Corsair Carbide 240 AIR Computer Case Review

Cases & PSU/Cases by leeghoofd @ 2014-10-01

Corsair has been bombarding the MadShrimps reviewers with loads of new stuff since Computex 2014. Since motherboard brands are including mATX and even mITX boards in their lineup we see more and more of these tiny form factors appear at LAN parties. Portability is a big added bonus if you are a frequent LAN party visitor. Enclosure manufacturers have jumped on the bandwagon and are including more frequently mITX cases. One of the biggest drawbacks of these tiny cases is the limited internal airflow, thus the heat buildup and stability of your favorite hardware components are compromised. Corsair has developed a shrinked-down version of their magnificent Carbide 540 AIR. The Carbide 240 AIR is again a two chamber cube, designed for maximum cooling and hardware compatibility, yet this time in a tiny form factor.

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Unboxing

Corsair labels this Carbide Series® 240 Air as a High airflow MicroATX and MiniITX case, designed for maximum cooling. Nothing wrong with being enthusiastic as its bigger brother the Carbide Series® 540 Air was one of the best air cooled enclosures that we came across at the MadShrimps lab. Two 240 AIR versions are available, the normal black version alike the one we are testing today and another Arctic white model.

 

 

To call the 240 Air a shrunk sized 540 Air is not totally correct; the two chamber design is maintained: on one side the motherboard, memory and graphics solutions, while on the other side the Power supply and all the storage devices are housed. This design allows besides maximum airflow  also easy access to the vital components in case of failure or when swapping out hardware.

 

 

Aesthetic wise the Carbide 240 Air shares many similarities with its bigger brother. This mini sized 240 AIR Cube is also supporting the MicroATX form factor motherboards. Especially the latter is a big added bonus for this Corsair enclosure. The windowed panel allows you to show off your installed hardware components and allows you to brag about your cable management capabilities.

 

 

 

The front meshed grill already reveals a part of the cooling capacity of the Carbide 240 AIR, with a dual front 120mm fan setup. The rear view shows the power supply and the access to the 3.5inch HDDs, thus dividing the case in two. The motherboard, memory and graphics card are located in the right hand chamber. After removing the side panels we gain access to the two chambers of this Carbide 240 AIR case. Clearly visible is the dual front fan setup and the installed top 120mm fan to expel the heat. Graphics cards are supported up to 290mm length and this Carbide Air 240 even supports dual GPU solutions if needed. The numerous cutouts to enhance cable management are equipped with high quality rubber inserts.

 

 

The other chamber is ready to house one power supply up to 225mm in length, which is more than sufficient to be compatible with even high wattage versions. On the top left we find the 2.5" HDD or SSD cage, on the top right hand side the 3.5'' HDD cage is ready to receive up to three platter devices. One of the main drawbacks of many cases of this size is the lack of storage. Never mind, Corsair has got you covered with the Carbide 240 AIR; too bad the possibility to mount an optical device has been scratched from the spec list.

 

 

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