Originally Posted by glenster The Silverstone Fortress scored better than the Cooler Master HAF at keeping a CPU cool,
Very true, with it's massive fan over the top of the CPU socket
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and the Silverstone Fortress is a lot better at keeping dust out
True, but you can't actually get the dust filter out, iirc. Kind of a fundamental design flaw.
Quote:
being liked for its looks than the Cooler Master HAF.
Entirely subjective depending on the market - the Germans and Americans love stuff like this, but the Brits and Scandinavians generally have a dislike.
Quote:
If the main count against the Silverstone Fortress is it scored worse at keep-
ing a GPU cool, and it has a removable hard drive tray between a big fan and
the GPU, how does the Silverstone Fortress score at keeping a GPU cool with the
middle hard drive tray removed?
Well that's what modding is for too!
Quote:
If that doesn't help enough, would putting another fan across from the GPU do it? If it scores good at that, it could be a pretty good air cooled case for people who only want one or a few hard drives.
True, but people would complain that there isn't enough hard drive space or they don't like a fan in the side, or it gets noisier.. etc It's down to personal choice and needs. Another fan sucking the air through the HDDs onto the GPU area would give better airflow but at the expense of noise and it wouldn't be cooler air if it's had several HDDs heating it up beforehand. It depends how many you use, I suppose?
I was thinking of using one hard drive. I can't afford a good watercooling
setup for my next PC, which includes a Core i7 920, so I want the best air
cooling for it. If anyone has removed the middle hard drive bay of the
Silverstone, and knows if there's an easy way to place a fan (I was thinking of
using a $20 Noctua) to blow on the GPU (which I guess should be a specially
cooled one) to cool the GPU successfully, please let me know how to do it.
I don't think a fan placed high to blow on the GPU would be near my one hard
drive, which would be placed low. The upper compartments could hold my optical
drive. (I'm planning on getting a LG GGW-H20LK.)
Either case could use a spray from a can of condensed air now and then, but
the reports on newegg make the Cooler Master sound like a vacuum cleaner with
dust collecting on everthing. It probably would be less of a problem to use a
can of condensed air to clean a couple of air filters. I thought I might, if I
go for the Silverstone, set a book up horizontally a few inches above the top
fan to prevent anything from falling directly down into it, anyway.
The appearance of the case is secondary to performance to me. I was also
waiting to see reports on the Cooler Master Sniper, which has air filters.
Pros: it is much cheaper than it was when i bought it
it does keep stuff very well cooled
cons: it is a little loud
The push in connectors on mine used to occasionally rattle in a really annoying way but i fixed that with a bit of sellotape...
Had mine for 6 months now got i9t for £90 on ebuyer :P, really quiet, extremely big inside with lots of space to work with, the HDD trays are amazingly quiet and stable, I have to listen very closely to hear both my Seagate 80GB and WD 160GB making noises, only downside is the CD/DVD mounting system, burning or reading at high speed causes the drive to rattle because it only locks on one side so make sure you screw it on the other side aswell.
Oh I forgot. HOW BRIGHT ARE THE POWER/HDD LED'S! Whatever you do don't look at that directly at night, would be like looking directly at the sun at 12am. Buy some thick black tape or do what I do and get an old credit card, cut it up and stick it over the LED's lol
Originally Posted by Tyrmot I dunno, the faux-industrial thing doesn't look too bad to me... but the lack of dust filters with all that mesh is definitely a big oversight...
I agree. This is what stopped me from buying a HAF series case which is a shame. I wanted good air cooling and settled for the Antec 902 in the end. :(
I had been trying to decide between:
Cooler Master - 932 HAF, ATCS 840, or Sniper;
or Antec 902.
After studying this review, I have decided on the HAF 932.
I like the front ports.
I like the low velocity, high volume air flow system.
I like the super slick transverse drive mounting system.
I like the ease of working in the case.
I like the clean neat cabling and overall roomy , uncluttered" openness" in the case.
I like the design flexibility.
I have even come to like the rugged good looks.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
I have built many computers and have yet to find one as nice To work on than the CM HAF 932..
The Pro's far out weigh the cons.
The only two issues I can find with it are bright blue led's for power on and HD activity (which is an easy fix) and the lack of filtration. However I have yet to see a case with filtratrion.
This is by far the quietest computer I have ever built..
It has lots of room for expansion. The drive bays are a blessing when compared to the many other cases I have had to work with..In an earlier post I saw some one mention the dvd/cd drives rattled when burning at high speed. I have had no issue there at all. (again an easy fix if it should become an issue) Also like to note my ugly Hummer has a few rattles at high speeds..
The extra wire passage holes make for a very clean assembly.
The drive fastening mechanism is a great asset.
There are just too many pro's to list in my opinion.
