Corsair Carbide 300R review

The Corsair Carbide 300R is relatively compact as far as midi tower cases go, but there’s plenty of room to work inside it and we had no trouble fitting our 275mm AMD Radeon R9 290 graphics card. There’s up to 450mm of depth inside the case, which is enough to fit any graphics card we can think of.

The case’s exposed Allen bolts and mesh grilles give it a slightly industrial look, but the grilles are a bit of a problem when it comes to dust and sound proofing, particularly if you use the pair of 120mm fan mounts on the left side panel. While the case is not too loud with just a CPU cooler and the standard front and rear fans, you’d be well advised to stick to silent models if you plan on populating the other five fan mounts the case has to offer.

The case has three tool-less external 5 1/4in drive bays and four drive trays for either four 3 1/2in or four 2 1/2in disks. On the front panel, you’ll find two USB3 ports and the obligatory 3.5mm mic and headphone ports. The seven rear expansion slot covers are easy to clip in and out, and are secured by chunky thumb screws. You don’t have to install motherboard standoff screws, as domed mounts are built into the motherboard tray. If you’re installing a microATX board rather than a full size one, two extra holes and one loose standoff are provided to help you fit it more securely.

Building into the case was easy, although new system builders may rue the absence of a detailed instruction manual. There was also plenty of height for our 165mm cooler, although you’ll want to keep an eye on anything larger, as you’ve only got around 170mm to play with. At £65, this is a good case at a fair price, but its slightly excessive ventilation makes it a poor choice if you’d prefer a quieter, more dust-proof PC. We prefer the slightly more expensive Antec P100.