Cooler Master HAF 912 Plus Review

Cooler Master add another case to the notorious HAF lineup. Want to know if its any good? Click to find out!

Product on Review: Cooler Master HAF 912 PLUS
Manufacturer and Sponsor: Cooler Master
RRP: £65 / €79

Regardless of whether you love or hate the HAF series, since its first introduction in 2008 its remained a dominating force within the enthusiast/gaming market. First we had the 932 a full tower chassis, followed by the smaller 922, and just recently the X the big brother of the bunch. Today we see a new addition to the family, the HAF 912 Plus.

The 912 Plus is set to be the smallest of the series, but with High Air Flow (HAF) still a principal objective. The current cases within the HAF series are rather large enclosures so Cooler Master hope to equip those wanting a smaller setup, but with the same benefits of the HAF lineup. Excellent cooling, brilliant functionality and rugged military looks.

Cooler Masters Take:

Cooler Master adds another new member to the HAF series, the 912 Plus. To carry the mission of providing the best thermal solutions, HAF 912 Plus supports two 120mm for external radiator and high-end CPU coolers. Furthermore, the spacious interior accommodates two 200mm fans and two 120mm fans for better and superior airflow yet, enough to fit 12 devices and high-end GPUs such as Radeon HD5970 and Nvidia GTX 480.

HAF 912 Plus features rugged looks, massive air cooling and trademark interior that signifies performance and makes it a killer machine

For such a small case the HAF 912 Plus has a wealth of features and should satisfy those attracted to the looks of the HAF but with a smaller chassis in mind.

Packaging and Externals

The HAF 912 Plus arrives in a typically HAF styled case. Typography, and visual layout is as you would expect with features and specifications printed on the sides and back of the case. For this review, I took just the one picture of the box as anymore really aren’t needed and really, we want to look at what’s inside!

The case comes well packaged nevertheless, removing the polystyrene holders and plastic wrapping reveals the small, but fierce 912 Plus.

As already mention the 912 Plus follows on with the rugged visual appearance we have come to love or hate on the other cases within the series. We don’t have any featured window on the 912 Plus, but rather a solid set of door panels. The prominent side having a mesh cut-out ready to have a 120mm fan installed. There are some aesthetically pleasing lines and shapes on this door it even has the HAF logo stamped in bold character set. The prominent side has thumbscrews to hold it on, but the other side has the standard screw holding it securely in place. I’m unsure why this is the case – it can’t be for cost sake surely? It makes better sense to have both door panels using thumbscrews, so that you don’t have to reach for the screwdriver.

Having a close look at the front panel there we see two USB 2.0 ports, eSATA, microphone socket, headphone socket, reset button, power/HDD activity LED’s and power button. Directly on top of the 912 Plus there is a shelf for putting any accessories down, such as a phone, mp3 player etc. Slightly disappointing that a case released towards the latter end of 2010 doesn’t endorse USB 3.0. Most of the cases being released recently have this available.

The front of the 912 Plus has a Cooler Master emblem placed directly in the centre and above this we have five 5.25″ bay covers. Moving to the rear of the case the traditional rear 120mm exhaust fan features, beneath it three rubber grommets for feeding cabling or water-cooling tubes through. Moving further down we have seven expansion slots with an additional slot for installing a device such as fan controller if you so desire and at the very bottom an opening for PSU mounting, something that is now customary. To touch and feel the metals and plastic used on the 912 Plus gives a sense of good quality, these surfaces and structures have been crafted well.

Interior

Upon opening the 912 Plus, there are some items bundled as you typically find with any case. Inside the cardboard box we have brackets for fixing 3.5″ devices into the bays, a bracket for fixing a 2.5″ device inside the case, another set of brackets for securing 3.5″ device within the 5.25″ bay area. Along with these fitments there is an instructions manual that goes into some detail to show you the full features of the 912 Plus and how to install each device. There is also a back of screws with a good handful of cable ties for keeping things tidy within the 912 Plus.

Removing the prominent side panel, the interior looks very inviting. All surfaces have been given a lovely matt black finish – the motherboard tray has copious amounts of cut-outs for cable management. The 912 Plus may look small on the outside but glancing inside reveals a different matter altogether. Although the 912 Plus will not cater for e-ATX (as you would imagine) it does accommodate ATX and mATX motherboards.

