How the CoolerMaster CM HAF 932?

heydudeo

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i saw it come with 3X23 fans(!)
and i wanted to ask, is they good? got alot CFM?
and this case got filters? or just this net?
thanks
EDIT: who do u think is better?
Armor+ vh6000bws or the CM haf 932?
 
Fry's Electronics started selling them last Saturday at their stores in the USA. I purchased one. I went back on Sunday to purchase a motherboard and the new cases were already sold out.

It's a big full size case and it's one inch wider than a mid-tower case like the Coolermaster Centurion 590. Cable management should be excellent.

The three 230mm fans are huge. There is a 140mm fan mounted on the back. In addition, the case has mounting holes for other fan configurations and watercooling.

According to the owners manual the three 230x30mm fans are rated at 700 RPM and 19dBA. The 140x25mm rear fan is rated at 1200 RPM and 19dBa. The manual does not have the CFM.

The case also has mounting holes for a variety of other fan sizes and watercooling. Lots of freedom of choice with this case.

I don't know about cooling yet. I will be assembling my new computer tomorrow and will post more information after it is built.



PHOTO UPDATE - December 15th - A few photos are now available for viewing at:

http://www.cactushat.com/haf932/index.html

Please bear in mind that the case mod and improvements are not complete. This is a work in progress. Additional photos will be posted as the project moves forward.
 
I am behind schedule. All parts are installed and I should be able to start up the computer tomorrow. I had a problem with the old Thermalright 120, Rev A heatsink. It had an AMD retention bracket for the top side of the motherboard but it didn't come with a metal backplate for the bottom of the motherboard. The Gigabyte motherboard did not have a metal backplate either. Instead, it was made of plastic and had plastic push-pins. In addition the heatsink could only be mounted so that the air flow is from bottom to top instead of front to back. I went back to Fry's to buy a new heatsink.

When I got home I decided to lap the heatsink and cpu. It's easy to do but it does take a lot of time and it is boring work. I stopped after using 600 grit wet sandpaper. That should be okay.

The computer case has two drive cages. The top cage has six bays. Installing an optical drive, card reader, and floppy disk drive was very easy. There is plenty of room. The best part is that it will be very easy to connect the cables. The drive cage is equipped for tools free installation. When I installed the drives I discovered the tools free set-up was not very good. The drives and card reader were loose and could rattle during operation so I secured everything with screws.

The bottom hard drive cage is situated sideways and designed for easy removal and swapping of hard drives. Just take off the side panel and pull out a drive. It had a different tools free design that I didn't care for. I also wondered about the drive cage restricting air flow from the large fan at the bottom front of the case. I wasn't to crazy about the set-up.

I still had three drive bays available in the upper cage and wondered if a Coolermaster 4-in-1 module would fit. Some people might be familiar with it. The module fits in three drive bays. You can fit four hard drives in it and mount a 120mm fan in front to cool the drives. I just happened to have an extra one. It fit perfectly. I wound up mounting a 120mm Scythe S-Flex fan and two hard drives in the module. That left the bottom drive cage empty.

The PSU was an absolute joy to install. Probably the easiest PSU intallation I have ever done. There is nothing in the way which would make installation difficult. The PSU located in the bottom of the case sits on a metal bracket with slots which is more like a little stand for the PSU. The bracket has two pieces. One piece can be lengthened to accomodate extra large PSU's. Beneath the brackets the bottom of the case is perforated to help cool the PSU. Very nice.

Installing the motherboard and heatsink revealed a problem. The motherboard tray has a large square hole that is supposed to make it easy to change heatsinks. The idea is that you don't have to remove the motherboard to make the change. That is correct for motherboards using the square Intel backplates. The rectangular AMD2 backplates are too long for the square hole. You can't access the bottom of an AMD2 rectangular backplate through the hole. I had to install the heatsink first and then install the motherboard.

That's it for tonight. Time to get some sleep. More info tomorrow.
 
Here's some more info

Cable Management - It was a challenge but after several tries I was able to hide all of the cables except one. I have a 24 inch round floppy disk drive cable. It was not long enough to fit behind the motherboard tray. If I can find a 30 inch or 36 inch round cable I will be able to hide it. I thought I was going to have a problem with the front panel audio cable because the header on the motherboard was at the back of the board. It took me a while to discover I could run the cable across the inside of the top of the case to one side of the large fan on top and then down the side of the rear exhaust fan. Very nice.

