Final Thoughts and Conclusions
HAF Stacker 935 Case
Cooler Master’s new HAF Stacker Series cases are designed to stack together in virtually limitless combinations. The individual cases can be used by themselves or combined into various Modular-Tower configurations. Having all that extra room can allow for building multiple systems in one large enclosure, or creating some very interesting custom cooling solutions. And the HAF Stacker series can provide an excellent starting point for some extreme case modding if desired.
HAF Stacker 915F HAF Stacker 915R
In this two-part review we have taken a close look at the HAF Stacker 935 (HAF 925 mid-tower case with a HAF 915R on top) and the HAF Stacker 915F enclosures. The HAF 935 is designed to house a modern ATX system in the mid-section with room up top for a second, complete mini-ITX based system. Alternately you can use the extra room for advanced water-cooling, HDD/SSD storage, and/or maybe a second power supply. The HAF 915 mini-ITX cases can be used stand alone or stacked. They come in two configurations: one with the power supply mounted in the rear (915R) and the other with the PSU mounted in front behind the bezel (915F).
All of the HAF Stacker Series cases we reviewed exhibit very good build quality, fit and finish. They are good looking and proved very user-friendly to work with. Each case is very functional on its own and offers great flexibility when used in combination – stacked with other HAF Stacker modules. The expansion room for custom systems is virtually limitless.
The HAF Stacker 935 case can easily house a full-size ATX gaming system with multiple VGA cards and advanced cooling. The Stacker Series cases are all water-cooling friendly with numerous options to meet your personal taste. While a giant Modular-Tower case may not appeal to everyone, if you are looking for an extra large case with virtually unlimited expansion and storage room, then the HAF Stacker Series deserves a close look.
The HAF Stacker Series has a lot going for it and while the good far out weighs any bad, we do have to point out a few minor weaknesses. In its stock form the HAF 935 mid-section does not offer much in the way of airflow. The single 140mm exhaust fan is a good start and while some may criticize Cooler Master for not including more fans, you have to keep in mind this case is designed for expansion with virtually limitless options for both air and water-cooling. The 935 provides a basic entry point and you the end user take it from there. One thing I did find a bit annoying was having to pull off the front bezel to access the front air filters for cleaning. The HAF 935 is also advertised as being designed to support dual systems, but if you truly want to have two independent systems in one enclosure (ATX system in the mid-section with a mini-ITX system up top) you will have to purchase an extra external I/O panel for the HAF 915 top section to replace the blank-dummy panel that comes with the case.
(Courtesy of Cooler Master)
The Cooler Master HAF Stacker modular cases are currently available and selling for:
• HAF Stacker 935 Mod-Tower case $169.99 USD (newegg.com, August 2014)
• HAF Stacker 915F mini-ITX case $69.99 USD (newegg.com, August 2014)
• HAF Stacker 915R mini-ITX case $59.99 USD (newegg.com, August 2014)
Strengths
• Modular-Tower design with stacking functionality for virtually limitless expansion and storage
• Stack extra 915F or 915R cases for dual/triple systems
• Expandable chassis supports additional water-cooling and HDD storage
• Cases feature multiple dust filtered intakes
• Intuitive design for flexible and easy installations
• HAF 935 mid-tower section features full tinted side window
• HAF 915F has the PSU mounted in front (allows the use of tall CPU coolers)
• HAF 915R has the PSU mounted in rear (HDD cage in front)
• Supports standard ATX size power supply
• Supports VGA cards up to 360mm/14.7” in length
• Modular I/O functionality for future-proof connectivity with USB 3.0
• Rear 140mm exhaust fan included (935 mid-section)
• Rear 120mm exhaust fan included (915F)
• Front 92mm intake fan included (915R)
• Excellent support for water-cooling
• Compatible with other HAF Stacker enclosures
Weaknesses
• Limited airflow in 935 mid-section (requires adding fans or water-cooling for optimum cooling)
• Combining two independent systems in one case (935) requires purchasing an optional I/O panel for 915R
• The front intake dust filters require removing front bezels for cleaning
Cooler Master HAF Stacker Series Cases
We have very much enjoyed our time with the HAF Stacker cases and hope you have found our two-part review helpful. A big thank you to Cooler Master for sending us the HAF 935 and HAF 915F cases to review!
Peltier!? Gosh thats
Peltier!? Gosh thats insane….
Well it would be awesome if
Well it would be awesome if you had a PWM controled Peltier, which keeps the water temperature around 1°C so nothing freezes in or outside. Well I still dought its worth it, but it would be “cool”
You could use a heat
You could use a heat exchanger water plate between the cold peltier side and the water loop (with antifreeze) and solve the condensation problem. Also, this would allow sub zero water to be used from the peltier without introducing into your actual cpu cooling loop. I think the frozen website has one for sale.
Nice detailed info. I didn’t
Nice detailed info. I didn’t realise that the cutout behind the motherboard was to help with CPU/APU cooler setups. I guess I’m old fashion.
I am a little confused about “The HAF 935 enclosure provides plenty of room around the motherboard area for installing one or more VGA cards.” Do you mean room for large GPU cards? I don’t remember seeing a VGA port on those GPU cards (GTX TITAN).
Sorry – wasn’t trying to
Sorry – wasn't trying to confuse anyone. Old habit of using VGA as a generic term for Video Graphics Adapters (technically VGA stands for Video Graphics Array) – my bad. And you are correct, those Titan graphics adapters don't sport any VGA ports!
Who cares? Why do I need
Who cares? Why do I need this? I’m not running a 2-p or 4-p server at home. What audience is this big case targeted at?
In this regressing economy, it’s dangerous to recommend people to waste money on crap they don’t need. Whether it’s buying expensive graphics cards or cases, or CPUs, it’s all a waste of money. We in the Western world are losing our industrial base, and our jobs, both technical and non-technical, are flying away to those developing countries. This is not the time to think about ways to waste money…
I do see this case in my near
I do see this case in my near future 😉
Good review of a definitely
Good review of a definitely intriguing product. If you’re going to go monster with a full-size, I like this outside-the-box case design. The possibilities ….
Definitely not for people without imagination.
This case opened my mind to
This case opened my mind to the possibility of setting up a water cooled gaming rig and then a smaller one for a virtual box server with a asrock avaton MB, that hosts a test lab environment and then even another for a plex media server with all my movies and music, and even another for a backup server. This would “de-clutter” various servers/towers laying around into one corner of your man/woman cave. It might even have the power to save a marriage too!
It’d be cool if someone could
It’d be cool if someone could come up with a peltier cooling system that could measure dew point. That way you could run the system as cool as the current dew point would allow. I remember coming across a website a while ago where they were programming a microcontroller to do just that but it never came together.
Does anyone know if there’s
Does anyone know if there’s any restrictions on stacking two 925’s on top of each other? I want one for a media centre with 9 hdd’s and another as a gaming rig with with 2x 970 in sli.