Corsair Carbide Series 200R Black Steel / Plastic Compact ATX Mid Tower Case

Pros: I’ll admit that when I ordered the Corsair Carbide Series 200R I was extremely skeptical of its design, ease of access, and the overall accessibility I’d have to everything once installed inside. I’m very happy to say that worry was immediately put to rest upon opening the packing box and removing the case from within. Side by side, next to the old case, a seven year old Cooler Master Centurion 5, the differences in usable space were imperceptible. Removing the side panel from the 200R proved the product page images do this case no justice! I have an Antec 1200 for my own personal gaming system, and I was completely floored by the amount of room in this case even relative to that behemoth. Installing 4 WD HDDs, a Lite-ON DVD burner, Soundblaster x-fi Xtrememusic w/ I/O box, an EVGA gtx660, and a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo cpu cooler in this case was going to be one very easy task. The MSI Z97 motherboard I installed sports 90 degree SATA ports, (though 2 additional ports are straight up), this design makes it easier to install your SATA devices when you are also installing lengthy video cards. In the older case, it was very difficult to plug/unplug SATA cables with the motherboard installed, as there was little room between the motherboard sideways SATA ports and the HDD enclosure. In this Corsair 200R, there was more than enough room to easily insert the SATA cables with the motherboard already installed. The back panel cutouts also allowed easy cable routing, making for a clean looking installation, which in turn allows for excellent air flow. The CPU cutout is great as well, especially considering I used the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo cpu cooler. Install the motherboard, and installation of the mounting bracket becomes a breeze. Without the cutout, this installation becomes somewhat of a hassle, not that it’s too difficult, just nowhere near as easy as when having the motherboard already installed, upright, and both sides easily accessible. The included 2 fans are adequate enough for overall cooling, but you have the option of adding at least 4 additional fans if you so choose. Being an owner of the Antec 1200 with its top mounted 200mm cooling fan, I was pleased that this 200R has two installation spots for top mounted 120mm fans. We all know heat rises, and the amount of heat dissipated through the top of my Antec 1200 keeps my i7-3820/gtx670 FTW system cool even during hardware stressing situations (i.e. Highest settings while running Battlefield 4, Rome II, The Witcher 2, etc). Thumbscrews make it super easy to install drives and expansion cards, remove and replace side panels, and save you a trip to the toolbox for that good old Philips screwdriver… though I did need that during this build for installation of the PSU and motherboard… but for future component replacement of drives and/or expansion cards, no tools required!

Cons: It would have been nice if the case came with at least one top mounted fan. I have a few extras lying around, as I’m always building systems, but I’d guess most customers would probably have to purchase an extra fan or two, and chances are, it would be after they opened the box and realized it only comes with a couple fans (although it does say so in the product description, I’m not implying anything to the contrary). Also, the inclusion of extra fans would increase the price, which at the current $70 is an excellent value, but still on additional top mounted fan would have been much appreciated. Regarding filters, I really wish case designers would make them EASILY removable for cleaning. I should be able to either just pull them out from the side (regarding front installed filters), or open the front and pop them out. (The Antec 1200 requires removal of the drive cages, a 24 screw removal process!) This case makes it much easier to clean the air filters, not as easy as it should and could be! Applying aftermarket filtering material is still the best option and it simply should not have to be.

Overall Review: In nearly 30 years of building and upgrading systems, this is one of just a few computer cases I’ve been extremely pleased with, especially when factoring in the price of the unit. I’ll definitely be buying more of these for future builds for my kids, family, friends, and customers. Some complaints of fan noise in a few reviews I read before purchasing... my kid mentioned how incredibly quiet the system was after we built it a couple days ago. Hopefully, it stays that way over time, we'll just have to wait and see. (currently only stock fans installed, with a Corsair HX850i PSU and CM Hyper 212 EVO 1 fan cpu cooler)

Pros: real standoffs (not the fat stamped in type that have the potential to short out a motherboard). spots for 6 fans, 3 of the spots take 120 or 140mm. nice and wide; my cm 212 evo fits with 1 inch of clearance. paint is nice quality and sheet metal is thick enough to withstand some abuse. pci slot covers are vented and come installed with thumb screws. cutouts for cable management including 8 pin cpu bundle cutout at back/top of case. another handy cutout allows usb3/power/reset/led and audio lines to be routed on top of the first optical slot.

Cons: none are enough to take an egg off. front cover needs to be installed before opticals; any time front cover needs to be removed the opticals have to come out. grommets for the fan screws are useless.

Overall Review: i like this case so much i took the time to do a lot of personal mods to it.

