Corsair Carbide 400C Review
Category : Cases
Published by Luca Rocchi on 08.01.16
After the Carbide 600, Corsair is already back with yet more new Carbide Series cases. The 400C is a spacious mid-tower which allows the assembly of high-end and custom watercooling rigs. Like its big brother - the 600C - this case also features a mid-plate allowing for clean builds.
Rating |
| |
Cooling |
Features |
Layout |
Build Quality |
Value for Money |
| Pros |
+ Watercooling compatibility
+ Numerous spots for fans
|
+ Extensive bundle+ Dust filters |
+ Interior
space
|
+ Good build quality
+ Midplate PSU |
|
| Cons |
- Not enough space for radiator on top |
- Front dust filter not easy to remove |
- Not enough space for bigger PSUs
- Not a lot of room behind mobo tray |
|
- Despite the good amount of features we believe that price is a bit too high |
|
[pagebreak]
Preview
Specifications
| Model: |
Carbide 400Q
(Quiet with sound dampening material)
| Carbide 400C (Clear with window) |
| Case Type: |
Full-tower |
Full-tower |
| Dimensions: |
215mm (W) x 464 mm (H) x 425 mm (D) |
215mm (W) x 464 mm (H) x 425 mm (D) |
| Material: |
SECC Steel, Plastic |
SECC Steel, Plastic |
| Color: |
Black |
Black |
| Drive Bay: |
5.25": |
0 |
0 |
| 3.5": |
2 |
5 |
| 2.5": |
3 |
3 |
| Expansion
slots: |
7 |
7 |
| Form factors: |
ATX, mATX, mini-ITX |
ATX, mATX, mini-ITX |
| Cooling: |
Front: |
3x 120 or 2x 140mm (1x Corsair AF140L) |
3x 120 or 2x 140mm (1x Corsair AF140L) |
| Rear: |
1x 120mm (Corsair AF120L) |
1x 120mm (Corsair AF120L) |
| Top: |
2x 120/140mm |
2x 120/140mm |
| Bottom: |
/ |
/ |
| Side: |
/ |
/ |
[pagebreak]
Features
Dust filters
There are washable dust filters covering all larger openings of the Carbide 400C. Thanks to a quick release system they can be removed quickly. |
 |
| |
Well-thought cable managment
On the Carbide 400C, Corsair used rubber grommets through which cables can be routed from one side to the other. The grommets fit very tight and they don't come off easily. |
 |
| |
PSU Cover
In order to hide all the cables connected to your power supply, there is cover hiding away the unit. This helps creating a neat and clean looking system. |
|
| |
Watercooling ready
The Carbide 400C is also ready for watercooling gear. If you wish to install a custom loop, there is the possibility to equip this case with up to three radiators. Two of them can measure 360mm or 240mm in lenght and the third one could be a 120mm model. |
 |
[pagebreak]
Product overview
Overview |
|
|
| |
|
| A few weeks ago Corsair introduced their new Carbide 600 Series cases and now the company is ready to add yet another model to the series. With the new Carbide 400 series, Corsair introduces two different cases, where one is called “Quiet” and the other goes by the name “Clean”. In this article we're going to have a close look at the Clean version however the main difference between the two only concern side panel and noise dampening materials.
At a first glance the Carbide 400C is an elegant case with rather simple yet unusual design. Unlike with the Carbide 600, Corsair is only using metal and plastic on this case and there are no aluminum parts. The Carbide 400C Clean is a mid-tower case offering enough space even for multi-GPU systems. The front doesn't feature any large openings and there are only a few small air intake holes, which help with cooling. Like the Graphite 760T we've reviewed quite some time ago, Corsair decided to equip this case with a huge and easily removable window made from plexiglass. On the Carbide 400C the overall quality of the window has been improved by adding two big metal strips, which improve the stiffness. The I/O connectors are placed at the top of the case and we find two USB 3.0 ports and two classic 3.5mm audio jacks. |
| |
|
|
| |
[pagebreak]
Installation
Overview |
|
|
| |
| The interior is simple and clean, and it features an ATX design with some interesting features. With this model Corsair decided to separate the PSU/HDD area and motherboard area using a mid-plate; it's not the first we've come across something like this and we really like it, since it allows for better cable management and cleaner builds. Due to the ATX layout, the placement of the components is easy to understand and we find the PSU in the bottom part while on top there is some good space for fans or radiators. The Carbide 400C is a case for enthusiasts and users who like custom water cooling builds, since there is quite a lot of space for radiators. Nevertheless you can equip this case with two 3.5" HDDs and three 2.5" drives and all of them can be installed using tool-less sledges. The motherboard tray is made out of solid steel, and it features a large opening behind the CPU socket, which allows the user to install aftermarket CPU coolers without taking the motherboard out of the case. The tray features a few openings, which have been covered with rubber grommets to create a neat cable management. The Carbide 400C is compatible with ATX motherboards and it's also compatible with a large number of coolers and radiators.
