My Corsair Carbide 300R Setup

MightyMatt

Gawd
Joined
Dec 23, 2006
Messages
532
With many persons help from these boards, I bought a Corsair Carbonate 300R case to move my current build into. I also got 7 Scythe Gentle Typhoon Fans (1850 rpm) and a Lamptron FCT Touch Fan Controller to help make the case an optimal air cooling case. Here are the pics that I feel I owe to the people who helped me with my research and those looking for info on the components I mentioned above:

1. I got the Gentle Typhoon fans from Aqua Tuning. They shipped them from Germany to my door within 3 days of ordering them, for less than $10!
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2. The fans were shipped in bubble wrap and the quality of the packaging was impressive
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3. The GT Fans had bags over the soft plastic, clear cases for the fans. A nice touch by Aqua Tuning
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4. What GT 1850RPM Fans come with (quarter not included, heh):
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5. You don't need long screws, necessarily
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6. 7 of my new, favorite fans
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7. The Lamptron FTC Touch Screen Fan Controller comes with quite a bit
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8. The controller feels very durable and I was quite happy with spending $70 on it
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9. The Corsair Carbonate 300R case isn't anything that is sexy, but with room for what I needed, and 7 fan spots, I was quite happy
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10. The front of the case comes off (not very easily), so that you can clean the front fans, or replace them, if you need to
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11. The GT Fans didn't have holes ready for screws; you had to force a screw through first, to make the "track" in the hole for the screw to screw into. It was like the verse of "stripping," if you know what I mean
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12. The top grill comfortably fit and held two 120mm fans
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13. Since I wanted the side panel to be intake, I had to make sure the fan blades of the GT's didn't hit the side of the case. Rubber bands did the trick ;)
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14. The rubber bands gave the fans enough clearance so that they wouldn't hit the sides. The ONLY flaw that I felt the Gentle Typhoon fans had was that the blades of the intake side were on the same plane as the fan case, so if the fan was right up against something, the blades would hit whatever the fan was against
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15. All 7 fans in place. A very nice case, imho
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16. Here's my old, messy Antec Soho Server case. I was glad to move out of it
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17. Components going into the Corsair 300R. Notice the amount of airflow that the CPU heatsink will get :)
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18. Extremely clean case, except that the PSU to mobo power cable was too short in my Thermaltake PSU. I must remedy that sometime soon. Suggestions?
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19. The Lamptron TC comes with 6 temp sensor wires for the 6 fans. They don't really blend into the black well ;)
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20. See what I mean? I need to hide them better, but I was anxious to get the comp up and running
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21. Back side, behind the mobo = messy. Oh well, no one sees it :)
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22. I reversed one of the side fans midway through the build, but have since taken it out, so only one intake fan is here. The second one was interfered with by my graphics card's power cable
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23. Back of the case is very clean
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24. Top fans, again. Notice that there is room for dust to fall in, since the 120mm fans, or even 140mm fans wouldn't cover up the entire grill. Oh well
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25. The PSU air intake has a nice removable dust grill
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26. As I have stated in recent threads, I needed a small case to fit in a confined space. This case was PERFECT for that. I didn't get LCD fans, but the lights on the case are nice, and not too bright. The Lamptron FTC is amazing and that deserves a thread of its own. All in all, the case is great for those persons wanting a smaller case, with top airflow capabilities. My 260 GTX doesn't get above 37c at idle, or 40c while playing BF3. The CPU is even cooler, naturally.
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I hope you enjoyed my shag rug, haha.

Things to note not already mentioned. I had to get a USB 2.0 to 3.0 converter cable, so that my old mobo could utilize the 2 USB 3.0 ports on the front of this case. Also, the mic and headphone jack on the front are reversed (mislabed), so you need to open that little compartment up and just switch the wires (very easy). The fans are quiet as anything, but my CPU heatsink's fan is loud and needs to be adjusted when I overclock the CPU. Now feel free to ask me any questions, comment, or criticize ;)

Thanks again for all your help making this build possible and here's the photo album:
Image Shack Photo Album Link
 
That is a nice rig you got. How much did that set you back if you don't mind?

