The BF 360 has huge toilet-bowl airflow scoop, a plate that claims to forestall recirculation (which we examined), HAVN’s overkill dedication to rubber accents on each single contact level, wonderful cable paths, and it even has “recommendned” cable routing.
That’s proper. They recommendned it a lot that the recommendnednation is repeated throughout your complete again of the chassis.
HAVN can lastly be a part of different producers for his or her typos, like Gunnir’s “Unkonw.”
That is additionally the primary case we have reviewed with a stone-style entrance panel, and we’re prepared for that change after two straight years of wooden accents — not that these have been dangerous, they’ve simply been plentiful.
The HAVN BF 360 is $160 with out followers and $190 with the three customized followers included.
Overview
HAVN entered the market final yr with the HS 420 (learn our assessment), a brand-new idea from an skilled group of designers.
The 420 had a number of thought put into its airflow paths particularly, and its mechanical design, however it was nonetheless a glass-fronted case that shipped with out followers. The HS 420 falls extra into the pricier showcase class (alongside the HYTE Y70 (learn our assessment) and Lian Li’s O11 household) than the high-airflow class. Now, HAVN is again with the BF 360, a smaller and cheaper mannequin with a fans-included Circulation variant, straight focusing on the high-airflow champions just like the Fractal Torrent and Lian Li’s Lancool circumstances.
We nonetheless have loads of reward for HAVN’s consideration to element, however we have a few notes to elaborate on later: first, HAVN did not talk a minor distinction between the case followers and individually-purchased ones.
Second, we recognized a mistake on the energetic preorder web page that stated two fan hubs got here with every case, which was fallacious. It comes with one. After we seen that, HAVN mounted it.
The BF 360 is obtainable in black or white, with the Circulation listed at $190 and the non-Circulation (with out followers) at $160. Bought individually, the Circulation’s two H 18 followers and single H 14 would whole $70.
Specs (for Circulation variant)
| Type Issue | Mid Tower |
| Materials | SGCC sheet metallic, tempered glass, ABS, Nylon, Silicon, Zinc alloy, NdFeB magnets |
| PC Case Dimensions (L x W x H) | 515 x 254 x 522.6 mm |
| Internet Weight | 14.79 kg |
| Guarantee | 1 yr Discover: Guarantee assist is just out there for orders shipped inside the USA. Orders through forwarding providers usually are not supported.Please assessment our full guarantee phrases for extra data. |
| Entrance I/O | USB 3.2 Gen 2 Kind-C x1USB 3.2 Gen 1 Kind-A x2Audio Jack x1Power & Reset Button x1 |
| Motherboard Assist | E-ATX (Max Width 277 mm) / ATX / M-ATX / Mini-ITX |
| Growth Slots | 7 |
| Fan Assist | Most Quantity: 7 Prime: 2 x 180 mm / 2 x 140 mm / 3 x 120 mmFront: 2 x 180 mmLeft: N/ARight: N/ABottom: N/ARear: 1 x 140 / 1 x 120 mm |
| Fan PWM Repeater | Fan Ports: 1 x PWM repeaters, 6 ports totalLocation: 1 x Cable Administration TrayFan Connectors: 6 ports per repeater x 4-pin PWM(Join your major fan to the white port to manage PWM sign. All different ports mirror the white port’s sign.)Fan Rated Voltage: 12VFan Security Present: As much as 2.6A throughout 6 portsPower Connector: 1 x SATA PowerPower Security Present: 1 x SATA connector energy enter, 12V → 2.6A (max) |
| CPU Tower Cooler Clearance | Peak: As much as 195 mm. |
| Liquid Cooling Assist | Prime: 240 / 280 / 360 mmFront: N/ALeft: N/ARight: N/ABottom: N/A |
| Graphics Card Clearance | Size: As much as 410 mmWidth: As much as 195 mm. |
| GPU Assist | 1 – 4.5 Slots |
| RAM Clearance | If the radiator & followers thickness is larger than 80 mm: 280 mm – 40 mm / 360 mm – 60 mm |
| Energy Provide Assist | ATXLength: As much as 200mm (Clearance – 260mm) |
| Storage | Proper Mount: 2 Storage Bays: 2 x 3.5” / 8 x 2.5”Cable Administration Tray: 1 Storage Bay: 1 x 3.5” / 2 x 2.5”Storage Bay Included: 2x (2 x 3.5” / 4 x 2.5”) |
| Mud Filter | Entrance: 1 (Constructed-in)Prime: 1 (Constructed-in)Rear Backside: 1 (Detachable) |
| Pre-installed Followers | 2x H Sequence Fan – H 181x H Sequence Fan – H 14 |
Specs copied from producer supplies, please learn assessment for our personal measurements and opinions
The Construct
Let’s get into the construct.
