Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-05 CC-9011138-WW Black Steel, Plastic, Acrylic Window Side Panel ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case

Pros: If you're familiar with the Corsair Carbide series, a lot of internals on this case will be familiar to you. It has the same basic internal frame with three removable 3.5" hard drive bays, two SSD/2.5" mounting slots where you would normally find the 5.25" bays. For the most part there's plenty of room to route cables behind the motherboard to make sure whatever you install can be shown off without a birds nest of ugly cables. Because the top half of the front mesh of the case is completely open, there is plenty of room for airflow if you choose to install additional intake fans. By default there is one 120mm fan installed in the center, but there is room for a second fan just above that as well. Corsair also includes a dust filter for the bottom of the case where the PSU mounts, should you decide to use it as an intake. I didn't have too much trouble with airflow in this case, nor did it feel like the chassis was louder than any other I've used. Unlike the other models of the SPEC-04 line, this one comes with a gorgeous edge-to-edge glass side door, which really shows off whatever you install inside the case. This is visually a huge upgrade from much smaller plastic window on the standard version

Cons: The largest selling point on this case really is the huge glass side panel, but it almost feels more like a liability to have on this case. I couldn't find any mention in the manual that said whether this glass was tempered or not, though I would assume it is, but it made me very nervous moving the case or the door around without being extremely gentle. I would also advise that you wear gloves or wait as long as possible to remove the protective film, as this glass panel is a fingerprint magnet once it's been taken off. I'm slightly disappointed that this case only comes with a single fan installed. By the time you purchase additional fans for this case you've increased the cost from budget to mid-range pricing. It's also strange looking at the front of the case that there appears to be a cutout for a third 120mm fan to be installed but you can't really access it at all. There will be no direct cooling over the HDDs. Being a mid tower, it's disappointing not having an option to mount a 5.25" ODD. The front upper region of the case will be completely empty space, and only really serves to show off the SSDs.

Overall Review: While I love the huge interior of this case, the front portion of the motherboard tray is raised ever so slightly to allow more cables to be routed behind the motherboard (Or the SSDs be mounted on the other side of the tray). If you have an ATX motherboard that likes to bend the ATX form factor standard, you may have some issues getting it to fit here. For instance, I would have loved to put my old Rampage III Extreme in this case, but the motherboard is an extra 0.6" long, just enough to press against the chassis. If you choose to go with an air cooler, double check the height of the cooler before purchasing this case. Larger units such as the Hyper 212 Evo are too tall to fit in this case.

Pros: +The case seems very well built in my opinion. Everything lines up like it should. My previous Cosmos 1000 case the motherboard never was exactly correct so I ended up with a slight bend to my video card… but it fits perfect in this case. +The case looks great with the smokey glass window, it makes the case look really nice. +Case glass door and metal side door use thumb screws, no tools required. +The two 3.5” drive slots have a removable tray that the drives snaps into, and that tray snaps into place. No screws required. +There is a little room under the two 3.5 drive slots to lay another 2.5 drive like an ssd drive or laptop drive, even though it's not advertised for that. Provided you have enough room with the PSU wires. +The top grill has a removable filter that is connected by magnet, the entire top has holes for ventilation. I’ve never owned a case with this much ventilation in it. +I had no problems with the front audio, power, USB ports. A lot of reviews here are from a different case, mine is the SPEC-DELTA RGB case. I wish the reviews weren’t lumped together. +Quiet Color emitting fans, but the lighting only works on certain motherboards, which mine is not one of them, as they use a special connector, but they have separate standard 4 pin fan connectors also, like a regular fan.

Cons: -The specs say up to a 7” power supply. I have the Corsair RM750X modular power supply which is 7” long. I can fit it there but it's too long to fit wires the through the first hole which ends up above the power supply. In fact I had to unscrew the drive tray and push it all the way over to the left just to make everything fit, it's jam packed down there, I was not happy about that design. But its fine now, just a LOT of work, as my modular power supply lines are kinda stiff to bend. -There is a location for 2 ssd on the back plate, but it only came with 1 mounting bracket, so I had to use a very small amount of sticky double sided mounting tape to hold one ssd on the back. -There is no HD led activity light, from what I can tell anyways.

