Cooler Master's HAF series of cases burst onto the scene in 2008 with the HAF 932, and it quickly became a favorite among the enthusiast crowd for its high airflow (High Air Flow) and massive 200 mm fans. From there, we've seen the HAF X (2010), the cube-shaped, dual-chamber HAF-XB (which I owned), and the spiritual successor, the MasterCase H 500 series of 2017 (there are other iterations, but these are the major releases). The HAF name was resurrected in 2022 with the HAF 500, again sporting large 200mm fans and returning to a focus on pure thermal performance. Fast-forward to today, and Cooler Master has released the HAF II 500 ($199.99), which the company calls “the next evolution of the High Air Flow series…” and is designed for “industry-leading noise-normalized cooling performance.”

The beefy mid-tower sports two huge 220mm fans up front and a large 180mm exhaust fan (all 40mm thick) in the rear to move large amounts of air quietly and keep the internals running optimally. And let me tell you, there is a lot of room inside for just about anything. Are you working with an E- ATX motherboard? No problem! 3.5-slot, 350 mm-plus video card or two? Easy. Considering two 3x140 mm radiators? You can do that, too. There's a lot of room and flexibility for all kinds of components, and we haven’t even mentioned the MasterRail system yet.

Externally, the black (the only colorway currently available) mid-tower is more of a typical cuboid shape, though wider than most mid-towers – over 10 inches due to the massive 220mm fans up front. The front panel has vertical slats running from top to bottom, with the Cooler Master brand shape (an angular, rounded-off hexagon) woven over the slats, with the same pattern used on top. Overall, it's an aggressive but good- looking chassis, and you know it means business with the huge fans visible through the front grille.

We'll cover many more details inside and outside the case, showcasing the features and any issues we may encounter during the build process. We also run the case through our thermal and noise testing to give you an idea of how it performs compared to other cases and see if it makes our best PC cases list. Below are the specifications from Cooler Master’s website.

Product Specifications

Features of the HAF II 500

▶️ External Features

As far as looks go, it’s a design (or at least a shape) we’ve all seen before, except that the HAF II 500 is a bit wider than most mid-towers. The front panel looks good and showcases the huge 220mm fans behind it, along with a filter to keep dust out. It also has the “HAF” and “500” branding on tabs on each side, along with a shiny Cooler Master symbol in the middle. The panel is secured by tabs at the bottom and magnets on top. It pops off with a gentle tug from the top, exposing the removable dust filter and those massive fans.

The windowed side panel and non-windowed back panel attach to the case similarly, with tabs to line things up at the bottom, a ball-and-socket capture mechanism, and a thumbscrew on top for each. The top panel, also filtered, hangs on via a single thumbscrew and slides off toward the back, giving access to the flexible MasterRail system on top. Also at the top front, angled down, is the IO panel. It consists of a power button with a white LED, a small reset button on the right, three USB ports, and a single 3.5mm audio jack for audio and microphone. You get one USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20 Gbps) Type-C port and two USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) Type-A ports that flank both sides of the power button. It’s nice to see a 20 Gbps port up front, as many cases use 10 Gbps.

On the rear of the case, you can see that all airflow holes are shaped like the Cooler Master branding/symbol and appear to have less resistance, at least by air-to-grating ratio, than most others with much smaller spaces. That said, it’s probably a good idea to run slightly more intake than exhaust, or you could pull some dust in from this area (something most cases have to deal with). The power supply mounts on the bottom, in either a fan-up or fan-down configuration, and last are the eight expansion slots capable of holding two massive GPUs or four double-slot cards.

The chassis sits on four feet integrated into the metal frame that raise it roughly an inch off the floor to help with clean intake. The bottom uses a small dust filter for the PSU area only. It pulls out of the back, so depending on where your case lives, you may need to move it to get it out. But the good news is that it’s short, so you don’t need as much clearance as if it ran the full length of the case, as others do.

▶️ Internal Features

Moving inside the case, one of the first things you’ll notice is the amount of room inside, the huge fans, and the scoop to improve video card cooling. Since it’s over 10 inches wide, it feels like you’re working in a warehouse, with room for whatever components you can think of (within reason, of course). Starting at the front, we get a better look at the two Mighty40 F220 fans that bring air into the space. These dual ball-bearing fans spin from 200-1,500 RPM, and according to the specifications, each one moves over 203 CFM of air at 3.1 mmH2O static pressure, and does so at a low 36 dBA. This area supports up to 3x 120 mm fans/radiators or 2x 180 mm fans/radiators (up to 72mm thick if the air divider is removed).

Inside, a split-level layout separates the power supply and drive storage areas from the rest of the case. Towards the front is a sloped baffle covering part of the bottom fan, directing most of the air up towards the video card. The rest is dispersed within the power supply chamber, cooling any 2.5-inch (up to six) or 3.5-inch (up to three) drives in the space.

