Snipers CoolerMaster HAF build

[2lowSniper]

Picked up my HAF today & took some snaps with my phone. I can't decide whether to just paint it now or wait til I get some extra money & have it powder coated. Any & all suggestions for anything is more than welcome. Specially if you have one & know the ins & outs of what can be done with them.

So far I swapped the front fan with the top as I'm putting a triple rad up there with 3-120mm fans besides I hate red haha.

Some parts I plan to go with:
EVGA 790i Ultra
Q9550
OCZ DDR3
GTX260
WD Black 640G 32mb
CoolerMaster 1250W

For cooling:
MCP655
120.3 rad(type unknown yet)
Fusion V1 with Fits top
NB block

On with the pics.

[BumbleBee]

this case is very hard to create a theme with because it already has one it's also hard to mod because there isn't much to do the case is near perfect.

if I owned it I would definitely make some changes.

* replace casters or feet with new ones
* cut a hole in all honey comb mesh with a hole saw (use rubber molding if you want it to look nice)
* remove expansion slot retention clips
* replace expansion slot covers with Silverstone Aeroslots
* remove hard drive cage (optional)
* remove hard drive cage and turn it 90' so it faces forward.
* remove unused hard drive cage brackets
* remove all hex screws and replace them
* replace window
* add rubber grommets (optional)
* replace LED
* paint it

[Dice]

I'd need to get some filters sharpish.

[ShadowFold]

Is the hard drive cage completely removable?

[BumbleBee]

Originally Posted by ShadowFold

Is the hard drive cage completely removable?

no you have to pop the rivets out with a drill takes 2-3 minutes tops. here is a picture of how much extra room you get maybe multiple pumps, reservoirs? if you want to keep it but turn it 90' this will give you more air flow and you won't lose points in cable management because you can route the sata cable in the perforated hole.

Originally Posted by Dice

I'd need to get some filters sharpish.

well I don't want to talk about fan filters because they impede air flow the only way your going to be 100% dust free is if you live in a cleanroom. why I chose the Aeroslots over the stock Mesh was so that I don't have to clean it I can just use a pencil or shot of compressed air to remove dust or dust bunnies versus removing the Mesh and cleaning it. the only fan filters you can put on this case are screw ons plus putting 4x of them on the side panel is kinda silly since not all air will be filtered. you can just remove the Mesh but you will have 4 or 5 unused gaping holes. the Aeroslots are just for looks now they will offset the case because they are nickel plated but once you paint it they should look like they came with the case.

[theorw]

Well this thread is IDEAL cos i am getting my HAF tomorrow along with the XIGMA RED SCORPION.
First question before installation,where is best to put the PSU?UP or DOWN?
Also,is it wOrthy to remove the hdd cage if i dont have WC?Sure it would help airflow but should i ?

[ShadowFold]

I wont be water cooling but I will remove the HDD cage. I just got a nice little toy that lets me use my HDD's in a CD drive bay so that will open up more airflow.

[BumbleBee]

Originally Posted by theorw

where is best to put the PSU?UP or DOWN?

this case is very configurable it depends on how you want to setup your cooling positive air pressure or negative air pressure? the benefits to negative air pressure is that you won't have to worry about hot pockets of air, is negative air pressure better? no.

one perk about mounting the power supply up top is you can still have 2 rear exhaust fans, the heat from the power supply won't radiate up across your video card and processor.

Originally Posted by theorw

is it wOrthy to remove the hdd cage if i dont have WC?Sure it would help airflow but should i ?

yes, think about it the front intake has to pass through a piece of steel, hard drive and another piece of steel. it's not hard you pop the rivets out with a drill, buy a rivet gun ($10) and use 1/8" rivets I believe to reseat it. and if you want to remove it all together you can do what Shadow suggested and use a hard drive bracket for a 5.25" bay they are like $2 you can even buy a pack of anti-vibration grommets to top it off.