Cooling with the large fans seems to be okay. Idle temperature was 31C which was just one degree above the ambient room temperature. The large fans are not as loud as my Scythe S-Flex fans. I don't know how to describe it or the correct terms to use but the large fans make a very low pitched sound while the Scythe fans make a high pitched sound. It's like the large fans are the bass and the Scythe fans are the treble. The large fans seem quieter. I'm guessing that's because of the lower RPM. I haven't tested the cooling at full load but I am sure it will be okay.
 
eklipz330,

Yes, the three 230mm, 700 RPM fans move quite a bit of air without sounding like a jet engine. What I hear most are two Scythe S-Flex SFF21F, 120mm, 1600 RPM fans. One is attached to a large CPU heatsink and blows air toward the back of the case. The second one replaced the 140mm 1200 RPM fan that sucks out hot air at the back of the case. The two Scythe fans are lined up in a straight line so they move air from the heatsink and out the rear.

In the meantime I have a problem. The new Gigabyte motherboard died a quick death. I took it back to Fry's Electronics. Their technicians could not bring it back to life. I got a full refund. Now I have to see about another mortherboard that can handle an AMD 64x2, 6000 CPU. That's the one rated at 125W. Not all motherboards can handle the higher wattage.

 
The other night I took the motherboard back to Fry's Electronics. Their technicians confirmed the board was dead. I looked at other AM2+ motherboards on display.

I discovered the location of the CPU socket, the heatsink retention bracket, and the backplate varied. Different motherboards had the CPU socket in different locations. The orientation of the bracket and backplate also varied. In most the long side of the bracket and plate were parallell to the front side of the board. In others the long sides were parallel to the top side of board. I guess there is no industry standard for CPU location and orientation.

I didn't look as Intel boards but I guessing it's possible the location of Intel CPU's might also require removal of the motherboard.

It might have been better if Coolermaster had put a removeable or sliding motherboard tray in the case.
 

The_Blood_Raven

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Ok, the case has record breaking cooling potential, looks great, has a dual PSU design, and only costs $160, that's more than enougn without a removable motherboard tray. I have a removable motherboard tray on my Silverstone TJ07 and I do not even use it, I think they are overrated.
 

eklipz330

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i don't know, i like pulling it out and working on my desk without hunching over you know... but blood, you may be right about the over rated... think i should sell my stacker and get that? i should have more than enough... and im thinking about getting a watercoolign system in the future, will save me time and trouble
 
The_Blood_Raven,

Now that I think about it I can't remember a situation where I replaced a heatsink or CPU. I can't recall a heatsink or cpu ever going bad either. In my situation I certainly don't need a removeable tray.

In the meantime, I ordered a replacement motherboard from Newegg. It's retention bracket and metal backplate with screws are oriented so that I will be able to install the old Thermalright 120 Rev A heatsink and have front to back air flow.
 
bohman,

What kind of mods are you thinking of doing?

A little more about cable management:

If you have a SATA optical drive and you mount it in the upper drive cage, then you will need a longer SATA cable if you want to hide the cable. If the SATA headers on the motherboard are located at the bottom front of the board the standard 18 inch cables are a little bit short. The 24 inch SATA cables are just about right and allow some flexibility. I ordered a couple that I found on line.

If you still use a floppy disk drive and you want to hide the cable you will probably need a longer cable if the floppy header on the motherboard is located at the bottom center of the board. A 30 inch cable should be okay but I haven't been able to find one on line. I did find 36 inch round cable.

 

bohman

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i plan on several mods.

the end result will be a battlestar galactica cylon machine.

i have been looking for an all-steel case or mostly steel case for weeks, and i am glad that CM released this. i need steel because i am planning on chrome plating as much as possible (i work in a steel plant with a chroming facility :) ). i will then buff the chrome to a mirror finish. our facility's electro-plating is too strong for aluminum, it wouldn't make it out alive.

i plan to completely redo the side panel. i will cut out most of it, make it a much larger window, probably install a different fan (which i havn't decided on yet). i do not like the mesh around the fan.

i am going to rework the front bezel, probably scrapping it entirely and fabricating a steel one, that will also be chromed. the bottom of the bezel will be fashioned so the vents represent a cylon's mouth-area.

i will be installing a cylon eye that will occupy the top drive bay, with a dial to control scan speed.

i will need to get my hands on the case and review everything. i will make a work-log, and will drop a link.

obviously, i need a bunch of time to do this, so i wanted to jump in asap.


 
bohman,

oooooooooooh! Cylons! Awesome! I used to watch the TV series back in the 70's!

