Cooler Master HAF XM Case Review

Installing PC Hardware

The PC Build

Now it is time for all the parts to come together. The installation was easy with the PC enclosure mid-tower. All power connections and wire management are very easy to use. The HAF XM is a dream and even may feel like it for some when the red LEDs are on.

The AM3+ motherboard has more than enough room. So much so that the board didn’t even cover the cut out behind it. The cooling options are plentiful. Cooler Master has preinstalled 2 x 200 mm fans and 1 x 140 mm fan. The case can easily handle multiple and long cards while the NVIDIA 460 looks dwarfed in the case. Simply said, this case looks like it can handle most configurations out there. So, if you are looking for a home for your NVIDIA 680s or ATI 7970s you would have to consider this case.

After the power supply was installed the wiring was very easy to hide. The box for hiding cabling is such a simple but amazing idea. It even helps greatly on my usually terrible cable management. The cabling easily reached wherever it needed to flow to using the wire management. Although three fans are pre-installed a total of 7 – 9 fans can be installed depending on which size fans are used. The CPU cooler can be 7.7 inch x 13.9 inch (18.2″ without the cage). There is plenty of real estate to use in this PC enclosure.

Here is the real fun that you can share with everyone about the HAF XM. The front 200 mm fan has a nice red LED. The LED will light up the front of the case. The lighting can be turned on and off with the hexagon fan button on the top of the case. The fan is powered by a 4-pin Molex connector that is fed behind the hard drive cage.

Now that it is known the LED can be turned on and off, what does it look like on? When you are ready for a LAN party and push the LED light on, this is what you will be working with. The LED light shows nicely though the honeycomb front while spilling under the case for a nice effect.