Tuesday, March 25, 2014

The Corsair Carbide Spec-03 Case

This is the new Corsair Spec military style sub-series under the Carbide range, guess the main draw is offering budget gamers a wider choice of aggressive looking cases without burning the wallet. 

A quick glance at the SRP easily reveals the raison d'ĂȘtre of this new model in Corsair's ever rampaging case library. So just bear in mind that this is never going to be the equivalent of your Ferrari of cases but perhaps more a Toyota or Hyundai...












  • CC-9011054-WW 
  •  Case Expansion Slots : 7
  •  Case Motherboard Support : Mini ITX, Micro ATX, ATX
  • $ 59 99 USD








Preview Sample








Printed Specs





Unboxing







Top View
Note the unusual off-centre offset in the fan mountings to maximise the gap between the mobo and radiator







Front View

Simple yet reminiscent of the military with its muscular bulges and pseudo-rivets. Bundled LED fan x 1 with mounting holes for another.






The Front Panel Up Close








Side Views

With close ups of the paint finish








Bottom View

With close ups of the dust mesh and mounting






Back View

Bundled fan and grommets for the tube holes






Interior View

Rather spartan as expected in a budget model but still tool free and fully functional and capable








Storage Bays

Totally tool free







Measured



Top radiator accommodation

Video card accommodation

PSU accommodation




Mobo Test Placement

Featuring the ECS Z87H3-A4, ATX form factor model





White Box Goodies





First Impressions

  • Low cost, dare I say cheap for a Corsair case?
  • Doesn't look cheap
  • Forward looking with modern necessities eg. SSD bays
  • Tool free, mostly
  • Good paint job without finger print issues
  • Light, just 5+ kg

Can be improved...
  • Non tool free maintenance front dust mesh 
  • Sheet metal subjectively feels thinner than higher end Corsair cases 
  • More interior grommets would be nice

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