The Corsair Carbide 400Q Case Review
by E. Fylladitakis on April 29, 2016 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Corsair
- ATX
- E-ATX
- Carbide
The Exterior of the Corsair Carbide 400Q
Corsair went with a minimalistic refined design with the Carbide 400Q. The entirety of the case, both inside and outside, is satin black. It is worthwhile to mention that the external paint job is immaculate and that the paint is highly resistant to fingerprint marks. All of the case’s panels are flat and metallic, including the faceplate - the top of which is the only part of the case that is making a rounded edge. Measuring 46.4 cm tall, 21.5 cm wide and 42.5 cm deep (18.3 × 8.45 × 16.75 in), the Carbide 400Q is a rather compact midi ATX tower case like Corsair claims it is, falling between the SilverStone Fortress FT05 (7.5% larger) and the NZXT S340 (9.5% smaller). While NZXT managed to make their case nearly 10% more compact, we should note that the Carbide 400Q supports more parts and larger hardware parts, such as EATX motherboards.
11.2 oz (330ml) can inserted as size reference
The front faceplate cannot be opened, as there are no external drive bays anyway. Its frame is actually plastic, with the metallic plate being just a top cover for aesthetic purposes, and can be removed to clean the front filters and to allow access for the mounting of liquid cooling radiators. Corsair says that it can be simply pulled off, but that was not true for our sample: it required a lot of force to come off and that does not bode well for the longevity of the plastic mounting studs.
The front I/O ports and buttons are at the top panel, near the front side of the case. Starting from left to right, we can see a small reset button, an activity LED, two 3.5mm headphone jacks, two USB 3.0 ports and one large square power button.
A look at the rear of the Carbide 400Q reveals that the PSU compartment is located at the bottom, a common design feature as of late. We can also see the 120 mm fan, the position of which can be adjusted vertically by about one inch. There are no holes for cables or liquid cooling hoses.
One of the most interesting parts of the Carbide 400Q is the top panel, which features a magnetic cover with a narrow layer of sound dampening material. The case comes without any fans from the factory but, should the user wishes to trade acoustics with thermal performance, the top cover can be simply pulled off to reveal the perforated top of the case.
The Carbide 400Q stands on four rather tall plastic feet with rubber anti-slip pads at their bottoms. The feet are particularly tall for a case that has limited underside ventilation (only for the PSU). Although the feet can be removed, the 400Q is designed to function with the feet attached - the PSU intake will be blocked and the furniture will be exposed to many rigid objects that can cause damage. The PSU intake has a nylon filter that can be removed from the back of the case.
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LordanSS - Friday, April 29, 2016 - link
To be honest, I'd like to have space to install a BluRay burner for use as a backup solution for important things.Not talking about using normal BR media, but the M-Discs instead for more permanent backup. But I guess this would be an edge case, and an absolute minority of consumers for desktop cases.
Black Obsidian - Friday, April 29, 2016 - link
For occasional use, a USB3 Blu-Ray burner seems like the natural solution. Pull it out the odd time you need it, leave it stored when you don't.Murloc - Saturday, April 30, 2016 - link
who back-ups on optical disks anymore?Not even OSes are sold on disks anymore.
LordanSS - Saturday, April 30, 2016 - link
I reckon you either did not read, did not understand or just don't know what I was talking about.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-DISC
Valantar - Sunday, May 1, 2016 - link
Sorry, but they are. My household (two people) has five PCs in regular use. None have optical drives. We do have an external DVD drive for whenever the need might arise, but it hasn't been used for years. It just sits atop the HTPC like a tombstone to optical media. We do play blu-rays from time to time, but the PS3 does that job better than the PC. I can't remember needing an optical drive for drivers or anything else since before Windows 7.The space needed for 5,25" bays is better utilized for more modern use cases, like radiators, drive mounts or space savings (or all three, like in this case). I _really_ regret getting my Fractal Define R4 half a year before the launch of the Define S - I'd much rather have an additional 140mm fan in the front than two unused 5,25" bays.
twtech - Saturday, May 28, 2016 - link
I still use optical media for some things, including OS installs. I don't use the drive a lot, but if I'm going to have a huge metal box for my PC enclosure anyway, it might as well have an internal optical drive for those times when I would like to use one.HOOfan 1 - Friday, April 29, 2016 - link
With the lack of 5.25 inch drive bays and the covered basement, I would say it is more of a competitor to the NZXT S340 and less a successor of the 300Rvenkatsrin - Friday, April 29, 2016 - link
Why do you keep reviewing big ugly cases, who needs such monstrosities??There is hardly any coverage on matx or mitx cases... boo hoo...
BrokenCrayons - Friday, April 29, 2016 - link
I don't think computer case products really are changed that often by manufacturers. Just doing a quick search on Amazon, I was able to find mATX case designs that are essentially identical to the ones I was purchasing 5-10 years ago. It's probably just that there's not that many out there to review. Let's admit it, a case usually lasts a very long time. I've got one that was originally purchased in 2006 and really have no intention of replacing it as long as there are ATX motherboards around.Though I admit I could probably make a certain person very happy if I bought a Corsair Carbide 400Q for him and stuffed a new gaming computer into it. But I don't want company in my MMOs so I'd rather keep him on a console where gaming is simpler and easier for him. Plus there's sports titles on consoles and he's sort of a sports game guy. PC games...well those that aren't directly ported from consoles anyway...those are more for thoughtful or social types.
CaedenV - Friday, April 29, 2016 - link
Any article with a coke can for scale is instantly a great article lol