Corsair Vengeance C70 Case Review: Going for the Gamers
by Dustin Sklavos on May 17, 2012 5:45 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Corsair
- mid-tower
In and Around the Corsair Vengeance C70
While I've generally appreciated Corsair's aesthetics (even the Vengeance branded keyboards have a nice, simplistic design to them), the Vengeance C70 enclosure threw me for a loop. I'm not sure when the military styling became popular, but the C70 looks like an awfully good place to store an ASUS Sabertooth (just like in the reviewer's guide!) or one of Gigabyte's G1 series boards. The "Military Green" finish is probably the most garish of the three; I suspect the "Gunmetal Black" is probably going to be the one everyone will want to shortlist, but I could be mistaken.
The front of the C70 boasts a trio of 5.25" bays, with the power, reset, and I/O occupying the space that ostensibly would've been a fourth. The stylistic choice is clean enough, but the power button has a distinct "this-belongs-inside-a-tank" look, and you actually have to flip up a tiny plastic door to access the reset button. It's a cute touch, but also practical, ensuring nobody ever accidentally hits the reset button. Beneath the drive bays is a honeycomb-style vent with a honeycombed grate pattern behind it (honeycomb is pretty much the pattern of choice across the C70), and there's room beneath the fascia for two 120mm fans.
 G.jpg)
When we move to the top of the case is when we see the oddest parts: the two 120mm/140mm fan mounts (and corresponding ventilation) are dead center of the top, flanked by the clamps for the side panels and the two carrying handles. Centering the fan mounts (and thus the internal mounts) is actually a smart move; if the end user wants to install a 240mm radiator, the radiator winds up being out of the way of the AUX12V line and some of the power circuitry. The only way this could be improved would be to shift its alignment closer to the left side panel as SilverStone did with the Temjin TJ04-E.
While the back of the C70 offers no surprises (eight expansion slots, a bottom-mounted PSU, and a couple of rubber-lined radiator holes), the left side panel features a large window with two vertically aligned 120mm/140mm fan mounts. Corsair offers rubber grommets for all of its case fan screws (and extras are included in the package) to prevent issues with fan vibration. Removing the side panel is accomplished similarly to opening a toolbox: flip the latches up on the side panel, then release the clamps. Panels hinge out from the bottom. The clamps are remarkably snug, leaving me with none of the reservations I had with the panel mounting system used on the 550D.
.jpg)
Of course, the inside of the C70 is par for the course for Corsair at this point; in fact there's surprisingly little variation in here, and that may be this design's Achilles' Heel. The pair of removable drive cages each supports three 2.5"/3.5" drives on sleds, but they also each include a 120mm intake fan on the inside similar to Antec's design with the P280 and Eleven Hundred. In fact, Corsair opted to include the intake fans here instead of behind the front fascia. The 5.25" drive bays are toolless, but you can secure drives with screws anyhow if you so choose.
The rest of the interior is traditional Corsair, with rubber-lined cable routing holes in the motherboard tray along with a cabling "channel" that saves on case width while allowing you to tuck cables neatly behind the tray. In fact, when you check behind the tray you can see the other major addition to Corsair's internal design: latches that open and lock closed to help keep cabling neat. Cable ties, begone! This is a fantastic feature that makes Corsair's traditionally clean interior assembly even easier to manage.
_thumb.jpg)
_thumb.jpg)
_thumb.jpg)
_thumb.jpg)
_thumb.jpg)
_thumb.jpg)
I'm not totally displeased with the C70's design, but the exterior is unusually gaudy for them. The build also seems a little fragile in places; I get the impression my review unit was roughed up in shipping, as one of the bottom fan filters was cracked and bent, and one of the long bars the C70 uses for feet was dented inward. The drive trays are also nice and flexible, but at the same time it seems like they almost need to be occupied to maintain their shape enough to stay in the cage.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
52 Comments
View All Comments
hzuiel - Sunday, May 27, 2012 - link
So those nitwits of you complaining about the arrangement of the front fans, did you actually look at the review and perhaps see where he removed the front case cover and there were *gasp* holes to screw in a fan, and space inside the cover to accomodate such fans? Yes I know it blows your minds but sometimes you can actually put fans in places where there isn't a fan that comes with the case. Every case I've ever owned has had at least 1 slot that didn't come with a fan in it. if there is a spot for a fan, and it doesn't come with one for there, i put one there, and guess what, i always have great airflow. I also tend to replace the cheapie fans that come stock, with much more powerful fans. So reviews like this don't mean much to me because i will always get better numbers when i use the same case. I look at how the case is actually designed and this thing looks amazing as far as number of fans supported and positioning.alexloa - Wednesday, May 30, 2012 - link
Hi, I got the C70 just 2 weeks ago, the design (outlook) is so cool, would like to have advise how to install my fans, details as follows:VGA card--------MSI 6850 OC
CPU Cooler ---cossair H60
Fans-------------2 pcs SERVO Gentle Typhoon ( for H60)
2 pcs GELID Silent 12
4 pcs cossair stock fans
panopset - Sunday, October 5, 2014 - link
Looks like the H60 has a similar radiator size as the Zalman LQ315. The built in top fan was compatible with my radiator, so I have the radiator sandwiched between the Zalman and Corsair fans. I had to move the whole thing to the top front fan mount because otherwise it would bump in to my memory cards. That maxed out the radiator tube length, but it still fit.jsinner - Monday, February 25, 2013 - link
your missing the x2 120mm fans for the "Front", look behind the front chassis access panelLowri77 - Saturday, January 25, 2014 - link
I really love the styling of this case, and as someone suggested the best way to ensure the smoothest air flow would be to take out both bottom cages and put the twin fans on the front and to have a solid perspex side made to replace the fan mounted one. Personally for me this will be my second build of a computer and this is defo the case I will be going for, love the unique design (I find most of the cases, black and boring. At least this one wants to be noticed.)For my new build I am going with -
5 x Noctura F12 fans
Only the H100 (not the i) water cooling
Gigabyte FXA990 UD3 Mobo
8320 Cpu
R9 270 Gpu
8 Gb of Ram
Be Quiet 630 Psu
Keeping my SSD (OCZ Vertex and 1Tb backup HDD)
And at the moment I am so excited, might not be the world's most amazing computer but for me it will be awesome.
