Corsair 500R or Rosewill THOR V2

[nebelwerfer41]

I'm looking to put a new build into either a Corsair 500R or Rosewill THOR V2 (white versions). I want a case that assembles easily, is quiet and has good dust control. Also, I would like to use it for at least one more build, so it should have USB 3.0. I will be using a HDD and SDD combo, so multiple drive bays are a must. I am staying away from the CM HAF cases because I am not a fan of all that mesh (which collects cat hair quickly).

Anyone have experience with these cases? The Corsair sounds like a dream to build into, but the Thor is reported to be quieter and a little cooler.

If I do go with the Corsair, I would like to swap out the 120mm fans for larger (and quieter) 140mm fans. Does anyone know if the light control switch (controls the stock fans) on the front will work with replacement fans? Do I have to get certain replacement types to make sure the speed adjustemnt and light control functions of the case will still work?

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[g-unit1111]

If I do go with the Corsair, I would like to swap out the 120mm fans for larger (and quieter) 140mm fans. Does anyone know if the light control switch (controls the stock fans) on the front will work with replacement fans? Do I have to get certain replacement types to make sure the speed adjustemnt and light control functions of the case will still work?

You only can if it has the mounts to do so.

I own the Graphite 600T and it has been an unbelievably amazing case. Very big, very roomy and very easy to work with. Go with the Corsair - you will not be disappointed.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Corsair is great case at a great price.

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=767&Itemid=61&limit=1&limitstart=5
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=791&Itemid=61&limit=1&limitstart=5

 

[sosofm]

Corsair make amazing cases. Go for Corsair.

 

[amuffin]

Or the Cooler master haf 932!

 

[nogood_555]

I just did a bunch of searching around with the same question a few weeks ago.

I ended up going with the ThorV2 which I finally got around to installing a X79 chipset in last night and wondered if I should have went with the 500R instead. Overall I'm pretty pleased with the Thor but a few nitpicky things are bugging me about it. If you can find it on a sale (I paid $85+tax) then it's an absolute bargain for the amount of cooling it does.

Cons:
First off, the height measurement on the case must be w/o the feet attached. It's measured at 22.84" tall, in reality it's closer to 24". That's about .3" taller than my desk allowed without moving a drawer.

Another problem I've seen is the quality of the case leaves a bit to be desired. There's just a few rough spots here and there that I've never experienced with my Lian Li and most higher end Corsair cases I've played with. Also some of the planning in terms of removing the top plastic portion of the case leaves something to be desired. Overall The 500r just feels more polished.

If your planning on installing a Corsair H-100 then just go with the Carbide 500r. I had to rig my H-100 around and install it outside of the screw holes (screwed through the vent holes in the top of the case with a washer). The Carbide is designed for the H-100 rad so it's a no brainer.

The grommets also tend to come off pretty easily while your pulling wires through. Read any reviews and you'll see this echoed many times.

They also included a switch on top that opens/closes the plastic vanes. It seems kind of like novelty to me, but it is kind of cool. It would have been MUCH better if they had raised the vanes up about 10-15mm since this would have allowed an H-100 rad to be mounted from the top instead of from the bottom.

One more nitpick...would it be to hard for Rosewill to install the standoffs prior to packaging.

Pros:
This thing is truly a monster case on a budget. It's freakin huge. This can be a pro or a con depending on your needs. Also it's really quiet for how much air it pushes. If your air cooling you'll be pretty stoked. Tons of flow going on here.

The smallest fan it comes with is a 140mm that's in the rear. It fit my AX1200 power supply pretty easily and I still have room for another 120mm fan in front of that. (another intake placed at the bottom of the case. From playing around with a 500r I've found that with my current system it would have been really crowded. This thread @ corsairs support forums supports my theory on this. A PSU like the AX1200 takes up most of the bottom of the case. http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=99933

The cable management is pretty decent, I've been pleasantly surprised by this and it seems fairly well thought out. Then again so is the 500r

This is more personal choice, but the front access panel seems to make more sense than on the 500r. Just easy to access what you need.

Again I've just started to mess around with the Thor so those are my initial impressions. Overall I would say the ThorV2 is a freakin awesome case for it's price range.

 

[tlgriffith]

Any updates on this old thread? I've been considering between the same two cases (2 years later apparently) including the Thermaltake Soprano VO900M1N2N. I've come across these reviews.

Corsair Carbide: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2012/02/20/corsair-graphite-500r-review/1

Rosewill Thor v2: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4648/rosewill-thor-v2-the-god-of-cooling-and-silence

Thermaltake Soprano: http://www.maximumpc.com/thermaltake_new_soprano_review2013

The three have there Pros and Cons as always but I would find more user feedback from other personal builds awesome.

What are your own personal temperature readouts, noise levels, experiences in dealing with hardware installation (are you running a single GPU or SLI/Crossifre, how much space is between these components, or how much space do you have between other components)

How convenient is adding additional fans (up to maxing out how many fans are supported, or switching fan sizes), or using liquid cooling and how easy or difficult the experience was.

Never a fan of perusing through reviews at Newegg just to find what I'm looking for and I feel like reviews don't necessarily tell all.

Thanks.

 

[nogood_555]

Any updates on this old thread? I've been considering between the same two cases (2 years later apparently) including the Thermaltake Soprano VO900M1N2N. I've come across these reviews.

Corsair Carbide: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2012/02/20/corsair-graphite-500r-review/1

Rosewill Thor v2: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4648/rosewill-thor-v2-the-god-of-cooling-and-silence

Thermaltake Soprano: http://www.maximumpc.com/thermaltake_new_soprano_review2013

The three have there Pros and Cons as always but I would find more user feedback from other personal builds awesome.

What are your own personal temperature readouts, noise levels, experiences in dealing with hardware installation (are you running a single GPU or SLI/Crossifre, how much space is between these components, or how much space do you have between other components)

How convenient is adding additional fans (up to maxing out how many fans are supported, or switching fan sizes), or using liquid cooling and how easy or difficult the experience was.

Never a fan of perusing through reviews at Newegg just to find what I'm looking for and I feel like reviews don't necessarily tell all.

Thanks.

I'm still loving my ThorV2. It's extremely quiet, does a decent job filtering dust, has a boatload of room and I've had zero issues with it.

The carbide is a fantastic case as well. I've worked on a few of them and I'd have to say after comparing the two, if your going to be using something like a H-100 for cooling then I'd go with the Carbide 500 for ease of installation. I had to monkey around with the installation of my H-100 on my Thor due to an issue with an onboard heatsink sticking out too far. The corsair is also just a better quality case.

If cool and quiet are your primary concerns, the ThorV2 is the better choice but only slightly. I noticed the 500r was slightly more noisy when the 2 were side by side but the difference was minor. Quite frankly I almost never take my fans above the low setting unless its the middle of summer. The 200cm fans are awesome