[Overclockers.com]

Aimed at the budget-minded consumer who doesn't want to sacrifice performance, the Corsair Carbide 500R will be put to the test today. Part of Corsair's latest case line, the Carbide series includes the great cable management, easy drive mounting features and solid airflow that we've come to expect from Corsair.

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[EarthDog]

Nice review and case!!! Thanks!

[Theocnoob]

Thanks Earth Dog. I like this better than all the other Corsair cases personally so I really wanted to do a review of it, despite its few irks. I'd definitely recommend to anybody looking in this price range that they strongly consider this case.

*Thanks to the OCF editing team for their help on this one!

[kskwerl]

Awesome review, I love cases with four water cooling grommets but I haven't found many that are worthy. I found a Lian Li, In Win, and this Corsair. I'd like to see a higher end case with 4 grommets.

[Theocnoob]

I think Enough case mfgs make the grommets now that someone would sell them to you and you could carefully dremmel the openings if you wanted to.. if there were a case you wanted lacking them. But I agree, four should be standard. This is hardly the case to start doing it on as it has rather limited RAD placement choices, and RAD choices themselves due to less 'height' over the CPU vs, say, the 650D, which takes a much fatter radiator in the roof. This and the 400R are more designed to perfectly accomodate Corsair's H100 than your average "I did it myself" loop system.

This isn't a knock in my opinion though, given the airflow, this is a great air cooling case and I like it quite a lot. If not for a few quirks I mentioned in the review, it could be pretty well perfect.

[Diggrr]

Meh, I buy grommets from Home Depot and add them to any case I own anyway. 3/4" ID so my cool coils fit through them.
My stepped panel drill bit has sure paid for itself over the years!

Now off to read the review!
**Nice write up, noob! Like the looks of that one!

[wickedout]

Very nice review. Great case! I almost bought me the white version. Decided to go with the 600T SE. I'm very happy with it to!

[Theocnoob]

I was leaning towards the mesh panel 600T as well. Four fans beat 2 on the side. I decided I preferred what they'd done with the overall form factor here, the fact that it was so much cheaper, and the unique design with the bowed out side panels. I also calculated I could get about the same amount of air into it using 3 front fans and a bottom fan and only two side intakes rather than the 600's single 200mm front intake. Just a different way to get a similar amount of air in the case.. Overall I think this case's uniqueness as much as it's usability make it a winner. Just that darn EATX SATA port interference. I bought the case for my own rig and decided it was so unique I wanted to write a review and saw there was none so I asked if I could do it .

I'd like to again thank the editing team and support staff for all their hard work on their end getting this edited and published as well.

[Deltafan909]

I'm planning on getting this case, but I was wondering about the fan controller. Can it only handle the fans that come with the case, or can more be attached? How does the included fan controller work? Is it just like a 3 position switch? Thanks.

[EarthDog]

I cannot seem to find any information at a quick glance of the power thresholds for the controller...but as described already, it has 4 connections for it, so up to 4 fans. You may be able to add more with splitters, but, Im betting that its no more than 10W /channel...

[Deltafan909]

Originally Posted by EarthDog

I cannot seem to find any information at a quick glance of the power thresholds for the controller...but as described already, it has 4 connections for it, so up to 4 fans. You may be able to add more with splitters, but, Im betting that its no more than 10W /channel...

Thanks! I'm stuck between the 500R and the 650D. I am guessing both have the same fan controllers...?

[aya90]

I could have bought this case over corsair 600T white = / but i dont like thumbscrews windows

[Theocnoob]

Originally Posted by Deltafan909

I'm planning on getting this case, but I was wondering about the fan controller. Can it only handle the fans that come with the case, or can more be attached? How does the included fan controller work? Is it just like a 3 position switch? Thanks.

Hi it's 3 position, it connects to your PSU via a molex which comes out of the controller as do several fan lines (6?). You can connect additional fans to this 'system', and if they are LED, the system will LED on/off them as well as 3 speed control. I don't know the wattage per channel etc as I didn't use it on my build.

Originally Posted by Deltafan909

Thanks! I'm stuck between the 500R and the 650D. I am guessing both have the same fan controllers...?

Same general idea but the 650D one is a bit harder to access under the top hotswap HDD/SSD cover and it has no LED control.

By no means is either of these systems any kind of a high tier solution. They do work though. I would judge the 500R particularly for its other good features over the fan/led controller which to me is really sort of just a pair of fuzzy dice in the grand scheme of things.

Originally Posted by aya90

I could have bought this case over corsair 600T white = / but i dont like thumbscrews windows

There is no window. The thumbscrews are IMO less of an eyesore vs the latches on the other series cases Corsair has made.

[Deltafan909]

Originally Posted by Theocnoob

Hi it's 3 position, it connects to your PSU via a molex which comes out of the controller as do several fan lines (6?). You can connect additional fans to this 'system', and if they are LED, the system will LED on/off them as well as 3 speed control. I don't know the wattage per channel etc as I didn't use it on my build.



Same general idea but the 650D one is a bit harder to access under the top hotswap HDD/SSD cover and it has no LED control.

By no means is either of these systems any kind of a high tier solution. They do work though. I would judge the 500R particularly for its other good features over the fan/led controller which to me is really sort of just a pair of fuzzy dice in the grand scheme of things.



There is no window. The thumbscrews are IMO less of an eyesore vs the latches on the other series cases Corsair has made.

Would you recommend the 500R over the 650D? This is going to be my first build and I only need a mid-tower, so I finally came down to these two. I'm not doing a custom loop, as tempting as it is, because I will probably be going to Ivy by the time I purchase the system which I think can be covered just fine by an H100 that I am planning on. My Alienware is still working...

[Theocnoob]

As far as the 650D and 500R, I actually sold my 650D and moved to the 500R. I do feel it is a better value for the money personally.
The 600T with the mesh side panel accommodating 4 120mm fans is something else to consider. You could get a significant level of airflow through that one.