Just like the HS 420, the BF 360 has onerous plastic cable channels which were labeled with their “recommendned” makes use of and built-in velcro. HAVN most likely needs it had used stickers for these labels (prefer it did within the HS 420), however not less than this can make TRYX really feel higher in regards to the “found an unknow” typo.
The predefined cable paths might come throughout as restrictive, however we’ve got a tough time imagining a situation the place we would wish to route cables anyplace besides the areas that HAVN selected. SATA energy and knowledge cables are the one ones that do not have a transparent vacation spot.
We noticed different entrance panel prototypes when visiting HAVN earlier this yr, together with a wood one, however we’re joyful that HAVN steered away from the Fractal look and selected a much less widespread stone-like sample. They’ve crushed Cooler Grasp to the punch on this as properly. The speckled plastic end reminds us of an outdated keyboard. On that topic, the entire case followers are black within the black mannequin, whereas within the white mannequin the entrance followers are black and the rear fan is white. We predict that is an intentional selection to cover the entrance followers, however it’s one thing to concentrate on if you wish to color-coordinate your construct.
The entire entrance panel meeting hooks into the case toollessly and is held in place with magnets, much like the Fractal Torrent. The BF 360’s entrance filter layer cannot be separated for deep-cleaning as simply as it may be within the Torrent, however the stone-textured layer could be eliminated with six screws.
Contained in the case, there’s a scoop. We have been calling these airflow scoops “rest room bowl” designs although the NZXT H5 Circulation is the one one that basically appears like that. We have additionally seen examples from Fractal and Corsair, however not like every of these, the “air information ramp” on the entrance of the BF 360’s PSU shroud is made from metallic and is completely hooked up with rivets. It’s additionally comparatively flat, which HAVN’s thermal engineer says examined the perfect of their A/B testing. Often scoops like this are detachable for radiator compatibility causes. The Circulation would not declare any entrance radiator compatibility within the first place. When planning a construct within the non-Circulation, remember that the entrance fringe of the inside track is 8cm again from the entrance fan bracket, though that is loads of room for standard radiator and fan combos.
To match the inside track, there’s an “Anti-Backflow Plate” that blanks out the a part of the highest fan mount above the 180mm entrance followers. “Backflow” on this case would imply air flowing out of the case by means of the hole and recirculating into the entrance followers, decreasing their cooling effectiveness.
The GPU assist arm within the BF 360 would not match the standard of the case’s design. The HS 420’s assist is sturdy and braces in opposition to the PSU shroud, whereas the BF 360’s is much less strengthened and depends solely on friction with the rubber cable grommet to maintain from sliding down. Shifting to 2 factors of contact with the GPU is a good suggestion for an improve, however in apply it signifies that one level will at all times be looser than the opposite. Probably the most optimistic change is that the brand new design can present assist to about ~35cm down the size of a GPU, whereas the HS 420’s assist can solely attain ~28cm.
For packaging, HAVN organized the styrofoam inserts in order that they do not catch on the punched-in handles of the outer field, which is surprisingly uncommon. It’s not a giant deal, however if you unpack a number of circumstances each month for years on finish, you begin to discover this stuff. HAVN additionally makes use of labeled ziploc luggage for its screws, which helps scale back waste (versus single-use luggage) whereas preserving screw varieties separate.