I tried thinking why Cooler Master started putting hard drive cages sideways and the only reason I could come up with was if you look at the hard drive cage the brackets slide out if you were to put the hard drive cage forward you might have clearance issues putting a hard drive in with a long video card.

here is a couple cooling setups you can use:

setup #1 power supply bottom mount

* Front: 1x 120mm Yate Loon High Speed (7v)
* Bottom: 1x 120mm Yate Loon High Speed (7v)
* Side: 4x 120mm Yate Loon High Speed (5v)
* Rear: 1x 120mm Yate Loon High Speed (12v)
* Top: 3x 120mm Yate Loon High Speed (5v)
* Controller: Sunbeam Rheobus Extreme or Lamptron FC-2

setup #2 power supply top mount

* Front: 1x 120mm Yate Loon High Speed (7v)
* Bottom: 2x 120mm Yate Loon High Speed 7v)
* Side: 4x 120mm Yate Loon High Speed (5v)
* Rear: 1x 120mm Yate Loon High Speed (12v)
* Top: 1x 120mm Yate Loon High Speed (7v)
* Controller: Sunbeam Rheobus Extreme or Lamptron FC-2

I chose Yate Loons because they perform on par with Scythe S-Flex series for a fraction of the cost you can go to Jab-Tech and buy 12 High Speeds for $35 usd. I chose these fan controllers because they hold a lot of wattage (30-40 watt per channel) with no nonsense LCD's or buttons. I got rid of the 3x 230mm fans because the only real benefit they offer is aerial coverage they do not outperform a 120mm fan (Sanyo Denki, Delta) at this time because of cost and production yes you can find 200mm and above fans that will outperform a 120mm they are called oscillating fans you can find them at a local hardware store try fitting the motor in your case the only reason I would keep the front 230mm fan is if you have more than 2 hard drives because the aerial coverage will provide even cooling and if you look at the side panel adding 4 fans will not only outperform a 230mm fan but give you even more aerial coverage because the 230mm mount is actually in the middle (notice the blue shade I coloured in) you can also see it clearly in Sniper's pictures above.

[i43]

Originally Posted by theorw

Well this thread is IDEAL cos i am getting my HAF tomorrow along with the XIGMA RED SCORPION.
First question before installation,where is best to put the PSU?UP or DOWN?
Also,is it wOrthy to remove the hdd cage if i dont have WC?Sure it would help airflow but should i ?

well , if go to mount Your PSU to upper try -
- You can't use the ''big boy'' fan for upper outblow ,
tho you can add 1 (or 2) 120mm without any modding there's pre mastered holes ..etc

if got got PSU with sort cables .. get some extensions and put it in lower try
( haf have some pre-packed ..at least i am sure i saw 4(8)pin with mine ... )
PSU gets better cooling by sucking cooler air from the bottom

also i have anything to say about HDD Cage - me personally, did not needed to remove it,
coz my rig is only air cooled, and my current used hdds aint running that hot - to be extra cooled.

imo .. you may need to remove it to fit some big rad in bottom or ..
i remember a guy posted (@XS forums ?) he re-seated hdd
cage few centimeters backwards to fit 240 mm Rad in front of it

anyway if you going to break Your HAF into parts for what ever .. to custom paint job
or .. remove lower try ... you probably can prepare it for future needs
- drill off the rivets -connecting upper and low(hdd cage)
and make them on bolts&nuts just for easier removal ... anyway .. these are just my thoughts ... don't mind

PS .. just few words if you plan CUSTOM PAINT and think about POWDER COATING
then you NEED to remove totally ALL ORIGIINAL PAINT !
specially from bottom- and upper ''roof'' panels also ( exterior layer of sidepanels ?)
- it is important! because the original layer does not stand the heat
what powder coating procedure requires for curing process
- it bubbles up and come off ... just saying .. becoze happen to me -
and i had hard times to fix the problem.
also i do not recommend to powder coat the low (hdd) try - better use some
common method - you may meet problems later with these hdd mount- sliders
to install your hdd's into (slip in try's)


CY

[BumbleBee]

Originally Posted by i43

PSU gets better cooling by sucking cooler air from the bottom

if this was any other case I would agree. if you install the power supply up top you will lose 2 fan mounts but you can mount one in the fillport hole so not only will you have 2 rear fans but a perforated vent that stretches across the top panel. by having the power supply mounted up top the hot air molecules will rise out the perforated vent and not bind with the video card or processor and depending on the power supply fan it can suck air from the top perforated vent like so into the power supply to cool it.

you also shouldn't lose any cable management since Cooler Master was so kind to cut a hole at the top of the motherboard tray for top mounted power supplies.

Originally Posted by i43

imo .. you may need to remove it to fit some big rad in bottom or ..
i remember a guy posted (@XS forums ?) he re-seated hdd
cage few centimeters backwards to fit 240 mm Rad in front of it

you can mount one 120mm x 240mm radiator on the bottom without any problems, two 120mm x 240mm radiators on the side panel, one 120mm x 120mm radiator on the rear or one 120mm x 360mm radiator on the top. the front of the case is the last place I would put it! this case is so versatile it's scary.

