Corsair Carbide 300R Case Review: Corsair For the Masses
by Dustin Sklavos on June 29, 2012 2:25 AM EST- Posted in
- Corsair
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- mid-tower
- ATX
Noise and Thermal Testing, Stock
As I've belabored time and time again, Corsair's strength has always been their ease of assembly, while thermal performance has generally been more middle of the road. I'm fairly optimistic about the 300R's ability to dissipate heat, but not as optimistic about its acoustics. That's due simply to the amount of ventilation in the case. I think the competitor to watch here may be the more expensive Antec Eleven Hundred.
As summer is beginning to set in in California, ambient temperature during testing was ~25C. For reference, this is as hot as our ambient temperature testing has gotten, with the lowest low being ~22C.
As it turns out, at least at stock, thermal performance is pretty excellent. The Corsair Carbide 300R is very competitive here.
Fan speeds are competitive, too, although Antec's solution continues to show a substantial lead. All told, Corsair's solution is at least a solid performer under stock circumstances, and that's nice to see.
As it turns out, the 300R is also pretty efficient. Noise levels are actually quite tolerable under both idle and load. Corsair appears to be on the right track with the design of the Carbide 300R, though it remains to be seen how well it'll handle the increased thermal load of our overclocked testbed.
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ahamling27 - Friday, June 29, 2012 - link
It might be a great performing case at a decent price, but in my opinion, that is one fugly case. Those grill holes in the side for some extra fans don't do it justice. That being said, the ease of putting a computer together inside it does give it some merit.stratosrally - Friday, June 29, 2012 - link
I realize that it adds to the cost and possibly takes the case to a price level where you'd have more competition, but Corsair sells the solid panel from the other side of the case for $9.99. They are switchable, so you could have a mild custom that suits your preferences for a bit more. In fact, one of my favorite things about Corsair is how they sell almost every single part to every case seperately for very reasonable prices. You can modify many of their models by exchanging parts...Link to panel here:
http://www.corsair.com/us/parts/case-parts/300r-ri...
(disclaimer: I do not work for them!)
ahamling27 - Friday, June 29, 2012 - link
That's pretty awesome. I know CoolerMaster kinda does that, but I don't think they have every part, some need to be special ordered. Thanks for the info!jeffkro - Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - link
It kind of looks like a copy of the antec 300, only the uglied it up a little.Olaf van der Spek - Friday, June 29, 2012 - link
Why exactly is the Antec 1100 so much better noise-wise in the overclocked configuration?The cases seem quite similar.
baloor - Friday, June 29, 2012 - link
One thing of note when I purchased one of these recently. The lack of a USB 2.0 to USB 3.0 adapter cable for the front USB ports.The motherboard for my son's system only has USB 2.0 headers on the motherboard and finding an adapter cable that doesn't ship with a case isn't an easy task I have discovered.
stratosrally - Friday, June 29, 2012 - link
Corsair sells a kit that contains just what you're looking for:http://www.corsair.com/us/parts/case-parts/corsair...
$4.99 direct
piroroadkill - Friday, June 29, 2012 - link
I still think the Fractal Design Define R3 is better, maybe I'm biased because I have one, but it looks way nicer, and has blanked off fan holes when you don't need them.Infact, if you have need of a full ATX board, a ton of drives, and have a graphics card that's short enough to fit, then I still can't think of a better case for value/performance/everything than the Define R3.
colonelclaw - Friday, June 29, 2012 - link
I don't think too many people would argue with you that the R3 is a better case, it's basically fantastic. It's also $30 more expensive, which is getting on for 40% more. Definitely a different market.dave1_nyc - Friday, June 29, 2012 - link
I bought an R3 on sale for $80 (total) because that made it almost $40 cheaper than the Arc Midi I wanted at the time, but couldn't justify the price difference. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I like the R3 (despite the laughably badly glued on rubber grommets).I finally got an Arc Midi for something else and while it's a more capable case for cooling (and I like the use of 140mm fans), I'm surprised that in terms of "just liking" I still prefer the R3.
Even the door (which I was prepared to hate) is nice.