” We have heard good things about the HAF line of chassis, but until today, have never been hands-on with one. To say that it exceeded our expectations would be selling this case short. A lot of the things we have been complaining about with computer cases for years, the HAF 932 got it right! The spacious interior is a great thing to see inside of a case. It will leave you plenty of room to work with things and create better air flow. It also allows room for today’s top of the line graphics cards. As you see, there is plenty of room for our GTX480 inside.

The cooling options were better than expected. The two massive 230mm fans circulating air is a great thing for this case. It is actually so big that normal 120mm fans would probably fail miserably in this case. We are glad Cooler Master recognized this and came up with a plan to combat that issue. The tool free installation was a great addition to the case. It just gives it an even higher touch of class.

Options, options, options! This case has them for you to take advantage of, which allows you to make this case truly one of a kind. The top 230mm can be removed and has holes drilled for three 120mm fans to take its place. The water cooling holes pre-drilled can be moved to the bottom of the case if so desired. The PSU can be moved to the top of the case if you like that look better. There is just a lot of mixing and matching you can do with this case which makes it great for the tinkerer. One thing people may frown upon is the sheer weight of the case. Like we said earlier, it weighed in just under 30 pounds, and who knows what it would weigh when fully loaded. This would not be a very user-friendly case if you had to move it around a lot.

We will definitely be recommending this to all our friends and possibly even strangers on the street! If you are in the market for a full tower that is pure quality, this should definitely be at the top of your list!

Purchase the HAF 932 Black Edition

More information on the HAF 932 Black Edition.

The Coolermaster HAF 932 Black Edition has received the TechREACTION.net Gold Silicon Award!