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.
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darckhart - Friday, November 26, 2010 - link
haven't read all the words yet, but thanks very very much for the pictures. good angles. i am always checking for the few things that annoy me and i was able to see clearly in your installation. thanks!marc1000 - Friday, November 26, 2010 - link
Dustin, could you PLEASE do one more test if you still have the case? Invert the top 200mm fan to make it an INTAKE fan (or the rear 120mm, or both) and check the load temps again. When I inverted all fans in my case, the temps dropped by a fair amount. I know each case is different, but if you could make this test and post the result here in the comments I would be very thankfull. (maybe if it makes any difference you could even change the case recomendation to silver).JarredWalton - Friday, November 26, 2010 - link
I assume you mean to make all of the fans intake and go the positive pressure route? Because "inverting all the fans" wouldn't really make sense. We should have more case reviews coming from Dustin, and we're working to come up with additional useful tests so if you have any other suggestions/requests please let us know. :-)glad2meetu - Saturday, November 27, 2010 - link
I think many of us will be interested in a review of the new after market cpu coolers for LGA-1155 around the Jan 9 - Jan 31 time frame. Some minimal details of the new motherboards are starting to come out. On the same note, it would be interesting to see if some of the low airflow problems with several cases is mitigated when an after market cpu cooler is used within thttp://www.anandtech.com/show/4028/corsair-graphit... case.marc1000 - Saturday, November 27, 2010 - link
yes, Jarred, what I meant is make all of the fans intake. my current case is a micro-atx that only had exaust fans, and the only way I could improve the temps was turning all fans intake. the only exaust ones are the psu fan, and the gpu fan - it's a 5770 with the first "batmobile" cooler, it seems loud as hell in such a small case :(anyway, this "positive pressure" test is fairly simple to do. I hope you guys can include it in following reviews. (and I hope you read this comment!)
best regards,
marc1000 - Saturday, November 27, 2010 - link
sorry for the typos, I'm writing from my phone ;)Solidstate89 - Friday, November 26, 2010 - link
First off, I love that you're starting to do case reviews. I usually come to Anandtech first and foremost when I'm considering a tech purchase in hopes that you guys did a review of said product.I'd love for you guys to consider doing a review of the Fortress FT02. One of the more innovative cases on the market from what I've seen.
sonicology - Saturday, November 27, 2010 - link
I would like to second this.Anandtech has been my first choice for reviews for nigh on 8 years now, great job with the site guys.
Also, any chance of reviewing the aforementioned Fortress FT02 case? I will shortly be in the market for a new case and this one his definitely caught my attention.
kevith - Friday, November 26, 2010 - link
I really like this case when I see it, the design appeals to my taste, both color and the rounded edges. And the price of a good cabinet has never bothered me much, the case is the housing of all our precious - and pricey - hardware. And - like it seems to be the case with Dustin and his old Antec - you can almost grow a long-lasting, love-like relationship with your case. And when it comes to love, there is no price...And if the case really is Cool & Quiet, I think I´m falling a little in love already.
But - as so often - this is where my problems start. Like Phoenixlight wrote, I too would have liked to see some comparisons. It´s almost as if this belongs to an in-depth review of a case. Since all installations are different, you have to have something constant to relate to: A build that´s always the same- until upgraded - that stands in the same room under pretty much the same conditions all the time.
And when you follow the link to the review from bit-tech, it truly shows exact the opposite of Dustins conclusion: The 600T does indeed suck at cooling.
Now, Anand is my main source for hardware reviews, but the two others I do take seriously as well, are Tom´s Hardware and... Bittech. (Since I live in Dennmark EU, prices and products sometimes are more equivalent at Bittech to what I can buy here.)
So now I don´t know hat to think. Are my new love like I want her, wellrounded, quite and still cool? Or is she a hotrunning babe, from whom I´l never get nothing but the Blues?
Dustin Sklavos - Friday, November 26, 2010 - link
Personally I'd go for it.bit-tech's review is solid but it's at odds with my experience and with Tech Report's review of the same case (I used to work at TR and can vouch for their reviews). I was able to put Crossfired 5870's in this case without an appreciable increase in temperatures or noise.