On one of many two assessment samples we have been despatched, the entrance I/O wasn’t lined up appropriately with the cutouts on the floor of the case, making the USB Kind-C port inaccessible. That is the primary fit-and-finish drawback we have seen from HAVN. Thankfully, we have been in a position to repair it ourselves, however this shouldn’t occur on a virtually $200 case.
HAVN’s H Sequence followers have a number of options price calling out. First, the weird form of the hub was supposedly deliberately designed to “information air in direction of the fan blade for smoother stream sample,” whereas the fan blades themselves have a sawtooth sample that we have seen many instances previously from corporations like Fractal and EK. The followers are 40mm thick, which provides further size to the fluid dynamic bearings, which HAVN claims will increase sturdiness and stability. The fan frames are molded in order that cables could be threaded by means of the corners, which is a pleasant approach to scale back cable muddle with out committing to one thing like Lian Li’s UNI FAN system, and the rear fan’s cable is routed by means of a particular hidden channel on the prime of the case. Retail H-series followers embody the “Loopin™ Cable System” with daisy-chainable female and male connectors on every fan, however after we recognized a possible error within the documentation, HAVN clarified that those shipped with the BF 360 Circulation all have common outdated 4-pin connectors.
We’re unsure the right way to really feel in regards to the trays for storage drives. They appear to be a nightmare to fabricate, with rubber grommets, rivets, studs, and a detachable interior piece, however the finish result’s a very regular drive capability: 4 whole 2.5″ drives, or two whole 3.5″ drives. The 2 trays are mounted within the cable administration space by default, however there’s truly a 3rd mounting location behind the motherboard tray that could be preferable if you wish to unlock room for cables.
HAVN has remained dedicated to placing rubber damping on each single level the place two movable metallic surfaces would contact, and this extends to the drive bays, which is the only space within the HS 420 the place we famous a scarcity of rubber. There are additionally textured grips contained in the handles on the aspect panels. They do not do a lot functionally, however from a UX perspective they point out the place to drag on the panels and in what course.
As for radiators, the highest radiator tray is your complete roof of the case, so eradicating two screws and sliding the tray off provides unrestricted entry to the inside. The one draw back we seen is that in case you mount HAVN’s extra-thick 180mm followers to this tray, they’re going to impede the cutouts alongside the highest fringe of the motherboard, and CPU energy cables might come near the fan blades. HAVN’s claims for radiator assist are extraordinarily conservative, with the Circulation solely formally supporting radiators within the prime of the case, and solely as much as 360mm.
The entrance and prime panels are held on with magnets, however all panels have further screws to safe them throughout transport. The glass aspect panel is beveled on every nook, and the plastic gutter that it seats in is formed to match. Each aspect panels have metallic studs on the highest edge (along with the standard snaps) to ensure nothing sags out of alignment, which has similarities to the technique TRYX used for its L70 (learn our assessment) replace.
HAVN BF 360 Circulation Thermals
Aside from the conventional suite, we have chosen three alternate configurations for testing: one with the anti-backflow plate eliminated, one with two further H 18 (180mm) followers added as prime exhaust, and eventually one other take a look at with the extra 180mm followers however with one as consumption and one as exhaust. Based on HAVN (and our personal expertise), prime consumption in entrance of the CPU cooler and prime exhaust behind it ought to assist to keep away from stealing air from the cooler.
The inside track within the BF 360 is not detachable, so we examined it as-is, however we have executed experiments previously with eradicating or taping off airflow scoops on the entrance of PSU shrouds. In the event you’re , you may see the latest leads to our Meshify 3 assessment.
HAVN’s personal HS 420 is an apparent comparability to make, however they do not promote a model of that case with followers included (but), so our thermal outcomes include a caveat that they don’t seem to be really “inventory.” HYTE competes intently with HAVN as an organization, however we won’t make thermal comparisons in opposition to the recently-launched X50 ($160 with out followers) till our assessment is finalized. We’ll decide in opposition to HYTE’s $180 Y60 as an alternative, however the Y60 is not a excessive airflow case.
