Corsair Carbide Series Air 540 Cube Case Review

1. Introduction2. Corsair Carbide Air 540: Packaging & Bundle3. Corsair Carbide Air 540: Exterior4. Corsair Carbide Air 540: Interior5. System Installation6. Testing Methodology and Thermal Performance7. Acoustic Performance8. Closing Thoughts9. View All Pages

The Corsair Carbide Series Air 540 is a superlative chassis which executes the unique features very well. Cable management is about as easy as it gets and the spacious primary and hidden secondary chamber, combined with excellent grommet positioning, make for a simple to use and very effective system.

Cooling is a strong point for the Air 540. The two powerful AF140L fans force cool air towards the hot graphics card and CPU area and a single 140mm rear exhaust fan is used for removing hot air from the system.

Watercooling support is welcomed and a double- and triple-sized radiator can fit inside the Air 540. There is a good amount of clearance for thick radiators and large tubing – 110mm at the front and 70mm in the roof.

Expansion options are generally good. Eight PCI slots make 4-card configurations a reality and two 5.25″ bays is likely to be sufficient for most users. It's the standard hard drive support that is slightly limited, a pair of 3.5″ drive mounts may be insufficient for quite a large proportion of users. Three would be more useful.

A high-quality, well-engineered style makes the Air 540's unique appearance an attractive one. Corsair deserve credit for their ability to give a case with such awkward dimensions such an alluring appearance.

The lack of fan controller is disappointing and has a negative effect on the case's acoustic performance. No filter below the HDD slots is a needless corner that has been cut. Our biggest complaint stems from the short – 29cm – front panel cables.

Corsair's decision to shorten them to an appropriate size was a good one, but unfortunately, further research for complete motherboard compatibility was clearly required. Hopefully Corsair will implement a fix to this issue (such as supplying extension cables) before the case starts shipping to users, otherwise major problems could be encountered. Nobody is going to be happy manually shorting out their power button header on a regular basis.

Available to preorder for £116.99 from OverclockersUK, the Corsair Carbide Series Air 540 offers excellent value for money. You get a unique, high-quality, feature-heavy chassis for what is a very competitive price.

If Corsair can quickly solve the short front panel cables issue, the Carbide Series Air 540 Cube case is an innovative chassis that is well worth its competitive asking price.

Pros:

• Excellent cooling performance.
• Unique design.
• Solid build quality
• Plenty of clearance for large hardware.
• Large window.
• Excellent cable management.
• Good watercooling support.

Cons:

• Short front panel cables.
• No fan controller.

KitGuru says: A well-implemented breath of fresh air for the chassis market.

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