Corsair Vengeance C70 Case Review: Going for the Gamers

Conclusion: Corsair's First Real Misfire

Doing two generally negative case reviews in a row isn't a happy job, and this one is only made worse because frankly, I like Corsair's stuff. I have Corsair RAM in my desktop along with a Corsair SSD, and I'm still using the K90 keyboard. I'm used to being fairly impressed with their kit, but the Corsair Vengeance C70 is a real misstep for their case lineup. Aesthetically it feels off, though that's admittedly a matter of taste, but more importantly the performance is poor.

It's tough to pinpoint exactly where thermal performance went awry for the C70, but I have a couple of theories. The first is that their thermal performance has always been more middle-to-good. That's not necessarily a major problem, at least on the first few cases, because as engineers they're still experimenting and working out the kinks. Internal design has been gradually improved over time, but it's always been incremental. In the C70 that evolution seems to have almost ground to a halt, with only the cage-mounted intake fans being a real change. I also think the amount of ventilation on the C70 may actually be harming performance, as air isn't channeled in a way to maximize performance.

I'm reasonably certain that an end user willing to tinker and test different cooling configurations in the C70 will be able to get better results than I did, but by extension Corsair should've had this figured out before the case even shipped. Whatever the optimal fan configuration might be, I'm pretty sure this isn't it. The fans that come preinstalled are actually fairly quiet at full throttle, but they don't seem to be moving a whole lot of air either. As a result, the case's performance is severely short-changed. Slightly better airflow from the case fans can actually do wonders for reducing thermals and noise, as the fans on the processor and graphics card wind up not having to work anywhere near as hard.

Even with our limited comparison results right now, there's no good reason to go with the C70 over competing offerings. Corsair's own Obsidian 550D costs the same amount of money in retail, is very nearly as customizable, and is much, much quieter. By the same token, Antec's Eleven Hundred costs as much as $40 less than the C70, has some of that enthusiast kick to the external finish, and has substantially better performance at similar or better noise levels. You lose the ability to mount a 240mm radiator in the top of the case, but Antec's similar P280 gives you that option back, and it's still $20 less.

The ultimate problem I have with the C70 is that Corsair is addressing things that were already its strong suits instead of shoring up their weaknesses. Corsair cases were already easy to assemble, and while the increased ease of assembly is welcome, it wasn't the problem. Aesthetically Corsair has always made fairly good-looking cases, so why deviate so wildly from what's been working out fine for them? Meanwhile, the one real weakness of Corsair's cases—thermal performance—is not only left unchecked, but seems to actually be a bit worse.

At the end of it all there's just no reason to buy the Vengeance C70 unless you're married to the look. Antec will outperform it for less money with either the Eleven Hundred or the P280, and even Corsair has better deals with the Carbide 500R and Obsidian 550D. It's easy to build and service, but that's all it really has going for it, and unfortunately that just isn't enough.