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.