Corsair Carbide Series AIR 540 Computer Case Review @ [H]

NewEgg is/was selling the silver one a few weeks ago. I went with the black just because it matches my other stuff a little better.
Hopefully these come with the longer front I/O wiring already in them. I've had quite the adventure getting those for my case.
So far I like it. It's pretty ideal for their larger liquid coil solutions like the H110. Plus, thanks to the layout, getting good airflow and hiding wires is a breeze. I do kinda wish they had the SSD cage in the front, though. It feels disjointed back there.
 
Domingo said:
NewEgg is/was selling the silver one a few weeks ago. I went with the black just because it matches my other stuff a little better.
Hopefully these come with the longer front I/O wiring already in them. I've had quite the adventure getting those for my case.
So far I like it. It's pretty ideal for their larger liquid coil solutions like the H110. Plus, thanks to the layout, getting good airflow and hiding wires is a breeze. I do kinda wish they had the SSD cage in the front, though. It feels disjointed back there.
Click to expand...

You put 110 on the top? Because I'm considering same combination. Also, how's the noise of the fans and how are the Corsair fans in general? Bearable? Or should I get some Phantex fans?
 
Domingo said:
NewEgg is/was selling the silver one a few weeks ago. I went with the black just because it matches my other stuff a little better.
Hopefully these come with the longer front I/O wiring already in them. I've had quite the adventure getting those for my case.
So far I like it. It's pretty ideal for their larger liquid coil solutions like the H110. Plus, thanks to the layout, getting good airflow and hiding wires is a breeze. I do kinda wish they had the SSD cage in the front, though. It feels disjointed back there.
Click to expand...
I had no problem receiving an rma replacment set of I/O cables for my case from Corsair. Sent a request in on a Friday and had tracking by Monday... What happened on your request for them?
 
MorgothPl said:
You put 110 on the top? Because I'm considering same combination. Also, how's the noise of the fans and how are the Corsair fans in general? Bearable? Or should I get some Phantex fans?
Click to expand...

By default the 110 is a little on the loud side, but that's because it seems to blaze at 100% all of the time. In my mobo's BIOS I turned them down to 62% (they also have 50%, 75%, and 90% options) and have been happy with the noise levels. It's pretty similar to an air cooler.
Even with the 110 set at 62%, my 4.6ghz overclock stays under 81 degrees using Intel Burn Test at max settings. That's good enough for me. Even with the 110 at max the temp maxed around 77, so not all that different. Idles are under 30 in most cases.

MouseTrap said:
I had no problem receiving an rma replacment set of I/O cables for my case from Corsair. Sent a request in on a Friday and had tracking by Monday... What happened on your request for them?
Click to expand...

They ended up sending me the wrong cables for a totally different case and started to ship those wrong cables a second time before someone else at Corsair managed to fix it. My real set are apparently on their way, so hopefully I'll have them tomorrow.
 
MorgothPl said:
You put 110 on the top? Because I'm considering same combination. Also, how's the noise of the fans and how are the Corsair fans in general? Bearable? Or should I get some Phantex fans?
Click to expand...

I have the H110 up top mounted as an exhaust and then replaced the two front 140mm fans with 3 Noctua 120mm fans. My Asus board has it's own fan utility that automatically sets fan speeds based on who-knows-what (magic?), and the computer is whisper silent at idle and only a bit louder at full load. Honestly, I can hear the water pump from the H110 over the fan noise and it's not loud at all
 
parawing742 said:
I have the H110 up top mounted as an exhaust and then replaced the two front 140mm fans with 3 Noctua 120mm fans. My Asus board has it's own fan utility that automatically sets fan speeds based on who-knows-what (magic?), and the computer is whisper silent at idle and only a bit louder at full load. Honestly, I can hear the water pump from the H110 over the fan noise and it's not loud at all
Click to expand...

How do you have yours plugged in? I'm thinking maybe there's a better way for me to have mine hooked up.
 