Pros: Good cable management with space behind the motherboard; Plenty of room to work in, this is a good sized mid-tower; Preinstalled standoffs, one of which has a male pin to set the motherboard in position; Tool-less design; Lots of vents to add more fans (comes with two); Clean looks, no bling (that's a plus for me).

Cons: At this price point? No way.

Overall Review: This case made for a quick and easy build. I especially like the included tool-less cages for 2.5" drives, an easy setup for SSDs. Solidly built, looks good, great price. Meets all my exacting standards.

Pros: This is an update to the review I just wrote on this case, because I can't figure out if there is a way to edit a review. My comment / con about fan mounting for hard drive cooling was not completely correct. It actually is possible to mount a fan outside of the case chassis and still inside the front cover panel. At first glance, it looks like it isn't possible. At second glance, it looks like you have to remove the front panel, the hard drive cage, and 2 of the tool-free HDD mounting brackets. On third glance after disassembling everything, you'll find that the HDD cooling fan mounting holes are sized for the included fan, but are small and threaded so they require a long thin screw instead of a normal short/fat fan mounting screw. Corsair has helpfully included 4 of these long/thin screws in the included hardware bags (YAY!) but unfortunately this mounting method means that the included rubber anti-vibration fan mounting grommets do not work (boo!). If the screws were a little longer then maybe a little rubber gasket or grommet could be used, but not only are the screws just a bit too short to do this, the hardware kit doesn't include any rubber discs that would be appropriate for mounting this fan with a little rubber anti-vibration isolation.

Cons: Since the front fan is attached right by the hard drives, and vibration isn't good for hard drives, and the fan is essentially outside the case (while still inside the front cover), not being able to attach the fan with rubber anti-vibration grommets makes this only half a win for Corsair. So they still lose an egg.

Overall Review: Kudos to Corsair for including the required long screws necessary to move the included front fan from above the HDD cage to in front of the HDD cage to give hard drive airflow. Unfortunately the design and included hardware doesn't permit this fan to be mounted with any sort of anti-vibration rubber grommets. Having the HDD fan mounting holes drilled out to standard fan mounting size would permit the use of the included rubber fan vibration grommets, however then installing that fan would require removal of both the HDD cage and 2 of the plastic tool-free mounting clips that are in the way of the hdd fan mounting holes. I'm not sure what is a better solution, however given the current system, it would be nice if Corsair would include some smaller/thinner anti-vibration grommets (essentially just some thin rubber discs or strips would be more than sufficient) and have the long/thin fan mounting screws just a bit longer to accommodate the slight mounting stand-off of the fan if rubber strips were used to isolate fan vibration. This fan could potentially be the loudest fan in the whole system because it is between the case and inside the plastic front fascia, and has no vibration isolation. So this little omission has the potential to cause quite a bit of noticeable noise/vibration as well as vibrate the HDD cage which can't be good for the hard drives. The more I work with this case transferring a computer from an old/crummy case to this new one, the more I like it. Some of these tiny feature omissions or design flaws are pretty frustrating though, since they could be fixed so simply. Some little stick-on rubber discs or strips and 1mm longer fan mounting screws would permit vibration isolation of the front hdd fan, at minimal cost. Or a design change permitting use of normal fan screws and grommets would require no additional hardware, at the expense of the owner having to remove the hdd cage and some plastic brackets to get the fan installed.

Pros: I love this case. When building my rig i did a lot of research when it came to picking my parts and choosing a case was no exception. lets start off with the room inside the case, simply put, its massive. for a mid-tower case there is more then enough room for anything you want to put inside it. the tool-less hard drive bays are awesome and they work without a problem. i filled up all my hard drive slots with no problem at all and the added 2.5in bays on top are a great bonus for SSD's or in my case spare laptops drives i use for back up storage. fitting in 8 hard drive total in such a small space is a wonderful thing. i played around with the cd/dvd drive up top and even though i dont use my cd/dvd drive it slides in with no problem at all. the thumb screws aren't tightened on too tight and can be removed with just your fingers, Corsair is really gunning for the "tool-less" approach cause the only time i needed it was installing the MOBO and the extra case fans. when it comes to fans this case can hold A LOT of them. granted it only comes with 2 included but thats not a problem at all honestly. the front intake pushes quite a bit of air and the back exhaust does the job also. but you can but a few fans online and add another 120mm in the front under the pre-installed 120mm to cool the hard drives. either a 140 or 120 on the bottom of the case as an another intake. 2 120 or 140mm fans on the top of the case as exhausts and 2 120 on the side as intakes also(not if using a CM hyper 212 see cons). so the air flow in this case is great for its size and not to mention the added rubber grommets are awesome when attaching new fans cause they reduce vibration and sound from the fan. the cable management is good too. plenty of on the back of the case to route cables, and the cut outs are just as good. all in all its a great case for any build honestly first time or experience builders. it can handle an H100 and any other type of water cooling you are interested in if thats what you want to do. expansion slots are easy to remove with the thumb screws and can fit even really long GPU's. the front USB 3 is a great addition and sure it doesnt come with a usb 2.0-3.0 adapter but you should know if your MOBO has a usb 3.0 front header or not. mine did so that wasnt a problem. the air flow is great and the looks are nice too. is it a perfect case? not at all but if your interested in getting it or even thinking about it then you definitely should! PROS: great air flow good cable management enough room for 6 additonal fans making 8 all together watercooling is a viable option it can fit full size GPU's fits a Hyper 212 (but nothing crazy like a Noctua D14...or could it?) enough room for up to 4 HDD's and 4 SSD's(or notebook HDD's) clean sleek look usb 3.0 infront rubber grommets are awesome addition

