Please Check Out the Conclusion to Our Cooler Master HAF X Review Right Here
With the annual COMPUTEX event upon us, a lot of PC part manufacturers are preparing to show off some of their latest toys. Some of those have shown up leaked here and there on the web. Others have literally shown up early at our door. It’s like little magical techno-elves know to leave us an early treat before each tech show. A couple weeks ago, a group of elves huffed and puffed and hefted a huge box onto our front door. Inside it was none other than Cooler Master’s highly anticipated HAF X computer chassis and today we’ll be giving you a quick preview of this new hardcore gaming chassis!
Features and Specifications
In many ways, the HAF X is a big improvement over the already excellent original HAF 932. Starting with one of the important features, the HAF X supports standard m-ATX, ATX, EATX (Extended ATX) including some larger motherboards that support over 6 PCIE slots. This should include GIGABYTE’s latest boards that are built on the XL-ATX form factor like the recently reviewed GA-890FXA-UD7 AM3 motherboard or their super high end X58 solution, the GA-X58A-UD9. There’s even mounting support for those particularly large graphics cards with the inclusion of a GPU support bracket.
The HAF X also features a PSU shroud designed to help channel air over the PSU and supports power supplies that are around 8.5 inches in length. The chassis is also large enough to accommodate extremely large CPU coolers including Coolermaster’s own V6, V8, and massive V10. This is helped out by the large CPU cut out on the back of the motherboard tray as well.
Here some other features you’ll find inside:
- Four tool-less ROM drive slots
- Two removable (Hot Swap) hard drive trays
- Five removable tool-less hard drive trays
- 1 x 200mm top cooling fan
- 2 x 200mm (front and side panel) LED cooling fans
- 1 x 120mm back cooling fan
The chassis also supports water cooling systems. Users will be happy to know the case has rear rubber ports for tubing. You can also install a 240, 360, or 280mm radiator at the top of the chassis. However, radiators over 60mm in depth may be difficult to install properly.
While our preview unit should more or less be what you should expect from the retail edition of the HAF X when it hits the store shelves shortly. However, there may be some minor changes or improvements along the way.
What’s In The Box?
Because most of the expansion options are tool-less, there aren’t many accessories included in the case bundle. There are some handy things though that will help organize your system. What you also get are four optional wheels if you’d like to use them to roll around a very heavy system as well as a USB extension cable, 8-pin auxiliary 12V extension cable, motherboard mounting accessories, and some zip ties for tiding things up. And, yes, there will be a manual with all the sexy retail boxes shipping soon.
For a case with such great wire management potential, we would love to see some kind of Velcro straps included to replace the zip ties. These can be reused time and time again. And, they don’t cost much at all to add which would really add to the value of the accessory package and the case itself.
Creativity + Gaming = HAF X
The HAF X is a very beefy chassis from stem to stern. It’s fabricated using .8mm SGCC steel and ABS plastic. But, this only makes sense since it’s going to be subjected to many a gamer and most likely, case modders. When looking at the HAF X, an aggressive military theme comes to mind. There’s tire tread of sorts along the front, top, and bottom corners of the case. It’s reminiscent of a tire tread from a trusty HUMVee. It looks like this case can take your system off road and make it back in one piece. Let’s get a little more in depth on the following pages…