As for comparisons that we be ok with, Fractal’s Torrent and the a lot newer Meshify 3 are on the listing. Lian Li’s Lancool 217 is there as properly. The highest-tier Meshify 3 Atmosphere Professional RGB has dropped to a aggressive $180 on Amazon, whereas Lian Li continues to supply brutally low costs with the 217 at $122-$125.
CPU Full Load Thermals – Full Pace
Earlier than we get to noise-normalized testing, let’s begin with full velocity testing to raised consider alternate case configurations at full velocity.
Noise-normalized testing is best for evaluating totally different case fashions, however operating the followers at full velocity makes it simpler to match configurations of a single case. With the followers at full blast, the BF 360 Circulation averaged 37 levels above ambient for the all-core CPU temperature and 41 levels for the P-cores alone whereas at 44.5 dBA from 1 meter in our chamber. Eradicating the anti-backflow plate brought on the CPU temperature to rise by simply over one diploma, so it looks as if HAVN was proper to incorporate it. It really works.
Including two 180mm exhaust followers to the highest of the case made CPU temperatures worse, which is an anticipated consequence that we’ve got regularly re-proven for about 12 years now. It’s because the top-front exhaust fan steals air from the CPU cooler earlier than it ever hits it, so it’s a comparatively easy idea. General, the change wasn’t vital. Then again, flipping the frontmost 180mm fan to consumption additionally strengthened findings from our earlier take a look at bench iteration, ensuing within the lowest averages we have recorded on this take a look at. The outcomes dropped all the way down to 35 levels all-core and 38 on the P-cores. These are wonderful outcomes, though this was with including two further 180mm followers, so including related followers to different circumstances would doubtless give the BF 360 some firm. If you wish to go loopy on airflow, doing this 4x 180 configuration is perhaps a enjoyable approach to do it.
The inventory BF 360 Circulation tied the Lancool 217 (learn our assessment) (on the identical dBA) for CPU thermals, making it the perfect on this chart apart from the Lancool 216 (learn our assessment) (at 42 dBA). Peak efficiency of the thick H 18 consumption followers is excessive, permitting the BF 360 to surpass the Torrent and Meshify 3’s 39 diploma all-core common. Just like the Torrent and 217, although, the BF 360 is noisy at max velocity, registering 44.5 dBA.
GPU Full Load Thermals – Full Pace
The inventory BF 360 Circulation averaged 40 levels for GPU thermals and 44 on the VRAM, which was utterly unaffected by the backflow plate. That is smart for the reason that plate is on the prime of the case. Including the 2 180mm followers as pure exhaust to the highest of the case aligned with the GPU’s flow-through cooler and introduced down the common to 39 levels, whereas the blended intake-exhaust configuration raised the GPU’s common to 42 levels. That is why it’s essential to contemplate a couple of temperature throughout configuration: This was higher for CPU thermals, however is worse for the extra delicate GPU the place you may get slight boosting advantages from a number of levels.
With a flow-through GPU cooler pushing sizzling air up in direction of the roof of the case, the perfect compromise could also be to go away the inventory configuration alone and stick with entrance consumption, rear exhaust.
The 217 is tied with the BF 360 right here, identical to it was for CPU thermals, and the Meshify 3’s relative placement can also be the identical at one diploma hotter than the BF 360. In the meantime, the Torrent is barely cooler at 39 levels.
CPU Full Load Thermals – Noise Normalized
Noise-normalized thermals are subsequent.
For these exams, we place the case in our hemi-anechoic noise chamber and decrease case fan speeds in tandem till the general noise degree hits our desired 27 dBA SPL threshold. The BF 360’s giant consumption followers and distinctive fan hubs ought to assist it in noise-normalized testing.
