Corsair Carbide 300R Case Review: Corsair For the Masses
by Dustin Sklavos on June 29, 2012 2:25 AM EST- Posted in
- Corsair
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- mid-tower
- ATX
Conclusion: Remarkably Strong
I've normally been pretty skeptical about Corsair's cases in terms of their thermal performance. Assembly has almost always been a breeze, and cable organization has seldom been an issue, but when crunch time came around they tended to linger in the middle of the pack. By definition, that's not terrible but it's not great either. On the more expensive cases it becomes a problem, especially if they're competing with air cooling juggernauts like the SilverStone FT02.
Yet when we're talking about a case that's under $100, trade-offs become a lot easier to swallow. That's part of what I like so much about the Carbide 300R. While acoustics are somewhat weak, the feature set and performance make them much easier to live with. Laterally oriented drive sleds, solid cable routing, toolless drive installation, USB 3.0 support...there's a lot to like about the internal design.
The 300R doesn't have any means of really dampening sound and so its acoustics can frankly be pretty lousy (particularly with a high-end overclocked system), but for once Corsair has done a bang up job with thermal performance, offering a case that's frequently very competitive where it counts. It still can't beat the Antec Eleven Hundred, but Antec's case also costs at least $20 more and isn't as easy to service as the 300R is. If you build the 300R smart, I believe you can definitely improve the acoustic performance.
Ultimately if you're in the sub-$100 market for a case, I think the Corsair Carbide 300R is going to be pretty close to ideal for end users looking to maximize performance against budget. The only major competitor in my mind is going to be Bitfenix's Outlaw, which sells for $30 less and pretty much steals the show in that market. Yet the 300R is more feature rich, easier to assemble, and allows for a 240mm top-mounted radiator if you're looking to spend up on cooling. It's not a homerun, but it's pretty close. At $79 it's a solid deal; if you find it for any cheaper than that, grab it.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
44 Comments
View All Comments
losttsol - Monday, July 2, 2012 - link
Fan controllers, audio controllers, light switches, bay reservoirs, card readers....there are plenty of other things to go into a 5.25" bay still. Just because you don't use them, plenty of other people do.jeffkro - Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - link
"I'm tired of all the good case manufactures building good cases for the needs of 2001 and apparently not putting the necessary resources into designing what we need now."The system I keep built for my mom has a mid tower case from 1995, I don't see how needs have changed that much.
jeffkro - Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - link
So by an ITX case, you don't sound like your in the market for a mid tower case.Termie - Friday, June 29, 2012 - link
I was just deciding between this and the Fractal Core 3000. Went with the Fractal, but after having received it, I'm pretty sure the Corsair is the better-built case. That being said, it's also slightly larger, which is what swayed me towards the Core 3000.By the way, Newegg has the 300r for $60AR/FS/Code through July 4th. Nice deal!!!
PPalmgren - Friday, June 29, 2012 - link
Something not mentioned in the reivew that I found important is that the case also includes fan filters over the PSU intake and the front panel intake, impressive for all the amenities offered. Another tiny mention is that the front panel prongs are metal, not plastic, so cleaning the filter and replacing it won't eventually make the front panel clamps break. Really, I have never had a more pleasant build experience in my entire life. I ended up getting it for $70 but looks like you can even get it on sale for $60 now. This thing put my previous ~$200 lian li case to shame, and I couldn't be happier.I weighed this and the 400R and noticed the thing the review mentioned, the rubber cable routing grommets not bieng there, and was worried that it would be that sharp edged crap you can cut your hands on, making it a pain to work with. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I guess its anodized(?) steel so the edges are smooth on the holes, and it feels very good to work with.
C2bcool - Friday, June 29, 2012 - link
One thing to note is the HD Audio Cable is pretty short (could be about 1-2 inches longer). If you don't mind running it directly to the header on your motherboard its fine, but if you want to use one of the cable passthroughs you will need an extension.This is the HD Audio extenision I used:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?m...
phdchristmas - Friday, June 29, 2012 - link
i installed my system into this case just this month. i added 2 140mm corsair fans to the side panel. I've tried multiple configurations of exhaust/intake moving fans here and there and i haven't found any benefits aside from installing the added 2x140mm to the side panel, making all fans intake for positive pressure. Ive done 2 exhaust 3 exhaust temperatures stayed within a given range.Good mid side case on the smaller side. The front panel is mostly plastic but its brushed to make it look aluminum.
Olaf van der Spek - Saturday, June 30, 2012 - link
485mm x 211mm x 450mmIs this H x W x D? Or D x W x H?
Dustin, I've mailed you about this but received no response.
Dustin Sklavos - Saturday, June 30, 2012 - link
We try. Not just in case reviews, but in reviews in general, we do write them for you but we also write them for the vendors. Some vendors live in a bubble and just want the publicity, but some vendors pay close attention to reviews (not just ours).I actually met with Corsair on Thursday and got a chance to talk to the guys that designed the 300R (and other cases).
As for the Antec 1100 being essentially peerless, that's kind of a tougher question than you make it out to be. At its price point I think the 1100 is one of the best deals, but circumstances change radically depending on the parts you install. SilverStone has some interesting stuff in the works, and I believe Corsair does as well. It's not open and shut, and if you're willing to spend the money (and depending on your build) something like the SilverStone FT02 absolutely murders just about anything else on the market. I've tried different cases but keep coming back to the FT02, but I'm also doing primarily aircooling with a closed loop 120mm radiator on my CPU, and both of my video cards use blower style coolers. For my purposes, the FT02 is almost impossible to beat and EASILY worth the expense.
blackberry_user - Sunday, July 1, 2012 - link
I purchased 2 cooler master 120mm blue led fans and attached them to the side panel. It sounds like a helicopter. I checked the fan by removing it from the side panel and they are whisper quiet.Seems like the side panel is flimsy and not well designed. Anyone have ideas to quiten them down?
btw - I have 7 fans attached with a ASUS m5a957 evo, 965BE with hyper 212 and a radeon 6670.