The panel where the motherboard mounts has an interior-sliding panel and a rear door, which makes building your rig and routing cables much easier. You don’t have to play games moving from one side to the other to find and plumb them; just send the cables through the large gap when both are open and connect. Easy. Once you’re done, slide the interior panel and secure it at the top with a twist of the tab (the thumbscrew at the bottom lets it slide fore and aft), so you can’t see the wires. It’s a really clean look. Also attached to that panel is the mount for the GPU support strut(s). It comes with one already mounted, but includes another in the accessories kit, to support two graphics cards.

The HAF II supports up to E-ATX motherboards and comes with the motherboard standoffs already installed (as we expect at this price point). There’s a large cutout on the motherboard baffle and plenty of room to install cooling hardware with the board already mounted. One thing I’d like to see in this case that isn’t here is rear-connect (BTF, Stealth, Project Zero) support for motherboards. You’ll have to use a ‘traditional’ motherboard. Cooler Master does stamp out plenty of holes around the edge of the motherboard real estate for cable routing.

The rear of the case holds the third included fan, in this case, a Mighty40 V180. This big guy spins from 25 to 1,370 RPM and delivers over 161 CFM at 4.0 mmH2O static pressure, at only 34 dB(A), according to the specifications. Below that are the eight PCIe expansion slots, which allow you to install up to two 3.5-slot video cards (72mm with two cards, up to 40mm each if installing four cards), rare for a mid-tower. You can run a single vertical GPU, but you’ll have to buy an adapter (PCI 4.0 or 5.0) separately.

Sliding off the top of the case (it moves back an inch or so, then lifts) exposes the MasterRail multi-purpose mounting system for fans or radiators. The rails and fully adjustable mounting points allow flexible placement of fans and radiators, enabling easy upgrades and fully custom setups. This space supports up to 3x 120 mm fans/radiators or 2x 180 mm fans/radiators (up to 58mm thick).

Flipping the case around to the back, we can see the second chamber at the bottom, along with space for the power supply and drive bays. The three pre-installed drive caddies support up to three 3.5-inch drives or six 2.5-inch drives, which is a lot in the age of M.2 form factor SSDs. PSU clearance is up to 210mm when the drives are installed in East-West orientation (pictured), and 150mm when you turn them North-South. As is, there’s enough room to hide your cables, but I wouldn’t call the cable space plentiful with all the caddies in place and East-West oriented.

Cooler Master includes several pre-installed Velcro strips for cable routing, and when you take the time to use them, they can really keep things clean in this normally messy area. In the middle, you can see that ‘door’ we talked about earlier to help with cable management. Again, open this up, slide the front one back, route your cables, slide the front back, and secure this rear one with two captive thumbscrews. I’d like to see captive thumbscrews on the side and top panels, too.

Along the top edge, we can see the included fan hub. The SATA-powered device supports up to six 4-pin PWM fans and six 3-pin ARGB devices. It supports up to 32W, which means you can use up to six ~5W fans.

The takeaways for me here are how much room there is for components and fiddling around, the copious amount of airflow, and how quiet it is at low speeds (and how it performs there as we’ll see in our testing below).

Test equipment, method, and results

Our thermal tests are presented to give you more information about the product’s performance, but aren’t intended as the sole basis for judging the chassis. The style, price, features, and noise levels of a case should also be considered, and we all have different preferences. What I might like in a case, you might not, and that’s OK. Our goal with these reviews is to give everyone, regardless of their preferences, enough information to decide whether a case is right for them.

To get heat into the system, we stress the CPU with Cinebench R26 (multi-threaded test) and the video card with Furmark 2 (1080p). CPU and GPU tests run concurrently for 30 minutes, allowing the air-cooled system to reach saturation and stabilize over that period. We then let the system idle for 15 minutes, adjust the fans to 100%, and test again.

Noise-normalized (42dBA) Maximum thermal Performance

This set of tests is designed to appeal to those who love quiet PCs, with both system fans and the CPU fan noise normalized to 42 dBA. Consider this a measure of the case’s thermal efficiency when noise levels are set to run quietly. It is audible, but just (at least for my old ears).

The HAF II 500 and its gigantic wind movers did a good job keeping our Intel Core Ultra 9 270K Plus running below its throttling point with ease, like the others. Temperatures peaked at 90 degrees Celsius, the best result (matched by the Montech TG3) among the five datasets we have on our new Intel-based test system. The HAF churned out the lowest video card temperature by far (5 degrees) in the group, which averaged 69 degrees Celsius, making this chassis great for high-power graphics cards for gaming, AI, rendering, or other GPU-heavy, compute-intensive workloads.