[Assassin48]

If your looking for 3/8 fittings i have some in my FS thread check my sig

[theorw]

WOW BumbleBee thanks for the detailed analysis!!
Anyway i think i ll completely remove the hdd cage cos i already have an 3,25 to 5,25 antivibration kit so i ll put my 2 drives up there and have the bottom front clear for the air to hit my 4850s Musashi straight on!As for the PSU i like positive pressure in order to avoid as much dust as possible!
So the PSU should go up right?

And i ll have 2*230mm intake and 120mmback+120up((since i remove the 230mm))(that i already own high performance)+140mm PSU exaust.
This would result in what???!!Slightly possitive?

[BumbleBee]

your welcome. I would put it up top and yes positive air pressure.

[2lowSniper]

See I would have though air flow through the case wouldn't be as much of an issue with it being water cooled. I mean long as your rad was getting proper flow the HD cage wouldn't be an issue. If your air cooling then yes remove all obstructions impeding air flow?

My plan is for now to WC the cpu with a triple up top then once I get other parts I'll add to the system as needed.

[BumbleBee]

even with water cooling you can get good air flow. this is what makes the HAF 932 it's so versatile you don't have to sacrifice anything. you don't have to remove the hard drive cage at all in fact I think the unused fan mount beside the power supply is more important. but I would definitely turn the hard drive cage 90' so it faces forward for that excess air.

you could also do something like this

setup #3 power supply top mount with water cooling

* Front: 1x 120mm Yate Loon High Speed (7v)
* Bottom: 2x 120mm Yate Loon High Speed (7v)
* Side: 2x 120mm x 240mm Radiators (one for GPU, one for CPU)
* Rear: 1x 120mm Yate Loon High Speed (12v)
* Top: 1x 120mm Yate Loon High Speed (5v)
* Controller: Sunbeam Rheobus Extreme or Lamptron FC-2

or

setup #4 power supply bottom mount with water cooling

* Front: 1x 120mm Yate Loon High Speed (7v)
* Bottom: 1x 120mm Yate Loon High Speed (7v)
* Side: 4x 120mm Yate Loon High Speed (5v)
* Rear: 1x 120mm Yate Loon High Speed (12v)
* Top: 1x 120mm x 360mm Radiator
* Controller: Sunbeam Rheobus Extreme or Lamptron FC-2

you could also do a stack on top externally and drill or cut 2 holes for tubing.

[theorw]

Well more on this from tomorrow when i get the case and the xigma!!
I ll have a long day even if i dont think i ll have much time to deal with the case...

[2lowSniper]

If I can find something local or from ncix to mount my HDs in the upper bays I'll whip out that HD bay completely to possibly mount a dual rad in front maybe later?

[BumbleBee]

your basically looking for a 5.25" to 3.25" hard drive adapter, Cooler Master actually makes one it's a single bracket $15 usd but at that price you mine as well order one of these it will take 3 5.25" bays so you can still have 2 opticals and 1 fan controller, you can take the front off like this so you won't have the air restriction or cooler master logo plus you can probably keep the HAF 932 5.25" covers in front and when you paint everything it should blend in nicely if that kinda thing bothers you.

[theorw]

HAF arrived today at 12 along with XIGMATEK 1263.
I had it setup in 1 hour!Its megnificent!!!Extremely quite an spacy and i had a stunning cable management included in this 1 hour of setup!!!I ll add a couple of UV lights these days and then i ll post on the gallery for u to vote.The VGA temp is just 2 degrees more than it was outside of the case!!!

[BumbleBee]

right on. a lot of people are taken by how quiet it is even with the stock fans. make sure you place the CCFL's properly.

[douglatins]

Paint the insides black, thats what ill do when i get this case. Or at least have someone paint it.

[theorw]

I might do it but not now..No money left to be spent on pc...I finished the upgrades by ordering tow UV lights that will fit with my DFI!!
When i get them i ll post pics and when i have some money left i ll do a good job on painting it...
Does any one know the cost???The quality painting though...The one invOLving OVEN!!!

[2lowSniper]

You mean powder coating? It could very really from what work you do to get it ready ect.

[theorw]

Yes thats what i mean.The only think that i am worried about is the that i have to tear the case down and only give for powder coating the skeleton and the side panels and i wonder if theres any plastic left in the 3 mentioned parts...????

[2lowSniper]

all the plastics are removable on it though. I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet. I've seen some really nice home sprayed cases lately it isn't funny but I might just wait a week or so & have it pro painted instead of powder coated.