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
Conclusion: Remarkably Strong
I've normally been pretty skeptical about Corsair's cases in terms of their thermal performance. Assembly has almost always been a breeze, and cable organization has seldom been an issue, but when crunch time came around they tended to linger in the middle of the pack. By definition, that's not terrible but it's not great either. On the more expensive cases it becomes a problem, especially if they're competing with air cooling juggernauts like the SilverStone FT02.
Yet when we're talking about a case that's under $100, trade-offs become a lot easier to swallow. That's part of what I like so much about the Carbide 300R. While acoustics are somewhat weak, the feature set and performance make them much easier to live with. Laterally oriented drive sleds, solid cable routing, toolless drive installation, USB 3.0 support...there's a lot to like about the internal design.
The 300R doesn't have any means of really dampening sound and so its acoustics can frankly be pretty lousy (particularly with a high-end overclocked system), but for once Corsair has done a bang up job with thermal performance, offering a case that's frequently very competitive where it counts. It still can't beat the Antec Eleven Hundred, but Antec's case also costs at least $20 more and isn't as easy to service as the 300R is. If you build the 300R smart, I believe you can definitely improve the acoustic performance.
Ultimately if you're in the sub-$100 market for a case, I think the Corsair Carbide 300R is going to be pretty close to ideal for end users looking to maximize performance against budget. The only major competitor in my mind is going to be Bitfenix's Outlaw, which sells for $30 less and pretty much steals the show in that market. Yet the 300R is more feature rich, easier to assemble, and allows for a 240mm top-mounted radiator if you're looking to spend up on cooling. It's not a homerun, but it's pretty close. At $79 it's a solid deal; if you find it for any cheaper than that, grab it.
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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.