Corsair Crystal 460X ATX Mid-Tower Case Review

[Crashman]

The Crystal 460X stands out with triple RGB fans behind tempered glass panels, and stands apart with space for an EATX motherboard inside an 18” ATX mid-tower. Does it perform well enough to justify an upper-market price?

Corsair Crystal 460X ATX Mid-Tower Case Review : Read more

 

[a40ozofmickeys]

This thing is compact, but the rear panel is bulging out, about to burst with my power cables running behind the motherboard. Also, I did not have 3 reachable fan headers on my mobo for the three RGB fans, so I had to buy a hub. When under load, My enthoo evlolv is silent. This thing, in comparison, is extremely loud. Can be heard in the next room down the hall with both doors closed.

 

[a40ozofmickeys]

I will say, though, the thing looks so fine.

 

[Crashman]

This thing is compact, but the rear panel is bulging out, about to burst with my power cables running behind the motherboard. Also, I did not have 3 reachable fan headers on my mobo for the three RGB fans, so I had to buy a hub. When under load, My enthoo evlolv is silent. This thing, in comparison, is extremely loud. Can be heard in the next room down the hall with both doors closed.

I would have recommended a splitter and an extension. These fans really do require regulation. And good luck to everyone with their cables

I will say, though, the thing looks so fine.

Heheh.

 

[WINTERLORD]

oh wow lol, i was just asking about this case in corsair forums and the crystal series 570x what the weight is from corsair cause i have a bad back i wanted to know the weight because sometimes i move things around and cant carry the antec 900 well anymore. newegg reviers and corsair all have/had different elisted wieghts. maybe toms can give us a wieght? with or without parts? put on a floor scale

 

[Crashman]

oh wow lol, i was just asking about this case in corsair forums and the crystal series 570x what the weight is from corsair cause i have a bad back i wanted to know the weight because sometimes i move things around and cant carry the antec 900 well anymore. newegg reviers and corsair all have/had different elisted wieghts. maybe toms can give us a wieght? with or without parts? put on a floor scale

It's in the table at the top of page 1, 17.2 pounds. That's 7.8 kg. It's a lightweight by glass-panel standards and would even be a middleweight by steel and plastic standards.

We do our own measurements because we find that manufacturers often don't including protrusions, such as handles, side bubbles or thumb screws. All of these little things are important to people who want to put a case in a stand, for example.

 

[WINTERLORD]

oh ok, yea i seen that so the wieght there is the exact weight of just the case by itself? without say gpu cpu and such im assuming. btw thats alswome been dying to know the weight just posted in corsair forums bout it a day or two ago

 

[Crashman]

oh ok, yea i seen that so the wieght there is the exact weight of just the case by itself? without say gpu cpu and such im assuming. btw thats alswome been dying to know the weight just posted in corsair forums bout it a day or two ago

Oh no, it's the weight of the case AND the screw kit that comes with the case.

 

[JamesSneed]

oh wow lol, i was just asking about this case in corsair forums and the crystal series 570x what the weight is from corsair cause i have a bad back i wanted to know the weight because sometimes i move things around and cant carry the antec 900 well anymore. newegg reviers and corsair all have/had different elisted wieghts. maybe toms can give us a wieght? with or without parts? put on a floor scale

An Antec 900 is a beast to move around. If that really is an issue you may think about a micro ATX case that is all aluminum. For example a Lian Li PC-TU300 will weigh in at just over 8 pounds.

 

[tkellybl2008]

Personal opinion but,
that intake grill is ugly

 

[jimmysmitty]

Just a tip, the HD120s look much better than the standard SP120s. I got the 570x, mainly for the extra room up top for radiators, and it looks fantastic with them. They are a tad brighter but man they look great.

 

[Rheotome]

Seems like a nice case. BUT , I would never buy a case that has connectors & controls on the TOP. I have always kept my PC up and OFF the floor on my desk. WHY ?? Dust settles, and the dust environment on and near the floor surface is much worse than the ambient dust floating about in a room. So generally speaking less dust will be collected and cleanings will be required less needed frequently.

 

[kitekrazy]

Looking at the cons this one is a fail.

 

[Crashman]

Looking at the cons this one is a fail.

Could you be a little more gentle in that assessment?

 

[Soaptrail]

This is a great looking case but why do the window cases hide the HDD's and SSD's and the PSU. I want to see them if I have a windows. I could get this and leave the PSU shroud off at least. I am tempted to get this but i don't want loud fans. Sounds like these fans are not quiet and should not be used.

 

[jakesno]

@Soaptrail you should look into the 570x. Everything is visible so plan on sleeving those cables! I agree about the fans. I'm looking at replacing them in the 570x as well as modding the shroud.

 

[Crashman]

This is a great looking case but why do the window cases hide the HDD's and SSD's and the PSU. I want to see them if I have a windows. I could get this and leave the PSU shroud off at least. I am tempted to get this but i don't want loud fans. Sounds like these fans are not quiet and should not be used.