Overall Review: I transferred parts from my large tower case to this smaller case. I was tired of the giant case in my room. I moved over my MSI Gaming 7 motherboard, along with two hard drives, and 2 ssd drives, and a long XFX R9 R290 video card. I had to leave a third hard drive out, but I’ll just use my external dock to use that. I am rating this 5 eggs, even though I could rate it 4. I rate it 5 just because I honestly really like the case and how it looks. It took me hours to transfer everything over. It comes with screws and zip ties also. I knew ahead of time it has no dvd drive slot, so I will just be buying a thin external usb $30 or less dvd reader/burner and set it on top of the case. It was a lot more work than I expected but I’m very happy with it now.

Pros: Build quality is excellent- all fasteners, sockets, slides, and sheetmetal surfaces are without flaw Use of magnetic or toolless removal for the dust screens is a plus LEDs, buttons, and connectors all worked Included hardware is more than sufficient to get you up and running Case size is in the Goldilocks zone for having most power supply cabling be able to reach all the connectors on the mainboard and devices (Im using an Antec Earthwatts modular 650W from 2012 and a mATX mainboard). The front LED is bright enough to look cool without being annoying Front mounted USB connectors both work well and are conveniently placed for plugging in your gaming headset The case sits up on some rubber bottomed feet which allow you to have your PSU breathe through the below the case Tons of opportunity for mounting AiO or liquid cooling radiators on the top and rear of the case (both 140mm and 120mm fan compatible, mounting hardware included) With something close to 7 120/140mm fan capacity, you can really make a breeze Side panel glass arrived without a scratch with perfect dimensions

Cons: Dude this reset switch does not fool around, just brushing it while fiddling with your front USB and you are looking at your boot screen :O Like other have mentioned, you can gety yourself in a bind where your PSU cables come out from the basement area unless you get really meticulous with the routing. There are some options you can take to alleviate this if you have less devices or longer cables, but having more of a cutout or valley to run the bigger cables up would have been nice.

Overall Review: You don't really have control of the front LED- just plugging in the power to a sata plug or not- which I think would have been nice to have switchable for those who have their PC on while sleeping in the same room for example. I switched over from an older style Lian Li and couldn't be happier with the platform and thought that has gone in to this design, thank s Corsair for delivering another great mid tower solution!

Pros: RGB is IN Baby! Corsair is a good name Includes four fans, three are RGB Tool-free drive caddy Tempered glass side panel is nice. EZ off EZ on Case feet which are 2 X 1 in. have a 1 1/4 X 3/4 piece of gripping rubber stuck to them. They grip well. Not easy to push the case. Plenty of space to add fans and/or an AIO CPU cooler. Will accept long video cards because hard drive cage is at bottom No sharp edges. Corsair forum Toll Free Tech Support, Ticket Submission Support and Chat Room Support I availed myself to chat room support and appreciated their effort Other Thoughts Start Here In the week I have had the SPEC DELTA I did an initial build. Tore it down completely and built it again, twice. A case can't just be filled and looked at to evaluate, time and hands on is needed. The hard drive cage can be installed in three proximal positions (not mentioned in the pictograph directions) The cage is held in place by five screws. Four on the bottom and one on the side. All screws must be removed to take the cage out which should be done PRIOR to PSU installation. The PSU cover is not removable thus the PSU must be slid in from the side then pushed backwards. If the cage is not removed the PSU can still be installed but it is much more difficult. Once the PSU is in you can decide which position you want the cage to sit. Two of the bottom screws when not fully tightened allow the cage to slide. This is done so you can fit any extra cabling between the PSU and cage. If you have lots of cable push it back fully and you can gain about an inch and a half of space then snub down the screws which allowed for sliding and install the last three screws which line up with any of three matching holes. Once installed the bottom hard drive sits so close to the case bottom I advise against using an angled SATA cable. It could be done but it would have more stress on the connection then I am comfortable with. By placing the hard drive cage at the bottom Corsair has freed up room in the front of the case. This is great. One issue I always seem to have when attaching SATA cables to a motherboard is lack of room. This is not an issue with the SPEC DELTA. The hard drive caddies are plastic. They don't feel cheap and snap into place securely with authority. Often overlooked is fit of the back panel. There are two non-removable (I like that) larger thumbscrews to keep the panel in place. Behind the panel is enough room for cables and still allow for easy placement. I did not have to strain to place the panel which slides in place easy. I put every available card I had in the SPEC DELTA, video, sound, network. They all fit smooth. What I liked best was how accessible the HDMI slot on the video card was. I have had cases where the HDMI sits so high I wonder about the connection. Other Thoughts Continue Below

