Corsair Debate!

ZrRock

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 31, 2011
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396
With interior design being important, the only two manufacturer options at the moment seem to be corsair and fractal! I'm trying to debate between a 550d/500r/600t. Do you have any suggestions? I'm getting a 3570k and z77 mobo, with only a 212+ to cool it right now, but am looking for an H100 or Phanteck in the future.

I'm looking to try to push the overclock a bit on my CPU, eventually shooting for the magic 5ghz but don't want a jet engine case either. With no plans to do a FULL water cooling loop, but possibly an H100, what would you guys think?

I'm not AGAINST the 400r either!

Anecdotal evidence, horror stories, great success stories, and scientific analysis all welcome!
 
Im a huge Corsair fanboy and think everything they make is just excellent. I recently bought this 500R and couldnt be happier. I dont really have the room for a full tower case and this one was just perfect.

The build quality on this thing is superb and it has a very solid feel to it. Lots of cool features like being able to take out the lower or upper half of the hard drive cage for longer video cards or just better air flow. Nice cut out space in the top which is perfect for a radiator and plenty of holes on the back compete with grommets for hosing.

Im also planning on going with a H100 which will fit perfectly in this thing in the upper section so thats another big plus.
 
Im a huge Corsair fanboy and think everything they make is just excellent. I recently bought this 500R and couldnt be happier. I dont really have the room for a full tower case and this one was just perfect.

The build quality on this thing is superb and it has a very solid feel to it. Lots of cool features like being able to take out the lower or upper half of the hard drive cage for longer video cards or just better air flow. Nice cut out space in the top which is perfect for a radiator and plenty of holes on the back compete with grommets for hosing.

Im also planning on going with a H100 which will fit perfectly in this thing in the upper section so thats another big plus.

This is exactly what I have, the 500R and an h-100 set up. The case fits just as much as my HAF 932 did, and it's light with a small desk foot print. I picked it up for 99$ cdn, and I couldnt be happier. Well worth it, and a very well built case.
 
I have the Fractal Arc Midi with Z77 ATX MB and Corsair H100.

The Only complaint I have is when using the H100 with push/pull fans, I can't use a memory cooler (Corsair). The H100 lower fan hits the memory cooler. Works fine either without the memory cooler, or just push fans (no pull) only on H100.

Great looking, quiet case. Lots of HD room.
 
I've built a few computers with Corsair, Antec, and Fractal cases. I'd say Corsair >> (budget) Antec > Fractal. Fractal always seems like the case that is off by just a little bit. Either a piece is broken out of the box or something doesn't quite line up. Antec has some stupid designs but the cheaper case's internals are respectable for sub $80 prices. Corsair seems to hit it right a lot of the time; sometimes rarely you have to wait for a v2 for it to go from 'great' to 'awesome.'

I'd say, personally, the 550D is the best case.
 
fractal interior sucks. it has maybe 15mm behind the motherboard tray at best, your video card is basically right up against the hard drive rack, said hard drive rack is non-removable, it lacks proper airflow, and the 2x120's up top are not spaced correctly for an h100.

why not consider the silverstone tj04-e ? It has 30-50mm behind the motherboard tray (30 where the motherboard is, 50 where the psu is), has room for 9x 3.5" drives and 5x 2.5" drives, and most importantly for you, has offset dual 120mm fans on top that don't obstruct the 8-pin power connector like almost every other case (including corsair and fractal's cases)
 
Anyone own multiple cases on my list? Would LOVE to hear from them.
 
I have used the 550D, 650D (which shares interior design with the 600T), Fractal R3, and Antec 300 for my personal computers. See my comments in #5. Out of them all I'd say 550D > 650D > 300 > R3.