The BF 360 Circulation is in wonderful firm right here, with a mean all-core CPU temperature at 41 levels Celsius above ambient and P-cores at 45 above ambient. That matches the Lancool 217’s efficiency virtually precisely (whether or not the 217 is in CPU or GPU mode), and though the Meshify 3 Atmosphere Professional RGB was cooler, it is inside our tough one diploma margin for error. The Torrent is equally shut within the different course, with the BF 360 popping out forward. The HS 420 consequence proven right here is tied with the Torrent, however that is with the 420 utilizing the Antec Flux Professional’s inventory followers because it didn’t ship with any. That’s 6 followers within the HS 420 for that take a look at. The Y60’s inventory efficiency is on the exact opposite finish of the chart at 53 levels all-core, however once more, the Y60 is not an airflow-focused case.
The Flux Professional (learn our assessment) finally ends up about the identical because the BF 360 as properly, so general, the BF 360 is without doubt one of the best circumstances on the chart and is kind of inside re-run variance of the perfect circumstances. It’s functionally tied for the perfect.
GPU Full Load Thermals – Noise Normalized
The BF 360’s noise-normalized GPU temperatures in the identical take a look at have been additionally excellent, at 43 levels above ambient and 47 for the VRAM. The Torrent retains the crown right here with its 40 diploma common, which is a significant enchancment over the BF360. The BF 360 falls inside one diploma of the Lancool 217’s GPU mode consequence, and it virtually precisely matches the Meshify 3’s common. As with CPU thermals, the HS 420 is one diploma hotter than the BF 360 (utilizing Antec’s followers). That’s a very good consequence for the BF 360 contemplating the configuration we had the HS420 in.
The inventory followers are biased low in order that the decrease consumption fan factors into the airflow scoop, which exhibits an intentional give attention to GPU thermals. General, the BF 360 retains tempo with its opponents, however it’s price preserving in thoughts that the 217 particularly is considerably cheaper.
HAVN’s BF 360 does properly general right here and is within the prime set of outcomes, however didn’t prime the charts like we’d hoped primarily based on its fan configuration, however it’s not less than in good firm.
VRM & RAM Full Load Thermals – Full Pace
The configuration with one prime consumption and one prime exhaust was the perfect for VRM thermals, with a chart-topping common of 18 levels above ambient. It was additionally by far the perfect for DRAM thermals, with a single-digit 9 diploma common. It is smart: the consumption fan pushing cool air straight into the reminiscence and the exhaust fan pulling sizzling air straight out of the VRM heatsinks is the perfect situation for these specific hotspots.
HAVN BF 360 Circulation Smoke Circulation Testing
Smoke testing is difficult and poses issues. We’ve been experimenting with this for over a decade now, and the primary time we tried it, we used plumbing smoke pellets. It labored nice for visualizing airflow, however it stuffed the realm with carcinogenic smoke.
For this spherical, we’re utilizing a fog machine as an alternative. The fog is safer, however it comes with a tradeoff: residue. Fog oil coats every little thing it touches, leaving a skinny, greasy movie on all of the parts. The system will nonetheless run tremendous electrically, however it’s gross and isn’t one thing you need in your foremost take a look at {hardware}. Due to that, we’re utilizing a unique PC for smoke testing as an alternative of one among our benchmark methods.
The following drawback is the way you get the fog into the case. The widespread method is to level a nozzle on the entrance consumption and spray smoke in, however that’s a foul thought. As quickly as you add velocity and primarily flip the fog right into a mini air jet, you’re altering how the case truly breathes. Wherever you purpose that nozzle, you’re forcing the smoke in unnaturally, which tampers with outcomes.
Ideally, you’d have the PC surrounded by a good cloud of fog in order that it may possibly pull in air naturally. That’s the one approach to see what’s actually occurring with optimistic or unfavourable strain contained in the chassis.
About ten years in the past, we constructed a home made smoke chamber out of cardboard, tape, and Saran Wrap. It truly labored properly, however it took 5 hours to arrange each time.
