Corsair Carbide Series 270R Review

Corsair Carbide Series 270R Review

Manufacturer: Corsair
UK price (as reviewed): MSRP £64.99 (inc VAT)
US price (as reviewed): MSRP $69.99 (ex Tax)

It's a big day for Corsair: The company is launching a trio of new cases all at once. The Carbide Series 270R here is the least expensive of the three and decidedly different to the new Crystal Series 460X RGB and Crystal Series 570X RGB that sport RGB fans and tempered glass. What we have here is a much more standard case; a black mid-tower that comes in at £60 for the windowless version of £65 for the windowed edition we have. There have been some strong launches in this price bracket in recent years, most notably the Phanteks Eclipse P400 and NZXT S340, so Corsair certainly has its work cut out for it.


Clean, minimalist looks are all the rage these days, and the 270R joins an ever growing horde of cases that can be described in this way. That's not necessarily a bad thing – we can't say it looks rough but it won't win any awards for excitement design wise. Still, that's not really what mid-range cases are about; what's more important is the build quality and here Corsair delivers. Overall the case is sturdy, although there is some flex to the steel side panels (especially the windowed one), and the plastic front panel isn't too flimsy either.

The front panel is solid since the 270R has done away with optical drive support. Small ventilation strips down the sides allow air to enter here. Installed in one of the three available mounts in this position is a single 120mm red LED fan, although this isn't present in the non-windowed edition – that's the only other difference between the two versions. You get also a rear 120mm fan which should help with cooling the CPU.


The cooling can be expanded not only in the front but the roof as well, where elongated mounting struts are positioned for a pair of 120mm or 140mm fans. This area is heavily ventilated but a big oversight on Corsair's part is not including a dust filter. A simple, removable one would not have been a costly addition on Corsair's part, but for users it could be almost invaluable. The CPU fan on a standard cooler is likely to draw dust in through the roof, and when the system is off the dust will simply fall straight in. Pesky gravity.

Another potential inconvenience is the position of the I/O ports down the right-hand side of the front panel. If you're buying a windowed case like this, we'd posit that you'd likely want the case positioned to the right of where you sit so you can see inside your system. This, however, would leave the ports out of sight and potentially introduce some fuss when attempting to connect or disconnect peripherals. It's not a major flaw and won't be applicable to everyone, but it's not the most practical design. The actual selection of ports is the usual pair of USB 3.0 headers and audio jacks, so no complaints there.


A quick look at the underside reveals four rubber-padded feet that give the 270R excellent grip wherever it's placed. There's also a slide-out dust filter for the PSU here and although the mechanism for this is somewhat stiff it's otherwise easy to use.

Specifications

• Dimensions (mm) 210 x 509 x 460
  
• Material Steel, plastic
  
• Available colours Black
  
• Weight 7kg
  
• Front panel Power, reset, 2 x USB 3.0, stereo, microphone
  
• Drive bays 2 x 3.5in/2.5in, 2 x 2.5in
  
• Form factor(s) ATX, Micro-ATX, mini-ITX
  
• Cooling 2 x 140mm or 3 x 120mm front fan mounts (1 x 120mm LED fan included), 1 x 120mm rear fan mount (fan included), 2 x 140mm/120mm roof fan mounts (fans not included)
  
• CPU cooler clearance 170mm
  
• Maximum graphics card length 370mm
  
• Extras Removable PSU dust filter