HAF or Sniper, that is the question...

Magic Man

Magic Man

Magic Man

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24 Jul 2003
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Like the mean look of both of these cases together with their cooling abilities. Question is, not sure which to choose...

Prefer the looks of the Sniper but like the larger fans in the HAF (plus it comes with the three large fans as opposed to only two in the Sniper) and could always fit an equivalent fan controller in one of the bays.

Anyone chosen one over the other?
 
I have sniper and I'm quite happy with that.
Haf I believe is cooler case than Sniper, but there is no dust filters at all, and as you said Sniper looks nicer.You can see my pictures of this case http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17185358&page=66 - it is plenty of room to work, good cable managment, build in fan controller - you can connect 2 extra fans to it.If you have any questions about sniper feel free to ask.
 
Yep I would say sniper aswell. The thing that puts me off the HAF is the name splattered on the side. The snipers control panel looks really good as well.
 
i would say HAF

don't like the look of the sniper at all, looks tacky and very bitty.

the HAF is a bigger case too which makes everything easier too, and as you said, the cooling will be better too.
 
Dimensions of Sniper: 56.6cm (D) x 25.4cm (W) x 55.1cm (H)
Dimensions of HAF: (W)23cm x (H)54.5 cm x (D)57.5 cm

HAF is only 0.9 cm longer than Sniper ;)
And without fan controller will be very noisy.
 
HAF all the way, looks miles better + bigger + better cooling, no dust fans is the downside - just gotta make sure your mum keeps your room dust free :D
 
Ranto said:
just gotta make sure your mum keeps your room dust free :D
Click to expand...

I'm 38... so that'd be my wife instead :D

Actually, got a Black & Decker 600W mains powered dustbuster - can put the hose on the exhaust and it comes with a few small funnel like attachments for blowing air beds and the like up. Great for blowing out the insides of a case, can then switch the hose around and vacuum the mess of the floor!
 
i wouldnt bother with either

they both feel a bit cheap

they look ok but the materials used are a bit naff
 
garylouden said:
Yep I would say sniper aswell. The thing that puts me off the HAF is the name splattered on the side. The snipers control panel looks really good as well.
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I would like to change my mind to the HAF after looking at these cases a bit more. Im sure it would run cooler than the Sniper but it will get dusty.
 
I have other PC with Chieftec Dragon, which is no dust filters at all.There is only small intake 80mm fan at the front and it is tons of dust after a while.So what hapend with the 2x230 mm fans without filters? ;)
 
rjkoneill said:
i wouldnt bother with either

they both feel a bit cheap

they look ok but the materials used are a bit naff
Click to expand...

I like steel and plastic. I've looked at the ATCS840 and could go for that, like the motherboard tray and the cooling and layout is pretty much the same as the HAF and Sniper except I don't want aluminium for fear of scratching it.

Yep, I know you can scratch a painted steel case but brushed aluminium seems to scuff very easily - I also want the 'mean', utilitarian look that I only see offered with the HAF and Sniper at the moment. Most other cases look too smart... and I'm intending to deck the room out like a starship command centre so want the angled lines and heavy look :D

...it's why I'd pick a mean looking 4x4 over any sports car. Give me a Discovery 3 or Hummer over any Porsche/Ferrari/Aston Martin... (got a Freelander at the moment)
 
Okay, I'm swinging back towards the HAF now...

Size wise they are virtually the same on paper, I guess the extra internal height the HAF gets is because the Sniper is that much higher on the foot and also has the extra stuff on the top outside of the case that makes the height up.

So...

Prefer the look of the mesh side panel on the Sniper but prefer the look of the front bezel on the HAF over the Sniper.

Prefer the extra height above the top edge of the motherboard with the HAF before the top fan - the Sniper seems to have the top fan virtually butting against the edge of the board and any cooler there, possibly causing a conflict with the CPU fan trying to pull air through and out the back.

Prefer the motherboard mounting panel on the HAF, it continues across to the drive cages and uses cutouts to allow cables back through whereas the Sniper is cut short so that the cable come round the edge and are more visible.

Prefer the 140mm rear exhaust on the HAF to the 120mm rear exhaust of the Sniper. Same with the larger top and front fans and the fact that the HAF comes with the side fan supplied whereas the Sniper doesn't - where exactly would you get it?

Does the HAF come supplied with castors as well as the feet - have seen this stated in some reviews.

Looks like the HAF has it then... Nice having this decision problem though!

I've read that the HAF is "huge" but, since I used to have a WTX8500, I think I'll be fine with it :)
 
HAF all the way...not biased...honest. :rolleyes:

Had it for a couple of weeks, quite quiet and not a lot of dust gets inside, and it comes ouot from top and back anyway, High AirFlow.

The letters are not that bad either, quite subtle. HAF is also nicer than the Sniper, no big knob on the top.

Can fit a 120.3 rad in the roof, on the inside without modding, really really roomy inside.

KbW

EDIT:
Does the HAF come supplied with castors as well as the feet - have seen this stated in some reviews.
Click to expand...

YES. Allthough mine is sat ontop of my desk (needed some reinforcing doing). The HAF is about 15Kg more when fully loaded.
 
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