Turn them down I mean, turn them down to a lower speed than the one used in the review. You'll want to add an exhaust fan before you do that, unless you're adding a radiator...and even then an exhaust fan wouldn't hurt.

 

[jakesno]

This is a great looking case but why do the window cases hide the HDD's and SSD's and the PSU. I want to see them if I have a windows. I could get this and leave the PSU shroud off at least. I am tempted to get this but i don't want loud fans. Sounds like these fans are not quiet and should not be used.

Turn them down I mean, turn them down to a lower speed than the one used in the review. You'll want to add an exhaust fan before you do that, unless you're adding a radiator...and even then an exhaust fan wouldn't hurt.

Hey Crashman,

I'm a new builder, however the fans that come with the case are sp120's rgb... I heard they're 100% static speed. This noob would be interested in speed control.

I got 3 more sp120's for rad and exhaust. I did that to save money because the In Win Aurora fans look promising should they ever be released. But if they get horrible reviews out of the gate I'll probably go with 6 TT riings or the Corsair HD rgb pwm fans which can be speed controlled. But that's just how I understand it.

 

[nycalex]

another case full of cheap chinese plastic.

we need some more aluminum cases with tempered glass.

inwin 805 infinity, now this is a good looking premium case. sad that the airflow is bad.

all other cases with tempered glass i've seen look cheap as hell to me.

 

[jakesno]

another case full of cheap chinese plastic.

we need some more aluminum cases with tempered glass.

inwin 805 infinity, now this is a good looking premium case. sad that the airflow is bad.

all other cases with tempered glass i've seen look cheap as hell to me.

I don't know if you're joking or what. 460x isn't plastic or aluminum. But many In-Win's are aluminum. Matter of fact they push that feature in their ads. Maybe you were joshing... but In-Wins are closer to Chinese mfg's than Corsair. But where we agree on is that In-Wins are nice cases, just expensive AF.

 

[Crashman]

This is a great looking case but why do the window cases hide the HDD's and SSD's and the PSU. I want to see them if I have a windows. I could get this and leave the PSU shroud off at least. I am tempted to get this but i don't want loud fans. Sounds like these fans are not quiet and should not be used.

Turn them down I mean, turn them down to a lower speed than the one used in the review. You'll want to add an exhaust fan before you do that, unless you're adding a radiator...and even then an exhaust fan wouldn't hurt.

Hey Crashman,

I'm a new builder, however the fans that come with the case are sp120's rgb... I heard they're 100% static speed. This noob would be interested in speed control.

I got 3 more sp120's for rad and exhaust. I did that to save money because the In Win Aurora fans look promising should they ever be released. But if they get horrible reviews out of the gate I'll probably go with 6 TT riings or the Corsair HD rgb pwm fans which can be speed controlled. But that's just how I understand it.

Quit hearing and start reading perhaps? The fans use motherboard headers. We turned the fans down to half speed in the review.

What I'm suggesting is that anyone who likes the fans and hates the noise turn them down more. Of course you'll need a fan controller for 3-pin fans, but better motherboards can switch between PWM and voltage based fan speed control.

 

[Karadjgne]

And that's an issue. You'd be hard pressed to find 3pin analog fans that'll actually work at below @40%, just below that testing range. Most analog fans will go roughly to 7v, the better fans might hit 5v. So basically Tom's test is pretty much going to be idle limits for volume.

 

[jakesno]

This is a great looking case but why do the window cases hide the HDD's and SSD's and the PSU. I want to see them if I have a windows. I could get this and leave the PSU shroud off at least. I am tempted to get this but i don't want loud fans. Sounds like these fans are not quiet and should not be used.

Turn them down I mean, turn them down to a lower speed than the one used in the review. You'll want to add an exhaust fan before you do that, unless you're adding a radiator...and even then an exhaust fan wouldn't hurt.

Hey Crashman,

I'm a new builder, however the fans that come with the case are sp120's rgb... I heard they're 100% static speed. This noob would be interested in speed control.

I got 3 more sp120's for rad and exhaust. I did that to save money because the In Win Aurora fans look promising should they ever be released. But if they get horrible reviews out of the gate I'll probably go with 6 TT riings or the Corsair HD rgb pwm fans which can be speed controlled. But that's just how I understand it.

Quit hearing and start reading perhaps? The fans use motherboard headers. We turned the fans down to half speed in the review.

What I'm suggesting is that anyone who likes the fans and hates the noise turn them down more. Of course you'll need a fan controller for 3-pin fans, but better motherboards can switch between PWM and voltage based fan speed control.

wow, ok. "I heard" was just a replacement for something I "read". I did preface my understanding of speed control with (paraphrasing) "I am new at this". Because "but better motherboards can switch between PWM and voltage based fan speed control." that sentence runs together with what I assume are two different fan setups. I've read about pulse width mod, but don't understand voltage based speed control. I'll try back another time.
Felt like being bro-shamed by a '2005 angry network administrator.