The front bezel is a combination of plastic and metal mesh. At the bottom front there is a black plastic horizontal grill that can be pulled off. The rest of the bezel remains attached to the frame. I can't remember with certainty but it's possble the the plastic pieces on the left and right front are held in place with rivets. I'll check tomorrow and post the info. There is small metal mesh screwed to the back of the plastic grill. There is some space between the bezel's grill/mesh and the frame. Oddly the frame has larger metal mesh. The 230mm fan is attached to the mesh. I am going to remove the small mesh attached to the grill and I am tempted to cut a hole in the large mesh in the frame to increase air flow.

The rear exhaust also has metal mesh. The last couple builds I have been cutting out the mesh to increase increase air flow out the back.

With this case I won't be cutting a blow hole in the top of the case as it already has a 230mm fan and more metal mesh.

My new mobo and SATA cables will be delivered in a few days. Tomorrow I'm going to continue lapping the CPU and heatsink. Last week I only lapped down to 600 grit. I'll probably take it down to 1000 grit. I may go to Fry's Electronics and take a good look at that shiny chrome-like flexible plastic tube I saw.
 

bohman

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i am now the proud owner of a CM HAF 932.

as people have said, it is a monster. gigantic.

now for the disassemble and modding.....
 
bohman,

Congratulations! You'll like it. Do you have it already or did you have to order it?

I checked the front bezel of mine. As I stated previously there are several pieces. The front bottom horizontal grill simply pops out. The left and right side pieces that span the entire height are screwed in. No problem removing them. The rivets I saw attach the top and bottom of the case to the frame.

I cut out the mesh covering the exhaust fan on the rear panel. I used a pair of aviation shears to get the job done. It was very easy to cut the mesh. Then I installed soft rubber molding around the edge of the hole. This was the first time I didn't have to do any nibbling or filing. Looks pretty good and the fan now has an unrestricted exhaust vent. Luckily I don't have to worry about little finger or critters so I won't bother with a fan guard.

I also removed the lower drive cage as I don't have any use for it. Some drive cages are attached with tabs and slots, others are attached with screws, and some are attached with rivets. This one is attached with rivets. I used a wire cutter to cut the little nubs sticking into the case. Once they are cut the rivets come apart very easily. If I ever reach the point where I want to install more drives I have a Coolermaster 4-in-1 module I can install in the bottom of the case. Just need to drill a couple of small holes and screw it down. Nothing to it.

I went to Fry's this morning to see about the silver/chrome split flexible tubing. They only had one package left and it was a small diameter. I wrote down the information on the package. I wound up ordering a couple of packages on line. I've got it pretty much worked out in my mind. With a little luck there won't be any visible cables and the chrome tubing will be a nice touch.

Time to lap the cpu and heatsink. I'm going to sit in the dining room facing the television in the living room. If there's a good football game tonight maybe lapping won't be so boring.



 

bohman

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johnnylucky,

my local microcenter had 5 of them in stock for 139.99. funny story, because they didnt even know they had them! i went up to the sales guy, he looked at the cases on display and said 'no, we dont have it'. i asked him to check his system, and voila, there are 5 in the warehouse.

so the bottom plastic just pops off? i didnt want to force it. just to make sure, are you taking about the plastic in front of the front fan? it seems like it should come off, but i didnt want to break it (yet).

but i like the case a lot, so much room for anything i want to do or install.
 
Yes, the black horizontal plastic grill with the Coolermaster logo that is located at the bottom front of the case, in front of the big 230mm fan, pops right out just like bezels some of the other Coolermaster cases. Insert a couple of fingers under the bottom of the grill and pull. It will pop right out.

BTW - the big 230mm has red led's. Between the horizontal grill, the small mesh screwed to the grill. and the large mesh that the fan is attached to the red glow is muted. On the other hand the power led and the hard disk led at the top front are blue.