Corsair Carbide Air 540 Case Review
by Dustin Sklavos on July 3, 2013 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Corsair
- ATX
Conclusion: You Know if You Want It
After testing the Corsair Carbide Air 540, I'm increasingly convinced it's 2013's BitFenix Prodigy. The review of the Prodigy was one of our most popular case reviews, and it drew a lot of attention for its potential as the foundation of powerful, unorthodox builds. While the Carbide Air 540 doesn't share the Prodigy's smaller form factor, it also doesn't share the Prodigy's weaknesses. What's common between the two is the way they, at the risk of sounding incredibly art school pretentious, open up possibilities for the end user. These aren't cases that merely serve a purpose, they're cases that create a purpose.
Corsair hit a lot of the right notes with the Carbide Air 540. For the first time they've produced a case that has excellent air cooling performance. This was pretty much the last issue I was having with their hardware, and it's largely been resolved here. Ease of assembly continues in that same great Corsair tradition, and I think this is actually one of the most aesthetically pleasing cases I've ever tested. The square footprint makes it a little more difficult to find a place for the 540, but I'd argue that it belongs in a shelf above or below, say, a multifunction laser printer. A system built in the Air 540 doesn't look like a tower, it looks like a computer.
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Despite the fantastic thermal performance, excellent ease of assembly, and beautiful aesthetic, though, the Air 540 isn't a homerun. Lacking any fan control, Corsair is using three case fans that are efficient but noisy nonetheless. It's impressive that the sound floor of the case remained consistent among our three testbeds, but that sound floor was very high in the first place. This isn't an unresolvable problem; the performance potential is obviously present, but you'll have to buy aftermarket hardware to get the Air 540 where you want it to be. At the risk of nitpicking, I'm also not particularly sold on the mounting system for the 5.25" drives, and I do feel like the drive and power supply chamber has room for improvement and optimization. Corsair could get this case a little thinner if they really wanted to, and I worry that the case is such an unorthodox design that they may not iterate on it. I desperately want them to.
Everything else about the Corsair Carbide Air 540 is pretty right, though. The $139 price tag feels appropriate for such an unusual but solidly performing case, and builders who like to experiment will undoubtedly have a field day with it. I've elected to use it for my upcoming custom liquid cooling loop article and expect it will continue to perform well there. This isn't a perfect design, but Corsair strayed off the beaten path and came up with a frankly outstanding enclosure. I'd say that merits at least a Silver Editor's Choice Award.
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Kevin G - Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - link
Agreed. This case is just begging for a front mounted hot swap back plane in that side chamber.It also would have been nice to see a second PSU mount in the side chamber too for those who like to run multiple PSU's for their multiple GPU setups. I would howver default this area to the internal 2.5" drive cage.
The 3.5" bays at the bottom of the main chamber aren't a bad idea but storage really should all be located in the side chamber.
Sabresiberian - Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - link
Since most large cases fill up their "empty space" with drive cages that I don't use, the "wasted" space in the back is no problem at all for me. Still, I agree, I would like to have seen something like more drive bays in sections that you could pull out if you didn't need or want in there.And, it's in the back chamber and so not visible. Personally I don't care for the way drive bays look anyway, so that is a very good solution for me. :)
Subyman - Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - link
I wouldn't say this is a case pushing the boundaries. Its more of a case bringing a Case Labs design to a new price bracket. Has Anandtech ever done a Case Labs review?GoliathPtXs - Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - link
i love this case, right when i saw it at computex 2013 i fell for it, but it could be thinner indeed.hard drives should be in the back, not under a gpu... gpus eat up for themselfs, don't need help from the hdds... they should be in the back compartment with the ssds and the annoying opticals, also, the back compartment should have a exaust fan at least
i'm still waiting for manufacturers start producing REAL gaming cases, with no optical drives... you can download all games nowadays.
i do know this is not a "gaming case" but still... all mid towers are gaming cases...
genghisquan - Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - link
If the user wants to put in some high-end performance HDD, then they will need to get some airflow. That's why the put them in the front. I still agree with you that they should've put the HDDs in the back, though. If there was a HDD cage in the back, then this case could easily fit 4-5 HDD with at least 4 SSD along with it. With that amount of HDD, though, then they'd definitely have to put an intake fan on the secondary compartment, but I don't think that'd destroy the case.dpimente - Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - link
This Case is more of a pure desktop, and not for entry level users either. With that said, there shouldn't even be HDD's. Clearly it's designed with SSD's in mind, thus I feel the 2 x 3.5" HDD bays were merely adding in for the interim.JDG1980 - Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - link
I understand the importance of using a consistent testbed platform, but I think you do an injustice to direct-airflow cases like the 540 and RV04 by using the ASUS GeForce GTX 560 Ti DCII TOP video card. The problem is that this card has heatsink fins that are perpendicular to the airflow, not parallel - so the air can't go across the length of the heatsink, and cooling performance is substantially reduced. I suspect you would have gotten much better results if you used a card like the ASUS DirectCU GTX660-DC2O-2GD5 (which does have parallel fins) or one of the MSI Twin Frozr models. The Arctic Accelero S1 Plus aftermarket cooler would probably also work very well.Building a serious PC entails designing an overall *system*, not just throwing a bunch of components together in a box based on whatever Newegg has for sale this week.
genghisquan - Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - link
I'm confused because the GTX 560 Ti DCII TOP has two fans, but the cards that are shown in the assembly picture look like they're are using single blower style fans. LOL.thesavvymage - Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - link
I believe the ones in the picture are the 580s that they are using for sliSabresiberian - Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - link
I wish I had a purpose for a new case, I'd very likely buy one of these. It is innovative and attractive enough that I think Corsair deserves a pat on the back, and what better way to pat a company on the back than spend your money on one of their products. :) Considering the price of many tower cases, I think it's something of a bargain.Well written and thorough review Dustin, thanks!