Corsair’s Carbide Air 740 Doesn’t Believe In Small Form Factor PCs
Computer hardware is getting smaller and smaller these days. You can find everything from motherboards to graphics cards, power supplies, and of course, cases, designed for compact builds. If you ask Intel, mini-ITX isn’t even small enough. Intel introduced an even smaller form factor than mini-ITX early in the year, but not every company agrees that the future of PCs is smaller. In an age where most companies are struggling to shrink the size of components down, Corsair is bucking the trend and launching a huge case.
Meet the Corsair Carbide Air 740, an even bigger version of an already large case. The Carbide Air 740 joins the 540 ATX and 240 mini-ITX cases in the Carbide Air Series. If you like having your hardware on display for the world to see, the Carbide Air series will be right up your alley. The Carbide Air 740 is designed to accommodate an over-the-top build with plenty of water cooled hardware to showcase.
The namesake of the Carbide Air Series is its clever dual-chamber design. Corsair separates the components that are less presentable, such as the power supply and the hard drives, from those that people tend to dress up with fancy cooling equipment. The main chamber houses the motherboard, the components that slot directly into it, and not much else. The hidden chamber has space for up to three 3.5-inch drives or four 2.5-inch SSDs and an ATX power supply.
If you happen to install a full loop water cooling system, you’ll have the ability to install up to three radiators simultaneously. The front can accept a 240mm, 280mm, or 360mm radiator. The top and bottom can both accept 240mm or 280mm radiators. If you have no interested in dabbling with liquid cooling, the main compartment can accept up to eight 120mm fans or seven 140mm fans.
There’s not a whole lot of reason to have that much cooling capacity if you can’t fill the case with heat generating components, and the Carbide Air 740 does not disappoint. This case is so large that you can install four graphics cards at once without sacrificing either of the radiator placements.
As a sign of the times we live in, Corsair omitted the 5.25-inch drive bays from the Carbide Air 740 case. The company opted for more radiator and fan space over accommodating a rarely used device. The Carbide Air 740 also sports a newly designed front fascia, which sets it apart from the rest of the lineup aesthetically.
The MSRP for the Carbide Air 740 ATX case is $149.99. Corsair said the case is already available worldwide.
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Kevin Carbotte is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware who primarily covers VR and AR hardware. He has been writing for us for more than four years.
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DookieDraws That looks like a small wine cooler. The front and feet are awfully ugly! Who's been designing Corsair cases the last 3 or 4 years? A chimp? :PReply
Go back to the drawing board, Corsair! You can do better than this! -
Emanuel Elmo "The company opted for more radiator and fan space over accommodating a rarely used device."Reply
What are they insane. I got 5 HDD in my current case plus 2 SSD. Plus another 4 HDD in my server.
rarely used device my but. -
jimmysmitty Reply18539007 said:That looks like a small wine cooler. The front and feet are awfully ugly! Who's been designing Corsair cases the last 3 or 4 years? A chimp? :P
Go back to the drawing board, Corsair! You can do better than this!
Looks are in the eye of the beholder. The Corsair 600R was widely praised and loved by most.
18539610 said:"The company opted for more radiator and fan space over accommodating a rarely used device."
What are they insane. I got 5 HDD in my current case plus 2 SSD. Plus another 4 HDD in my server.
rarely used device my but.
5.25". You have 5 5.25" HDDs? Or did you mean 3.5" HDDs?
Considering the current design queues most companies have this is a case designed for people who want maximum cooling over high storage space. -
azaran Reply18539610 said:"The company opted for more radiator and fan space over accommodating a rarely used device."
What are they insane. I got 5 HDD in my current case plus 2 SSD. Plus another 4 HDD in my server.
rarely used device my but.
You have 5.25 HDDs? Thats impressive, I haven't seen one of those in about 18 years.
Now 5.25 optical drives, those I've seen. Tho rarely these days since everything is downloadable. -
jimmysmitty Reply18539805 said:18539610 said:"The company opted for more radiator and fan space over accommodating a rarely used device."
What are they insane. I got 5 HDD in my current case plus 2 SSD. Plus another 4 HDD in my server.
rarely used device my but.
You have 5.25 HDDs? Thats impressive, I haven't seen one of those in about 18 years.
Now 5.25 optical drives, those I've seen. Tho rarely these days since everything is downloadable.
I had a PC with a 5.25" HDD in 98. A Quantum Bigfoot. Was loud as hell.
On another note, I am surprised that there is no article about this case:
http://www.corsair.com/en-us/crystal-series-460x-rgb-compact-atx-mid-tower-case
I think it looks better and want one. -
Fickert I personally love the look of the case. Sure eligance of simple cases with tempered glass is cool but the carbide was never meant to be an eligant design. They are make for the enthusiast. Which I feel it definitely hits the nail on the head.Reply -
azaran Reply18539858 said:18539805 said:18539610 said:"The company opted for more radiator and fan space over accommodating a rarely used device."
What are they insane. I got 5 HDD in my current case plus 2 SSD. Plus another 4 HDD in my server.
rarely used device my but.
You have 5.25 HDDs? Thats impressive, I haven't seen one of those in about 18 years.
Now 5.25 optical drives, those I've seen. Tho rarely these days since everything is downloadable.
I had a PC with a 5.25" HDD in 98. A Quantum Bigfoot. Was loud as hell.
On another note, I am surprised that there is no article about this case:
http://www.corsair.com/en-us/crystal-series-460x-rgb-compact-atx-mid-tower-case
I think it looks better and want one.
That is literally the 5.25 HDD I was thinking of. They were so much fun to take apart, the magnets were frickin huge.
That case is very pretty. I think its the first tempered glass case I've seen that I've really liked. Corsair did a decent job of letting you hide all the ugly stuff behind shrouds.