Cons: the cons of this case arent many and they're kind of minor things but i'll list them cause you need to be honest when it comes to reviewing anything. although the air flow is great for having a closed front end i wish the side vents were a little bigger and let a little more air in the front but adding another fan in the front should do the job. the lack of dust filters is kind of a bummer but for a case that costs less then 50% you cant really complain. the important parts like the psu and the front intake both have dust filters but i would've like to have see the side intakes with them too but thats just me knit picking. the side intakes are available to add 2 120mm case fans to cool the MOBO and the GPU the only problem i ran into was if you are using a mini atx bored with a hyper 212 on it you cant fit another fan on the top side intake. it could be casue im using a mini atx board and when i switch to my full atx bored ill have room for it so im not to worried right now. i just wish the front wasnt a closed front and it was an open mesh but thats ok and for what i wanted to spend going for a 300R wouldnt have been practical. and make sure that if you add a fan in the front and you have filled it up with hard drives make sure you get a fan meant for pressure because the holes are kind of restrictive and a normal fan wont push the air through that much. CONS: non open mesh front no additional dust filters (except on PSU mount and front intake) cramped side intake fan spot (i will update later when i install my new board) regardless of whats written in this section i definitely suggest you buy this case if your interested and it will do what you need

Overall Review: i wish i could give it 6 Eggs

Pros: Nice, sturdy, solid. Not too heavy, not too light. Front panels all work nicely. Manual was useful. Just enough space for a beefy video card. The two fans seem to be providing enough air flow, and the whole thing is pretty quiet. Mounting the mobo was easy because the standoffs are built into the case. The side panels come on and off easily. Mounting a 5.25" disc drive was a breeze.

Cons: The hard drive slots were kind of strange... I have a SSD and a regular SATA drive in it. The SSD fit in, but I did have to use screws, so much for the 'tool free design'. I was able to use the tool-free latches on the regular 2.5" SATA hard disc, but I had to insert it backwards for the latch to line up with the HD screw-hole! This meant I had to route a power and SATA cable behind the right-side panel, which was kind of tricky.

Overall Review: It looks really nice, I'm happy with the purchase.

Pros: - Mostly metal, not plastic that breaks. - Doesn't make my PC look like a flashy disco floor. I like a simple functional case, not a case with a bunch of flashy lighting.

Cons: - I buy Corsair cases because I also buy matching Corsair liquid coolers. (H100i) Well, the motherboard mounts so high in the case, that it (heatsinks and memory) obstruct the installation of the liquid coolers fans on it's radiator.

Overall Review: If you're going to buy this case, only do so if you do not intend to install a large liquid cooler like the Corsair H100i. I had to hack install my fans for the radiator. Not too pleased about that. If you want a case that fits everything and the kitchen sink. Go with the Corsair Full-Tower Obsidian 750D. I own several!

Pros: - Very roomy case - Included case fans are extremely quiet - An abundance of included hardware made setup a breeze

Cons: - It's almost TOO big? - PLEASE start including a dust cover for the top

Overall Review: This case was the most highly recommended mid tower case I found, and I see why now. I just finished my build and it was super easy, mostly because this case is HUGE on the inside. When they say it's tool-free, take that with a grain of salt, you WILL need a screwdriver to install almost everything in this case. But the big screws on the case panels themselves can be done by hand which is GREAT for quick adding and removing of plug-in components. I've seen it said that some people have trouble maneuvering their hands inside and I have to say I didn't have that issue. I had plenty of room to work. And please do buy extra 120mm case fans (at least one) for this case. I put mine on the top. Also, I've seen some people say that their front panel has been dead.