Review Corsair 3500X ARGB Review: Wrap around with Corsair’s distinctive style

[Admin]

Corsair’s 3500X ARGB features a wrap-around glass design and supports back-connect motherboards. But how does it do in our benchmark tests?

Corsair 3500X ARGB Review: Wrap around with Corsair’s distinctive style : Read more

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

nice design but i'd much rather have tinted glass.
i definitely wouldn't say the ~$90 for barebones or ~$110 for basic is expensive for this setup.

 

[RoLleRKoaSTeR]

Still rocking my C70 Army green case. I would like to see a re-vamp of that to include USB-C connections. I may need to modify this case due to the buttons are getting a little worn out as well as the front case panel.

 

[Notton]

The 6500 had major issues with thin sheet metal and it was flimsy all around.
Did they fix the flimsiness in the 3500X?

 

[Albert.Thomas]

The 6500 had major issues with thin sheet metal and it was flimsy all around.
Did they fix the flimsiness in the 3500X?

I'd say the 3500x is average/good-ish sturdiness but semi-flimsy? Like some parts will bend if you tried to twist it but the quality feels pretty solid, it ain't brittle!

I'll try and remember to dedicate a section to the build quality in the future

 

[Albert.Thomas]

For the next case I'll be reviewing, I've switched up the testing methodology a bit.

These last two cases I originally tested with an i5 because I felt they were targeted towards more budget-oriented users, but given the very small differences in thermal performance between cases I don't think I'll be using this combination in future case reviews with standard size components (I'm investigating options for SFF CPU cooler and case testing)

For the next few case reviews, I'll be using Intel's i9-14900K paired with an ASRock Steel Legend Radeon 7900GRE. The CPU will be cooled by a single tower air cooler from Akasa.

With these upcoming articles, I've updated my testing methodology to the following:

• Maximum noise levels
• Maximum CPU package power with a full CPU & GPU load
• Motherboard VRM temperatures in the same scenario
• Maximum CPU package power with a full CPU & CPU load, noise normalized
• Maximum CPU temperature, 150W CPU + full GPU (~276W) load, with the case's system fans noise normalized (when possible). This is similar to Far Cry V's power consumption.

If y'all would like me to investigate other methods of comparing these products, go ahead and reply with your thoughts and please also explain why you think a case should be compared in that matter. I can't promise I'll be able to include everyone's desired tests, but I will consider them for future reviews.

 

[thestryker]

I'm curious what the plan is for cases that don't come with fans (or come with too few like the 5000D Airflow). I don't think it's particularly reasonable to test a case without fans, but at the same time putting some high end fans in doesn't necessarily seem reasonable.

I haven't really been impressed with any case reviewing over the years. A lot of them are serviceable, but all of them seem to have methodology holes. I do understand that testing varied configurations starts to add up time rapidly and doesn't necessarily make sense.

In a perfect world where time wasn't a factor this is what I'd like to see:

• Every configuration tested with an AIO and air cooler (I'd lean towards budget but sufficient here)
• Test as the case comes out of the box
• If applicable add fans to the case (I think something like the 5 pack of P12 from Arctic would be a solid choice due to their low cost and midrange performance) to compare performance with additional cost. (It would be impossible to please everyone when testing fan placements, but I think generally for fan deficient cases there are usually some fairly obvious choices.)
• Potentially test multiple AIO mounting locations (example: 5000D Airflow it's reasonable to potentially mount front/side/top)

Obviously doing all of this would push time to review into the way too long to make sense category. These are just the things that have stuck with me as I've thought about case testing methodology.