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
Noise and Thermal Testing, Overclocked
Enclosures in this price range are more apt to prove their worth when faced with a substantially increased thermal load, and our overclocked testbed provides exactly that. Note that again, the 500R seems to really be geared towards including a 240mm radiator (like, for example, Corsair's own H100). The side intake fan should help keep the GTX 580 running cool and is worth keeping in mind for dual-GPU configurations.
Thermal performance isn't perfect, but it's pretty solid. The 500R keeps the GTX 580 about as cool as any other enclosure, while processor temperatures are on the lower end of our testing spectrum. Once again, it's clear that toggling fan speeds just isn't the way to go to keep temperatures down, only noise. The 500R is already doing a fine job of moving air in its stock configuration.
Idle noise is way down compared to some of the other enclosures we've tested, too, though once again it goes up pretty substantially once stress is applied. It stands to reason that the 500R would do very well in a configuration with dual graphics cards and a 240mm radiator handling CPU cooling. Keep an eye on Fractal Design's Arc Midi, though: while it's louder under idle, it's also $40 cheaper than the 500R while providing mostly equivalent thermal performance.
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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.