Corsair Carbide Air 740 Extra-Wide ATX Gaming Tower Review

[Crashman]

Called an ATX cube by Corsair, the Carbide Air 740 fits full-tower capacity into mid-tower height by adding 50% more width. We put its “high airflow” claims to our cooling and noise test to see how it stacks up against other oversized mid-towers.

Corsair Carbide Air 740 Extra-Wide ATX Gaming Tower Review : Read more

 

[thundervore]

Corsair needs to go back to the drawing board.

Who in their right mind would release a mid tower case that is this huge with only 2 front USB ports, no bottom intake dust filter, and the inability to support three 140mm fans in the front?

Talk about a waste of space and money.

 

[John_BBZ]

I still prefer my Cooler Master CM800 Series, Full Tower case.

 

[why_wolf]

uhh it does hold 3.5" drives as does the 540 and even the 240. I think what mean is it doesn't have a row of a half dozen or more 3.5" slots.

 

[eridani64]

I'm a former 540 owner and am glad I didn't wait for this one... took the plunge on a Thermaltake Core X9 and haven't looked back.

 

[Purch_dataservice]

Hi

 

[dstarr3]

Man. No 5.25" bays and only three 3.5" bays. What's the point of such a huge case if you're not filling it with this stuff?

 

[dstarr3]

I'm a former 540 owner and am glad I didn't wait for this one... took the plunge on a Thermaltake Core X9 and haven't looked back.

Wow, that case looks amazing.

 

[Crashman]

Corsair needs to go back to the drawing board.

Who in their right mind would release a mid tower case that is this huge with only 2 front USB ports, no bottom intake dust filter, and the inability to support three 140mm fans in the front?

Talk about a waste of space and money.

To begin with, the case is not huge in spite of how Corsair promotes it. It's about average mid-tower height, only a few inches wider, and not as deep as many mid-towers. Its volume resembles that of a classic (read, smaller) full tower.

And it doesn't hold three 140's on front. They added a few inches so it could hold three 120s. They came up just shy of three 140s of space, though a modder could fit them by opening up the top of the front panel, into the space reserved for top/front radiator overlap.

 

[thundervore]

Corsair needs to go back to the drawing board.

Who in their right mind would release a mid tower case that is this huge with only 2 front USB ports, no bottom intake dust filter, and the inability to support three 140mm fans in the front?

Talk about a waste of space and money.

To begin with, the case is not huge in spite of how Corsair promotes it. It's about average mid-tower height, only a few inches wider, and not as deep as many mid-towers. Its volume resembles that of a classic (read, smaller) full tower.

And it doesn't hold three 140's on front. They added a few inches so it could hold three 120s. They came up just shy of three 140s of space, though a modder could fit them by opening up the top of the front panel, into the space reserved for top/front radiator overlap.

Ok, that's a great explanation about the lack of triple 140mm fans up front. What about only supplying 2 front USB ports and the lack of a bottom intake dust filter?

 

[Crashman]

Corsair needs to go back to the drawing board.

Who in their right mind would release a mid tower case that is this huge with only 2 front USB ports, no bottom intake dust filter, and the inability to support three 140mm fans in the front?

Talk about a waste of space and money.

To begin with, the case is not huge in spite of how Corsair promotes it. It's about average mid-tower height, only a few inches wider, and not as deep as many mid-towers. Its volume resembles that of a classic (read, smaller) full tower.

And it doesn't hold three 140's on front. They added a few inches so it could hold three 120s. They came up just shy of three 140s of space, though a modder could fit them by opening up the top of the front panel, into the space reserved for top/front radiator overlap.

Ok, that's a great explanation about the lack of triple 140mm fans up front. What about only supplying 2 front USB ports and the lack of a bottom intake dust filter?

That's why it didn't get a "Recommended" award It's only approved based on its performance and its ability to support two 2x140 and one 3x120 radiator simultaneously. That stamp of approval is meant to get buyers who want those specific things to take a closer look, but you don't think it's appropriate?

 

[urbanj]

I'd personally love to see more cases that are WIDER and not as DEEP, and think this case gives people such as myself an option.
Is the layout ideal? No, but I'm also capable enough to mod any case to my specific needs.

If they made cases wider, we could add radiators in the back and top BEHIND the motherboard tray, so that they aren't just pumping hot air in to the case.

There is ZERO reason to be mounting a radiator in the front of a case. Fans, sure, but not a rad.