Maximum Noise Levels

We measure the noise levels with a sound meter from one meter away from the computer case, with the pre-installed fans running at their maximum RPM. If a case does not have enough included fans for airflow (intake and exhaust) as configured, we add a Cooler Master M120 ARGB, since we expect most users will add at least one more fan in situations like these.

With the three massive fans cranked and moving copious amounts of air, the new HAF peaked at 49 dBA, placing it in the middle of our current data sets. The Montech was the quietest at 48 dBA, a mere 1 dBA difference. Subjectively, the three Mighty40 fans' tone wasn’t unpleasant when fully cranked, and there was way more wind noise, with little audible mechanical noise. At the lower noise-normalized speed, it also didn’t emit harsh tones.

Maximum thermal performance - fans at full speed

Our noise-normalized results are designed for folks who prefer silence, but what if you don’t mind additional noise and just care about maximum performance, or maybe you have to run things at high settings to keep high-powered devices cool? This testing is for you. Obviously, when you add fans or an AIO up top, things will change a bit, but this gives you a great idea of ‘out-of-the-box’ performance, noise be damned.

Maximum thermal performance – fans at full speed

Our noise-normalized results are designed for folks who prefer silence, but what if you don’t mind additional noise and just care about maximum performance, or maybe you have to run things at high settings to keep high-powered devices cool? This testing is for you. Obviously, when you add fans or an AIO up top, things will change a bit, but this gives you a great idea of ‘out-of-the-box’ performance, noise be damned.

As we cranked the fans up, temperatures dropped 6 degrees Celsius from the noise-normalized testing to an average of 84 degrees for the HAF II 500. Video card temperatures only dropped two degrees Celsius to 67 degrees, but the HAF was still leading the pack. Overall, the huge fans did a great job of keeping our internals cool, especially with the graphics card.

Conclusion

Cooler Master’s new HAF II 500 ($199.99) carries on the HAF legacy, focusing on what made the series popular in the first place: moving a lot of air. The three pre-installed Mighty40 fans delivered excellent thermal performance in our testing, leading the pack on GPU temperatures and tying for the best CPU result on our new platform. The mid-tower not only supports a wide variety of hardware configurations, including up to four dual-slot graphics cards or two colossal 3.5-slot cards, but also cools them better than any of the five cases we’ve tested in this new setup so far. That may change over time, but for now, it’s the king of the hill, especially for video card cooling.

At just under $200, the HAF II 500 isn’t inexpensive, but it's built for enthusiasts who prioritize cooling performance without sacrificing acoustics. With massive fans, excellent airflow, a noise-optimized profile, flexible interior configurations, and a clean, built-for-purpose appearance, Cooler Master has delivered a worthy successor in the HAF lineup. It also made our Best PC Cases list as the best premium airflow chassis. So if you have the budget for a gaming, AI, rendering, or other high-power configuration, the HAF II 500 is a well-rounded sub-$200 chassis that keeps everything inside running optimally, and it does so without being loud.

Corsair recently launched the 2800X RS-R ARGB, an all-new chassis that's the first MicroATX case in their lineup since the 2500X (and 2500D), released in early 2024. According to Corsair, the 2800X is essentially a shrunken version of the veritable mid-tower 3500X. It shares a similar design with wraparound windows to showcase your internals. Still, it's two inches shorter and more compact, with a smaller footprint. Even though it's a smaller case, there's still plenty of room inside for large graphics cards and even 360mm radiators. At $89.99, it's aimed squarely at budget-conscious buyers and those who need a smaller-footprint case without sacrificing room to build.

The 2800X RS-R looks like a typical vertical MicroATX PC case with panoramic glass panels on the front and side. On top of the case is a magnetic dust filter, along with the IO panel at the front right. The back of the case is perforated (and filtered) to let cool air inside via the three included RS 120-R ARGB PWM fans on the other side. The rear of the case has room for a 120mm fan on top, four horizontal expansion slots that support large video cards, and a bottom- mounted power supply. It's an attractive-looking case overall, and does an especially good job of showcasing the components inside through the panoramic glass.

The MicroATX chassis supports Mini-ITX and MicroATX motherboards, as well as rear-connect boards for a visually wire-free, connector-free appearance. There are plenty of cutouts to route cables for either size motherboard into the ample space behind the motherboard tray. To prevent GPU sag, it also features an integrated support strut that stabilizes and holds heavy graphics cards. It also supports up to 10 fans in total and two radiator locations, which bodes well for cooling performance.

For under $90, the MicroATX 2800X RS-R offers good value in the small form-factor space and can accommodate full-size hardware without feeling cramped internally. Below, we'll cover the specifications from the Corsair website and share more detailed thoughts after completing a mock build.

