Cooler Grasp has expanded its product lineup lately to incorporate peripherals of all stripes, together with gaming chairs and displays. But it surely’s been a mainstay within the PC case marketplace for a long time, and the corporate is in fact nonetheless hoping to guide on that entrance.
After launching the high-end HAF 700 Evo earlier this yr, Cooler Grasp despatched us its newest HAF collection pc case, the HAF 700 Berserker. It’s yet one more large airflow-focused beast, with a great deal of customization choices. We’ll be taking a look at a few of its foremost options and, to provide an thought of how a excessive airflow case can profit efficiency, we’ll be testing a couple of air coolers paired Intel’s Core i5-12600K–the thought usually being that air coolers ought to profit probably the most from a excessive airflow surroundings.
Specs for the Cooler Grasp HAF700
| Case | Cooler Grasp HAF 700 Berserker |
| MSRP | $299 |
| Dimensions | 666 x 291 x 626 mm (26.22 x 11.45 x 24.64 inches) |
| Weight | 19.60 kg (43.19 kilos) |
| Motherboard Assist | Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX, ATX, SSI-CEB, SSI-EEB |
| Growth Slots | 8 |
| Energy Provide Assist | SFX, ATX |
| Storage Assist | As much as 15x storage drives (2.5 inch or 3.5 inch) |
| IO Panel | 1 x 3.5mm Audio Jack, 1 x 3.5mm Mic Jack |
| 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Sort C (10Gbps), 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps) | |
| Pre-Put in Followers | 2x SickleFlow 200 PWM ARGB PE |
| 3x SickleFlow 120 PWM ARGB | |
| Assist for as much as 10 further followers (not included) | |
| CPU Cooler Clearance | 166mm (6.54 inches) |
| Included Controllers | 1x ARGB Gen 2 Controller, 1x ARGB/PWM Hub |
| Guarantee | 2 Years |
First Impressions
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It’s laborious to clarify simply how huge the HAF 700 case feels in particular person. At over two toes tall and deep and 43 kilos empty, it makes BeQuiet’s Silent Base 802 look small compared.
The HAF 700 is sort of totally tool-less – you’ll be able to set up virtually any part with out the necessity for screwdrivers together with GPUs, the facility provide, 3.5 and a pair of.5-inch drives, the HDD cage, liquid cooling pumps and reservoirs, and the exterior panels.
To put in a GPU (or any PCIe card), you simply pull the latch (conveniently labeled “PULL”) to put in a brand new machine and shut it when completed.
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The person components of the HAF 700 are secured with easy-to-use plastic latches that may be unlocked just by turning them. This permits for simple removing and set up of the rear cowl, drive bay, and different components.
PSU Assist
This case helps tool-free set up of each SFX and ATX-sized PSUs, put in vertically on the backside rear. Whereas most instances nonetheless use 4 screws to safe PSUs, Cooler Grasp makes use of two pins to scale back the mandatory screws wanted from 4 to 2. Moreover, the screws have been upgraded to captive thumbscrews, so that you don’t have to fret about dropping them. I examined this case utilizing Cooler Grasp’s XG Plus 850 Platinum PSU.
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IO Panel, Fan Assist, and FineMesh V2
The HAF 700 Berserker was designed to take care of glorious thermal efficiency with a number of airflow, whereas operating at minimal noise ranges. Cooler Grasp consists of two 200mm SickleFlow followers within the entrance which have been improved to run as much as 200RPMs quicker than the retail variations of those followers, which can be found for buy individually. Additionally included are a pair of SickleFlow PWM ARGB 120mm followers within the again, and a single 120mm fan on the underside.
Mud is filtered by way of what Cooler Grasp calls “FineMesh V2,” which incorporates a three-dimensional contour designed to supply unobstructed airflow. Cooler Grasp has improved upon the primary era FineMesh by reinforcing the entrance mesh and tensioning it in key factors. Filtration is additional improved with an enormous mud filter on the underside that features a magnet on the rear to information re-insertion accurately after cleansing.
The IO panel place, close to the center of the case, was designed to be simply reachable irrespective of the position of the system – whether or not close to the bottom or on high of a desk. The ports dwell on both aspect of the case. The left edge homes the facility button, audio and microphone ports, whereas the fitting performs host to 5 USB ports, together with one USB-C port.
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The default configuration for the HAF gives a variety of airflow – greater than I’ve ever skilled with different pc instances I’ve used. It will probably additionally assist a number of radiators for liquid cooling or as much as 10 further followers for individuals who need absolutely the highest ranges of airflow. The underside bracket, which helps as much as three followers or a radiator, will be adjusted to direct airflow in an angled course. This bracket can also be designed with additional zip tie factors, so cables will be bundled neatly to it.
Built-in PWM & ARGB Hubs
To assist assist such a lot of potential followers, the HAF 700 Berserker consists of each a Gen2 (5V) ARGB controller and an ARGB and fan controller, each positioned on the bottom of the case.
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The HAF 700 comes with a devoted USB plug that connects the conrollers to the corporate’s MasterPlus+ software program, making it simple to handle lighting gadgets linked to the ARGB Gen2 controller. Join the interior USB 2.0 cables to your motherboard, obtain MasterPlus+, and begin customizing your lighting.