Switched over to the 540 air today

Have to say im really enjoying it besides the stock fans, will be replaced soon

H110 is nice and at home at the top :)

BD5Mbeul.jpg



also have a 2 x 5.25 into 3 x 3.5 up in the front
osjAWbDl.jpg
 
Which fans will you be using? I might get this case but if stock fans suck, I will need to know which ones to get ;)
 
Stock fans are AF140L, based on the AF140 retail version but without the colored rings or the rubber corners.

They are very efficient and pushing high volumes of air in low restriction environments like the Air 540 design. You would be hard pressed to find fans that push more air at the same noise level, but if you want quieter fans or higher airflow fans there are certainly options out there. But few that meet this same performance/noise ratio.
 
^ I actually reserve my previous statement, The fans are now
my GPU fan default fan speed was too high, it reset when I switched cases apparently
 
I liked this case so much i bought a 2nd one. It's nice to be able to cram so much into a little box, beats having a huge tower on my desk.
 
I have everything setup on mine a little better. Getting a 4-pin splitter for the two H110 fans made a big difference with my noise. I now have them both configured to go to "auto" and shoot for 70 degrees in my BIOS so they aren't blowing wide open. Ditto with the case fans.

The case has been really great and easy to work with. The back side isn't as pretty as I'd like, but since everything is sequestered away back there it doesn't need to be. The area with components is as pristine as they come and I love how everything uses thumbscrews.

Anyone know if there's an option to buy a solid side door? I don't really care to see my LED's all the time.
 
There is none at the moment and I'm not sure if there will be in the future. But if we do start offering them, they are going to be available on our website.

Glad to hear that you are enjoying the case.
 
I'm kicking myself for not grabbing one when they were just over $100 at Fry's last week... :(
 
Got it, installed, everything looks fine and dandy. No more cables clogging the airflow. However (yes, there is always however)... the fan noise is driving me nuts. I'd gladly pay more, but instead got same airflow at much lower noise.

The question is, can you install a fan controller in 5,25 bay, with those toolless features there. And if it's not possible, what fans should I use to get rid of those Corsair loud monsters? Phanteks?
 
I would take Noctua NF-A14 FLX or Noiseblocker PK-2 or PK-3 over Phanteks. Corsair's own AF140 come with adapters to slow them down also.

You can mount a 5.25" fan controller in an Air 540. A quick Google shows some pics.

You could also consider something like this or you could mount a 3.5" fan controller inside in one of the 3.5" drive bays at the bottom, like this guy.

I don't think AF140L are junk by any means, they're just noisy at 12V. They are worth using. There's also a bunch of fan speed resistors or adapters that are cheap and easy to come by on Amazon.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Ordered 3 Noiseblockers PK-2. At 1200 rpm they should be silent, and the CFM is not much lower than AFL140.
 
MorgothPl said:
The question is, can you install a fan controller in 5,25 bay, with those toolless features there. And if it's not possible, what fans should I use to get rid of those Corsair loud monsters? Phanteks?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure I've seen some builds where they've mounted a fan controller in the optical bay, just not sure if they needed to modify it or not.
 
I would imagine like every other tool less designed case. You will have to remove the plastic lock and use screws.

MorgothPl said:
The question is, can you install a fan controller in 5,25 bay, with those toolless features there. And if it's not possible, what fans should I use to get rid of those Corsair loud monsters? Phanteks?
Click to expand...
 
I'm actually looking at replacing my trustworthy White 600T with one of these come income tax time.
 
Can anyone who has this case comment on HD temps for the two mounting space on the bottom of the case? Are those drives getting enough air flow? Right now I keep my drives directly in front of a front case fan in an Antec 900. Will they run hotter in the 450?
 
Should stay pretty cool, they're out of the way of other heat sources, and if you go with the stock fan configuration, that bottom front 140 is putting air across them.