This new setup is a streamlined model of that outdated thought. We’ve constructed a semi-sealed field, which we put in entrance of the PC. It’s not completely hermetic, however it’s shut sufficient. From there, we fill it with fog from the highest. The case is then left to drag in air by itself once we take away the panel, with minimal interference from us. That means, we’re not skewing the outcomes by blasting smoke at particular factors.
As for the fog itself, it’s not very best, however it’s the perfect center floor. The oil residue is annoying, however it’s much better than from plumbing pellets. We’re utilizing components we don’t thoughts getting a bit of messy and it’s nonetheless consultant of our take a look at system.
It’s an early iteration of the setup, however we’re already planning upgrades, like higher seals and gaskets for the fog hose to make it extra constant.
This method provides us a practical, repeatable approach to visualize case airflow with out interfering with it.
The front-top fan seems to spray huge, with the highest of the inlet arcing air up towards the highest of the case.
We will see air from the highest half of that backside fan getting into the case and instantly going by means of the flow-through fan. Beneath it, the remainder of the air hits the inside track, and that air makes it by means of to the left-most GPU fan, which can allow cooling into the GPU. Some air exits straight out of the case through the PCIe slots, so we’re not getting the unfavourable strain impact the place air is fed in by means of the again, as we noticed with the outdated NZXT case.
In the meantime, the air going by means of the flow-through space is deflecting the highest consumption air up and away from the CPU cooler. This matches our testing throughout the 30-series of NVIDIA’s flow-through coolers. The CPU cooler finally ends up a bit of hotter consequently, and so does the CPU temperature, however that is the character of flow-through coolers and never of the case itself. CPUs are low sufficient energy in comparison with GPUs that they’ll sometimes deal with it with out significant change. Because of the GPU’s large flow-through space, the case consumption is being deflected up and towards the roof of the case. That is why GPU temperature goes up with a top-front consumption fan, however CPU temperature goes down.
We additionally seen a slight recirculation sample within the prime entrance. This is not an issue because it’s finally discovering its means out, however this can be a good additional protection for why the back-flow plate is current. This air can be exiting the case and re-entering the fan with out that plate, and it’d have been warmed within the course of.
It is not good, however individuals have wished us to deliver these again for years now, so we did our greatest to resolve our hangups with it with this fast mock-up. We have now extra we are able to add later.
Fan Efficiency Testing
We additionally ran some fast fan exams on the fan machine. We’re slowly beginning to roll this knowledge out. As we talked about in February this yr, we’re simply going to have to just accept that we have to start constructing an information set and it received’t be every little thing we wish unexpectedly. This may also be redone and improved upon over time. We wish to warning you that we’re inexperienced in each presenting and accumulating this knowledge, and so it doesn’t have our identical excessive confidence as different knowledge we gather. Though we predict the info is correct, there’s a increased likelihood of an inaccuracy. These charts will likely be marked as experimental for that purpose.
We’re simply evaluating two followers right here as we speak and with out their circumstances. The purpose of this take a look at proper now’s to raised put knowledge to the thermal outcomes of the BF 360 vs. the Fractal Torrent, since they’re shut opponents on the charts.
The primary take a look at exhibits the utmost CFM on the machine. At full velocity and max CFM, the BF 360 fan reached 169 CFM. This was at 1279 RPM. The Fractal Torrent Dynamic X2 fan hit 141 CFM with its 1187 RPM, so barely slower, however a considerably giant hole in stream efficiency. The Torrent fan is older and a pair millimeters thinner.
Trying again on the full velocity case chart, with all elements together with case design thought of, the BF 360’s 41-degree P-core common had it forward of the Torrent by about 2 levels. Loads of that’s attributable to the fan right here relatively than simply the case design.
Trying again to the fan chart: We additionally took case noise-normalized numbers. Which means that we ran the followers at their velocity we ran them in our noise-normalized case take a look at; in different phrases, the fan isn’t noise-matched standalone, as a result of we didn’t take a look at it that means thermally. Matching the case circumstances provides us higher perception as to variations between the case outcomes.