 

[jimmysmitty]

This is a great looking case but why do the window cases hide the HDD's and SSD's and the PSU. I want to see them if I have a windows. I could get this and leave the PSU shroud off at least. I am tempted to get this but i don't want loud fans. Sounds like these fans are not quiet and should not be used.

Turn them down I mean, turn them down to a lower speed than the one used in the review. You'll want to add an exhaust fan before you do that, unless you're adding a radiator...and even then an exhaust fan wouldn't hurt.

Hey Crashman,

I'm a new builder, however the fans that come with the case are sp120's rgb... I heard they're 100% static speed. This noob would be interested in speed control.

I got 3 more sp120's for rad and exhaust. I did that to save money because the In Win Aurora fans look promising should they ever be released. But if they get horrible reviews out of the gate I'll probably go with 6 TT riings or the Corsair HD rgb pwm fans which can be speed controlled. But that's just how I understand it.

Quit hearing and start reading perhaps? The fans use motherboard headers. We turned the fans down to half speed in the review.

What I'm suggesting is that anyone who likes the fans and hates the noise turn them down more. Of course you'll need a fan controller for 3-pin fans, but better motherboards can switch between PWM and voltage based fan speed control.

wow, ok. "I heard" was just a replacement for something I "read". I did preface my understanding of speed control with (paraphrasing) "I am new at this". Because "but better motherboards can switch between PWM and voltage based fan speed control." that sentence runs together with what I assume are two different fan setups. I've read about pulse width mod, but don't understand voltage based speed control. I'll try back another time.
Felt like being bro-shamed by a '2005 angry network administrator.

Forgive him, sometimes he says it wrong.

To answer your question, Voltage Controlled fans are just that, their speed is controlled by the voltage applied. Most will do either 7v or 12v. Some do 5v. Fans run on 12v and if you cut it to 7v then the RPM and noise will be reduced. It depends on the fan but some will cut it by almost 40%.

PWM is superior though. Most nicer motherboards have 4pin fan headers that can do PWM or Voltage control though.

 

[jakesno]

This is a great looking case but why do the window cases hide the HDD's and SSD's and the PSU. I want to see them if I have a windows. I could get this and leave the PSU shroud off at least. I am tempted to get this but i don't want loud fans. Sounds like these fans are not quiet and should not be used.

Turn them down I mean, turn them down to a lower speed than the one used in the review. You'll want to add an exhaust fan before you do that, unless you're adding a radiator...and even then an exhaust fan wouldn't hurt.

Hey Crashman,

I'm a new builder, however the fans that come with the case are sp120's rgb... I heard they're 100% static speed. This noob would be interested in speed control.

I got 3 more sp120's for rad and exhaust. I did that to save money because the In Win Aurora fans look promising should they ever be released. But if they get horrible reviews out of the gate I'll probably go with 6 TT riings or the Corsair HD rgb pwm fans which can be speed controlled. But that's just how I understand it.

Quit hearing and start reading perhaps? The fans use motherboard headers. We turned the fans down to half speed in the review.

What I'm suggesting is that anyone who likes the fans and hates the noise turn them down more. Of course you'll need a fan controller for 3-pin fans, but better motherboards can switch between PWM and voltage based fan speed control.

wow, ok. "I heard" was just a replacement for something I "read". I did preface my understanding of speed control with (paraphrasing) "I am new at this". Because "but better motherboards can switch between PWM and voltage based fan speed control." that sentence runs together with what I assume are two different fan setups. I've read about pulse width mod, but don't understand voltage based speed control. I'll try back another time.
Felt like being bro-shamed by a '2005 angry network administrator.

Forgive him, sometimes he says it wrong.

To answer your question, Voltage Controlled fans are just that, their speed is controlled by the voltage applied. Most will do either 7v or 12v. Some do 5v. Fans run on 12v and if you cut it to 7v then the RPM and noise will be reduced. It depends on the fan but some will cut it by almost 40%.

PWM is superior though. Most nicer motherboards have 4pin fan headers that can do PWM or Voltage control though.

I forgive him, I was up too late last night and his dialogue caught me sideways.
Ahh excellent! I can be a little thick but I think I get it. That's a solid description. The reason for the initial post is because many of the pwm fans that I've looked at have coolers available by the same MFG, however some of the fans I'm not in love with so I started considering 3-pin fans. Many user reviews of coolers and their proprietary software are causing fans to go wonky per speeds and since I had a decent take on pwm I had a concern with the stock sp120's that are not pwm. Both of you have provided me insight in how to find an alternative if I need to shut down the software to control fan speed. Thanks to both of you!