The Corsair Carbide 600Q Case Review: Upside Down But Right On
by E. Fylladitakis on September 12, 2016 8:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Corsair
- ATX
- E-ATX
Conclusion
Corsair added the Carbide 600Q to their ranks as a case with a minimalistic appearance and similarly minimalistic noise. Aesthetics are a highly subjective matter, so the minimalistic design of the case will probably be a bit polarizing; some will love the minimalistic, plain design, whereas others will be comparing it to a refrigerator. In terms of quality, the Carbide 600Q is an excellent product, built from high quality materials and with a very well designed, mechanically strong chassis.
Under the hood, the system area of the Carbide 600Q is roomy, offering excellent hardware compatibility and maintenance comfort. Aside from its stock cooling fans, the Carbide 600Q also offers a plethora of options for liquid cooling support. The case can support a radiator up to 280 mm long at the front of the case, up to 360 mm long at the bottom of the case, and up to 140 mm long at the rear of the case. This allows for various combinations of multiple all-in-one liquid coolers as well, such as, for example, one for the CPU installed to the bottom of the case and one for the GPU installed to the rear of the case.
However it should be noted that the Carbide 600Q is limited in terms of drives support, as the maximum number of drives that can be installed is relatively low. The majority of system builders should be satisfied with the number of drives that this case can support - two 3.5" drives and a trio of 2.5" SSDs - but it clearly was not designed for systems that require a large number of drives. Considering the mediocre thermal performance within the 3.5” drive area, the 3.5” slots are probably bsed used with low RPM/low power disks, such as efficient consumer-grade drives that have been designed with simple data storage in mind.
Perhaps the best feature of the case and one that seems that is not getting enough attention in the company’s marketing is its exceptional thermal performance. The Carbide 600Q, with a size comparable to most typical ATX designs, outperformed much larger cases that have been designed with thermal performance as their primary focus. The Carbide 600Q also has excellent noise reduction capabilities but, of course, Corsair’s marketing quote that the Carbide 600Q will always be whisper-quiet “no matter what’s running inside” is an exaggeration. Even our 44.2 dB(A) dummy load would still be unnervingly loud for users that seek to build a silent setup. A truly quiet system requires the careful selection of every component - the Carbide 600Q will help, but it definitely is unable to make a loud build suddenly go quiet.
In summary, Corsair designed the Carbide 600Q to entice advanced users that want a high quality and versatile case with excellent thermal performance and sound dampening capabilities but, at the same time, prefer a subtle and elegant appearance over a fancy design that instantly stands out. The Carbide 600Q excellently combines all of these features but, unsurprisingly, the designer could not keep the cost of such a product very low. With a retail price of $140, the Carbide 600Q is a relatively expensive product, but one that we would wholeheartedly recommend to users that require both excellent quality and overall performance from a product that they plan on keeping for years to come.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
46 Comments
View All Comments
User.Name - Monday, September 12, 2016 - link
I'm not in the "I love my FT02" camp, but I do wish they would update the FT02 as well - or that their patent on 90° rotated motherboards would expire so that other manufacturers could use the design.• Despite the 180mm fan below them, that thing is a hot box for hard drives with an awful plastic mounting system, and there's no ventilation for the SSD mount. It can only hold five 3.5" drives too, which is not many for a case this size.
• If you have optical drives, they can interfere with the PCIe slots and would block airflow from the HDDs if there was any ventilation up there. (yes, I'm apparently a dinosaur now with my need for 2+ optical drives and many HDDs)
• It's a pain having to remove/install the top cover to access the cables. It should be a double-hinged "door" that can open from either side, which can optionally be removed.
• Cleaning the dust filters requires you to remove the top cover and the side panel to gain access. Dust filters should be removable from the front or the side of any case, so that you don't have to move it.
• Despite its huge exterior size (and weight), I actually found the case quite cramped and awkward to build in. Cable management seemed like an afterthought. Remember when high-end cases had removable motherboard trays?
I'm looking to build a new PC in the near future, and struggling to find a good alternative case though. With the size and weight of modern GPUs, I really don't like the idea of one of them hanging unsupported from a PCIe slot.
Azurael - Monday, September 12, 2016 - link
I prefer my PSU to be breathing cool air from outside the case. It's also one less variable to consider when trying to build a positive pressure set-up to minimise dust intake.Lolimaster - Tuesday, September 13, 2016 - link
Actually the PSU works with cooler temps at the bottom (heat goes from bottom to top, so in a top mounted setup, the PSU easy the heat from the mobo, cpu, hdd's and gpu)Spunjji - Tuesday, September 13, 2016 - link
The PSU moving to the bottom was a trend started by silence enthusiasts. You don't get all the warm air in the PC blowing through your PSU, which makes it run cooler and quieter and more efficiently. Having it at the top is a bad idea.seamonkey79 - Monday, September 12, 2016 - link
Read - "I'm young enough to computers to only remember bottom mounted cases."Icehawk - Monday, September 12, 2016 - link
Yup, it is only recently that PSUs are bottom mounted, it used to be a novelty.I have never seen a top mounted machine that was unstable so not really a concern.
IMO orientation all depends on what hardware you will be using.
I wish they would ditch 5" bays, I haven't populated one in 6+ years, they could make atx cases a good bit smaller then.
Ancillas - Monday, September 12, 2016 - link
I thought the same thing, until I put water cooling components into my mid-size. That's why the space is still there on so many cases, just with modular drive bays.If you're not doing water cooling, then yeah, free up that space!
Murloc - Tuesday, September 13, 2016 - link
I remember that even only 10 years ago bottom mounted PSUs weren't a given so how can that beDanNeely - Monday, September 12, 2016 - link
Isn't it amusing the way designs go full circle. Taking advantage of a top PSU + 5.25 bay section and not putting horizontal 3.5" HDDs in front of the mobo isn't new either. My parents circa 2000 Compaq mini tower did the same (although it put the HDD vertical against the front panel).OTOH I'm surprised it took as long as it did to go back to this orientation since it's the most compact way to support a second 5.25 bay for anyone who wants then (a single bay can share space with top fan mounts) while otherwise making the case compact front to back by removing the big HDD cages from the front.
Impulses - Monday, September 12, 2016 - link
Yeah... And this whole business of center of gravity - huh? Biggest selling point for bottom mounted PSU as I remember it originally was moving them away from the hottest component (CPU), but then that shifted to become the GPUs (at least under load)...Course this case doesn't really change that but still. The Silverstone TJ06 had an identical design to this, over ten years ago, when bottom mounted PSU were just starting to become trendy. Only deterrence was a larger top compartment with more bays.