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
Assembling the Corsair Vengeance C70
I've gone on record repeatedly as saying the only way Corsair cases could be easier to assemble would be if Corsair included an engineer with them to just do the whole thing for you, so imagine my surprise when assembling the C70 turned out to be a hair more fraught than I'm used to experiencing from them. It's still worlds easier than many competing brands, but there were a couple of hitches.
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Maybe it was just my review unit, or maybe it was just my rotten luck, but I found installing the motherboard to be unusually difficult despite the fact that Corsair includes both a mounting post (for the center screw hole of the motherboard) and pre-installed mounts in the tray. The problem is that the mounts used are actually in unbelievably tightly (the top six are permanently affixed to the tray), and the screw holes for them don't seem to have been machined quite wide enough. That, or the green paint used for the finish is abnormally thick, but either way I wound up having such a hard time moving the mounts that I just left the side of the board "dangling." I also had one of the screws I was using actually break inside a mount. I can see all of this being much easier for someone else, and if you use a standard ATX motherboard you won't even have to bother with moving the mounts.
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Installing our optical drive in a 5.25" bay was a little different, too. The bay shields are in very securely, and to remove one I wound up having to actually remove the front fascia of the case. Once I did so, though, the optical drive went in with just a bit of force (which is common), and the toolless mechanism (along with general tension of the drive cage) actually holds the drive in very securely without a need for screws.
Everything else went pretty swimmingly after those two, though. The drive trays continue to be very easy to work with, snapping neatly onto 3.5" drives while 2.5" drives screw into the bottoms of the trays. Expansion cards go in just as easily, with thumbscrews holding the expansion bay shields in place. And of course, the power supply went in without a hitch.
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Corsair has almost perfectly evolved cable management in the C70. There's a healthy amount of clearance above the motherboard (owing to the space needed for a 240mm radiator and fans) that makes connecting the AUX 12V line a breeze. Meanwhile, routing cables behind the motherboard tray just got even simpler, as the channels in the tray help direct the cables while the included clamps allow you to essentially lock everything down. Cabling was ultimately unbelievably simple, and every other vendor should be taking note here: this is how it's done.
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Despite hiccups with the motherboard (and to a much lesser extent the 5.25" bay), Corsair continues to set the standard for ease of assembly and service, and I can't wait to see these advances appear in future designs of theirs.
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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.