:)
Metrologist - Saturday, March 15, 2014 - link
You state that, "...the thermal and acoustic results recorded..." and "Ambient temperature is also measured...".The differences between your recorded temperature results and those done by Corsair are almost certainly because of the temperature instruments (and probes) used to perform the recorded results. What is your temperature instrument used to record these readings? Is it calibrated by an accredited laboratory? Or, are you even using an external instrument to record the temperatures or are you relying upon different motherboard readings? It doesn't take much to alter temperature readings especially when you are only looking at 1 or 2 degrees C differences.
Your test setup should include how you determined the actual temperature readings.
The temperature references in this article mean nothing until the temperature method can be explained.
Additionally, is your "acoustic" instrument calibrated? I'll go out on a limb here and say it isn't!
Prove me wrong!
-The Metrologist
zyxtomatic - Tuesday, July 22, 2014 - link
I know this is an old review, but I wanted to ask: Has anyone tested this C70 case with both drive cages removed and the two drive cage fans moved to the front of the case instead? Seems like that would increase positive airflow from outside, which should improve cooling considerably. In this day and age, I just don't understand why gaming cases still have all these drive cages, especially at the expense of cooling. I have a pair of SSDs, and honestly the second one is only in there because I have no other use for it. I could easily run with just one if needed.Anyway, this normally isn't the kind of case I'd go for (I'm a quiet case sort of person), but I do like the tough design and especially the handles, since I often have to carry my computer from my office downstairs to my home theater upstairs.
kasdesign1 - Sunday, August 14, 2016 - link
Bought this case for its ammo can look, easy to build features. Was noticing poor reviews of thermal tests. Much of the poor thermal results is loss of pressure from all the extra vents where there are no fans. The intake fans behind the disk drives moves in cool air and mimics high end rack servers where the fans are actually in the middle of chassis. The exhaust fan helps remove heated air from the cabinet. I'm using an air cooled CPU fan cooler to avoid fan noise directed right at me. What I'm planning to do is seal all unused fan openings top, side and anywhere else I can find leaks. Then the supplied fans will actually do the work they were meant to do.My credentials: Electrical Engineer, server and add-in card designer, 30+ years experience including aerospace, industrial, and data-center computers.
blazeaglory - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
I agree about the amount of un-needed ventilation. I've seen people take the clear acrylic side and replace with a solid (non fan mount) window. Also, if you're not running water cooling, i would maybe seal up one (half) the top and bottom vents, or just the bottom while using two fans venting on top (might be over kill). Also, people remove the hdd bays and move the fans to the proper placement up front. I'm sure that would, with the proper fans (non water cooled), bring temps down significantly.ArtoriusTheBear - Thursday, April 4, 2019 - link
Commenting in 2019. After I purchased a used C70 and have used it for several months.First I will disagree with your opinion on esthetics. I agree, it isn't a crowd-pleaser, it is much more specific to a narrower target market. I enjoy military themed stuff and find the case beautiful...in a bad-ass sort of way. Also, I swapped the side panel for one without the ventilation holes for fans since that side panel should just be a single clean pane of acrylic. Which it is now. And looks fantastic.
Second, the cooling from the factory is rather sub par. Absolutely agree there. But, you can add lots of fans which means they can be slower and quieter fans because they are large enough and numerous enough to move air effectively through the case. (again, the side panel fan positions are gone leaving a clear airflow from bottom-front to top-rear. I use two 120mm fans in the front behind the front fascia, with two more behind the disc mount rack to help pull more airflow through that confined space I also have a 140mm fan on the floor pulling air up into the case. Then in the back I have a 120mm blowing out and in the top I have two 140mm fans blowing straight up. Assuming I get 50% of rated flow, I can get up to 200CFM flow with all fans on high. However, I tend to run them all at 30% which is probably less than 75cfm and rather quiet.
To prove that the case cools well, I mounted an FX-8350 and an R9-390 in mine before I added any case fans and just leaving the side panel off was enough. However, once I added the fans I can reliably cool the whole PC even when working it particularly hard.
Now, this isn't a QUIET type of case. There just isn't enough airflow efficiency to get air through the case easily enough to be super quiet. But, if you don't mind slight fan noise (I don't mind the fan noise at all...I love air cooling so I have a weird enjoyment of the sound) then this case can work just fine.
Granted, now that they haven't been in production for 5 or 6 years, this whole "user-review" is moot. But, for anyone who is looking at getting one of these classic cases, don't worry about the cooling so long as you don't mind lots of fans.