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Very well designed case. At first look it was intimidating, thinking I had to snake all the power cables here and there. But really this is how computer cases should be standard. It takes more quite a bit more room, this thing is huge I'll admit, but the benefits far outweigh the little things. It's about 17 inches wide at the face, 16 inches deep to the back, and 13 inches tall from the bottom of the feet to the top where it curves upward for a large fan. This means your computer desk needs a space that is about 20"x20" wide at the base and 16" tall to comfortably put this thing in. My current computer desk I built for normal tower-type cases will not hold this thing inside it's enclosure, so I had to lay this on top of my desk and it takes up lots of real estate. Before you buy don't make the same mistake I did and not have a place to fit this thing, but even with it sitting on top of my desk I love the engineering behind this case and just cannot make myself hate it. All the hard work getting it to fit on my desk and putting it together really is worth it in the end. Another note before buying, the front USB ports use a USB 3.0 plug. I had to buy an adapter cable to go from a USB 3.0 female to a USB 2.0 male plug for about $5 here on Amazon so I could use the front ports.
First for the PSU it gets put into a tiny metal frame that can then slide in and out of the back and overhangs a little. Once that is in there you start snaking the power cables to the general spots they need to go, the SATA power cables for HDD's and disc drives etc go below and the 24-pin connector and whatnot go up top around the side closest to where it is on your motherboard. Then install the HDD's and whatever else you want in the 5.25 bays. The quick-swap HDD mount on the bottom right works really well. Make sure you have Sata cables with the 90 degree bend in them to fit onto the board that the two front HDD's connect into. I really wish we could get one more of these quick-swap bays with the case so you can swap out a 3rd drive if needed, but there is a mounting location for HDD's in the back left bottom of the case if you plan on just having HDD's permanently attached.
Once you get the bottom sorted you put the motherboard tray in and start installing the motherboard like any other PC. Luckily even with a crowded bottom half with all the power cables the top when finished looks very clean, especially compared to standard PC cases. The top and the two sides with handles come off very easily and more than a few times in the first week I assembled my PC I had to slide them off while it was running to move like a fan wire barely clipping a 120mm fan or move some cabling in slightly better spots. Maintenance on top is really easy, so much easier it's totally worth it. Where the problem comes in long-term I think isn't blowing out dust from the top but from the bottom. That thing looks crowded but it still gets very good airflow so as long as I secure all the fans to prevent the blades from spinning I can just use my air compressor with blower attachment and get it all out. It's still super easy to get to everything top and bottom when you take off the side panels. Lots of space in this thing. There is a 120mm fan slot on the back close to where the CPU cooler sits on most motherboards, point the fan on the cooler and the case fan both to exhaust out the back and the 2 120mm's in front to pull in from the front and you have a very cool computer system. 4 hours into Far Cry 4 with high settings @1080p and my GPU wasn't anywhere near as hot as it's normal listed operating temperatures and the CPU is staying about 4 degrees cooler under load compared to my old case, but I will admit my old case while very well made was too crowded, it wouldn't fit my new GPU if it wanted.
Summary: Very well made case, lives up to the HAF name of high air flow and keeps the case cool. It has room for a radiator if I ever wanted to go that route in the future, it has the hot-swap HDD bays on front so you can swap 1TB HDD's like a giant flash card, everything is just well designed and done smartly. You will spend a little more time getting all the power and sata cables in place compared to a normal case, expect a few more hours over your normal assembly time if you never used this case before because it is quite different from the norm. Be sure to measure out a space big enough to put it in with room to still breathe.
What does HAF stand for Cooler Master?
HAF stands for High Air Flow. No need for liquid! A 240mm rad will fit. 240 is referring to 2 120mm fans, and that's the screw pattern on the front. You'll be very limited on in-case water cooling options.
Is Cooler Master a good cooler brand?
Cooling Master is generally a trusted brand when it comes to its cooling products and has a reputation for efficient and good-value fans and liquid cooling systems — although that isn't the case with its entire line. There has actually been some criticism of its keyboards and other peripherals.