Cooler Master HAF XM Chassis Review

Testing:

Testing the CM HAF XM required pushing my hardware to heat things up! Testing involved recording temperatures for the CPU, GPU, chipset, hard drives, and overall system during idle and load phases. Recently OCC has upgraded to the ForceGT 240GB SSD from Corsair and has removed the HDD temps from case reviews. HDTune is no longer a part of the Case benchmarking process.

Load was simulated by running Prime95’s small FFTs, and 3Dmark Vantage for one hour. The maximum temperatures were recorded using HW Monitor. It is important to note that each case is tested from its factory setup, including location of fans, unless otherwise noted.

Testing Setup:

• Processor: Core i7 2600K @ 4.4 GHz 100 x 44
• CPU Cooling: Noctua NH-U12P SE 1366
• Motherboard: GIGABYTE Z68AP-D3
• Memory: Mushkin 991996 Redline PC3-17000 9-11-10-28 16 GB
• Video Card: XFX HD 7970
• PSU: Antec TruePower New TP-750
• Hard Drive: Corsair ForceGT 240GB
• Optical Drive: N/A
• OS: Windows 7 Pro 64-Bit SP1

Comparison Cases:

• Corsair 600T
• Corsair 650D
• Thermaltake Overseer RX-I
• COUGAR Evolution
• COUGAR Solution
• Thermaltake Commander MS-I
• Bitfenix Raider
• Corsair 300R

Results:

The idle temperatures were a bit disappointing. It was a bit warmer than most at idle but it did perform well under load. It is beginning to be more and more difficult to compare case thermal performance as it seems most companies have nailed down what works and what doesn’t. Only the outliers really stand out anymore and if it fits somewhere in between the lowest and highest it generally goes unnoticed. The HAF XM gets its moment in the spot light for the CPU load temperature. Showing up on the low end is rather impressive compared to the other cases listed. I’m happy to see this even if the chipset on the other hand is a little toasty. However, the only cases that aren’t a bit warm on this graph are those with fans included on the side. Perhaps adding a couple of fans would help? Overall, it’s all good.