Why You Shouldn't Buy the Cooler Master HAF XB EVO

[boltonbolwell]

The HAF XB EVO is an oldie but a goodie. This box has so much charm and versatility. It's cheap, sturdy, easy to cool, easy to route. It's a beast of a case, but it's worth it if you want something that's basically a covered, forced-air test bench. The drive bay design is great too, with two hot-swappable drives. How many cases still have hot swappable drives? Even the handles on the side have a brace built into the frame, rather than just being attached to the side panels. For a really old case, it's still totally serviceable, having USB 3.0 and water cooling support. The included fans are also not bad.

 

LTT does an unboxing of it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhjoYbVX1XU

 

As a lover of old sturdy tech, and wanting a case I wouldn't feel nervous about lugging around post-lockdown, I thought this was perfect for my quarantine build. However, this case has been marred by a critical manufacturing flaw, apparently affecting all of the recent HAF XB-EVO cases. This case features a motherboard tray that's removable with thumbscrews. It's a neat feature because you can take the tray out, put the mobo on it, get it to post, and then mount the mobo without having to do any screwing in the case! But, the motherboard tray has been severely warped in a case I ordered this June. I even got a replacement from amazon, and the tray on the replacement was warped worse than the first one. 

It is so bad that I am positive it would damage the motherboard if you tried to mount it. The thumb screws do hold it flat when it's in the case, so I guess you could just screw the tray in and use it like a normal case but:

• these are small thumb screws with tiny threads and I don't trust them to not strip over the next few years. It's an opaque case, so I'd be unlikely to notice it until the board was damaged.  
• the removable mobo tray was an advertised feature that factored into my decision to buy it

It's also not correctable by bending or re-shaping it. It has two stable states that are both going to put a lot of stress on your board. Here's a video:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPIm42PDP_o

 

What's worse is that, apparently cooler master won't do anything about it because the case was recently discontinued (maybe the die wore out?). It really sucks that the last batch is ruined; it's a unique and very cool case. I'm just posting here so that you folks know that it's probably no longer a good choice for your build.

I emailed cooler master and will update if I hear anything different.

 

Thankful for amazon being super chill about the return. They're even letting me keep the replacement, so I may try and find some better screws to bolt the tray in permanently. but if it wasn't free, I'd get another case.

[TVwazhere]

5 hours ago, boltonbolwell said:

As a lover of old sturdy tech, and wanting a case I wouldn't feel nervous about lugging around post-lockdown, I thought this was perfect for my quarantine build. However, this case has been marred by a critical manufacturing flaw, apparently affecting all of the recent HAF XB-EVO cases. This case features a motherboard tray that's removable with thumbscrews. It's a neat feature because you can take the tray out, put the mobo on it, get it to post, and then mount the mobo without having to do any screwing in the case! But, the motherboard tray has been severely warped in a case I ordered this June. I even got a replacement from amazon, and the tray on the replacement was warped worse than the first one. 

Its possible, if not likely that the warping is due to sitting in a warehouse for years, flexing either due to being stacked, changes in heat (getting really hot then cool), or both. To the best of my knowledge CM is not actually producing the case anymore, so any stock is old inventory. https://www.coolermaster.com/catalog/legacy-products/cases/haf-xb-evo/

[boltonbolwell]

34 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

Its possible i not likely that the warping is due to sitting in a warehouse for years, flexing either due to being stacked, changes in heat (getting really hot then cool), or both. To the best of my knowledge CM is not actually producing the case anymore, so any stock is old inventory. https://www.coolermaster.com/catalog/legacy-products/cases/haf-xb-evo/

Yeah, that sounds more likely than a problem with the manufacturing. fwiw it does seem like it's specifically June and late May orders. 

 

Considering this one ended up being free, I've decided to try and scavenge from a used one.

[Bookmann]

I realize it's an old thread, but as a note to posterity searches (if nothing else):

 

Speaking as a machinist/fabricator, this looks like something that could be replaced/corrected by your local shop.  I bet they could slap out a brace to screw/weld to the bottom that would hold it flat (a straight bar between the high corners, for example) .  Especially laser and plasma guys (warping steel is a fact of our lives).  This is a pain in the tookus, but not end of the world.

Edited October 23, 2021 by Bookmann

[BostonBob66]

On 10/23/2021 at 6:50 AM, Bookmann said:

I have purchased 2 of these cases and both have the severely warped motherboard trays. I built one system and ultimately suffered catastrophic motherboard failure from the stress created on the board.  lost a $400 MB, waiting to see if cooler master will replace the trays. but others have already commented that they won't as they claim they are out of manufacturer. 2 cases $300, motherboard $400, will never buy cooler master again.

 

[Chad Cloman]

[I apologize for reviving an old topic, but this post showed up in a web search and I wanted to add pertinent information.]

 

Like yours, my MB tray was warped and flexed between two stable positions. Like you I was nervous, but once I attached the MB it straightened out and did no permanent damage while I was setting up the other stuff inside. It's been bolted down to the case for some time now, with no problems. The screws have not failed/stripped. I rarely take the MB tray out, so cannot speak to that.

 

I love this case because there's so many good things about it. But I'm somewhat surprised and dismayed with the lack of support (discontinued product) and lack of availability of spare parts (none) from the manufacturer. I agree that you probably shouldn't purchase this case if those things matter to you, or if you plan to remove the MB tray often.