Corsair Graphite 600T Review

Corsair Graphite 600T Review

Manufacturer: Corsair
UK Price (as reviewed): £129.94 (inc VAT)
US Price (as reviewed): $159.99 (ex tax) MSRP

As we mentioned in our Corsair HS1 headset review, Corsair is a company that seems to have taken the concept of brand extension to heart. The Corsair name is appearing on everything from water coolers to PSUs these days, so it was realistically only a matter of time before it started to produce cases too.

The 600T is the first Corsair case to get the full bit-tech test treatment, and first impressions of the case were pretty mixed to say the least. Part of this is down to the fact that the 600T is generously proportioned for a midi-tower case at 265 x 592 x 507mm (W x D x H). In theory this is a good thing, as the wider the case, the more room for large, quiet fans and tidying cables behind the motherboard tray.

Unfortunately for the 600T, the effect of these extra inches is to make the case look bloated and unwieldy. It hardly has the sleek, menacing lines that most of its competitors share. Having said that, the 600T is a stunning beauty when you look at it next to the Antec Dark Fleet.


Not everyone on the team thought the case was unattractive, though, and looks are one of the most subjective areas when it comes to assessing cases. However, we should point out that our photography studio is rather good, and has made the 600T look as impressive as possible.

Fortunately, we were on surer footing when it came to build quality and regrettably the 600T stumbled here too. While the majority of the case's skeleton is steel, the front panel and roof sections are made entirely from plastic. That’s not immediately a bad thing, as we’ve seen cases that integrate plastic into their build very well, but the plastic of the 600T is of the creaky, shiny type that felt hollow and insubstantial when we thumped it.

The 600T does house a number of nice little premium features though. The front fan intake and the PSU intake both have removable dust filters for example, and the side panels easily clip on and pop off via the latches. These latches are reassuringly solid and clip satisfyingly into place, regaining the 600T some build quality points. The top roof grille also pops off to allow it to be cleaned and grant access to a cavity above the metal ceiling of the main chamber. The cavity is deep enough to accommodate normal-depth fans and has mounts for two 120mm fans or a single 200mm fan.

You can’t fit a radiator into the top cavity though, so if you want to use water-cooling in the 600T you’ll have to mount a radiator on the inside of the roof mounts and locate the fans to cool this in the roof cavity. This isn’t ideal, as the fans will be pulling air through the radiator rather than pushing it, and this air will be obstructed by the grille of the main chamber's ceiling. The radiator will also have to be a slim model, as there is little clearance between the ceiling of the main chamber and the top edge of your motherboard.

The usual bevy of front panel connections are located on the top-front edge of the case. A generous four USB 2 connection are complemented by a single USB 3 socket, a FireWire port and standard headphone and microphone jacks. Also located here is a dial that can control up to four case fans; it’s a nice chunky affair that feels solid.


The inside of the case is tidy, well made and is painted in a matt black which looks good and is scratch resistant. Making a tidy system to show off the smart black interior should be easy too, as Corsair has cut an ample number of routeing holes in the motherboard tray of the 600T. These are lined with rubber grommets which help to hide cables and give the interior of the case a professional feel. When you also take the large gap between the back of the motherboard tray and the side panel there's little excuse for building an untidy system in the 600T.

Two 200mm and one 120mm fans are tasked with moving air through the spacious interior of the 600T. The 200mm fans are deployed in the front and roof of the case, while the single 120mm fan sits in the traditional rear exhaust position. This sounds like ample cooling but the shallow blade pitch of the 200mm fans made us worry about how much air they could push.

The 600T comes equipped with six internal 3.5in bays that are split into two caddies of three bays each. One caddy can be relocated to the mount in the floor, which frees up space for long graphics cards or allows more direct cooling from the front intake fan.

Specifications

• Dimensions (mm) 265 x 592 x 507 (W x D x H)
  
• Material Steel, plastic
  
• Colour Black
  
• Front Panel Power and reset switches, 4 x USB 2, 1 x USB 3, stereo, mic, FireWire, fan controller
  
• Drive Bays 4 x internal 5.25in drive bays, 6 x internal 3.5in drive bays.
  
• Form factor(s) ATX, micro-ATX,
  
• Cooling 200mm front fan mount (fan supplied), 120mm rear fan mount (fan supplied), 200mm/2 x 120mm roof fan mount (200mm fan included)
  
• CPU cooler clearance 180mm
  
• Graphics card dimensions supported 340mm with drive caddy, 460mm without