As far as cosmetics, I didn't build it to put on my coffee table to show to my friends. I built it as a work horse and is tucked away in a cabinet cupbord..(lots of vent hole in cabinet with filters in all of vent holes)
Cooler Master Haf 932 Full Tower EATX Case 6X5.25 1X3.5 5X3.5INT USB eSATA 1394 Audio
AMD PHENOM II X4 BE QUAD CORE AM3 3.2 GHZ 8 MB CACHE
MSI 790FX-GD70 ATX AM3 790FX DDR3 4PCI-E16 CrossFire eSATA SATA GBLAN Motherboard
Coolermaster V8 CPU Heatsink Cooler AM3 120MM Fan 800-1800RPM 17-21 dbA
Corsair XMS3 Dominator TW3X4G1600C9DHX 8GB 4X2GB PC3-12800 DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 240PIN Memory Kit
Corsair HX1000W CMPSU-1000HX 1000W ATX 20/24PIN ATX 80A 12V Afc Modular Power Supply W/ 140MM Fan
2-Sapphire Radeon HD 4890 OC 901MHZ 1GB 4GHZ GDDR5 PCI-E Dual DVI HDTV Video Card
Logitech G15 2ND Gen Gaming Keyboard USB Black Amber LCD Panel Programmable Backlit Keys
Logitech VX Nano Cordless USB2.0 Laser Mouse
Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Edition 64BIT DVD OEM
Logitech Z-5500 Digital 5.1 Speakers 500W RMS SILVER-BLACK Analog Coax Optical
5-Western Digital WD1001FALS Caviar Black 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 4.2MS 32MB 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM
HP 16X Supermulti DVD Writer with Lightscribe SATA OEM
LG BH08-LS20 Black BLU-RAY Writer 8X BD-R 16X DVD-R SATA Lightscribe Internal Drive
D-LINK DWA-556 Xtreme N Desktop Adapter 802.11 Draft N B/G 3X3 PCI-E1 Adapter
Microsoft Lifecam Cinema 720P 16:9 HD Webcam Auto Focus Noise Cancelling Microphone
Ultra ULT40366 3.5" Floppy Drive with Multi Card Reader
Logitech 941-000045 G27 Driving Wheel - PC and PS3, 900 degree wheel rotation, Dual-motor force feedback
Logitech - Force 3D Pro Joystick
Kingston DataTraveler Locker DTL/4GB 4GB W/ Hardware Encryption USB2 Flash Drive
I've had this case for a few months now. I love it!
The looks? Not everyones cup of tea I know, but it suits me down to my boots. The cooling is immense, well compared to what I was used to (cheap gamer case from ebuyer).
Q9550 @ 3.4 is around 27-30*C at idle, thats using a Titan Fenrir, after the RealTemp prime95 test, the highest temprature recorded was 41*C
GTX 275 is kept around 37-40*C at idle and I haven't seen it above 67*C in normal gaming. Stalker, for whatever reason pushed it over 70.
It is, all things considered, fairly quiet. The GTX is easily heard over the case fans when playing games, but as this PC is only used for gaming I always have headphones on, so that really doesn't bother me.
Build quality, as far as I can tell, is great, nothing has broken or shows any sign of ware. As it sits on a desk and the room is cleaned fairly often I haven't had much dust settle inside either.
Comments 51 to 59 of 59
ReplyVery true, with it's massive fan over the top of the CPU socket
True, but you can't actually get the dust filter out, iirc. Kind of a fundamental design flaw.
Entirely subjective depending on the market - the Germans and Americans love stuff like this, but the Brits and Scandinavians generally have a dislike.
Well that's what modding is for too!
True, but people would complain that there isn't enough hard drive space or they don't like a fan in the side, or it gets noisier.. etc It's down to personal choice and needs. Another fan sucking the air through the HDDs onto the GPU area would give better airflow but at the expense of noise and it wouldn't be cooler air if it's had several HDDs heating it up beforehand. It depends how many you use, I suppose?
setup for my next PC, which includes a Core i7 920, so I want the best air
cooling for it. If anyone has removed the middle hard drive bay of the
Silverstone, and knows if there's an easy way to place a fan (I was thinking of
using a $20 Noctua) to blow on the GPU (which I guess should be a specially
cooled one) to cool the GPU successfully, please let me know how to do it.
I don't think a fan placed high to blow on the GPU would be near my one hard
drive, which would be placed low. The upper compartments could hold my optical
drive. (I'm planning on getting a LG GGW-H20LK.)
Either case could use a spray from a can of condensed air now and then, but
the reports on newegg make the Cooler Master sound like a vacuum cleaner with
dust collecting on everthing. It probably would be less of a problem to use a
can of condensed air to clean a couple of air filters. I thought I might, if I
go for the Silverstone, set a book up horizontally a few inches above the top
fan to prevent anything from falling directly down into it, anyway.
The appearance of the case is secondary to performance to me. I was also
waiting to see reports on the Cooler Master Sniper, which has air filters.
