Corsair Carbide 400R: Succeeding in Reverse
by Dustin Sklavos on September 3, 2011 12:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Corsair
- mid-tower
Conclusion: Constantly Improving
I can't be the only person who finds Corsair's progression in case designs a little bit bizarre. As far as thermal design is concerned, the Corsair Carbide 400R is probably one of the best cases in their lineup, and definitely outperforms the pricier Obsidian 650D (and by extension the Graphite 600T). They seem to be learning and experimenting with each new design, which is fantastic, but it's funny to watch that progression go from a $299 rough draft to a $99 refinement.
The strongest point of the Carbide 400R isn't the level of customization in my opinion (though that's definitely a nice touch), but once again it's Corsair's continually stellar internal layout. Whatever my concerns with the cooling and acoustic performance are (and they're certainly relevant to the 400R), there's very little that Corsair could do to make assembling a computer inside the 400R easier short of including a masseuse to rub your shoulders while you work. These enclosures set the bar for ease of assembly, and if nothing else I feel like other vendors should really take note.
On the flipside, Corsair still has some ways to go as far as thermal performance is concerned. The 400R is an improvement, but other enclosures we've tested continue to outperform it. I think there's definitely a lot of room for experimentation with the 400R, finding the right fan configuration and possibly installing a fan controller (though both of these would certainly bring the price up beyond the $99 asking point), so I'm not comfortable completely dismissing the case. Much like the BitFenix Shinobi, Corsair's design is highly expandable, but I do think it also raises the question of how much you're willing to spend on an enclosure before it becomes more sensible to just buy the more expensive one to begin with. That said, there are also a lot of users out there who love to tinker (and you may count me among your numbers), so the idea of an ongoing project may very well be attractive to some buyers.
Ultimately I continue to be a fan of Corsair's work and enjoy watching each successive case improve over its predecessors. I like what they're doing and for the most part adore their aesthetic sense. For the same price you can get the better performing In-Win BUC, but the Carbide 400R is frankly a lot more attractive. If you're going to take advantage of a 240mm radiator (and I still think that's at least a little silly in a sub-$100 case), NZXT's Tempest 410 is probably going to be a better choice than the 400R, at least in terms of clearance. On the other hand, if you want a reasonably-priced case that's attractive and easy to build in, the 400R should be on your shortlist.
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Death666Angel - Saturday, September 3, 2011 - link
Hello!I don't understand that passage. I haven't used USB 3.0, yet. Is there some problem with booting from USB3.0 ports? Shouldn't they be backward compatible? :-)
Thanks for the review! Could you add metric measurements? :-)
livingplasma - Saturday, September 3, 2011 - link
I've had much better luck with side fans being used as exhaust rather than intake. This was true when I tested with my an Antec Three Hundred with a 4890 non reference that exhausts from the back and front, there was a slight advantage with the side fans as exhaust under load. With aftermarket cpu coolers like the Scythe Setsugen 2, the cooling advantage was even greater. CPU and board temps were also lower than with the side fans as intake. Only during idle or cpu only loads did side fans as intake performed a little bit better. Same results even with a pair of 6870's in the Cooler Master 690 II. Another interesting thing I've noticed is that all the fans I've tried are less noisey when pushing through a grill vent rather than trying to suck air through them.ckryan - Saturday, September 3, 2011 - link
I guess you have to admire what corsair is doing, even If I don't find the exterior to be particularly sexified. For an attractive, unusual, and generally backassward affair, see the Lian Li PC A05NB. I've been a hopeless shill for it for some time now, but a little Corsair magic on the inside wouldn't hurt (much).Hey, another case review so soon? Awesome.
B3an - Sunday, September 4, 2011 - link
Can you start reviewing cases like this that actually look nice and not like cheap tacky crap like they were designed by a 12 year old? I know they're very rare but these mythical beasts do exist!Dustin Sklavos - Monday, September 5, 2011 - link
Well shoot, I was just going to try and review as many bug ugly cases as I possibly could, but since you made the request I'll get right on it!TrackSmart - Monday, September 5, 2011 - link
I checked out the Lian Li PC A05NB (mentioned by ckryan above). For $90 on Newegg, I'm pretty curious to see how it would compare. The Corsair is not awful, but I still wouldn't put it in my living room. The Lian Li case, however, is undersstated enough to go anywhere.Maybe Dustin can request one of the Lian Li's for a showdown - if he isn't already buried in cases to review.
softdrinkviking - Monday, September 5, 2011 - link
i just put together one of these for my dad, and it was great to work with. I didn't cut my hand even once!also, the usb 3.0 on the front is a huge plus if your popping external drives on/off all the time.
one thing I did differently was I mounted the PSU upside-down becasue the holes on my seasonic didn't line-up properly otherwise.
AssBall - Wednesday, September 7, 2011 - link
If your PSU fan is on the bottom, like many, you'd want to mount it upside down anyway.wyhtmgm - Friday, October 14, 2011 - link
I have a 650TXV2. The holes on the PS aren't symmetrical, but the holes on the case are symmetrical so it lines up the same way whether it's rightside up or upside down, i.e. I didn't encounter softdrinkviking's problem. I'm not that happy about how it lines up, since the head of one of the screws is sort of holding against the edge of sheet metal instead of going through a hole, but I haven't installed a power supply in years so maybe that's normal.Is the power supply in the review picture rightside up or upside down? In the picture I don't see the fan, which suggests rightside up, but the picture may just be too dark. There are other clues that it could be upside down; the position of the cables, and there's no visible label on top.
The PS would probably run cooler rightside up, but my floor tends to be dusty and I don't like the idea of blowing dust into the PS.
Valitri - Wednesday, September 21, 2011 - link
I currently use a CM 690 with 4 Yate Loon 120mm fans (1 front intake, 1 rear exhaust, 2 on Hyper 212+ push/pull out the back), and 3 Cheap NZXT White 140mm fans (1 bottom intake, 2 top exhaust, NZXT cheap white ones). The case has been banged up during moves and 3 different builds in it. I also redrywalled a room it was in so it's not clean either. I just ordered this 400R and will be ordering a few new fans for it as well. I curently load 54C on my 2500k at 4.5ghz after about an hour of Prime, so I'll test that against the 400R. I am also curious if my 6970 will run cooler if I install side fans on the 400R. The way my side panels work on my 690, I don't have room for side fans. The most important thing to me will probably be noise, I wish I had a way to accurately measure it. My case is very loud, and my fans seem to rattle sometimes.