Corsair Carbide Series 400C Review

Performance Analysis

CPU cooling was on par with the 600C with a delta T of 56°C - enough to match the Be Quiet! Silent Base 600 and better the BitFenix Nova too. As expected, the Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 5 with it's large front vents did a better job here, knocking a further 4°C off the result, but the 400C remained fairly quiet in testing too.



The GPU delta T was only 6°C off the best result we've seen with ur new test gear and roughly the same as the 600C's effort at its minimum fan speed. However, both it and the Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 5 were quite a bit better, mostly likely due to their differing cooling arrangements. That said, the 400C is more than able to cool a high-end system and has plenty of room for expansion - both in air and water cooling too.


Conclusion

The 400C's side windows, fan mounts, SSD mounts and PSU cover all make a real difference when it comes to keeping things tidy and showing off your pride and joy, while there's very little to get hung up about. It's absolutely made for water cooling - be it with all-in-one liquid coolers or full-on custom liquid cooling and is arguably better value than the 600C too, retailing for £40 less yet losing few features you'd miss.


We noticed a couple of minor niggles in the build quality - the SSD mounts and PSU cover could do with beefing up a bit, but they will in no way impede the cases ability to house a decent system and would stand up to plenty of abuse too. the spring-loaded SSD mounts are actually a nice touch, too - we'd like to see more of this type of thing.

Finally, there's the aesthetics. The 400C is not a bad looking case and actually looks very refined yet is still very able to show off your hardware with that massive side window. The modder in us (this is bit-tech after all) is itching for something to happen with that front panel, though. We'd still like to see a little more edginess in Corsair's cases, but the 400C comes highly recommended, offers a fantastic home for a water-cooled or air-cooled PC for less than £80, with masses of expansion possibilities and makes building any kind of system easy.