Me, soon as I got it out of the box, I removed the hotswap connectors, took out the plastic bays, flattened the rails back into the case floor, covered the holes with black plastic on the underside, and mounted my single HDD in the optical drive bay via an adaptor.

That drive (a 2TB Seagate 3.5" SSHD) is currently getting NO direct air and I've got a lot of cabling stuffed on the other side of the bay that's further insulating it, yet it's still idling at a low 33C (in 20C ambient).

Then again, that's my storage drive, using an SSD for my OS so it's not getting a big workout normally.
 
Finished this build two weeks ago:
(Unfortunately I had to replace the Vengeance Pro RAM recently with Trident X modules The Vengeance kit was very unstable paired with the R4BE, but I definitely liked the look of them more).

Missing in the photo(s) is a 2nd Samsung 840 EVO 1TB SSD, which I added to the build a few days later.







 
Last edited:
A question regarding top radiator - if I put there 240, SR-1 radiator (54 mm), should I set fans to intake air from the top, or set them to push the air outside the box? and Should I put the fans between rad and case, or below the rad? I doubt the 54mm will allow push/pull config.
 
Thanks to my wife, I've moved out of the Coolermaster I used before this.

This case helps me manage a non-modular power supply still. I am going to do some better cable management, elevate it off the carpet and peel that plastic sheet off the side soon.

qOQ8zMI.jpg

nL1u5Uu.jpg

btbLo4T.jpg
 
Here's mine. Got it done last night. Let me know what you think or what I should add/take away:D Affraid to take plastic off :p







And this is what it looked like before with the 600T
 
Last edited:
Looks like there is a white one coming out in a month or so.. thinking of grabbing it to replace my Corsair 400.
 
KILLER_K said:
I would imagine like every other tool less designed case. You will have to remove the plastic lock and use screws.
Click to expand...

You can install a fan controller. I hve the Rheosmart 6 controller in it. You have to remove the face plate screws on the controller to make it flush, but it works fine.
 
I painted the grills a nice muted red. Looks really good and was easy to do with plastic spray paint.
 
Here's a quick and dirty picture I took of my current setup while swapping the top fans from 120mm to 140mm (moving the 120mm to my HTPC so I can have all poopy brown fans in that one, too). Just looking at my PC's makes me wish I was color blind, but function over form I suppose...

I have two 120mm's on the NH-D14 because they are the only PWM fans I had left. Makes for a quiet setup, with the power supply being by far the loudest part at idle.

jp2s.jpg


I'm very happy with the case (once again) after using some insulating foam tape to stop the vibrations. Also, I put Silverstone 140mm magnetic fan filters on the top and bottom to help with dust. (Also put a 140mm filter on the PSU intake, but it doesn't quite cover the whole thing.)
 
Still loving this case after two months. Just replaced all my noisy-ass Corsair SP120s with quieter (and blingier) Phobya NB-eLoop 1600s, then redid the loop and added more Monsoon bling as well:

900x900px-LL-c996fdc9_2014-01-1622.46.21.jpeg


900x900px-LL-173325df_2014-01-1622.36.25.jpeg
 
jolli said:
Here's a quick and dirty picture I took of my current setup while swapping the top fans from 120mm to 140mm (moving the 120mm to my HTPC so I can have all poopy brown fans in that one, too). Just looking at my PC's makes me wish I was color blind, but function over form I suppose...

I have two 120mm's on the NH-D14 because they are the only PWM fans I had left. Makes for a quiet setup, with the power supply being by far the loudest part at idle.

jp2s.jpg


I'm very happy with the case (once again) after using some insulating foam tape to stop the vibrations. Also, I put Silverstone 140mm magnetic fan filters on the top and bottom to help with dust. (Also put a 140mm filter on the PSU intake, but it doesn't quite cover the whole thing.)
Click to expand...

noctuas are so legit. Nice setup.
 
Cleaned up a little more and sold the 7970's and got 2x dual classified gtx 780's

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top