Corsair Carbide Series 500R Mid Tower Case Review

Since their first case was introduced, Corsair's domination within the enclosure market has for the most part been largely uncontested. Sure, the Cooler Masters and Thermaltakes of this world have shown off their own competing wares but for many Corsair's Obsidian, Carbide and Graphite series remain the foremost choice.

In order to keep pace with changing market conditions, the last few case releases from Corsair have been targeted straight towards budget friendly price points and the newest Carbide 500R is no different. Even though it sports a price of under $150, this case boasts an impressive list of features and some great looking design touches.

Many will ask themselves why they should pay $40 more for a chassis that -upon first glance- looks like a carbon copy of the $99 400R. The answer to this is quite simple: cooling. The 500R takes an already great cooling design and expands upon it by adding a multi channel fan controller, a 200mm GPU cooling fan and removable hard drive cages. It is also available in a stunning white / black colour scheme that should be seen firsthand to be truly appreciated.