Corsair Graphite Series 600T: Cool and Quiet
by Dustin Sklavos on November 26, 2010 2:25 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Corsair
- 600T
Conclusion: Not Perfect, but Very Close!
When all is said and done, I'm left with an extremely positive impression of the Corsair Graphite Series 600T. I was skeptical at first; the Antec P182 has panels that are insulated to reduce sound, and the construction of the 600T admittedly felt cheaper, with steel and plastic everywhere. In practice, though, the 600T wound up being at least subjectively quieter than my P182 with its four Tri-cool fans.
So, the good stuff: the 600T is, as the headline says, cool and quiet. Getting a system installed in this case and then periodically tweaking it is an absolute breeze. The 600T's internals are spacious, and the largely tool-less design means not having to keep spare screws around or trying to remember where you put the other drive rails. A modular power supply makes installation that much easier, letting you install parts in phases and gradually try to keep everything orderly. The motherboard tray has a cut-out in the back for mounting larger heatsinks that require a backplate, the top of the tower has an impressive four USB 2.0 ports, and the case is even designed to hold a water-cooling system. My P182 felt positively antiquated compared to the 600T.
And the bad stuff: I'd say the pricetag is probably justifiable, but $159 isn't cheap. You get an awesome, easy-to-work-in case with excellent cooling, but $159 is still $159. I was also disappointed to see how easily the right side panel (the one that hides the cable spaghetti) bows. It's good that the panel is flexible enough, but it's unattractive. This is a minor complaint unless the case is going to be at eye level. The fan controller also doesn't seem to do a whole lot, and I can see how people would be irritated by the white LEDs in the fans. You can't disable those lights either.
At the end of the day, the Corsair Graphite Series 600T is a fantastic case and is absolutely worthy of our Bronze Editors' Choice award. Why not better? The bowing side panel is an unsightly blemish on an otherwise attractive case, the white LEDs could be annoying for some, and the fan controller doesn't actually appear to do much. These issues are all pretty minor in the grand scheme of things, though. They're worth putting up with in exchange for the excellent noise and thermal qualities (I actually tested the case with CrossFired 5870s at one point and found the difference in noise and temperatures to be fairly low), and the case is really an absolute joy to work in. $159 may seem a bit steep, but in our opinion, it's worth it. The 600T is a hell of a case.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
69 Comments
View All Comments
Dustin Sklavos - Friday, November 26, 2010 - link
Seriously? If the USB 2.0 ports bother you, enjoy your uh...fictional case that doesn't actually exist. The case has a USB 3.0 port, how many 3.0 peripherals do you even have?I, on the other hand, enjoy having that many USB ports handy.
semo - Friday, November 26, 2010 - link
You talk as if USB 3.0 won't become the defacto peripheral standard in the near future. The standard has been out for a while and cases don't see hardware revisions often, so this case will seem outdated once USB 3.0 drives and peripherals become more common.The_Assimilator - Friday, November 26, 2010 - link
How many current motherboard chipsets integrate USB3 controllers? That's right, none. How many upcoming chipsets will integrate USB3? Also none.There's a good reason for this, and it's called Light Peak.
And if you're complaining about PC parts becoming outdated... then you should really stick to consoles. USB ports don't make a case, although I would like to have seen the 60T space the front ones out a bit more to accommodate extra-thick USB flash drives, like Corsair's own Flash Voyager series.
thrust2night - Friday, November 26, 2010 - link
Looks like you've assimilated your ass with your brain.There are motherboards which have more than one onboard USB 3 ports. And if USB ports don't make a case, neither does Light Peak. And since you are obviously not aware that Intel will be releasing motherboards with their own onboard USB 3 controllers in 2012, you made yourself look more like that idiot you are.
USB 3 is here to stay and there is no point in buying a case that offers only one front USB 3 port. If you are right, why would companies even give you a USB 2 port, they could save money and stick with USB 1.1 coz like you said, Light Peak is coming.
semo - Saturday, November 27, 2010 - link
I can't believe USB 3.0 is such a taboo subject on IT sites... it just boggles the mind. We should all be looking forward to it rather and not find merrits with USB 2.0...Anyway, @The_Assimilator I think you should look deeper into Light Peak. It is only an interface and not a bus. You can aggregate USB 3.0 traffic onto Light Peak if you want to but for the immidiate future we need USB 3.0 (spare me the "10 MB/s for my USB stick is enough, I can wait" crap)
LancerVI - Sunday, November 28, 2010 - link
No USB 3.0? No Purchase!The question of USB 3.0 and this cases lack thereof is a valid and good question.
And there are plenty of motherboards with USB 3.0 onboard.
Dear The_Assimilator,
It's better to be thought of as a fool then to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
Lancer VI
thrust2night - Friday, November 26, 2010 - link
So you're saying people should by a case based on the number peripherals they have?And what nerve to contradict your own statement by saying you would enjoy having that many USB ports handy, implying you don't have enough peripherals to use all the USB ports.
He still has a point. If you're paying a high price for a computer case, which you would probably keep for a few years, if not indefinitely, why would you buy one with only one USB 3 port in the front? It's just plain stupid and the worse part is, idiots like you don't even see it.
SandmanWN - Monday, November 29, 2010 - link
Kinda pointless argument. The only thing that can utilize USB3 to its potential is external SSD enclosures. Most people don't even have one of those around. All mouse/keyboards/printers/etc have not use for it.Even the high end user argument is bunk. It will be years before USB3 devices are even common place and by the an enthusiast should have upgraded already.
philosofa - Friday, November 26, 2010 - link
Whilst the USB 2.0 connectors themselves are backwards compatible (i.e. you can fit 2.0 devices into 3.0 ports) the USB 3.0 connectors that connect to the mobo are completely different - afaik there's no way of connecting a USB 3.0 cable conenctor to a USB 2.0 mobo header. As a result the reality of the current situation is that any current case will by necessity have a mix of USB 3.0 and 2.0 connectors, given that a (currently tiny) minority of boards have USB 3.0 headers at all. It's a bit unfair to expect Corsair to exclude the majority of their customers.I suppose some kind of switching system would be possible, but TBH that's probably an excessive expectation on our part- thus I have to applaud the fact that Corsair fitted at least a single USB 3.0 front panel connector; as Dustin says realistically how many USB 3.0 devices will you connect to the front panel (for me it'd just be a USB 3.0 pen drive)?
thrust2night - Friday, November 26, 2010 - link
But on the same note, how many USB 2 peripherals are you connecting to your computer. I would even go as far as to ask if you are actually using the USB 2 ports on the front panel 24x7. Because if you are not, then just having one USB 2 port and the rest as USB 3 would be better.Or, it would have been good to have 2 USB 2.0 and 3 USB 3.0 ports on the front, since the number of motherboards with onboard USB 3 will actually increase making the case future proof. There are some motherboards like AsRock that provide 2 onboard USB 3 ports.