CoolerMaster HAF 932 case club!

[BumbleBee]

my fan setup and worklog so to speak. planned this a couple days before I got my HAF 932 but was side tracked for a while by my Little Bee SFF project. I didn't exactly have any inspiration except I can't stand the window and HAF logo and a couple of cans of aerosol paint turned into this.

* hole saw front, side, bottom, rear and top grills. file edges, apply rubber channel, drill existing screw holes, mount rubber grommets, mount wire guard.
x remove expansion slot mesh, mount Silverstone Aero Slots
* drill out hard drive rack, re-seat 90'
x remove bottom Power Supply Extender Plate
x remove top plate
* add Demcifilter on bottom of Power Supply (still mulling it over)
* paint exterior and interior with plasti-kote etching primer, plasti-kote low gloss black engine enamel, plasti-kote hot rod yellow engine enamel (for misc things like wire guards, buttons, perforated mesh on drive bay covers and all fan blades)
* solder new yellow led on power/hd activity front ports
* solder new yellow led on Sunbeam Rheobus Extreme
x mount casters
* drill out window, add yellow tinted acrylic window

got everything except rivet gun, rubber channel, rubber grommets, leds, sheet of yellow tinted acrylic and ironically wire guards. drilled out hard drive rack but haven't re-seatted it yet because I don't have a rivet gun yet. case fans are Scythe S-Flex F Daisy Chained to a Sunbeam Rheobus Extreme and radiator fans are Scythe Ultra Kaze 2000 at fixed speed.

 

[Pete1burn]

That's the exact same block I was looking at about a month ago. Awesome that it fits the 4890. Post some temps when you can.

CPU 35, GPU 36.

I'm hoping that will get better when I drill out the top of the case and get the third fan running.

 

[Pete1burn]

lol what do you mean not listen to you? Half of the things I've done so far have been at your suggestion.

 

[Sasqui]

CPU 35, GPU 36. I'm hoping that will get better when I drill out the top of the case and get the third fan running.

WOW. You must be talking about stock without load? I'm at 32 Idle CPU and 48c VPU (AIR), sitting still.

 

[Pete1burn]

Yes, idle and stock. Like I said, I have to get that third fan going. I'm hoping that will drop the temps. If not I'm pulling the blocks off and reapplying paste.

 

[Pete1burn]

pretty nice Pete, I was skeptical about that block but now sold as long as there isn't much flow loss. are you glad you didn't listen to me?

oh by the way Pete I saw someone on XS complain about one of the fan mounts not aligned properly it's off by 2mm did you have any problems installing or think it's related to your problem? by the way I use a Swiftech MCR360.

by the way feel free to post worklogs or ideas for your case.

Which fan mount? On top of the case you mean? Yes, one of them was definitely off a little bit. 2mm sounds about right. I don't know if it applies to my problem. The first rad fan closest to the front of the case is the one hitting whatever it's hitting. I just haven't had the energy to disconnect everything and take it down from the top of my desk to look at it.

 

[BumbleBee]

oops deleted post. not on the case but the RX360 not sure which fan mount. have you ruled out the fan it self or human error like too much tightening? well if the blade is touching the perforated grill it won't be anymore once you use a hole saw.

 

[Sasqui]

Yes, idle and stock. Like I said, I have to get that third fan going. I'm hoping that will drop the temps. If not I'm pulling the blocks off and reapplying paste.

The thing about W/C is the heat resevoir - you can only remove so much heat through a rad, but it takes a while for the whole thing to go up or down. Air is a good thing for a rad.

 

[Pete1burn]

Yeah, once I pull the case down and actually see what's happening, I'll decide on what to do about it. If it's hitting the mesh, it's a hole saw. If it's hitting the top part where the power/reset buttons are, I'll see about taking that off. I know I didn't tighten it too much because I loosened all the screws for that fan and it's still happening.

Bumblebee, I know what you're talking about with the rad, and thankfully I got a second run where it didn't have those problems. One of the holes on the case was definitely off. I can even mark which one if I had a pic of the top.

 

[BumbleBee]

well I think you should use a hole saw (on all grills) regardless more open air you can use a wire guard on either side in case you suffer from paranoia of cutting a finger or wire. 4.5" might be too much 3.5" or 4" might be better to keep the holes consistent on all grills because some of the grills are larger than the others like the front and rear.

