Corsair Carbide 500R
Summary
From a design and visual perspective, the Corsair 500R has clean lines and an uncluttered look. The finishing of the graphite gray/black with the combination of the mesh grills really make this case stand out. Corsair designed this case for those who are looking for the sleek styling and straightforward aesthetics. Corsair as always set out to please an audience and with the 500R I think they have done a very good job.
So to sum up my experience, the overall installation with the 500R may need a bit of careful planning of components you will be used during your build, so you can plan out a very clean install without modifications or problems. Like any chassis, you will encounter some problems that you don’t expect to come to come up. As I mentioned earlier, I ran into a few minor problems during installation, as I had hoped to use an additional 120mm Slim Radiator at the bottom next to the power supply. But that wasn’t feasible with these components, but you may get lucky if you have a smaller power supply.
Don’t let this draw you away, as the 500R has great potential and the value to performance is impressive. Although this case has a fan controller built into the front panel, it isn’t really powerful enough to control all the additional fans necessary for a water cooling setup.
Corsair has priced this chassis at $140, and that’s pretty competitive for what you get. It’s a busy price point though, with many competitors, but we think the 500R is a great overall product. There are a few minor niggles, but the positives far outweigh the detractions, and the features such as the built-in fan controller and white LED fans are a great touch that complement the contemporary styling.
Corsair continues to offer great products with demanding consumers in mind, and the 500R is no different here. Overall this case gets a strong recommendation from us.
