[nextpage title=”Introduction”]
The 300R is the latest mid-tower case within Corsair’s Carbide series, which is the entry-level case series from this manufacturer. Despite being the most inexpensive case offered by Corsair, it provides good construction quality, supports up to seven fans, and is clearly targeted to the user on a budget who is looking for a good computer case. Let’s see what the Carbide 300R has to offer.
Figure 1: Corsair Carbide 300R case
Figure 2: Corsair Carbide 300R case
On its left-side panel, the Corsair Carbide 300R supports the installation of two 120 mm or 140 mm fans. See Figure 3.
Figure 3: Left panel
[nextpage title=”The Front Panel”]
The front panel of the Corsair Carbide 300R has three external 5.25” bays. The covers for these bays are solid.
Figure 4: Front panel
The case comes with one 140 mm fan on its front panel, featuring an air filter, and it supports the installation of another 120 mm or 140 mm fan. This fan uses a standard three-pin fan power connector, but the manufacturer doesn’t publish technical specifications for it.
Figure 5: Front fan
The case comes with two USB 3.0 ports and the traditional audio jacks on the top part of the front panel. The USB 3.0 ports use an internal USB 3.0 connector.
Figure 6: Buttons and connectors
[nextpage title=”The Top, Bottom, and Rear Panels”]
The top panel of the Carbide 300R supports two 120 mm or 140 mm fans. The bottom panel has an air filter for the power supply fan. This filter is removed from the rear panel.
Figure 7: Top panel
Figure 8: Bottom panel
Figure 9: Removing the air filter for the power supply
The rear panel and the interior of the Corsair Carbide 300R are painted black.
On the Corsair Carbide 300R, the power supply is installed at the bottom of the case.
The case comes with a 120 mm fan installed on its rear panel, with a standard three-pin fan power connector. Again, the manufacturer doesn’t publish technical specifications for this fan.
This case has seven expansion slots with vented covers. These covers are reusable.
There are three holes for hoses of liquid cooling solutions, measuring 0.8” (20 mm) in diameter. You need to break the metallic covers that come attached if you want to use them.
Figure 10: Rear panel
Let’s now take a look inside the Corsair Carbide 300R.
[nextpage title=”Inside the Corsair Carbide 300R”]
Both panels are attached to the chassis using black thumbscrews. The motherboard tray has a huge hole for you to access the backplate of the CPU coolers without having to remove the motherboard from the case, several holes for you to route cables behind it, and a few clips for you to fasten cables using cable ties.
Figure 11: Overall look
Figure 12: A view behind the motherboard tray
In Figure 13, we get another overall look inside the case. Expansion cards are fastened using black thumbscrews. The Corsair Carbide 300R supports video cards up to 17.7” (450 mm) long. The support for such long video cards, however, was done at the expense of lacking a second disk drive cage, which would probably make the product a little more expensive.
Figure 13: Overall look
The power supply is installed at the bottom of the case. It can be installed with either its bottom fan facing up or facing down, so you can decide if you want the fan of your power supply pulling air from inside the case or from outside of it. As already discussed, the case comes with an air filter for the power supply.
Figure 14: Power supply compartment
[nextpage title=”The Disk Drive Bays”]
The Corsair Carbide 300R has three external 5.25” bays and four internal 3.5”/2.5” bays, featuring tool-less installation mechanisms, except for 2.5” devices that must be installed using regular screws.
Figure 15: Disk drive bays
As you can see in Figure 15, the front fan blows air directly on the motherboard compartment, as there is no disk drive cage in front of it. If you want to cool down your storage devices instead, you will need to either move the front fan down or install a second fan on the front panel. The lack of a second disk drive cage allows this case to support very long video cards, up to 17.7” (450 mm).
Each 3.5”/2.5” bay is actually a small drawer. See Figure 16. The pegs that hold 3.5” hard drives in place have rubber rings to absorb vibration and, thus, reduce noise.
Figure 16: One of the 3.5”/2.5” bays
[nextpage title=”Main Specifications”]
The main specifications for the Corsair Carbide 300R include:
- Style: Mid-tower
- Application: ATX, and smaller form factors
- Material: Zinc-coated steel (SECC) body
- Power supply: Doesn’t come with the product
- Available colors: Black
- Side panel: Meshed
- Dimensions: 17.7 x 8.3 x 19.1 inches (450 x 210 x 485 mm) (H x W x D)
- Net weight: 14 lbs (6.4 kg)
- Gross weight: 17.5 lbs (8 kg)
- Bays: Three external 5.25” bays and four internal 3.5”/2.5” bays
- Expansion slots: Seven
- Maximum video card length: 17.7” (450 mm)
- Maximum CPU cooler height: NA
- Fans: One 140 mm fan on the front panel and one 120 mm fan on the rear panel
- Optional fans: Two 120 mm or 140 mm fans on the left panel and two 120 mm or 140 mm fans on the top panel
- Extra Features: NA
- More Information: https://www.corsair.com
- Average Price in the U.S.*: USD 90.00
* Researched at Newegg.com on the day we published this review.
[nextpage title=”Conclusions”]
The Corsair Carbide 300R accomplishes its goal: it is a case that costs below USD 100 that provides all features the average user is currently looking for on a case, while providing support for five additional fans, if you want to improve the ventilation inside the case.
Strong Points
- Very good price/performance ratio
- Air filters for the front and power supply fans
- Comes with two fans, supports up to seven fans
- Vented slot covers
- Supports video cards up to 17.7” (450 mm) long
- Thumbscrews for fastening expansion cards
- Anti-vibration mechanisms for the hard drives
- A huge hole in the motherboard tray for accessing the backplate of the CPU cooler
- Holes for routing cables behind the motherboard tray
- Clips for fastening cables using cable ties
Weak Points
- No air filter for the optional left-side fans
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