Cons: Unless you have one of the listed motherboards forget about RGB which CAN ONLY be controlled by ASUS, Gigabyte, or MSI motherboard software. I spent time with Corsair and this was confirmed to me by them. RGB will NOT work with Corsair's own CORSAIR Commander PRO RGB Controller OR with CORSAIR iCUE software or with the CORSAIR RGB Fan LED Hub. Not Corsair Link Enabled The "stylish" front bezel leaves no option for optical burner or card reader. Vertical top mounted I/O panel I do not like the presentation of the front USB 3 headers. Since they are on the top of the case I would have preferred they be recessed and covered by a flip panel. The blue and stainless of the USB headers detract from the case appearance and I prefer USB coming out the front not off the top Airflow out of the box is not good. You will need to add top fans The manual is a mere pictograph and not a good one at that. Limited hard drive options. Four total. There is room for two SSD's but only one bracket came with the SPEC DELTA. The bracket is proprietary yet as of 2-24-19 you cannot buy one from Corsair but they do offer a link to "Find a Retailer" but that link reports "Not found at any reseller" Huh? I did chat with Corsair and they did indeed confirm that extra SSD brackets are not yet available for purchase. A couple of thumb screws, instead of rivets would have meant the ability to remove the PSU cover and made a major difference in the stature of the case. Cable Routing Grommets not secured very well Per Corsair. "The front panel’s dark, angular accents become transparent when back lit, providing a unique window into your system." Well, no it doesn't. What the light, provided by the RGB fans does provide is a view of the fans from the front. After reading that I stuck my very bright LED flashlight in there.....wasn't unique. The SHINY front bezel will need daily, no hourly cleaning so get yourself a nice anti-static dust cloth. No sound dampening material

