Page 4 – Installation and Conclusion
The computer building process was quite enjoyable with the Cooler Master HAF 700. It was easy to work with since there were lots of tool-less installation of components. The only complaint I have is the weight of this product. I found sometimes you really need to be careful not to grab on something plastic when moving the chassis, since that may cause some damage to those plastic parts. I first installed the power supply into the PSU chamber. The power supply used in this computer was the NZXT C650 650W, which has a 120mm fan. Thanks to the mesh on the side panel of the case, it is possible to have enough airflow for the PSU. Moving on to the motherboard installation, a Thermaltake UX200 SE CPU cooler was mounted on my Gigabyte GA-H170-D3HP motherboard. The position of the motherboard tray opening of the HAF 700 matches perfectly with the CPU socket, which is good if I were to swap out my cooler later on.
I did not have any hard drives to install, since I just have one Western Digital Black SN750 NVMe SSD 500GB on the motherboard. With the number of HDDs this case allows you to put in, you definitely could put more hard drives inside and make a server in this case. The rest of the installation process was really smooth. Since we already had four fans preinstalled from factory, there was no need for me to add more fan from my stash. As you can see from the above picture, the thick motherboard power cable can be easily fitted into one of the openings in the HAF 700. My parts also look downright tiny. After all my cables were connected, I noticed there was still plenty of unused openings.
After everything has been installed properly, it is time to press the power switch. As you can see from the above photo, the ARGB LED lighting effect from the five preinstalled fans looks really good. The ARGB fan on the CPU heatsink is also plugged in to the included ARGB hub, so all the RGB LEDs are synchronized in this case. In order to change the lighting effects through the integrated ARGB Gen2 controller, I had to download and install the MasterPlus+ from Cooler Master's website.
I am the kind of person who really cares about the noise level of my computer. In this build, I had six fans running in the case. As it turned out, my computer was reasonably quiet considering the number of moving components inside. On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is totally silent and 10 is a jet taking off, I would still rate my system at 2.0/10 regarding noise emissions during normal operation when fans are slowed down. Please note the fan speed control on the motherboard can control the noise level by reducing the RPM of the fans when the computer is not under a high load. However, at full speed, it will be 5.5/10 as SickleFlow fans do emit some noise, especially when you have so many of them inside.
-----------------------------------------
After putting the Cooler Master HAF 700 to use, there are two things I have realized. One is that I am afraid my room is not big enough for this case. Secondly, I think I need to upgrade my computer since it now looks pretty empty inside. As a gaming-oriented full tower case, the HAF 700 really has the capability to enclose large and high-performance components such as 480mm radiators, extra-long graphics cards, and up to six 3.5" HDDs. For now, I have none of those in the case, at least not to that magnitude. The interesting thing about this case is, it is big, but it does not mean it is bulky. There are lots of good designs elements to make the case look stylish and gamer-oriented for those who appreciate this style. The hexagon shaped tempered glass side panel and the exoskeleton styled front panel are my favorite design elements of the Cooler Master HAF 700. The angled surfaces between the adjacent panels may look a bit gimmicky, but it is all consistent with the branding. As for the cooling support, this product is on top of the game. From factory, there are many preinstalled fans with addressable RGB LED lighting and PWM fan control, including two 200mm fans on the front, a 120mm fan on the bottom, and two more 120mm fans for exhaust. If the preinstalled fans are not enough, you can put up to seventeen fans in total on the chassis to provide the ultimate cooling performance. Last but not the least, there are also quite a lot of tool-free installation features to make this product a fun case to build with. On the other hand, there are also a few strange design choices that I wish they improved upon. For one, I think the side panel removal process is a bit unnecessary, as you need to remove the top before you have access to the sides. Its size and visual appeal is also something you need to take into consideration, especially if you are tighter on space or want something more conservative. As well, lacking a PCIe riser cable and mount in this case is a bit odd, especially at this price point. Speaking of which, the Cooler Master HAF 700 is listed at $300 USD at press time. It is not a bargain for sure, but considering the downright crazy internal room, the design of the case if that is your cup of tea, and the outstanding cooling capabilities, the Cooler Master HAF 700 is an enthusiast's dream.
Cooler Master provided this product to APH Networks for the purpose of evaluation.
APH:Renewal Award | APH Networks Review Focus Summary:
8/10 means Definitely a very good product with drawbacks that are not likely going to matter to the end user.
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks, but should be considered before purchasing.
-- Final APH Networks Numeric Rating is 7.7/10
Please note that the APH Networks Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other publications.
The Cooler Master HAF 700 is a full tower gaming case that can accommodate any size and quantity of hardware you can throw at it -- and cool them down like nobody else, too.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
