Final thoughts and rating
The Cooler Master HAF 922 is a solid, no-nonsense chassis that's aimed at the user who requires a sub-£100 case which focuses on airflow and ease of installation.Smaller than the HAF 932 but no worse off for it for most users, cooling performance, once the ambient temperature has been accounted for, is reasonably similar to other chassis in the same pricing space. Fan flexibility is another positive point, and the spacious interior provides adequate area to position a water-cooling radiator without any problems.
Screw-less installation of drives and an additional expansion slot all aid installation and flexibility, so there's clearly lots of good here. However, the HAF 922 isn't perfect. The large-diameter fans are louder than the 700rpm would intimate, without recourse to a fan-controller to manually modulate their speeds, and we'd like to see Cooler Master extend dust filters to the optional bottom and side fans, and, perhaps, a Perspex window on the side-panel, to keep internal dust to a minimum.
The HAF 922, too, is large enough to house an eATX motherboard but Cooler Master does not include the necessary mounts for design reasons. Lastly, dedicated 2.5in bays wouldn't go amiss, either.
Our slight reservations centre on the facets that would make the HAF 922 perfect. As it is, priced at £90 we doubt that potential buyers who wish to house high-end systems would be disappointed. It cools reasonably well and is easy to build into - two must-have requirements for any decent chassis.
Bottom line: a solid, good-looking chassis that just needs a few tweaks to go from good to great.
HEXUS Rating
We consider any product score above '50%' as a safe buy. The higher the score, the higher the recommendation from HEXUS to buy. Simple, straightforward buying advice.
The rating is given in relation to the category the component competes in, therefore the chassis is evaluated with respect to our 'mid-range components' criteria.
Cooler Master HAF 922
HEXUS Awards
Cooler Master HAF 922
HEXUS Where2Buy
The Cooler Master HAF can be purchased from eBuyer.co.uk for £90.54, including delivery.
HEXUS Right2Reply
At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.
