HAF 922 Review
Exterior
The exterior is of a military design, similar to that of its bigger brother, the HAF 932. The military theme fits in well, given its rugged design and it is thankfully not overdone. The HAF 922 is a steel case and has a few plastic parts. The front bezel is steel mesh and fits in great with the theme.
HAF 922 - Left Side
It is really easy to like this case and depending on personal taste, you might even just fall in love with it. Looking at the left side, you can see the honeycomb design with the mounting holes for the optional 200mm fan or up to two 120mm fans. The only drawback that I see here is that these intake fans would not have dust filters and I believe that all intake fans should have them. Reducing the amount of dust inside the systems can actually lengthen the life of some of your hardware and will also improve air flow by not having any dusty build-up.
HAF 922 - Back
The back of the HAF 922 is really interesting – but before I get to that, let me cover the basics. The case supports a bottom-mounted power supply configuration and the power supply unit (PSU) can be secured either face-up or face-down. There are two rubber strips for the PSU to rest on when installed. This helps prevent vibration noises and will not scratch your PSU.
At the top there are two grommets for water cooling tubes to pass through. Below that is the pre-installed 120mm exhaust fan. Optionally, you can also remove the 120mm fan and install either an 80mm or a 92mm fan, at the cost of less air being moved and more noise. To the left of the fan mount is where the standard motherboard I/O shield plate will be installed.
Below that is the standard 7 expansion slots. Keep in mind that this case has 7+1 expansion slots. The addition slot can be found to the right. This is useful for expanding connectivity for your devices or for an expansion slot fan controller which is included with some aftermarket CPU coolers. Very innovative and a very nice touch.
Both left and right side panels are secured with two thumb screws each.
HAF 922 - Right Side
The right side is plain except for the bulging design. There are no windows and/or ventilation. The underside shows four stylish yet practical case feet. The shiny chrome reminds me of rims on a car and the rubber, reminds me of the tires. These rubber feet are excellent to prevent vibration noise and they also will not scratch any surface that you rest the case on.
HAF 922 - Feet
Now coming back to the front of the HAF 922, we see the front I/O panel boasting its 2 USB ports, external Serial-ATA port along with the headphone and microphone jacks. While at the top you will find the front 200mm fan’s LED on/off button, as well as the system’s power button and reset button. There is also a power LED and a hard disk drive activity LED.
HAF 922 - Front Panel
Excellent review, thanks. After weeks of looking and comparing I bought the HAF 922 (only a couple of weeks before your review) for my first build. I have no regrets – quite the contrary. A large factor in my choice was price, and this case delivers almost everything I wanted but for often far less than the others I looked at. This year I hope to do build another system and I will put inside another 922.