Corsair 2800X RS-R ARGB Specifications

External Design and IO Panel

Starting on the outside, the MicroATX chassis measures 17.1 x 17.6 x 9.1 inches and is right in the ballpark of other mATX cases. The chassis is made of steel, tempered glass, and plastic, and it does feel sturdy. The tempered-glass panels are clear (not tinted) so that you can see everything inside with ease from the front and side. Both the glass and metal side panels slide into grooves at the bottom and are secured by a simple ball-and-socket fastener. The front panel glass uses only the ball-and-socket to hold it on, but all are securely fastened.

The bottom of the case has a removable dust filter that runs the entire length and slides out from the front for easy cleaning. I do like the fact that it slides out the front, as, at least for me, it is a lot easier than having to move your case to take the filter out from the rear. On top of the case is a magnetic mesh dust filter over the 360-millimeters of fan space.

On the rear of the case, you can see the space for a 120mm fan (adjustable height), the four horizontal expansion slots, and the bottom-mounted power supply. Note that for the captive screws to thread into your power supply, you must mount it with the fan down, which is ideal anyway. You have the option to mount it fan up, but you need to remove the captive screws to do so, and then you’re using the warmed internal case air to cool the power supply.

I’m thankful more and more brands are including fans at a lower price point, but I wish they would include ALL of the fans you need for proper airflow. In this case, I would like to see a fourth fan on the rear. An AIO cooler takes care of the top, but I’d still like to see a rear exhaust included, especially in cases like this, where intakes are on the side.

The front I/O panel includes a power button (no LED), a 3.5mm combo audio plug (mic/headphones), a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20 Gbps) Type-C port, and, a USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) Type-A port, rounding out connectivity. It’s great to see these speeds on a budget case, as it’s often USB 2.0 and/or lacks 20 Gbps on the front panel.

Aside from the panoramic glass, the 2800X RS-R doesn’t stand out from the crowd. But it doesn’t really need to. It’s a good-looking case, and regardless of whether you choose the black or white option, it’ll show off your hardware and keep things cool inside. You’ll probably want to buy (or carry over from a previous build) at least one more fan (on the rear) for better airflow, however.

Internal Features

Moving inside, the case supports Mini-ITX and Micro ATX motherboards only, but the Micro ATX form factor fills the space better, covering the unused cutouts that are exposed with the smaller Mini-ITX board. It’s rear-connect compatible, supporting Asus (BTF), MSI (Project Zero), and Gigabyte (Stealth) boards. Behind the motherboard tray, there are plenty of paths (with pre-installed Velcro straps) to route your wires, and 24mm (0.94 inches) of space to hide them. Corsair also includes several zip-ties to help clean up the cable path and secure wires to the frame.

The 2800X RS-R supports up to 10 fans in the top, side, bottom, and rear of the case, with radiator support in the top and side. Corsair installs three RS120-R ARGB 120mm PWM fans ($39.99 for a 3-pack, $19.99 for a single). These fans spin up to 2,100 RPM, delivering up to 72.8 CFM at 4.15 mm H2O static pressure at a mere 36 dBA (according to Corsair), which is fine for case fans.

Control over the RGB is handled through the motherboard (a single aRGB header for all three). There’s plenty of room for radiators, too. You can fit up to a 360mm radiator up top and on the side, and a 120mm radiator on the rear. Corsair doesn’t list clearances, but you will be fine with standard-height radiators (27-30mm) and fans (25mm) and even a bit thicker.

The four expansion slots are typical for the MicroATX form factor and will accommodate some of the largest graphics cards, with lengths up to 410mm and 3.5 slots wide (four will fit, but with little airflow). It also has a built-in GPU Anti-sag stabilization arm to prevent your heavy video card from drooping and potentially damaging the socket or the card itself. If air cooling is your preferred method of keeping processor thermals in check, you can fit any heatsink up to 170mm tall, an overwhelming majority of those on the market. In short, you have plenty of room for your components and cooling, be it air or water.

The bottom chamber houses a full-size ATX power supply with ample room for cable management, and it’s completely hidden from view. On top, you can mount two fans, but you’ll lose room for your graphics card, too.

Bottom Line

After working with the 2800X RS-R, I found it easy to build in, with ample space for hardware and cable routing. The wraparound glass and clean design aesthetic make this an attractive small-form-factor chassis, and it has a smaller footprint. At just under $90 and with three included RS120-R ARGB fans, it’s also a decent value for a name-brand case. But if Computex was anything to go by, this case will face stiff competition in the budget space this year, which is good for consumers.

Like the 3200D we looked at recently, the 2800X doesn’t reinvent the wheel for small form-factor chassis. In fact, it is one of the larger MicroATX cases around (still smaller than ATX) but does put together a useful set of features like the built-in GPU support, roomy interior, reverse-connector motherboard support, and plenty of cooling room, which should be adequate for most setups.

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