The Corsair Carbide 600Q Case Review: Upside Down But Right On
by E. Fylladitakis on September 12, 2016 8:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Corsair
- ATX
- E-ATX
Test Setup
Professional testing requires the emulation of real-world situations but with repeatable results; thus, a perfectly controllable test setup and environment are required, especially for comparable results. Testing the thermal performance of any case with a typical real-world setup technically limits the comparability of the results to this setup alone, as an active system interacts with its environment and the change of a single component would alter myriads of variables. As such, we developed synthetic loads that emulate the thermal output of real systems, which however are passive, steady and quantifiable.
To that end, our testing displays the thermal capabilities of the case alone, as if it would have to deal with the entire thermal load by itself, regardless of the system that would be installed inside it. Laboratory data loggers are being used to monitor the PT100 sensors and control the safety relays, which are fully accessible via our custom software. Three such loads have been developed; the ATX version simulates a 200W CPU, 50W VRM, 30W RAM and 4 × 120W GPU card thermal load. Finally, three 3.5" HDD dummy loads have also been created, with each of them converting 30 W of electrical power to thermal, bringing the total thermal load of the ATX test setup up to 850 Watts. As such, the thermal load is immense and only the best of cases will be able to handle it for more than a few minutes, we are also performing a test with a thermal load of 400W, with all of the aforementioned components except the HDD drives at about 42% power, which is more suitable for the majority of cases.
Noise testing has been performed with a background noise level of 30.4dB(A). Advanced noise testing is also being performed, in order to assess the ability of the case to dampen the noise of the components installed inside it. This includes the installation of two noise-generating sources (strong fans) inside the case, one positioned approximately over the first expansion slot and one over the CPU area, which generate ≈ 44.2 dB(A) when unobstructed. During the advanced noise test, all stock cooling options of the case are entirely disabled.
Do note that the Carbide 600Q can support only two 3.5” devices, so the total actual thermal load in every test is reduced by 30W. The extra included 140 mm fan is being used, installed at the front of the case as an intake fan.
Results & Discussion
Even taking into consideration that it's not quite apples-to-apples testing since the actual total thermal load is only 820W, the thermal performance of the Carbide 600Q is astonishing. It is the only ATX case we have tested to this date with performance figures near to those of the monstrous Nanoxia DS6, a massively larger case. In terms of raw thermal performance, the Carbide 600Q beats even Corsair’s own Graphite 760T, a gaming case designed with thermal performance in mind. Apparently, the designer was not just trying to impress with his idea to reverse the motherboard tray, but there truly is a substantial thermal performance improvement to be gained from such an arrangement. However, the readings from our HDD dummy loads were high, even with two such loads installed instead of three. The design of the case offers very little cooling to the drives installed.
With all three 140 mm fans installed, the thermal performance of the Carbide 600Q is more than satisfactory. Even though the fans themselves are not very quiet, the insulation of the case allows it to maintain very reasonable noise levels even with all three fans running at maximum speed. The maximum sound pressure level that our instrumentation recorded was 37.4 dB(A) from one meter away in an environment with a background noise level of 30.4 dB(A). This corresponds to an audible but subtle humming noise that was mostly coming from the side vents of the faceplate. At lower speeds, the three cooling fans are virtually inaudible.
Corsair designed the Carbide 600Q for maximum acoustic comfort, with no openings towards the front of the case and insulative material installed on the front, top and side panels. The design does dampen the noise of the installed equipment significantly. Our instrumentation measured a drop of 5 dB(A) during our advanced testing, a considerable and clearly discernible difference.
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User.Name - Monday, September 12, 2016 - link
I'm not in the "I love my FT02" camp, but I do wish they would update the FT02 as well - or that their patent on 90° rotated motherboards would expire so that other manufacturers could use the design.• Despite the 180mm fan below them, that thing is a hot box for hard drives with an awful plastic mounting system, and there's no ventilation for the SSD mount. It can only hold five 3.5" drives too, which is not many for a case this size.
• If you have optical drives, they can interfere with the PCIe slots and would block airflow from the HDDs if there was any ventilation up there. (yes, I'm apparently a dinosaur now with my need for 2+ optical drives and many HDDs)
• It's a pain having to remove/install the top cover to access the cables. It should be a double-hinged "door" that can open from either side, which can optionally be removed.
• Cleaning the dust filters requires you to remove the top cover and the side panel to gain access. Dust filters should be removable from the front or the side of any case, so that you don't have to move it.
• Despite its huge exterior size (and weight), I actually found the case quite cramped and awkward to build in. Cable management seemed like an afterthought. Remember when high-end cases had removable motherboard trays?
I'm looking to build a new PC in the near future, and struggling to find a good alternative case though. With the size and weight of modern GPUs, I really don't like the idea of one of them hanging unsupported from a PCIe slot.
Azurael - Monday, September 12, 2016 - link
I prefer my PSU to be breathing cool air from outside the case. It's also one less variable to consider when trying to build a positive pressure set-up to minimise dust intake.Lolimaster - Tuesday, September 13, 2016 - link
Actually the PSU works with cooler temps at the bottom (heat goes from bottom to top, so in a top mounted setup, the PSU easy the heat from the mobo, cpu, hdd's and gpu)Spunjji - Tuesday, September 13, 2016 - link
The PSU moving to the bottom was a trend started by silence enthusiasts. You don't get all the warm air in the PC blowing through your PSU, which makes it run cooler and quieter and more efficiently. Having it at the top is a bad idea.seamonkey79 - Monday, September 12, 2016 - link
Read - "I'm young enough to computers to only remember bottom mounted cases."Icehawk - Monday, September 12, 2016 - link
Yup, it is only recently that PSUs are bottom mounted, it used to be a novelty.I have never seen a top mounted machine that was unstable so not really a concern.
IMO orientation all depends on what hardware you will be using.
I wish they would ditch 5" bays, I haven't populated one in 6+ years, they could make atx cases a good bit smaller then.
Ancillas - Monday, September 12, 2016 - link
I thought the same thing, until I put water cooling components into my mid-size. That's why the space is still there on so many cases, just with modular drive bays.If you're not doing water cooling, then yeah, free up that space!
Murloc - Tuesday, September 13, 2016 - link
I remember that even only 10 years ago bottom mounted PSUs weren't a given so how can that beDanNeely - Monday, September 12, 2016 - link
Isn't it amusing the way designs go full circle. Taking advantage of a top PSU + 5.25 bay section and not putting horizontal 3.5" HDDs in front of the mobo isn't new either. My parents circa 2000 Compaq mini tower did the same (although it put the HDD vertical against the front panel).OTOH I'm surprised it took as long as it did to go back to this orientation since it's the most compact way to support a second 5.25 bay for anyone who wants then (a single bay can share space with top fan mounts) while otherwise making the case compact front to back by removing the big HDD cages from the front.
Impulses - Monday, September 12, 2016 - link
Yeah... And this whole business of center of gravity - huh? Biggest selling point for bottom mounted PSU as I remember it originally was moving them away from the hottest component (CPU), but then that shifted to become the GPUs (at least under load)...Course this case doesn't really change that but still. The Silverstone TJ06 had an identical design to this, over ten years ago, when bottom mounted PSU were just starting to become trendy. Only deterrence was a larger top compartment with more bays.