New member with new case! Cooler Master HAF XB!

[1ceTr0n]

Hey all, names 1ce and I figured i'd join up on the forum and see how things are done in overclockers land vs the other forums i've visited over the years. Didn't see a new member section anywhere so I figured i'd start of my first post with a early christmas present to myself, a new case and not just any case, the new HAF XB from coolermaster!

So, for the neatly past 3 years since buying my Antec mini P-180 for my build back in 2009, iv'e been content with it as I've yet to see any case maker come out with a replacement that really makes me go "ooooh and awwwww". I gave my Mini p-180 facelift last year with my my system upgrade and I still do rather like it, but its getting a bit "aged" and I have certain things like front USB, more flexiblity and something new to play with and mod thats been knawing at the back of my mind.

However, Corsair, Antec, Silverstone have lacked in anything that really catchs my eyes for my needs and desires. Mostly, I'm REALLY picking with my cases. I've tried a couple of silverstones over the last few years in the SUGO line up and Temjin as I don't want full sized ATX cases anymore since going with my mATX build back in 2008, I just don't need all that tower space, its a waste but I still wanted something flexible so I could experiment and mod, but something that had great cooling, but looked cool, but could also keep the noise down but something that just screamed "cool" that would maybe make me shell out to replace my aging mini P-180

Well, I spent the last hour or so last night surfing around newegg and google seeing what was new in the case world and I had just about given up hope when I saw this from Coolermaster, and I nearly had a case modders hard on....

B]Well figures, I get my new toy and someone already claims before I even get to open it lol! But its here!
[/B]

Even the box itself is sexy and rich feeling, has a smooth, slick texture to it! The case is well protected by the stiff cardboard box and plenty of styrofoam padding all around, UPS/FedEX would have to try hard to damage the case

Oooh very nice! First thing I noticed is that the cases paint texure has a very durable feeling to it, almost like a spray on truck liner, you will have to try to scratch it! The unit feels incredibly solid when I took it out, gotta freaking love cold rolled steel, aluminum can never beat the tight, strong and firm built of a quality steel case!

The handles feel GREAT and makes moving the XB is so SMOOTH and easy! They are supported by the steel chassis behind the panel, so even fully loaded, this sucker aint gonna fall apart on you transporting it around, LAN partying with this thing in the future is gonna rock!

I didnt' realize exactly HOW big this XB was until I put it next to "Night Fire" my Antec mini-P180. The pictures speak for themselves! Thats a 20'' Viewsonic monitor for comparison sake to give you an idea of this bad boys size

Ok, time to take it apart and see the inside of this ultimate bady boy cube!

With the side panels removed, the front comes off with 7 tabs fairly easily. The plastic feels durable enough the front benzel doesn't flex much, but be mindful, it feels like it could be easily scratched. The front panel Power and reset buttons ARE NOT spring loaded, they are more modern "tap" style button which you find on todays tablets and smartphones and frankly, I like this as a nice change from decades of spring loaded buttons on computer cases, time for a change.

Weird, how they have enough room for a PCB to have 4 USB jacks, but only went with 2 *shrug* Owell, I never use more then one at a time in my usage.

 

[1ceTr0n]

Moving inward, my faithful furry assistant decides this cases needs a complete check through with cat senses!

Again, the interior paint job feels awesome, VERY solid and well done! Again, it reminds me a spray on truck lining, thats how tough it feels, it has a very nice rough feeling to it but not sandpaper like. Corsair could learn something of how to paint/powerdcoat their cases from coolermaster, their interior paint jobs are easily damaged/scratched in my experience with them

Yep, looks kitty approved!

Moving on, the typical part bags, screws andzip ties are here, but a rare thing, an optional speaker for those who really want to hear the troubleshooting mobo BIOS beeps. You can see the insulation foam to keep PSU vibration down into the case, a simple but nice touch, stuff like this helps case makers and their products stand out from the competition and we, the case consumers really look for this kinda stuff.

The case panels like the rest of the case chassis have a tough powder coating all over. They slide on and off with a nice smooth feeling and attach with a nice solid "thud" and are hard to flex, meaning the chances of vibration and reverberation in the case are low. Again, quality steel just flat out beats aluminum in this department, especially in the cost department and Cooler Master does a great job in this. Corsair, are you taking notes?

Outa curiosity, I wanted to see if recycling my Antec Big Boy was possible with the top panel mesh. Sadly, it was a no go. I looked into why the mesh panel didn't have mounts for 120/140mm fans for radiator setups and the CM rep stated because the weight of using radiators would cause the mesh panel to dislodge because its only using push down based tabs to hold it in place. So that basically means it would require installing nuts and bolts if you really wanted to use the top mesh panel for a radiator and modding the mesh as well.

And of course, I can't overlook something this rare in most cases nowadays, the removalable mobo tray. Some people truly desire/live for this *cough, 3DGAMERMAN* I personally have never cared or had use for them as I always chose cases over the years that makes it easy to install mobo's in and out. Last case I had with a removable mobo was a Lian Li PC-68 way back in 2002 and I think I used it "once" just cause I was bored.

