Corsair Carbide 500R: A Corsair in Every Home
by Dustin Sklavos on October 25, 2011 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Corsair
- mid-tower
Testing Methodology
For testing ATX cases, we use the following standardized testbed in stock and overclocked configurations to get a feel for how well the case handles heat and noise.
| Full ATX Test Configuration | |
| CPU |
Intel Core i7-875K (95W TDP, tested at stock speed and overclocked to 3.8GHz @ 1.38V) |
| Motherboard | ASUS P7P55D-E Pro |
| Graphics Card | Zotac NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (244W TDP) |
| Memory | 2x2GB Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer DDR3-1600 |
| Drives |
Kingston SSDNow V+ 100 64GB SSD Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gbps Samsung 5.25" BD-ROM/DVDRW Drive |
| CPU Cooler | Zalman CNPS9900 MAX with Cooler Master ThermalFusion 400 |
| Power Supply | SilverStone Strider Gold 750W 80 Plus Gold |
A refresher on how we test:
Acoustic testing is standardized on a foot from the front of the case, using the Extech SL10 with an ambient noise floor of ~32dB. For reference, that's what my silent apartment measures with nothing running, testing acoustics in the dead of night (usually between 1am and 3am). A lot of us sit about a foot away from our computers, so this should be a fairly accurate representation of the kind of noise the case generates, and it's close enough to get noise levels that should register above ambient.
Thermal testing is run with the computer having idled at the desktop for fifteen minutes, and again with the computer running both Furmark (where applicable) and Prime95 (less one thread when a GPU is being used) for fifteen minutes. I've found that leaving one thread open in Prime95 allows the processor to heat up enough while making sure Furmark isn't CPU-limited. We're using the thermal diodes included with the hardware to keep everything standardized, and ambient testing temperature is always between 71F and 74F. Processor temperatures reported are the average of the CPU cores.
For more details on how we arrived at this testbed, you can check out our introductory passage in the review for the IN-WIN BUC.
Last but not least, we'd also like to thank the vendors who made our testbed possible:
Thank You!
We have some thanks in order before we press on:
- Thank you to Crucial for providing us with the Ballistix Smart Tracer memory we used to add memory thermals to our testing.
- Thank you to Zalman for providing us with the CNPS9900 MAX heatsink and fan unit we used.
- Thank you to Kingston for providing us with the SSDNow V+ 100 SSD.
- Thank you to CyberPower for providing us with the Western Digital Caviar Black hard drive, Intel Core i7-875K processor, ASUS P7P55D-E Pro motherboard, and Samsung BD-ROM/DVD+/-RW drive.
- And thank you to SilverStone for providing us with the power supply.
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JonnyDough - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
I third it. I spent way too much on a Kandalf case from Thermaltake back in the day and to be honest, I prefer my smaller Ultra case I got free with a purchase from TigerDirect. The big case is fancy, but I don't do water cooling, and it ends up just taking up more room and being harder to work on due to having to move it with limited space. What we need to see more of is a focus on useability when it comes to putting parts in and taking them out.No more craning to get your fingers around a jumper, or working to get cables out of the way, or to get one plugged in, etc. Building a PC needs to become a bit easier.
I think that it starts with chip makers (CPU sockets and cooler designs), moves to motherboard makers (who have always had to consider the case and access in design), and ends with case makers.
Seems to me we could use some sort of new design, perhaps a new style of motherboard. I like the idea of one that has PCB in the shape of a blanket draped over a wire to form a lean/to or tent. I haven't had geometry in awhile and its a pretty useless subject in most career fields.
Like this, /\ A fan at the bottom could draw in cool air along the bottom edge of a case and push it upwards over several components. The heat would rise some off each component and since they are on a slope, the heat would not all blow onto the next component. Just imagine a slew of newly designed cases that would come along with it. Conical ones could be quite interesting.
I would love it if a motherboard manufacturer branched off and decided to try perfecting some arching/joining PCB. I wonder if anything like that has been done? What about two-sided PCB with the cooler running parts on the bottom and reinforced mounting brackets?
Dustin Sklavos - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
$139 for a case, on the other hand, is totally worth it. ;)C300fans - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
A good case does not mean that it must have more holes. Fracle design labeled 139$ has much better quality, which provides you sound sponge isolation and dust filters on all holes as well as 3 pieces of silent cute fans.jamyryals - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
If they are going to do a white case, I would prefer the grills to be white as well.Lazlo Panaflex - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
FWIW, I personally haven't had any problems with Corsair rebates...but they do take their sweet time sending out the rebate card.
ckryan - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
Your detailed description of hot case-on-case action was appreciated. Have you considered trying your hand at bodice-ripping romance novels?justaviking - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
The sun glistened on his 6-core abs. As he approached, the motherboard could feel the heat radiating from him as his fan breathed warmly on her neck. Her heart began to overclock...No, I don't think so.
SquattingDog - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
Damn we need a like button here - this is awesome @ justaviking - made my morning :)Jeffk464 - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
It would take a lot of convincing for someone to prove to me that its 2.5 times better than my antec 300. Oh, and its white.compudaze - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
I went from an antec 300 to a corsair 600t. I loved my 300. It was the best case I ever owned until I got the 600t. But honestly, u don't know what u r missing until you build a pc in a corsair case.