I don't think Cooler Master learned from the 690 the front fan on the HAF 932 has a grill and the plastic front bezel has another grill and those plastic horizontal beams across the front of the bezel lol but that can be easily fixed.

 

[El_Mayo]

i'm getting this case soon!!
is stock cooling as good as they say?
i'm sure it has room for Crossfire/SLI Setups?

 

[BumbleBee]

cool, no, yes.

 

[El_Mayo]

cool, no, yes.

i assume that meant
the stock cooling is not as good as they say? :'(

 

[Pete1burn]

Not perfect, but there are some very simple things to do to help it out.

 

[El_Mayo]

oh.. i was under the impression it was immaculate.
does it cool better than the Antec 902 stock?

 

[BumbleBee]

Antec 902 has a little better stock cooling this is due to the HAF 932 coming with bad stock fans the Cooler Master 140mm on the rear barely exhaust any air, the 230mm fans are inferior to the 200mm BigBoy on the Antec Gaming Series not to mention the front 230mm fan on the HAF 932 is restricted by the hard drive rack. but you shouldn't judge a case on that alone in all my life I have never had a case come with good stock fans if they did there probably wouldn't be a market. the HAF 932 has less problems, more features and potential than the Antec 902 will ever have.

 

[El_Mayo]

oh?
well.. i want spacious case with excellent cooling.

EDIT: big enough to hold like 2 of the longest cards 11.5"
when you say the HAF airflow can be improved.. do you mean
replacing the 230mm fans?
or something less practical/expensive

 

[BumbleBee]

click my HAF 932 Cooling Guide in my signature or click on page 1.

 

[El_Mayo]

according to this to get great HAF cooling i have to:
buy the HAF
buy cooling fans
buy a fan controller
do some practical modifications

won't that add up to eventually make it less good value?
wouldn't it make more sense to buy the antec 902 that comes with dust filters and a fan controller?

 

[BumbleBee]

I don't think you will have a problem fitting 11.5" video cards. fan controllers and fans specially the ones I suggested in my guide are fairly inexpensive and recommended for any case, you don't have to do any modifications.

right now on newegg the HAF 932 and Antec 902 are at the same price $139 USD this is off the top of my head what the HAF 932 has that the Antec 902 doesn't.

* supports extended atx
* more 5.25" drive bays (who's really going to sacrifice a hard drive cage with a fan mount for more 5.25" bays in the Antec 902?)
* tooless 5.25" bays, expansion slots and hard drive cage
* more usb ports
* firewire port
* can mount multiple radiators
* fillport hole
* more fan mounts
* motherboard access hole
* power supply can be mounted at the top or bottom
* power supply bottom mount can be shifted to support eps
* optional casters (wheels)

this case really is all about value it has more features than cases $200-250+

 

[El_Mayo]

hmm.. does look roomy in there.
i think i might still go for the HAF
then improve as required.
i might not even need more cooling.
although the Antec 902 still looks more appealing to me.

 

[BumbleBee]

I don't like the military theme of the HAF either I think any case that comes with a theme sucks it makes it that much harder to improve aesthetically of course you don't want a case you despise looking at every morning but aesthetics are the last thing you should be worried about. first thing to look at when purchasing a case is cooling which the HAF definitely has with lots of ventilation, 11 stock fan mounts and 5 stock radiator mounts then features which the HAF has plenty of because chances are you are going to be using this case for years to come a case is the last component to upgrade then summing up the value which the HAF definitely meets I think this is the best case Cooler Master has ever created better than the Stacker and Cosmos Series and it only cost $139 USD. you also have to remember that the Antec Gaming and Performance One Series are based off 4-5 year old designs very little has changed over the years.

 

[El_Mayo]

perhaps..
i just want adequate cooling without having to tool around with the case (because i don't know how

 

[Pete1burn]

The HAF is a phenomenal case completely stock. We're just saying there are simple and inexpensive ways to make it better. Don't let that deter you. Get the HAF and I promise you won't regret it.

 

[El_Mayo]

okay then =]
anyone bought your stuff yet pete?