About $75 for the Corsair 300R, $105 for the 7 GT 1850 RPM Fans (6 needed, 1 extra), and $70 for the Lamptron Touch fan controller. So $250, total. The case also came with a couple corsair fans, but I didn't even bother to test them out, to see if they were any good. Guys on here spent a lot of time answering a ton of my questions before I pulled the trigger on this and a lot of people went out of their way. It turned into a sexy rig thanks to them :D
 
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hows the noise level?

The 6 Gentle Typhoon 1850RPM fans don't make a sound at 100% capacity, unless you put your ear right up next to the case, but even then they're a whisper. There's no vibrations, or sounds of anything jostling around, etc. The only thing that makes sound from the rig is my CPU fan, which I still need to turn down a notch. Maybe the hard drives here and there, but that's it. The case and fans are totally worth it.
 
18. Extremely clean case, except that the PSU to mobo power cable was too short in my Thermaltake PSU. I must remedy that sometime soon. Suggestions?
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It should be long enough to run under your gpu to the left of your pci slots. There will be a gap on the left side of your gpu.

If it's not... there are plenty of extensions out there! performance-pcs is in florida, frozencpu is in new york, sidewindercomputer is in indiana, and jab-tech is in oklahoma... pick one that you won't get taxed by and have at the cables section!
 
Same kinda issue im having with the 4/8 pin CPU power cable, I just figured id buy an extension cable to push it behind the mobo, to pop out on the top. Using a different case, but overall same issue.
 
Couple of things:

For your 8 pin extension buy this: http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...oduct_info&cPath=34_804_805&products_id=27507 Performance has pretty good prices, shipping is high unless you choose USPS. I've purchased some of these NZXT cables and they are pretty well made and look nice, newegg might have them too.

Second, why not just use some standard hardware store washers instaed of those rubber bands? They will eventually get brittle and fall out. A pack of washers will cost a dollar and last forever.
Another idea if you want to spend some money and keep the dust out: http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...product_info&cPath=36_463_92&products_id=2275 These are the greatest idea since sliced bread. The screen unscrews for cleaning. You'd have to buy some longer (1 3/4 or 2" 6/32 bolts to meet you needs) bolts to be able to attach these through the existing case grill work.

Lastly, sleeve those Lamptron fan leads, they truely are hard to look at.:D
 
How much did your temps drop from the Soho case to the Corsair 300r with the extra fans?

I am looking at getting the 300r or 400r to replace a Sonata 3 mainly to get lower temps.

Also, is there anyway to add in more HDD/SSD mounts or is 4 the maximum amount you can fit in there?

And does the case come with a USB3 to USB2 converter for the front panel for those of us with older motherboards that don't support USB 3?
 
How much did your temps drop from the Soho case to the Corsair 300r with the extra fans?

I am looking at getting the 300r or 400r to replace a Sonata 3 mainly to get lower temps.

Also, is there anyway to add in more HDD/SSD mounts or is 4 the maximum amount you can fit in there?

And does the case come with a USB3 to USB2 converter for the front panel for those of us with older motherboards that don't support USB 3?

I know it doesnt exactly answer your question, but I recently upgraded to a 500r from an older aluminum case (a raidmax or something) and my vid card temp droped almost 10 deg c with no changes other than the case and I was only using the stock fans that come in it (1 side, 2 front 1 back) the cpu didnt drop nearly as much.. I think it was maybe 2 or 3 deg.

my 500 came with a usb 3-2 converter, I knoiw the 400 does, I am not sure on the 300

if you need the extra hd room, it is definately worth getting the 400 over the 300 - it comes with 6 bays + an extra fan, much needed extra room for wiring with the bowed out section behinde the mb, and it only costs $10 more.. seems like a no-brainer if you have the room for it
 
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