Pros: it is much cheaper than it was when i bought it
it does keep stuff very well cooled
cons: it is a little loud
The push in connectors on mine used to occasionally rattle in a really annoying way but i fixed that with a bit of sellotape...
Oh I forgot. HOW BRIGHT ARE THE POWER/HDD LED'S! Whatever you do don't look at that directly at night, would be like looking directly at the sun at 12am. Buy some thick black tape or do what I do and get an old credit card, cut it up and stick it over the LED's lol
I agree. This is what stopped me from buying a HAF series case which is a shame. I wanted good air cooling and settled for the Antec 902 in the end. :(
I had been trying to decide between:
Cooler Master - 932 HAF, ATCS 840, or Sniper;
or Antec 902.
After studying this review, I have decided on the HAF 932.
I like the front ports.
I like the low velocity, high volume air flow system.
I like the super slick transverse drive mounting system.
I like the ease of working in the case.
I like the clean neat cabling and overall roomy , uncluttered" openness" in the case.
I like the design flexibility.
I have even come to like the rugged good looks.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
The Pro's far out weigh the cons.
The only two issues I can find with it are bright blue led's for power on and HD activity (which is an easy fix) and the lack of filtration. However I have yet to see a case with filtratrion.
This is by far the quietest computer I have ever built..
It has lots of room for expansion. The drive bays are a blessing when compared to the many other cases I have had to work with..In an earlier post I saw some one mention the dvd/cd drives rattled when burning at high speed. I have had no issue there at all. (again an easy fix if it should become an issue) Also like to note my ugly Hummer has a few rattles at high speeds..
The extra wire passage holes make for a very clean assembly.
The drive fastening mechanism is a great asset.
There are just too many pro's to list in my opinion.
As far as cosmetics, I didn't build it to put on my coffee table to show to my friends. I built it as a work horse and is tucked away in a cabinet cupbord..(lots of vent hole in cabinet with filters in all of vent holes)
Cooler Master Haf 932 Full Tower EATX Case 6X5.25 1X3.5 5X3.5INT USB eSATA 1394 Audio
AMD PHENOM II X4 BE QUAD CORE AM3 3.2 GHZ 8 MB CACHE
MSI 790FX-GD70 ATX AM3 790FX DDR3 4PCI-E16 CrossFire eSATA SATA GBLAN Motherboard
Coolermaster V8 CPU Heatsink Cooler AM3 120MM Fan 800-1800RPM 17-21 dbA
Corsair XMS3 Dominator TW3X4G1600C9DHX 8GB 4X2GB PC3-12800 DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 240PIN Memory Kit
Corsair HX1000W CMPSU-1000HX 1000W ATX 20/24PIN ATX 80A 12V Afc Modular Power Supply W/ 140MM Fan
2-Sapphire Radeon HD 4890 OC 901MHZ 1GB 4GHZ GDDR5 PCI-E Dual DVI HDTV Video Card
Logitech G15 2ND Gen Gaming Keyboard USB Black Amber LCD Panel Programmable Backlit Keys
Logitech VX Nano Cordless USB2.0 Laser Mouse
Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Edition 64BIT DVD OEM
Logitech Z-5500 Digital 5.1 Speakers 500W RMS SILVER-BLACK Analog Coax Optical
5-Western Digital WD1001FALS Caviar Black 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 4.2MS 32MB 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM
HP 16X Supermulti DVD Writer with Lightscribe SATA OEM
LG BH08-LS20 Black BLU-RAY Writer 8X BD-R 16X DVD-R SATA Lightscribe Internal Drive
D-LINK DWA-556 Xtreme N Desktop Adapter 802.11 Draft N B/G 3X3 PCI-E1 Adapter
Microsoft Lifecam Cinema 720P 16:9 HD Webcam Auto Focus Noise Cancelling Microphone
Ultra ULT40366 3.5" Floppy Drive with Multi Card Reader
Logitech 941-000045 G27 Driving Wheel - PC and PS3, 900 degree wheel rotation, Dual-motor force feedback
Logitech - Force 3D Pro Joystick
Kingston DataTraveler Locker DTL/4GB 4GB W/ Hardware Encryption USB2 Flash Drive
The looks? Not everyones cup of tea I know, but it suits me down to my boots. The cooling is immense, well compared to what I was used to (cheap gamer case from ebuyer).
Q9550 @ 3.4 is around 27-30*C at idle, thats using a Titan Fenrir, after the RealTemp prime95 test, the highest temprature recorded was 41*C
GTX 275 is kept around 37-40*C at idle and I haven't seen it above 67*C in normal gaming. Stalker, for whatever reason pushed it over 70.
It is, all things considered, fairly quiet. The GTX is easily heard over the case fans when playing games, but as this PC is only used for gaming I always have headphones on, so that really doesn't bother me.
Build quality, as far as I can tell, is great, nothing has broken or shows any sign of ware. As it sits on a desk and the room is cleaned fairly often I haven't had much dust settle inside either.
For £107 I'm dead impressed/happy with it.
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