As we will show later, the motherboard compartment is located at the top half of the case, while disk drive bays are located on the bottom half, making the HAF XB to be different from most cases. The front panel of the Cooler Master HAF XB features two 120 mm fans (1,800 rpm, 21 dBA), which cool down the motherboard compartment. Each fan comes with a three-pin fan power connector with adapters for you to install them directly on the power supply. There is an air filter for these fans. These fans can be replaced with 140 mm models or with a 240 mm radiator.

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Figure 3: Front panel

At the bottom part of the front panel, the Cooler Master HAF XB has two external 5.25” bays, with meshed covers featuring air filters, and two 3.5”/2.5” hot-swap bays, called “X-Dock” by the manufacturer. These bays have tool-less installation mechanisms with rubber rings for 3.5” hard drives, but 2.5” devices must be installed using regular screws.

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Figure 4: The external 3.5”/2.5” hot-swap bays

The reviewed case comes with two USB 3.0 ports and the traditional audio jacks. The USB 3.0 ports use an internal connector.

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Figure 5: Buttons and connectors