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To put this case through its cooling paces we will be using a test system consisting of an AMD FX-8350, Radeon HD 7850 and multiple storage drives. This system allows us to produce a substantial amount of heat and effectively test the Corsair Carbide Air 540‘s cooling capabilities.
For stress testing we use a mixture of Prime95 and FurMark to create the maximum heat output. Prime95′s ‘Small FFTs’ setting allows us to stress our CPU. FurMark’s ‘GPU Burn-in’ mode creates the maximum amount of load our GPU is ever likely to see.
Test System:
- Processor: AMD FX-8350.
- Motherboard: ASRock 990FX Extreme9.
- CPU cooler: Thermaltake Frio (100% fan speed).
- Memory: 8GB Patriot Viper 2133MHz.
- Graphics card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 1GB Dual-X (‘auto' fan setting).
- Power supply: Seasonic Platinum-1000.
- Storage drives: 128GB OCZ Vertex 4 (OS), 320GB Seagate 7200.12.
- OS: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit.
Thermal Performance Test Procedures:
- The case’s default fan configuration is used to give an accurate interpretation of the out-of-the-box performance.
- The Corsair Carbide Air 540‘s default fan configuration is: 2x 140mm front intake, 1x 140mm rear exhaust fans.
- The fans are operating at full speed.
- We allow the system to idle for 15 minutes and record the stable temperatures.
- We allow the system to operate under extreme stress for 15 minutes and record the stable temperatures.
Room temperature was maintained at 24°C.
Idle cooling performance of the Air 540 is nothing special. The HDD temperature is higher than competing models due to the fact that Corsair's positioning puts 3.5″ drives away from the front panel.
Load cooling performance on the other hand is very good. The front intake fans' clear path which lacks obstructions allows them to provide cool air directly to the CPU cooler. Graphics cards will also receive cool air which helps them to operate at reduced temperatures.
wow that is f*cking beautiful.
I like the shape, its very different. going to preorder this one.
Am I the only one who thinks this is shaped like a fridge? Its quite attractive, but very weird at the same time.
At least Corsair are trying. I like that.
Somehow missed the announcement of this but having seen it I’m truly obsessed! Seriously considering changing my whole setup to have one of these on my desk… Now just gotta convince the OH… Wish me luck…
where is the power supply?
Must have (y)
To Hemraj comment #5, page 3 has exterior pictures. The power supply is placed at the back of the motherboard. Not sure I’d place it there though.
how to purchase this case?
check your local retailers and give them your credit card information?
I have this case and I can say from experience that it is awesome. I went form a Cooler Master case in the 65-70 dollar range tto this and my average cpu temp went from 45 to 26 and my peaks went from 80 to 52 using only airflow. I have three intake three exhaust all 120’s. I did think the option of only having two 3.5 drivebay slots yet having 5 2.5 drive bay slots was ludicrous once I had it built, but I remedied this very easily by turning the two 5.25 drive bays into 3.5 drive bays with the use of an adapter. I have a usb 3.0 DvD drive anyway so this wasn’t a problem for me. Overall I can say that this case is a boss. The two separate compartments make everything simpler, cooler (temp), and just a breeze to build. Great job Corsair.
Thanks for a great review, if it wasn’t for the psu, would probably take this case.
I mean, who would ever mistakenly put a harddrive on top of their psu? I shouldn’t
People who is careful of their components wouldn’t do that in any traditional case.
So why not in this particular case? Electromagnetic fields has always a risk.