Corsair Carbide Series Air 240 Case Review
Many compact cabinets have taken the market and those with common designs are slowly disappearing, but Corsair Carbide AIR 540 Case has been really successful with innovative designs and lot of features for enthusiasts, especially with the two chamber components layout inside the cabinet.
Today, I am reviewing the latest or the small brother of the Air 540, the Corsair Carbide AIR 240 cabinet.
A small cube-shaped two chamber enclosure supports many ITX to m-ATX motherboards still having a mid tower case worth of space inside in a compact format.
Allowing long and multiple graphics cards support with lot of airflow to keep them running cool.
Corsair Carbide AIR 240 provides flexibility of installing a good air cooling or all in one or even a fully customized water cooling setup, giving you lot of cable management options without taking up too much space on your deck or beside your computer table, plus a windowed side panel, which lets you show off your hardware. And most important supporting full size power supply unit not the small format PSU.
Most loving part is that the case can operate in a traditional PC orientation with the windowed panel to the left or windowed panel on the top in a HTPC style alone side your Home audio-video setup.
Features
Now let's have a look on what features does AIR 240 have for us.
- Direct Airflow path cooling - The unusual interior design is optimized to allow the intake fans to deliver cool air directly to your components that generate the most heat.
- Mini-ITX and MicroATX support in a compact size - Although it's the same size as many Mini-ITX cases, the Air 240 supports MicroATX motherboards. This gives you the option of installing dual GPUs.
- Easy installation and upgrades - Tool-free 3.5" drive, 2.5" drive, and side panel removal means that builds and upgrades can be performed without reaching for a screwdriver. The CPU backplate cutout allows you to upgrade your CPU cooler without taking out the motherboard.
- Outstanding liquid cooling radiator support - The Air 240 has pre-spaced holes for 240mm radiators on the top, bottom, and front. If you're using a Mini-ITX motherboard, you can add both front and bottom 240mm radiators. If you're using a MicroATX motherboard with dual GPUs, you can install a front 240mm radiator.
- Flexible installation - The flexibility goes beyond dual Mini-ITX and MicroATX compatibility. The included rubber feet can be placed on any of three surfaces, so you can customize the orientation of the chassis: as a standard tower, an inverted tower, or as a desktop.
- Full side panel window - The panoramic window allows you to admire your work.
- Build a clean, uncluttered system - The Air 240 has cable routing holes with grommets and tie-downs, with dedicated cable housing space behind the motherboard tray. It's easy to move your cables out of the way and out of the airflow path.
- Front panel USB 3.0 ports - Up-front connectors make it easy to attach USB flash drives, portable hard drives, and USB headsets.
Specifications
- Motherboard Form Factor - Mini-ITX, microATX
- Material - Steel
- Weight - 5.6kg
- Color - Black / White
- Dimensions - 397mm x 260mm x 320mm
- Power Supply Type - ATX
- Maximum GPU-length - 290mm
- Maximum height of the CPU cooling system - 120mm
- Maximum PSU-length - 240mm
- Expansion Slots - 4
- Drive bays - (X3) 3.5in, (x3) 2.5in
- External links - (X2) USB 3.0, (x1) Headphone Port, (x1) Microphone Port
- Fan tray points - Front: (x2) 120mm, Top: (x2) 120mm, Rear: (x2) 80mm, Bottom: (x2) 120mm, Side: (x1) 120mm
- Included Fans - Front: (x2) 120mm, Rear: (x1) 120mm
- Radiator mounting points - Front: 240mm, Bottom: 240mm
- Compatible Corsair liquid cooling - H55, H60, H75, H80i, H100i, H105
Packaging
Standard plain brown packaging with product image and few paragraph describing features outside.
Inside, two large Styrofoam blocks protecting case from top and bottom. Case is covered with plastic bag.
Guide and accessories for the Air 240 in separate white box.
Accessories include
- 6 zip ties
- 4 rubber feet
- One extra stand-off
- 4 pan head SSD screws
- 4 long fan screws
- 16 standard fan screws
- 16 SSD screws
- 16 motherboard screws
Close look
Front and side view
Back side
Removing 3.5 hdd bay cover.
Left side or Top panel features a large smoky blue tinted plastic window.
Power supply side panel features a magnetic dust filter which is extremely easy to remove .
All panels( excluding front bezel )are held in place with thumbscrews on the back.
Front IO panel
Front bezel with Corsair Logo. The orientation of the logo can be adjusted according to the case orientation.
Lot of Inside view, with stock fans.
Cable Management points and PSU rubber stand.
Panel filter from inside.
Top 2.5 SSD bay
Front Panel power button from inside and cables
Motherboard mounting screws.
Component Installed.
Image source: Corsair.com
Finally, I found Carbide Air 240 case to be a very pleasing case to build especially for those who are looking for a compact format case.
The case is attractive and classy with industrial look same as its big brother Air 540. With more than enough drive capacity and super ventilation options considering the small form factor.
Pros
- Eye Catching Cube design
- Three 2.5in and three 3.5in drive bays and having them hidden from view, with easy access when needed.
- Mini-ITX and Micro ATX motherboards supported
- Water cooling supported.
- Easy Installation
- Full side panel Window.
- Flexible Orientation
Cons
- Thin and flimsy side panels; too much pressure and panel could give away easily.
- Stock fans can be a little loud but can be replaced easily
Taking into consideration the above features, air and water cooling support the Corsair Air 240 includes, it's a good value for money case.
If you are looking for a small form factor case with a large side viewing window, superb design with air and water cooling support, the Corsair Carbide Air 240 case is for you.
A compact PC case made for maximum cooling.
Corsair Carbide Air 240 cabinet is a fantastic product with excellent design and worthy of our PC TeK REVIEWS Excellence Award.
Manufacturers Info
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