Anyway, with 4 simple thumbscrews, the tray comes right out. Like the side panel, it feels very rigid and hardly flexes at all. Again, you can only get this very nice firm feeling with quality steel cases, aluminum just can't touch it. The tray fits in nice and snug with the thumb screws, so its not possibly for it to vibrate into the chassis itself at all.

 

[1ceTr0n]

Looking more into the interior, thankfully, all the cables are a nice even black, so no worried gawd awful rainbowed colored calors ruining the interior case look, well, except for that stupid legacy sound connector which im just gonna cut off personally. The stock front intake fans are 3pin with molex convertors. Dunno how great they are but i'll be replacing then with my Gentle Typhoon 120mm's anyway and or using a new 200mm intake fan on the top if I decide against ordering the top panel with built in window that I may end up making my own anyway. Decisons, decisons....

My furry assistance spotted something as I went along. Removing the exterior PSU holder reveals that you CAN NOT install a PSU without it as the chassis doesn't have any mounting holes without the extended bracket. This kinda sucks, considering I have a standard sized modular PSU, I wanted to keep the back flush but I guess not anymore, so keep this in mind.

Finally, I wanted to see how much spacing I had between the panels and mobo tray itself. Thanks to this chassis unique design, there is well over 1'' space between the side panels. I'm thinking of adding some sound insulation material for "Night Fire II" so this gives me plenty of room to add this. Also noting that if someone was really in the mood, you could easily cut out the side panel mesh and add your own side windows for a trick look. Hmmm........

To round this unboxing off, I asked some burning questions to the CM rep at the OCN boards about a few things on the case and I got a quick response back, major kudos to them!

http://www.overclock.net/t/1327014/various-cooler-master-haf-xb-reviews/90#post_18631574


Me: Why bother putting in a front fan filter when it requires the user to manually have to remove all 3 side panels and then unclip 7 freaking clips to remove the entire FRONT benzel to get at? Why was there no simple design to slide the filter in and out from the sides like Silverstones SG08 Tamjin?

CM rep: The reason why is we had to stay true to our roots as DIY enthusiast chassis. One of the mockup HAF Xb's last year had a removable filter frame that was in the front panel and pulled out the top, on paper it was great but in reality some of the mechanical engineers brought some issues to our attention. If we kept the front filter we would lose 140mm front fan support. Some of our international focus groups complained they needed much more space to mount fans outside the frame of the chassis. The people who complained the most used 27-30mm thick radiators which need fans on both sides for acceptable performance. So we kept the massive room for a radiator and 2 sets of fans on both sides. We had to put the filter on the front panel because there was nowhere else to put it.


1ce: I honestly don't see why you couldn't have made the secondary drive cage to hold 3.5'' and 2.5'' HDD's and simply give the user the OPTION to user either drive size with rails and or adapters. SSD's still aint cheap and most people still use standard 3.5'' HDD and will for the forseeable future.

CM rep: There isn't enough space to do two 3.5" drive cages in the area you mention. Once you get your HAF Xb, try to take some measurements. We reserved the space so you will have just enough cable management if you can't afford a modular power supply. As it is now, we had to make the 2.5" HDD cages removable because some PSUs have huge masses of cables.

1ce: More cable routting holes in the motherboard would have made obvious sense, so why only one?

CM rep: Its a TRAP!

Seriously, this cable management hole was added at the last revision before production by our engineers. Their reason was that if you never removed the motherboard tray, you could use the port for some audio or USB cable. Functionally, we have more than enough cable tie downs on the side of the rail that you should never need to use this. We joke its a trap because whatever you stuff through that hole, you have to unstuff it because it will block the motherboard tray from being removed. You should never be using this hole if you want to use the HAF Xb removable motherboard tray since it will cost you 5 mins of time.

1ce: Why not give users the option of just buying the window itself for the top panel instead of requiring people to pay for an entire front panel at a higher price?

CM rep: We're a big company and tiny pieces of acrylic wander off by themselves.

1ce: For the watercoolers, why didn't you allow the top panel mesh to have 120/140mm fan mounts like you have in so many other cases? I really don't find any reason to leave that out

CM rep: Its an issue of the strength of the mesh attachment. The top panel mesh attaches in the same way as an acrylic window would with plastic push pins. These pins could fail if you put a heavy weight on them like a radiator. There are plenty of other good places for radiators.


1ce: Couldn't you have thrown in some rubber seals so if people do use the rear water cooling holes after punching out the covers, the bare metal won't possibly cut the tubing?

CM rep: Nobody we surveyed wanted to pay for the rubber grommets on the holes in the back. Our research found people use these holes for things we don't intend, and don't use them anymore. Remember Olivia Munn and G4TV?

!

 

[S_I_N]

very nice indeed i have been oogling this case for a bit. If it had enough room for my 420 and 240mm rads i'd be on it quick. Otherwise I dont have another rig worth putting into a case like this. but I do want one to mod it lol.