 

[a_tay81]

I had been waiting forever for a few slight changes to the 540, then they showed this.
It is so much worse than the 540 I have no clue what they were thinking.

I immediately bought a core x5 after seeing this, and I dont regret it one bit. Clean and gorgeous.

 

[POPCORNS 1068]

I might buy a cube case someday, but this one is not ideal for me.

 

[USAFRet]

I have a 540, and that idiotic lack of a bottom filter is one of the dumber decisions they could have made. The bottom is shaped/molded to accept a filter, but no filter.
So I adapted a Silverstone Tek that fits almost perfectly. A little velcro, done.

 

[Crashman]

I have a 540, and that idiotic lack of a bottom filter is one of the dumber decisions they could have made. The bottom is shaped/molded to accept a filter, but no filter.
So I adapted a Silverstone Tek that fits almost perfectly. A little velcro, done.

Maybe I was a little too lenient in the issuance of "approved".

 

[USAFRet]

I have a 540, and that idiotic lack of a bottom filter is one of the dumber decisions they could have made. The bottom is shaped/molded to accept a filter, but no filter.
So I adapted a Silverstone Tek that fits almost perfectly. A little velcro, done.

Maybe I was a little too lenient in the issuance of "approved".

Don't get me wrong...I love this 540 AIR.
But picture this:
Trace around a dollar bill on the side panel or bottom of any case.
Now cut that out with a Dremel, leaving a big hole
Now leave it, with no filter.
Right! Who would do that?

That's about the same sq in as the 4 holes on the bottom.

Looking at the 740, that space looks like the size of 2 x dollar bills of no filtering at all, just an open mesh.

 

[urbanj]

I have a 540, and that idiotic lack of a bottom filter is one of the dumber decisions they could have made. The bottom is shaped/molded to accept a filter, but no filter.
So I adapted a Silverstone Tek that fits almost perfectly. A little velcro, done.

Maybe I was a little too lenient in the issuance of "approved".

Don't be so hard on yourself.
This is still a good case. It won't be for everyone. No case is.

People will always complain about something (s).
They don't like the look, not enough *blank*, doesn't have *blank*, etc.

The 740 gives people more vertical room than 540.
It is also shallow, unlike many cube cases which are still VERY deep.

I personally wish it was wider rather than taller, for the reasons I mentioned earlier.

 

[iPanda]

Whoa, that Thermaltake Core X9 can stack... damn!

 

[nycalex]

bah cheap chinese plastic all over.

 

[urbanj]

Whoa, that Thermaltake Core X9 can stack... damn!

Ya, but how many people does that really apply to?....like 1% of buyers?

 

[urbanj]

bah cheap chinese plastic all over.

....you have pretty high expectations of a case such as this for the price it is selling for.
I'm sure if they jazzed it up with nicer finishes and some of the other features others wanted, it would be up in that $300-$500 price range.

 

[Decends]

Makes me glad i went with the Phanteks Enthoo Pro, a good full tower case for only $99.99. Great cable management and storage space. 😀

 

[urbanj]

Makes me glad i went with the Phanteks Enthoo Pro, a good full tower case for only $99.99. Great cable management and storage space. 😀

That's a nice case for sure, but again, completely different than what the x40 Carbide series is targeted at.

 

[thundervore]

Corsair needs to go back to the drawing board.

Who in their right mind would release a mid tower case that is this huge with only 2 front USB ports, no bottom intake dust filter, and the inability to support three 140mm fans in the front?

Talk about a waste of space and money.

To begin with, the case is not huge in spite of how Corsair promotes it. It's about average mid-tower height, only a few inches wider, and not as deep as many mid-towers. Its volume resembles that of a classic (read, smaller) full tower.

And it doesn't hold three 140's on front. They added a few inches so it could hold three 120s. They came up just shy of three 140s of space, though a modder could fit them by opening up the top of the front panel, into the space reserved for top/front radiator overlap.

Ok, that's a great explanation about the lack of triple 140mm fans up front. What about only supplying 2 front USB ports and the lack of a bottom intake dust filter?

That's why it didn't get a "Recommended" award It's only approved based on its performance and its ability to support two 2x140 and one 3x120 radiator simultaneously. That stamp of approval is meant to get buyers who want those specific things to take a closer look, but you don't think it's appropriate?

Honestly an "approved" rating for something that was there in the previous version of the case Air 540, and they had the opportunity to correct it in the new version Air 740 by adding a simple dust filter............customers will not approve.

As a side note not even the PSU dust filter is decent either. The only decent dust filter is the front intake 🙁