A lot of Cable Administration and Disk House
The HAF700 doesn’t simply embody room for plenty of followers. It additionally consists of six slots for routing cables, a number of room within the rear of the case for cables, in addition to assist for as much as 15 3.5-inch or 2.5-inch drives – one thing which can please of us with a variety of storage wants. The entire modular mounts make the most of Cooler Grasp’s “FrictonMount” know-how for a tool-free drive set up. 5 of the included multi-function brackets can be utilized to mount 3.5- or 2.5-inch drives, however in addition they function built-in pump and reservoir mounting for numerous customized liquid cooling structure choices. There are such a lot of choices on that entrance, it deserves its personal part.
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Customized Watercooling Assist
This case options an unbelievable quantity of choices for customers seeking to water cool their gaming rigs with customized options. The HAF 700 was designed for DIY fans, with distinctive mounting options, together with a totally detachable high panel for simple set up and upkeep, and a 420mm modular radiator mount that may be be angled. The highest of the case helps as much as two 360mm radiators or one 420mm radiator. The aspect of the case helps as much as one 480mm radiator, and the entrance and backside additionally assist 420mm radiators. You too can take away the preinstalled followers on the again and mount a 240mm radiator there. Sure, which means the HAF helps utilizing as many as six radiators on the identical time–in the event you can determine a {hardware}/cooling association that may settle for all that.
Useful Directions
That is possibly a minor factor, however Cooler Grasp consists of primary opening directions for the case on a detachable sticker positioned on the aspect panel. That is nice for folk like myself who don’t learn the handbook until they run into an issue.
Testing Configuration
| Laptop Case | Cooler Grasp HAF 700 Berserker |
| Comparability Coolers Examined | BeQuiet Pure Rock 2 FX |
| Cooler Grasp i70c | |
| DeepCool AK400 | |
| Silverstone Hydrogon H90 ARGB | |
| CPU | Intel i5-12600k |
| Motherboard | ASUS TUF Gaming Z690 Plus |
| RAM | Essential DDR5 4800 |
| PSU | Cooler Grasp XG PLUS 850 Platinum |
Cooling Efficiency Overview
On account of close by development whereas testing, I wasn’t in a position to take correct measurements of acoustic ranges with the HAF 700 Berserker. What I’ll say is that when restricted to decrease speeds, the included followers run virtually silently, giving off only a faint hum. In case you push the followers to their most speeds they’re clearly going to be extra audible, although they had been by no means what I might describe as loud in any of the exams I carried out with Intel’s i5-125600K.
Whereas the HAF 700 Berserker was designed to assist beneficiant quantities of liquid cooling, I needed to check it slightly otherwise by exhibiting how lower-end air coolers paired with a midrange CPU would carry out would possibly profit from a high-ariflow case like this. So I examined Cooler Grasp’s case with price range air coolers from Cooler Grasp, Silverstone, DeepCool, and BeQuiet, with costs starting from $15 to $40 USD.
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Cooler Grasp’s Testing Outcomes
Cooler Grasp informed us it examined the case with Intel’s i9-11900K, paired with a Hyper 212 Evo v2 air cooler, a Maximus XIII Excessive motherboard and an RTX 3080 GPU. Their reported outcomes had been 53.9 levels Celcius over ambient for the CPU and 41.2 levels C over ambient for the GPU.
Intel Core i5-12600K Cinebench Air Cooler Outcomes
To check CPU cooling efficiency, I examined Intel’s Core i5-12600K whereas operating Cinbench, each with CPU energy limits unrestricted and with decrease 95w & 65w enforced thermal limitations.
With the beneficiant quantities of airflow supplied by the HAF 700, DeepCool’s AK400 single tower cooler carried out the very best out of the coolers examined – however even the weakest cooler we used was able to dealing with roughly 120 watts. The Cooler Grasp and Silverstone coolers had been pushed to their limits when cooling 120W, peaking at TJ max (the max temperature the CPU is designed to run at earlier than throttling), however in any other case passing this thermal take a look at because it wasn’t throttling the CPU.
When restricted to 95 watts, each BeQuiet’s Pure Rock 2 FX and DeepCool’s AK400 had been in a position to preserve the i5-12600K at lower than 50 levels C above ambient temperatures. Even the $15 i70C saved the CPU beneath 60 levels C with a 95W TDP enforced. With low 65W limits enforced, all coolers saved the CPU at lower than 46 levels C above ambient whereas working silently.
Last Ideas
At $299, Cooler Grasp’s HAF 700 Berserker is kind of a bit costlier than typical instances, though it’s lower than half the present worth of the corporate’s equally huge HAF 700 Evo. This case isn’t for everybody, and never simply because it’s very costly. It’s an enormous case with quite a lot of customization choices for followers, storage, customized liquid cooling and cable administration. So in the event you aren’t going to load your system up with a number of storage and different premium components, otherwise you aren’t in search of an expansive playground to do some critical customized cooling experimenting, it is best to in all probability search for one thing smaller and extra reasonably priced. Nonetheless, true to its HAF namesake, the Berserker delivers huge quantities of airflow for these in search of most cooling efficiency. And with most (if not all) next-generation parts wanting like they’re going to be extra thermally demanding than their predecessors, a number of builders and system patrons are going to be paying extra consideration to airflow.