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Test Methods, Results, And Final Analysis
A little extra light shows that the Carbide Air 740’s side panel isn’t completely flat, but instead represents a reasonable approximation of flatness given that its material is plastic, rather than glass.
Test hardware and methods remain consistent from earlier reviews, and have been kept that way for over a year so that readers can compare data from any of our recently-tested mid-towers and full-towers.
The closest case in price, Rosewill’s Cullinan, is left out of today’s comparison due to its extensive use of more-expensive glass on an otherwise lower-market frame. The other “best matches” come from Corsair, but comparing other brands gives us a broader picture of the market. The Carbide Air 740’s less common layout leaves it competing against standard towers that target similar buyers only in price and front/top radiator support.
Test Results
The first thing we notice in the Carbide Air 740’s cooling profile is its big lead against similarly-priced competitors. Other mid-towers that cool this effectively have included the Enthoo Evolv ATX Tempered Glass and Graphite 760T, which are both priced around $190.
The formula for better cooling usually involves louder fans and bigger holes, and the Carbide Air 740 sticks tenaciously to those rules. High “idle” noise at full fan speed proves that the Carbide Air 740’s fans are capable of making quite a ruckus on their own, while high “full load” noise at low case-fan speeds show that the Carbide Air 740 does a poor job of keeping in the noise of our graphics card.
High cooling and relatively high noise both need to be examined with some perspective, and the most accurate way to compare noise to cooling is in a cooling-to-noise chart. Here we find that the somewhat-noisy Carbide Air 740 cools so well that it overwhelms in an Acoustic Efficiency chart.
The Carbide Air 740 costs only $10 more than the cases we compared, yet its performance lead over the Noctis 450 isn’t even large enough to win a full-speed to full-speed value analysis. On the other hand, the Carbide Air doesn’t need full speed to produce full cooling, and easily tops the Noctis 450 in both temperatures and value at that 50% setting. The Noctis 450 ran too hot to get a reasonable reading at low fans, leaving the Carbide Air 740’s 50% setting an uncontested value win among recently-tested, similarly-priced cases.
One thing we didn’t question was whether the Carbide Air 740 really is a $150 case, or whether any of the three competitors in today’s test are even worth $140. We can find reasons to say that each model should be cheaper. Additional radiator mounting space appears to be the primary reason for the Carbide Air 740’s side-by-side design, yet it doesn’t have a dust filter for its large bottom-panel radiator mount. It’s right side panel also feels mushy, almost like the manufacturer used less carbon in its steel. Logic dictates that this extra-wide design should use more material than its smaller or cheaper rivals, yet the $100 Micro ATX-based MasterCase Pro 3 actually weighs more. The question of how much case we’re actually getting for the money looms large even after considering its excellent drive mounts, enhanced internal volume, and overall performance benefits.
Weighing the Carbide Air 740’s few cheap traits against its enhanced performance and features, the relatively high price pushes its award level down a notch from “recommended” to “approved.”
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