Overall Review: Initially I thought the SSD fit "into" the mounting bracket but the SSD mounts "onto" the bracket from behind. The pictograph might have made this clear. I read one reviewer that stated his SSD was to large which would be the case if he tried to mount the SSD "into" and not "onto". On top of the PSU cover is a rectangular cut out I used to thread the power cabling for video card, ATX power and ATX 12v power. The routing grommet is not held in place very firmly and while passing cables through it came out. It was not easy to put back but not hard. The routing grommet isn't necessary as the edge is not sharp. There are three more rubber grommeted cable management holes vertically located to the right of the motherboard "tray". The top is used by Corsair for front panel cabling. The cables were held in place by twist ties which I found curious. So, either the case was used and returned or Corsair was being considerate and easily allowing me to reroute those wires without having to snip more permanent cable ties. There are two dust filters. One on top and one at the bottom rear. The top one is magnetized around the edge and is easily removed for cleaning. The mesh is small enough to prevent large particles. No filter can stop the small ones. If top fans are installed they will blow up and out, further decreasing internal dust. The bottom filter is under the PSU. It is easily removed by pushing down on the tab then pulling back. The mesh is finer then the top filter. It is no larger then it need be to filter the air brought in by the PSU. The easy to remove front bezel (six quick release tabs) has a non-filtered triangular intake at the bottom which is about 28 sq in and one at the top at about 1.5 sq in. I did the single ply one square of toilet paper test to qualitatively evaluate the air intake from the three front fans. No air comes in at the top, it didn't seem to exhaust any either. The air intake at the bottom will hold the toilet paper when all three fans are running. If I disconnect the bottom two fans the top fan will not hold the toilet paper in place. If I have the top two fans running the toilet paper is NOT held in place. The majority of air brought into the SPEC DELTA is from the bottom fan alone which is directly behind the 28 sq in of opening. The fans were running at normal operational speed. Case exhaust is provided from a single 120 mm black rear fan. I don't think that is sufficient. I installed two 120 mm fans in the top. That will help. I tested the front panel HD audio. I could not get my Creative microphone to work plugged to the front panel no matter what I did. I researched extensively but to no avail. It worked from the rear motherboard mic jack. I have the Corsair HS60 headset which comes with a removable mic. When I plugged the mic attached headset to the front jack I could record. So, it works but be advised. There is one plug for both headphones and microphone Ultimately the Spec Delta must be primarily judged on what it purports and appears to be which is: A computer case designed for BLING! As a computer case it is very good. It is east to work in and I can tell the Corsair design and fabrication teams know their business. At $80 it is overpriced because: 1)it is billed as RGB which it only does when paired with an appropriate motherboard. No ancillary Corsair product will produce RGB. The fans in front can be made to light though. I was able to get the bottom one red OR the top two green but that was it. 2) You will have to spend at least $10 plus shipping for a second SSD caddy (when available) which raises the ACTUAL price to more like $100 If the man on the street stopped and asked me if I'd recommend the SPEC DELTA I would say no because it needs a compatible motherboard, it has no external drive bays and space for only four hard drives. BUT it's good as a computer case. Drive bays are going by the wayside, RGB is in. I can only take 1 egg off for the RGB issues Thank You Corsair and Eggxpert

Pros: This is a great looking case with a clean style, hiding a lot of your less-attractive hardware from the view of the tempered glass side panel. Plenty of room for long video cards, and more room around a full ATX motherboard than I'm used to. It almost seems too empty... Lots of extra spots for fans so you can keep your rig well ventilated, and a 240mm x 120mm or 280mm x 140mm radiator should definitely fit up front, though a triple radiator of either type may not. I can't try them to verify. Easy to remove and clean magnetic filters for the front and PSU intakes. More mounting positions for 2.5 inch drives (SSDs) than I'd ever know what to do with. Front USB ports are upwards facing, which in my case prevents whatever is plugged into it from being bumped and breaking the port (which has happened with the case it replaced multiple times). This was a little detail that is a huge plus for me even though it doesn't seem that way. The holes for wire management are very well thought out. It doesn't help my lack of knowledge on how to route wires in a neat and tidy way very much, but it's there if you know what to do with it.

Cons: Your hard drives are hidden and tucked away under a shelf, and unfortunately aren't going to get good airflow, especially with the stock fan setup. Speaking of hard drives, there's only two 3.5 inch bays and they're placed pretty close to the side of the case. There wasn't much room for the power and data cables going to the drives and they get pretty smushed when I put the metal side panel on. This is my biggest gripe with the case, and may have actually damaged the cables or connections on one of my drives. This will all depend on the types of cables you're using, of which I don't have an ideal selection. The top magnetic "filter" isn't really a filter, and the magnet doesn't hold it in place well as it tends to slide around when handling the case. There's no screen meant to catch dust, but rather just a flexible mesh. I guess it will catch some dust, but it's nothing like the other filters on the case. I suppose you'll want all your intake fans on the front anyhow.

