Corsair Graphite 780T review

Not only is the Corsair Graphite 780T achingly pretty, it’s also designed for easy maintenance and upgrades. Many of the panels, particularly those at the front and on top, can be detached with a single press so you can install or upgrade fans or liquid cooling radiators. It even has a push-button fan controller with three different fan speeds on the top panel in addition to two USB3 ports, two USB ports and two audio jacks.

Both side panels are locked in place with a latching mechanism, and can be removed with the push of a button. The Graphite 780T’s cavernous interior accepts a wide range of motherboards, from E-ATX to Mini-ITX, so you’ll have no trouble accommodating your chosen board, and you can be confident that you can up- or downgrade in the future. There’s plenty of room on all three sides of an ATX motherboard once installed, which makes working in the Graphite 780T a pleasure. You can also install processor coolers up to 200mm in height, and we had no trouble fitting our SilverStone Argon AR03 air cooler in the case. The case’s fans are all quiet, even at the maximum speed setting. 

As for liquid cooling, you can install an all-in-one kit or radiator to the top, front or bottom. You can fit radiators up to 360mm size at the top or on the front, and radiators up to 240mm size at the bottom. However, there’s precious little room at the bottom of the case once a power supply is installed, so the vast majority of users will simply use the front and top mounts. There’s plenty of room at the top of the case for an all-in-one processor liquid cooling kit such as our SilverStone Tundra TD02 without you having to remove the pop-off top panel, but you’ll most likely have to keep the mesh grille at the front of the case off unless you install a fairly slim radiator.

Hard disks and SSDs can be installed in one of two removable drive bays, with each drive bay able to accommodate either a 2.5in or 3.5in drive. Annoyingly, however, the mounting points for the 2.5in drives are too close to the mounting studs used by 3.5in drives, which makes the 2.5in drives difficult to fit. You could always screw 2.5in drives to the bays so that they’re upside down, but a better alternative is to install them in one of the three tool-free bays on the left-hand side of the case. Not only do these tool-free bays make installing 2.5in drives a doddle, they also make for a neater build. Installing 3.5in drives is also a breeze, and the task doesn’t require screws. It’s worth noting that the Graphite 780T only accepts standard ATX power supplies (PSUs) up to a length of 260mm, so there’s no room for over-sized PSUs.

The case shares some annoyances with the very similar Corsair Graphite 600T, specifically the way the front and top panels pop off at the slightest provocation and insist on remaining popped off until you’ve spent five minutes trying to reattach them.

The Graphite 780T has some stiff competition in the shape of the great-looking and much cheaper NZXT H440. Both are excellent cases, but the Graphite 780T is best suited to those who will regularly maintain and upgrade the components in it, while the NZXT H440 is best used as the basis of a show-piece PC that you’ll build once. The NZXT H440 makes a better job of hiding unsightly cables and the power supply but space inside is tight, whereas the larger Graphite 780T gives you lots more space to work in.