When operating at noise-normalized case ranges, we measured 85 CFM on the HAVN BF 360 and 72 CFM on the Torrent. The BF 360 fan is testing higher in our preliminary exams right here.
The noise-normalized CPU numbers for the circumstances had the BF 360 at 45 levels to the Torrent’s 46.
We had some strain numbers as properly, which we’re solely presenting at full velocity. That is simply because we’re nonetheless finding out how we wish to current the remainder of it. However for the complete velocity outcomes, the Fractal Torrent had a 2.31 mm H2O for strain efficiency. And the Haven BF360 was at 2.87. That’s for the utmost mm H2O at full velocity, which might imply the minimal stream in that take a look at.
Anyway, we’ve got much more to do right here, however the easy matter is that we are able to’t determine what that’s with out simply beginning to construct an information set, in order that’s what we’re doing. This can be a very rudimentary begin for you all. It’s straightforward to neglect our different testing has years of expertise and assortment behind it, so we’ll get there finally with this.
HAVN BF 360 Circulation Conclusion
The $180-$200 vary the place the BF 360 Circulation lands has change into essentially the most crowded phase over the previous a number of months of our case critiques: at the moment the Antec Flux Professional is $180, the Corsair 5000D RS ARGB is $200, the Meshify 3 Atmosphere Professional RGB is $180 relying on gross sales and availability, and the MasterFrame 500 Mesh we simply reviewed is… $150, regardless of launching at $190.
Of these, the Meshify 3 particularly falls into the identical class because the BF 360, within the sense that it is a excessive airflow mesh-fronted case that expenses a premium for appears and construct high quality. Fractal has the benefit of cheaper Meshify 3 case SKUs that also include followers, though we discovered the ring of LED lighting within the Atmosphere Professional RGB to be a giant a part of that case’s attraction. Fractal additionally nonetheless sells the Torrent, which bears clear similarities to the BF 360 with its two extra-large 180mm consumption followers and wonderful thermal efficiency.
Cable administration is best within the BF 360 than the Torrent, however you may’t go fallacious selecting between the 2, though it does sting to pay greater than the unique $190 MSRP for the Torrent when the case is greater than 4 years outdated.
Alongside Fractal, HYTE is the main competitor for HAVN, however the HYTE circumstances that we have reviewed do not make sense as alternate options to the BF 360 Circulation.
It’s possible you’ll wish to await our upcoming HYTE X50/X50 Air assessment, since these circumstances are extra centered on thermal efficiency in a means that the HYTE Y-series (at the moment) is not. Neither of the X50 variants include inventory followers, however the X50 non-Air is priced at $160, which matches the fanless BF 360.
By way of uncooked efficiency per greenback, Lian Li nonetheless has issues locked down.
There are different elements that matter when buying a case, but when all you care about is minmaxing, the Lancool circumstances are practically unattainable to beat. The older 216 was extra much like the BF 360 Circulation with its two wide-framed 160mm consumption followers, however this yr’s Lancool 217 performs simply as properly, and it is nonetheless available at its launch MSRP of $120. Though it isn’t fairly in the identical class, we even have to say that the Lancool 207 is priced insanely low at $83-$90 whereas simply maintaining with the BF 360’s thermal efficiency.
Given the HS 420’s worth improve to $230 (minimal) and the truth that it would not include followers, HAVN has efficiently prevented competing with itself. The BF 360 is precisely what we wished after reviewing the HS 420. The 420 is huge, it is bought a number of glass, it would not include any followers, and it is over $200 (though the value is smart for what it’s). The discharge of the HS 420 left a gap for a smaller, cheaper, extra airflow-focused case, which is the BF 360.
The construct high quality is excessive, the thermal efficiency is extraordinarily good, and though the Lancool 217 and different Lian Li fashions might have extra favorable dollars-to-performance ratio in a strict sense, the BF 360’s visible attraction and general refinement make up the distinction. Aside from the “recommendned” cable paths, after all.
