Corsair Carbide 500R: A Corsair in Every Home
by Dustin Sklavos on October 25, 2011 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Corsair
- mid-tower
Noise and Thermal Testing, Stock
While Corsair's Carbide 400R performed fairly well thermally when we tested it, acoustics suffered a bit from the increased ventilation in the design compared to other enclosures. The 500R is very similar to the 400R, just a bit bigger and potentially more effective, so it'll be interesting to see how it performs both in comparison to Corsair's other enclosures as well as the rest of the field in this price range.
Thermals aren't stellar but they aren't exactly poor either. Most of the enclosures in this market are designed for overclocking and can handle this kind of load with aplomb, causing them to largely just bunch up. When looking at the raw numbers, the three settings of the fan controller on the 500R aren't exactly necessary either: Corsair would've been fine just tacking in a low fan speed toggle to keep noise down. The case seems fine at managing heat, so the extra fan speed just means more noise.
Idle noise is pretty good while load noise could stand to be a bit better, but this is the sacrifice you make when you opt for a case that's ventilated the way this one is. The 500R isn't awful, but it's just not bred for pure silence either. At least the inclusion of the fan controller allows it to make healthy gains on the less expensive 400R.
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JonnyDough - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
I third it. I spent way too much on a Kandalf case from Thermaltake back in the day and to be honest, I prefer my smaller Ultra case I got free with a purchase from TigerDirect. The big case is fancy, but I don't do water cooling, and it ends up just taking up more room and being harder to work on due to having to move it with limited space. What we need to see more of is a focus on useability when it comes to putting parts in and taking them out.No more craning to get your fingers around a jumper, or working to get cables out of the way, or to get one plugged in, etc. Building a PC needs to become a bit easier.
I think that it starts with chip makers (CPU sockets and cooler designs), moves to motherboard makers (who have always had to consider the case and access in design), and ends with case makers.
Seems to me we could use some sort of new design, perhaps a new style of motherboard. I like the idea of one that has PCB in the shape of a blanket draped over a wire to form a lean/to or tent. I haven't had geometry in awhile and its a pretty useless subject in most career fields.
Like this, /\ A fan at the bottom could draw in cool air along the bottom edge of a case and push it upwards over several components. The heat would rise some off each component and since they are on a slope, the heat would not all blow onto the next component. Just imagine a slew of newly designed cases that would come along with it. Conical ones could be quite interesting.
I would love it if a motherboard manufacturer branched off and decided to try perfecting some arching/joining PCB. I wonder if anything like that has been done? What about two-sided PCB with the cooler running parts on the bottom and reinforced mounting brackets?
Dustin Sklavos - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
$139 for a case, on the other hand, is totally worth it. ;)C300fans - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
A good case does not mean that it must have more holes. Fracle design labeled 139$ has much better quality, which provides you sound sponge isolation and dust filters on all holes as well as 3 pieces of silent cute fans.jamyryals - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
If they are going to do a white case, I would prefer the grills to be white as well.Lazlo Panaflex - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
FWIW, I personally haven't had any problems with Corsair rebates...but they do take their sweet time sending out the rebate card.
ckryan - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
Your detailed description of hot case-on-case action was appreciated. Have you considered trying your hand at bodice-ripping romance novels?justaviking - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
The sun glistened on his 6-core abs. As he approached, the motherboard could feel the heat radiating from him as his fan breathed warmly on her neck. Her heart began to overclock...No, I don't think so.
SquattingDog - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
Damn we need a like button here - this is awesome @ justaviking - made my morning :)Jeffk464 - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
It would take a lot of convincing for someone to prove to me that its 2.5 times better than my antec 300. Oh, and its white.compudaze - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
I went from an antec 300 to a corsair 600t. I loved my 300. It was the best case I ever owned until I got the 600t. But honestly, u don't know what u r missing until you build a pc in a corsair case.