For our test we used a mATX motherboard with and a 240mm All-in-One watercooler. As you can see from the pictures there are plenty of slots for the fans and radiators. The Carbide 400C offers space for CPU coolers measuring up to 170mm in height and graphics cards can measure up to 370mm in length. In other words you can install almost any CPU cooler without checking its specs. Despite the very generous dimension of our Club 3D R9 290X GPU, we could install it successfully not encountering any issues. |
| |
|
|
| |
[pagebreak]
Ventilation options
Overview |
| |
| |
|
| The Carbide 400C offers plenty of spots for fans and included in the delivery you will find two fans; one is in the front and one in the rear. Overall, the case offers space for three 120mm or two 140mm fans in the front, two 120/140mm in the top area, and one 120/140mm in the rear part. As you could have guessed, this means there is enough space for a 280/240mm liquid cooling radiator and in the front you could even place a 360mm radiator. |
| |
|
|
| |
[pagebreak]
Temperatures
Overview |
For testing purposes we're using an ASUS P8Z77-I ITX motherboard, an Intel Core i5-2500K CPU, which receives cooling through a Kelvin S24 cooler as well as a Club3D R9 290X royalAce graphics card. To put the CPU under full load, we're running prime95 for 10 min and in the case of the GPU we use Furmark also for 10 minutes. After these ten minutes, we're going to write down the temperatures. The ambient temperature is close to 21°C. |
|
All noise dampening panels installed |
Idle (°C) |
Full (°C) |
|
Intel Core i5-2500K |
35 / 34 / 35 / 36 |
54 / 56 / 56 / 55 |
| Club3D R9 290X royalAce |
36 |
73 |
|
Less is better |
[pagebreak]
Conclusion
With the Carbide 400C, Corsair offers a mid-tower case, which is ready for a custom watercooling loop. Apart from that this case offers a couple of midplate that will make your life much easier. The Carbide 400C is very well compatible with high-end configurations. Corsair offers the Carbide 400 in two different versions, where the “Clear” comes with a plexi window and the “Quite” features noise dampening material. The build quality appears to be on a good level, hovewer not on the same level of the Carbide 600C reviewed previously.
On the inside this case is quite spacious and compatible with high-end graphics cards. Despite the fact that Corsair tried to create a simple case with midplate and loopholes to realize a clean setup, there is not enough space behind the motherboard tray. Since this case is only 215mm wide it's obvious where the issue is. Even with a fully modular standard ATX PSU with sleeved cables we have had a hard time with the side panel.
Regarding cooling: you can install almost anything you want. May it be a huge aircooler or a custom watercooling loop with 360mm radiator. If you want to, you can equip the front with a radiator and the fans in push/pull configuration, but if you plan on putting a radiator in the top, there is no space for a set fans. Should you be using a gaming motherboards with large heatsink there simply won’t be enough space left to equip a radiator with fans. Since the Carbide 400 is compatible with ATX motherboards you could build a multi-GPU setup. Although there is plenty of space for graphics cards, you’ll have a hard time wiring the power cables coming from the PSU, since there really isn’t too much space in that area of the case. If you’re planning on using a PSU measuring more than 160mm then you’ll have to completely remove the HDD cage.
On Geizhals the new Carbide 400C is listed at 101 Euro. Despite the rather good bundle, which includes two fans, we believe that the price is slightly steep. While we appreciate even the good amount of features, there were quite a few points we disliked. The Corsair Carbide 400C receives
3 stars out of 5.