The 550D might be smaller on paper (can't remember) but it excels with cable management relative to the 600T/650D. There is much more space behind the motherboard tray for routing. I seem to remember Redbeard mentioning that the 600T had some wire clearance issues with straightline SATA connectors on hard drives so it was a good idea to use 'L' and 'T' style connectors. The fan placement options for the 550D are far superior compared to any other case hands down. The Antec 300 was next simply because it did well enough for its very low price and it had a few places were I could rig some wire management up using tie downs. The R3 doesn't have nearly as much space as even the 650D for routing, cheap grommets, and a PITA hard drive mounting system relative to the Corsairs. Not to mention the overly complicated fan mounting system and manufacturing variances bad enough that some components (fans mostly) just didn't fit quite well. It was a half bubble off and I'm never going to buy a Fractal case if a better Corsair is only a little more money.
 
*WARNING* The H100 does not properly fit in the 400r. I know it sounds weird as both are made by corsair, and the 400r has a dual 120mm top, but google it and see. From what I hear though, all of the other corsair cases you mentioned work great with the H100
 
Little off the topic, but......I have a Corsair 800D and couldn't be happier, the only thing I wish it had/was would be all aluminum, rather than steel.

Other than that I find all the Corsair cases to be very well designed and built.

Everything was considered, and in my case there is so much room I could let my dog sleep in there too.:D
 
Good replies guys, keep em coming! I'm purchasing in less than 5 hrs!
 
MacLeod how do you find the acoustic on the 500R? With all of the mesh, do you find that sound leaks quite a bit?

Thanks
 
Cool cases. Bit boring after you have seen a million on "rate my cables" threads.

Little off the topic, but......I have a Corsair 800D and couldn't be happier, the only thing I wish it had/was would be all aluminum, rather than steel.

Other than that I find all the Corsair cases to be very well designed and built.

Everything was considered, and in my case there is so much room I could let my dog sleep in there too.:D

The 800d is the only corsair case I've personally taken a real liking to. I've only seen in person and worked with that and a 650d. Pretty average for air cooling in the 800d though.

Also, anyone see the CM Cosmos II as a 800t (800d size 600t)ish? kinda? no?

Just a thought.
 
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Loving the 550D, came from an Antec P180B (for 5 years) and it is better in every way. My friend has a 500R which is nice, but the sound dampening foam and vent covers for fans make the 550D worth the premium in my opinion, plus I think it looks sleeker. Very quiet if you use fan control as well, but has the option to open vents and put lots of fans if that is your thing.
 
MacLeod how do you find the acoustic on the 500R? With all of the mesh, do you find that sound leaks quite a bit?

Thanks

No problems with sound. I've got all the case fans spinning (6) plus the two on my Hyper 212 and its not whisper quiet but definitely not annoying. Its honestly no louder than my wife's computer I built that only has 2 case fans and the stock CPU fan.
 
No problems with sound. I've got all the case fans spinning (6) plus the two on my Hyper 212 and its not whisper quiet but definitely not annoying. Its honestly no louder than my wife's computer I built that only has 2 case fans and the stock CPU fan.

Fantastic, exactly what I was hoping to hear. Two coworkers talked me into the 500r so I could get a LITTLE bit better airflow than the 550d, and after I hit order, I was slightly regretting it, but heres hoping its solid!
 
No problems with sound. I've got all the case fans spinning (6) plus the two on my Hyper 212 and its not whisper quiet but definitely not annoying. Its honestly no louder than my wife's computer I built that only has 2 case fans and the stock CPU fan.

The 500r is actually really quiet. I have 10 of those coolermaster led 120mm fans in my case, They're all controlled, but even when I'm at a LAN when it needs to have them all at max, it's pretty damn quiet.
 
i use the 650d, one of the very few midtowers that supports the H100 in push pull.
 
I own a 650D, Arc Midi, Arc Mini,and a Core 3000. Out of all these cases, my favorite ones are the Arcs. For some odd reason the one I had the most problems with was the 650d. Especially, since I have had such good luck with all their other products.

Seriously, it was easier to put on the rear side panel on the Core 3000 than the 650D(with the same exact parts). Don't even get me started on the loose side panel handles and scratched front panel.

Pics below

http://i.imgur.com/U7WYz.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/5Jm9T.jpg
 
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