Cooler Master HAF 912 Review Comment Thread

[FiXT]

I disagree with your disagreement. I think that we should stop propping up these garbage manufacturers.

They can do a lot better for that price; people want a lot more out of a budget case. Especially in aesthetics.

This case could be designed better, a budget case does NOT have to feel budget, or look budget - this case does both.

The issue is, is that you define budget simply by the looks and not by the quality of materials or the features and tooling that have gone into a case.

The HAF 912 uses a very rigid and thick plastic front panel, the rest of the case is a very solid metal. You can't warp the side panel without some serious force, and the motherboard tray doesn't do the whole wiggle warp either. You get some great airflow options, support for WC rads, and easy cabling setup for a case of this size, innovative hard drive tray setup with native SSD support, dust filters on all the intakes. There is quite a list.

As I said before, NZXT has been notorious for having unique designs, but in my (and many others) opinion, the materials and workman ship that go into it is pretty poor. Not to mention for many people, the outlandish NZXT designs are not attractive at all. I personally HATE cheap thin plastic that is simply snapped on to a case just to give it a design.

The Gamma for instance, I just played around with this morning. I can literally bend the side panel in half with very little effort, I can warp the entire case with a few twists, the interior paint is spotty, and the front panel plastic feels like it would break off with a slight tug.

While the case has some decent features (though overall its a pretty standard design, nothing really stands out), it's around the same price as the HAF, and yet it physically feels like a much cheaper case.

I have seen so many "budget" cases from NZXT, Thermaltake, InWin, Compucase that look good from a distance or in PR screenshots, but when you actually use them you realize the material is crap.

Cases like the HAF 912, Antec 300, Lancool PC-K are a real breath of fresh air when it comes to quality for that price - even if they may not have the most appealing design to everyone.

 

[Zero82z]

but still, was expecting the price to be a bit more competitive

Then you simply have unrealistic expectations. $60 is already damn competitive for a case like this, and we've known for weeks if not months what the MSRP was going to be.

 

[FiXT]

If you think about it, the $55-$60 range is where REAL cases start at in terms of price

The sub $50 is for your el cheapo inwins, logisys and compucases.

 

[_dangtx_]

fix, how do you compare the build quality(not looks etc) of the ps04b vs this 912?

 

[The Destroyer]

Great review. This case looks great for the price-point. I hope the 912 Advanced is available to us as well as I am a big fan of the black interior and 200mm fans.

 

[encorp]

The issue is, is that you define budget simply by the looks and not by the quality of materials or the features and tooling that have gone into a case.

The HAF 912 uses a very rigid and thick plastic front panel, the rest of the case is a very solid metal. You can't warp the side panel without some serious force, and the motherboard tray doesn't do the whole wiggle warp either. You get some great airflow options, support for WC rads, and easy cabling setup for a case of this size, innovative hard drive tray setup with native SSD support, dust filters on all the intakes. There is quite a list.

As I said before, NZXT has been notorious for having unique designs, but in my (and many others) opinion, the materials and workman ship that go into it is pretty poor. Not to mention for many people, the outlandish NZXT designs are not attractive at all. I personally HATE cheap thin plastic that is simply snapped on to a case just to give it a design.

The Gamma for instance, I just played around with this morning. I can literally bend the side panel in half with very little effort, I can warp the entire case with a few twists, the interior paint is spotty, and the front panel plastic feels like it would break off with a slight tug.

While the case has some decent features (though overall its a pretty standard design, nothing really stands out), it's around the same price as the HAF, and yet it physically feels like a much cheaper case.

I have seen so many "budget" cases from NZXT, Thermaltake, InWin, Compucase that look good from a distance or in PR screenshots, but when you actually use them you realize the material is crap.

Cases like the HAF 912, Antec 300, Lancool PC-K are a real breath of fresh air when it comes to quality for that price - even if they may not have the most appealing design to everyone.

I completely agree with you.

I am definitely judging this case on looks. I know CM's quality and I understand the case is well built. That is not my problem.

My problem is that unless you want to spend $200.00+ you cannot find a good looking case anywhere.

I'd like to see less of these awful looking video game nerd cases and more of something with some intentionally good design behind it.

You can make plastic look like anything; and in this case and ALL of the HAF's - it's like they go out of their way to make a case that says "Yeah, I'm inexpensive".

It may have all the internal features people are looking for; but it looks like a heap of shit.

 

[DkRk]

The HAF line may not be the prettiest cases on the block, but they're all business when it comes to cooling. As an HAF 922 owner myself, I got over the appearance because that's only a tertiary concern as my main priorities are cooling and durability. It sits underneath my desk anyways, so I'm not terribly bothered. I've taken a couple boards and pieces of hardware in and out, and the effortlessness of each transfer and rebuild is testament to the case's quality.

What I would like to see is Cooler Master do something similar to Silverstone. The 'Raven' is a case with great cooling but 'unique' looks that don't appeal to everyone. So they made the FT-02 which retains the unique cooling system of the Raven but has a more professional appearance. I'm sure Cooler Master could easily take an HAF 922's cooling power and design and transfer it to a case that's more conservative in its appearance.