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At nearly two feet tall and weighing in at just under 30 pounds, the Cooler
Master HAF 932 High Air Flow Chassis is an imposing full tower ATX
case, marketed towards gamers and overclockers with an array of fans.
85% Rating: 
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CoolerMaster HAF 932 |
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Head on - Big Boxy Fan Friendly
Head on, the case is a bit of an eyesore in
my opinion. You may like the rugged appearance, but Cooler Master's Cosmos
and Stacker series look a lot cleaner. In any event, the matt plastic bezel
is a much better choice than a shiny black plastic grill.
Around back the Cooler Master HAF 932 has the usually
allotment of expansion slots (seven), a 140mm exhaust fan, space for a
replaceable motherboard I/0 shield and room for potentially two power supplies.
The HAF 932 is tool less to open up thanks to thumbscrews on both side
panels. There is of course more honeycomb grating wherever possible.
Both the rear exhaust fan and space above the
expansion slots have honeycombed vents. This allows heat from video cards
that exhaust upwards to escape out of the back of the case.
Since 140mm fans are still fairly rare on the market,
Cooler Master has also provided mounting holes for the more common 120mm
variant. Those wanting to put in their favorite 92 and 80mm fans are
out of luck, as the holes in the honeycomb grating are simply too large to
serve as mounts for smaller fans.
Unlike a lot of cases on the market,
the HAF 932 requires both the left and right panels to be removed for hard drive
installation - hence the thumbscrews.
Watercooling Accoutrements
In the space above the motherboard where you'd normally expect to find an opening for a power supply, there's instead
a pair of rubber inlets which allow you to quickly run tubing for a watercooling
system out to the radiator.
The entire blanking plate in this alternate PSU bay
is removable, and can either be swapped into the bottom PSU bay if you want, or
removed entirely to allow a secondary power supply inside the HAF 932 system. In
general Cooler Master has made its HAF 932 chassis very water cooling
friendly right out of the box. Although the system doesn't ship with a
water cooling rig, enthusiasts can easily add a large radiator to the rear
of the case (hence rubber pass-throughs for tubing up to 3/4" diameter), on to the upper roof which is entirely
mesh. The top fan swaps out to make room for a large 120mm X 3
sized radiator in that instance.
On top of that, the HAF 932 has plenty of space
throughout for reservoirs, pumps, tubes, what have you. We weren't kidding when
we said the case gives you options!
Aesthetically, the Cooler Master HAF 932 isn't the
most elegant case - at least when compared with the super models of full tower cases, Antec's P190 and Lian-Li's exotic PC-X2000. Okay, so the HAF 932
isn't nearly as clean or refined with its chunky matte plastic and
exposed aluminum grating, but it is designed with maximum functionality and ease of
access in mind. It's a trade off that compromises looks and style
for the sake of performance.
The few style concessions Cooler Master makes are questionable, such as the large red LED fan set
within the bowels of the case behind the front grill. This red LED
light can't be switched off, forcing users who want a dark case or
a case illuminated in another colour to cut wires or replace the
230mm front panel fan altogether.
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I'm not exactly in love with the style
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The side panel can
only be described as "rugged", though words like ugly, grate-y, grid-y, window-y and
military were also tossed around. Again, I like a more refined chassis for my
killer gaming hardware, so while the tons of fans are a plus, the pseudo MASH fonts
and superfluous grills are overkill.
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This panel has an chunky X it and resembles a gas can, ammo can... Beautiful.
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As a full tower ATX case, the HAF 932 is about seven
inches taller than a standard 14-inch mid-tower chassis, and about two inches
wider. It's 9" wide and 21" tall if you recall. The increased height and width
will likely make it too large for many of those cheap student desks with
built-in computer bays... you know the kind I mean. As well, most users will
probably want to keep this case on the floor, but with all the vents it's going
to make the HAF 932 put a Hoover to shame.
Out of the box the HAF 932 sits on four simple plastic feet. These can be replaced with
four included wheels that have a built-in locking mechanism. Certainly important for moving around
such a heavy system once all your gear is installed.
PCSTATS strips the HAF 932 down to its bare
metal next, so we can test its mettle.
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