Corsair Carbide Air 240 Case Review
by E. Fylladitakis on August 15, 2014 6:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Corsair
- ATX
- Case
- Carbide
Introduction
Corsair is a company originally known for their quality RAM modules, but they have expanded into many other areas of the PC market. Today, Corsair is one of the most important players in the computer hardware market, with the company offering dozens of products, designed to cater to as wide an array of people as possible. Looking just at their computer cases, Corsair offers five series with an ever-expanding number of products, ranging from super-large cases for enthusiasts to low-cost products for budget-driven users. In this review, we will look at one of their latest case designs, the Carbide Air 240.
Compact cases and small form factors are all the rage nowadays. Some companies, such as Silverstone, have focused many of their R&D resources on the development of such designs. The first compact case that we reviewed from Corsair was the Obsidian 250D, a cubic Mini-ITX case of not so compact proportions; instead, it was designed to fit fairly powerful combinations of hardware. This is also true of the Carbide Air 240 that we will be reviewing today. Although it is designed to fit up to Micro-ATX motherboards, the Carbide Air 240 can accommodate very powerful hardware, including two top-tier GPUs and dual liquid cooling radiators. We will look at its design, features, strengths, and weaknesses in this review.
| Corsair Carbide Air 240 Specifications | ||
| Motherboard Form Factor | Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX | |
| Drive Bays | External | - |
| Internal |
3 x 2.5" or 3.5" (rear cage) 3 x 2.5" (top cage) |
|
| Cooling | Front | 2 x 120 (2 x 120mm included) |
| Rear | 2 x 80mm (optional) | |
| Top | 2 x 120mm (one included) | |
| Right Side | 1 x 120mm (optional) | |
| Bottom | 2 x 120 (optional) | |
| I/O Port |
2 × USB 3.0 2 × USB 3.0 1 × Headphone 1 × Mic |
|
| Power Supply Size | ATX | |
| Clearances | HSF | 125mm |
| PSU | 200mm | |
| GPU | 360 mm | |
| Dimensions |
~315mm × 265mm × 400mm (H×W×D) ~12.4in × 10.43in × 15.75in (H×W×D) |
|
| Pricing | ~$90 online | |
Packaging and bundle
The Corsair Carbide Air 240 comes supplied in a simple, brown cardboard box. The artwork on the box is limited to schematics of the case and text. Inside the box, the lightweight case is protected by thick polystyrene foam slabs and is wrapped in a nylon bag.
Corsair kept the items bundled with the Carbide Air 240 down to a minimum but organized them well, supplying each type of screw inside a separate nylon bag. There are also four rubber feet for the case and a few short cable ties.
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63 Comments
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blackmagnum - Friday, August 15, 2014 - link
Cool case. I hope the Lan gaming boys receive it with open arms, but without a handle it won't be moving anywhere.The_Assimilator - Friday, August 15, 2014 - link
With one hand Corsair giveth, with the other they taketh away... Air 540 had no 3.5" mounts behind the motherboard but two 5.25" bays; this case has three 3.5" mounts but no 5.25" bays.What we really need is an Air 550, which would be the Air 540 with 3.5" mounts behind the motherboard tray. GET IT RIGHT CORSAIR.
3DoubleD - Friday, August 15, 2014 - link
I have the opposite opinion. Kill 5.25" with fire. Never use it and it takes up tons of space. Optical disc drives now belong outside the case - especially one this small (if you even bother to get one! - I haven't used mine in 4 years).3DoubleD - Friday, August 15, 2014 - link
I don't think I drank enough coffee before I posted, you aren't saying they should put in a 5.25" bay into this case, my bad.notlurking - Friday, August 15, 2014 - link
Many still need the 5.25". Someone needs to do the rips that you download. If this were a tiny case, I'd understand the lack of an external 5.25. But it's 15.75" deep!HisDivineOrder - Sunday, August 17, 2014 - link
Many may still need 5.25", but "most" of them only "need" it occasionally. As such, "most" are fine using a USB optical drive for that occasional need.The_Assimilator - Friday, August 15, 2014 - link
It takes up a lot of space, but some people (e.g. those with fan controllers, like me) do require it. And I also haven't used an internal optical drive in half a decade or so.Grok42 - Saturday, August 16, 2014 - link
99.9% of the cases still have a 5.25" bay. If you are still living in 1999 then by all means don't buy this case. For a lot of people, this case will be on the short list of just a few rare cases that leave behind physical media.MadMan007 - Saturday, August 16, 2014 - link
I don't understand the whole push against 5.25" bays. They are *universal bays* that can be used for any number of things, including a HDD, fan controller, optical drive, card reader, etc etc or just left empty. What's the problem with having them in a case that isn't ultra-compact to begin with?nissefar - Saturday, August 16, 2014 - link
Because most people do not have an use for it anymore and makes cases larger than necessary.