Corsair Carbide 500R: A Corsair in Every Home
by Dustin Sklavos on October 25, 2011 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Corsair
- mid-tower
Testing Methodology
For testing ATX cases, we use the following standardized testbed in stock and overclocked configurations to get a feel for how well the case handles heat and noise.
| Full ATX Test Configuration | |
| CPU |
Intel Core i7-875K (95W TDP, tested at stock speed and overclocked to 3.8GHz @ 1.38V) |
| Motherboard | ASUS P7P55D-E Pro |
| Graphics Card | Zotac NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (244W TDP) |
| Memory | 2x2GB Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer DDR3-1600 |
| Drives |
Kingston SSDNow V+ 100 64GB SSD Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gbps Samsung 5.25" BD-ROM/DVDRW Drive |
| CPU Cooler | Zalman CNPS9900 MAX with Cooler Master ThermalFusion 400 |
| Power Supply | SilverStone Strider Gold 750W 80 Plus Gold |
A refresher on how we test:
Acoustic testing is standardized on a foot from the front of the case, using the Extech SL10 with an ambient noise floor of ~32dB. For reference, that's what my silent apartment measures with nothing running, testing acoustics in the dead of night (usually between 1am and 3am). A lot of us sit about a foot away from our computers, so this should be a fairly accurate representation of the kind of noise the case generates, and it's close enough to get noise levels that should register above ambient.
Thermal testing is run with the computer having idled at the desktop for fifteen minutes, and again with the computer running both Furmark (where applicable) and Prime95 (less one thread when a GPU is being used) for fifteen minutes. I've found that leaving one thread open in Prime95 allows the processor to heat up enough while making sure Furmark isn't CPU-limited. We're using the thermal diodes included with the hardware to keep everything standardized, and ambient testing temperature is always between 71F and 74F. Processor temperatures reported are the average of the CPU cores.
For more details on how we arrived at this testbed, you can check out our introductory passage in the review for the IN-WIN BUC.
Last but not least, we'd also like to thank the vendors who made our testbed possible:
Thank You!
We have some thanks in order before we press on:
- Thank you to Crucial for providing us with the Ballistix Smart Tracer memory we used to add memory thermals to our testing.
- Thank you to Zalman for providing us with the CNPS9900 MAX heatsink and fan unit we used.
- Thank you to Kingston for providing us with the SSDNow V+ 100 SSD.
- Thank you to CyberPower for providing us with the Western Digital Caviar Black hard drive, Intel Core i7-875K processor, ASUS P7P55D-E Pro motherboard, and Samsung BD-ROM/DVD+/-RW drive.
- And thank you to SilverStone for providing us with the power supply.
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compudaze - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
I love how Corsair left the top fan mounts open instead of obstructing them with unneeded mesh. And how they even left room for their own H100's hoses to drop down... Brilliant. I'm considering "downgrading" to this and re-purposing the 600T.Knifeshade - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
I wonder if Corsair will ever bring out a "300R" mini tower (like the Fractal Define Mini, Arc Mini, Silverstone TJ08E, FT03, Lian Li V354, V600F) for people like me who prefers enthusiast builds without the bulk of mid/full tower cases.I'd love to see what Corsair can bring to the mATX table.
Malih - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
I second that,I love Corsair case design, especially this one, space efficient and not too heavy.
I'd like to use this same layout, remove some of the drive bays, make this case shorter into an mATX case. And workaround the fan positioning so side fan installation still allows for larger HSF.
Malih - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
I forgot to mention, this is coming from someone who owns the Fractal Design Define Mini.I just love mATX case with bottom mounted PSU, and I'm thinking about building another system.
And also thanks Dustin for the review as always.
C300fans - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
Dustin home?Earthmonger - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
Dustin Sklavos, the case reviewer. ("Dustin Home" is a Scand etailer, for those who don't know)Of Corsair's lineup, this is the sexiest case. Sadly no, it won't ever find a place in my home. Not until Corsair abandon plastic and steel, and make enthusiast cases.
Love the contrast of color in this case.
BernardP - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
I would like Corsair to come up with something sized between those mATX-only cases and their current larger gaming cases. The Antec NSK-4482 is smaller and can take a full ATX board but has ample room to work in a mATX configuration.prime2515103 - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
After about 9 years with a Cheiftec Dragon I upgraded to this case. The only problems I've found with it is that the 200mm fan rattles when I first start the system; it stops after awhile though (I haven't timed it but it's at least a minute or two). The only other thing is that I wish there was another few millimeters behind the hard drives. The side panel is pressing right against the cable's connectors. A speaker and a power LED would've been ok too, but I don't really miss them.C300fans - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
I will never spend 139$ for a vacuum cleaner.slick121 - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 - link
I second this comment.