Cooler Master HAF Stacker 935 - Greater than the Sum of its Parts
Cooler Master HAF Stacker 935 - Greater than the Sum of Its Parts?
Cooler Master HAF Stacker 935 - The Stacker Reimagined
With the Cooler Master HAF Stacker 935, the company appears to have revived the defunct Stacker series. Although we can't pinpoint exactly when the old series was put into cold storage, our last experience with the Stacker series was back in 2004 with the CM Stacker STC-T01. Fast forward a decade, we have the HAF Stacker 935, with a new feature that introduces the concept of modular expansion and thus making it a true Stacker. The new case also has the High Air Flow (HAF) design principles incorporated.
The HAF Stacker 935 is a full tower chassis that supports mATX, ATX, EATX motherboards. The Stacker 935 package actually consists of two separate casings, with the smaller HAF 915R stacked on top of the larger, mid-tower HAF 925 case. The HAF 915R only supports mini-ITX motherboards, and can be purchased separately as an add-on module, or as a stand-alone unit. Unfortunately, the HAF 925 isn't available as a separate component as it is only bundled with the HAF Stacker 935 product. Before we delve deeper, let us look at the specifications of the HAF Stacker 935 as a whole.
Casing Dimensions & Specifications |
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Drive Bays & Expansions Slots / Ports |
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Case Cooling (Air) |
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Case Cooling (Liquid) |
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Power Supply |
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Since the HAF Stacker 935 is a combination of two casing structures and that the smaller unit can actually be purchased separately, we've spent some time assessing these case units separately, prior to using the HAF Stacker 935 as a whole. If you're someone planning to start from an average size system and work your way to an ultra-sized one in the future, our methodological assessment should help you better understand the different use-case scenarios of the HAF Stacker 935 casing system. Also, if you want to be ambitious and setup dual systems within the HAF Stacker 935, our segmented assessment will also give you a better idea of what's possible.
First up, we check out the HAF Stacker 915R component.
External Design & Features (HAF 915R)
The HAF 915R mini-ITX casing has rails that enables it to be attached to the mid-tower HAF 925 component. At a glance, we can see that the chassis boasts of good ventilation due to its metal mesh that covers a good part of it. The empty weight of the HAF 915R is listed as 5.7kg, which is rather heavy for its form factor class. Mini-ITX casings tend to tip the scale at around 3.5kg or so. The front of the chassis boasts of a mesh-covered facade for ventilation, with removable dust filters. Fret not if you think there are no ports or audio jacks, the removable I/O module is located on the mid-tower HAF 925 component.
If you were to purchase the HAF 915R or HAF 915F separately (the "R" model refers to rear-mounted PSU, while the "F" model corresponds to a front-mounted PSU), they will come equipped with an I/O module since this chassis is designed for stand-alone use or even a stacked tower formed with multiple HAF 915 units. With regards to how the HAF 915 unit meshes with the mid-tower unit, we'll provide more details on that later.
Casing Dimensions & Specifications |
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---|---|
Drive Bays & Expansions Slots / Ports |
|
Case Cooling (Air) |
|
Case Cooling (Liquid) |
|
Power Supply |
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The side panels of the mini-ITX chassis feature options for mounting side intake fans, and they also support a single radiator for liquid cooling systems. The exact dimensions of these components are listed in the table above. The panels have removable dust filters too.
From the rear, we can see the pair of expansion slots, and the option for mounting the standard ATX / PS/2 power supply unit at the top. Yes, we think it's a tad old-school. This will also limit your choice of CPU coolers that can be mounted if you plan to build a system out of it.
The bottom of the case boasts of a large opening with rubber grommets, and four smaller, identical opening that are without any covers. Obviously the HAF 915R unit that ships with the HAF Stacker 935 was designed to hook up with the mid-tower unit, hence it features these openings.