Focusing our attention on the rear of the inside of the 912 Plus, as I have already mentioned there is a Cooler Master 120mm fan included. This has molex and 3-pin configuration. Above this there is enough space to fix an additional 200mm fan although this is not included. Directly to the side of this is the motherboard/cpu backplate cut-out. I can’t recall ever seeing another case featuring such a large cut-out. This is good, it leaves you in little doubt that you can reach the backplate. In fact the space here is similar size to the 120mm fan.

Fixing optical drives in place requires no screws and is tool-less. There are five bays to choose from, each feature a latch that has an ‘open’ and ‘lock’ position. These latches just flick from one to the other, securing a drive couldn’t be easier – just line up the holes on the drive to the case and flick the latch to ‘lock’.

With regards to 3.5″ devices such as the traditional hard drive, there are two cages, the upper cage can be completely detached by removing four screws. The cage can then be rotated 90º to facing the rear of the case or if you leave it out of the case, the 2.5″ cage can be placed on top of this lower cage (see the installation page)

So you have many options, Cooler Master have given you the decision in customising what goes where. In the next section I will be installing all components into the 912 Plus.

Installation

Working with the 912 Plus is a pleasant experience. Even though there isn’t an abundance of space within the 912 Plus it is still a case that allows you to plan and set things out in a tidy manner. I encountered no issues when installing any of the hardware within the case.

The width of the case provides no issues with tall heatsinks like the Noctua NH-U12P which is around 158mm in height. There is at least an inch to spare with the door panel fitted.

For the hard drive configuration, I chose to remove the upper cage completely. This meant I could then secure the 2.5″ cage on the roof of the lower 3.5″ cage. By doing this it meant that the 200mm fan at the front of the case has less objects to obstruct its path of airflow. It opens the line of path and causes greater pressure within the case, and should increase airflow/temperatures.

Installing the traditional 3.5″ hard drive is easy, attach a clip to either side and slide the drive onto a row. The SSD doesn’t benefit from such an easy install – back to the screws with this one.

As I mentioned in the previous section the motherboard cpu backplate cut-out is enormous. Proving its worth, the AM3 socket installed within the 912 Plus reveals generous space. Great work from Cooler Master here.

Video Review

If video is your thing – I did a 10 minute review on the 912 Plus. Showing the features available and installation. Please feel free to leave comments, and subscribe of course.

Thermal Performance

System Components
CPU AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 2.8GHz
Motherboard ASUS M4A89TD PRO (890FX)
Graphics MSI 8800GTX 798MB
Memory Mushkin EM3-10666 DDR3
HDD Samsung Spinpoint 500GB SATA-II
PSU Enermax Revolution85+

With no fan control available, both the 120mm and 200mm fans are left to run at full speed. Suprisingly though, they are barely audible. The above results show that that 200mm fan at the front creates solid airflow within the 912 Plus. With removing the upper HDD cage, the airflow is enhanced because there are no objects for the direction of aiflow to hit. heat is passed through the exhaust fan and removed from the case.

Conclusion

On almost every level the HAF 912 Plus is an overwhelming success. If you like the HAF series, you will love the HAF 912 Plus.

Small in stature though it may seem, it isn\’t small on features and characteristics. The 912 Plus features a rock solid chassis with aggressive looks to suit. If you are working with the mATX format and favour the HAF looks then its likely you will be won over by this case. ATX users may feel they need more space, but there are those with ATX motherboards that prefer having the size of a mid-tower rather than full tower and I would say again – this is a case that you are likely to fall for.

The 912 Plus has a great feature-set – it will take long graphics cards, tall CPU coolers and allow you to get at the backplate on a multitude of socket types. There is the ability to customise exactly how you want to setup the hard drives within the chassis and then an excellence in cooling potential. You might have already guessed that I believe this case is a commendation to the HAF lineup, and you\’d be right in thinking so.

Although the 912 Plus has some strong qualities it isn\’t without slight niggles and when I say niggles, these are minor. It would be nice to see both side panels with thumbscrews rather than just the prominent side having them. There is no fan control for both of the included fans which although not essential would have been a nice accompaniment. USB 3.0 support is absent, and with 2011 drawing in this should really be an included feature on a newly released case.

Pros
+ Excellent all-round build quality
+ Aggressive, fierce looks
+ Easy to install devices
+ Small case, big cooling

Cons
– No USB 3.0 support
– No fan controls

Reflecting on the review at hand, the Cooler Master 912 Plus has some oustanding characteristics and due to this achieves nothing less than Gold.