Overall Review: The front panel will unsnap pretty easily with a brisk pull (keyword: brisk), but be careful for the wire that is attached for the front LED strip. From here, you can remove and replace the front filter for cleaning. It's interesting seeing how obsolete 5.25 inch bays and optical drives have become now, since this case (and many others) no longer support them. The PSU can be mounted in with the fan facing up or down. If it's downward facing, it will pull in air through a dust filter that can be removed and cleaned from the back of the case, otherwise it will pull air through a grille just under the motherboard. I'd personally like it to have a couple more USB ports up front, but 2 is pretty standard so I understand. I moved a fan from my old case to the bottom front to help give the hard drives some airflow, but without much of anywhere for that air to go, it can only help so much. It's a great budget case, and has many more features than I'd expect for a case in it's price range that make it feel like it's of a higher caliber. Unfortunately , the problems with the 3.5 inch drive placement I mentioned earlier mean I have to deduct at least one egg, but otherwise I'd definitely recommend this case.

Pros: Clean lines Amazing thumb screws holding side panels Allows wide variety of CPU heatsinks (just not mine) Well constructed Smooth threads PSU intake filter Decent cable management

Cons: No external 5.25in bays PSU intake filter rear-accessed Not all fan positions allow 140mm Can't use 360mm/420mm radiators Panel ports on right side Only 1xUSB 3.1 & 1xUSB 2.0 panel connectors HDD LED on side with connectors Clear panel easily scratched if not careful (not an issue if one has never scratched a phone screen) CPU power line tricky for MB sizes above mATX (can't thread through cutout)

Overall Review: This was the first modern case I've had the chance to build with & my first Corsair one. This certainly beats Rosewill & APEX. My first thought was not how it looked (as I selected it on aesthetics), but by how smooth the screw threads were. This was the first case I didn't have issues with. The side panel isn't as engulfing as its popular now, but this is also a budget/entry-level case. The fact you can easily fit a 140mm tower heatsink (CPU bracket-mount allowing) adds to the value of the case. Screws, drive trays, mounting screws, card retentioners, and side panels are all smooth and don't stick or thread wrong. Now, the drawbacks... Say goodbye to your optical drive(s). I know we're moving to Cloud distribution, but this is an inconvenience to those who buy our wntert on disc & create our digital copies. You'll need to have it on your left to use the ports, press the power/reset buttons the first try, or see the HDD LED. Speaking of ports, you have just one 3.x & one 2.0 port available to you. On the plus side, each port is full-speed. My heatsink is a rather wide copper fan & I had to remove it to get the motherboard in the case (it's been on the CPU for four years - I didn't want to do it until I had a water cooler for it, but...). Unless you go with all 120mm fans and/or a 120/240mm radiator, you'll need to mix & match. There's 120mm fans you can get here that push >100cfm (at <40dB), but the 140mm's have more LED options. Need a budget case for a HTPC or internet box? This is your case (or the red or yellow one, your choice). Migrating from a case without cable management? Yes, if you don't mind one cable having to be jimmied along the top. Cheap gaming-build case? Well, no. It's not designed for it. That's why there's a dedicated gaming line.

Pros: - Arrived very quickly from Newegg in a well packaged box. - The case is very lightweight. - Fits up to ATX motherboard. - All components fit well and case has futuristic look. - Internal bay can fit 4 drives (either 3.5 or 2.5). - 2 additional SSD drives can be mounted on the backplate. - One 120mm fan is included and is mounted in the front of the case. - Two more fans can be mounted at the front of the case (120/140 mm). Additional two fans (120 mm) can be mounted at the top of the case and one fan (120 mm) can be mounted at the back (all 120 mm). - One USB 3.0, one UBS 2 port, Speaker and MIC ports are at front top right side of the case. - PSU mount is at the bottom of the case. - Accessory kit contains 4 cable ties, 10 MBD/HDD screws, 16 SSD/ODD screws, 4 SSD pan head screws, 16 short fan screws and 4 long fan screws. One motherboard motherboard standoff is also included. 8 standoffs are pre mounted in the case.

Cons: - The internal drive bay can hold 4 drives. However, only 3 plastic trays are included. I do not like these trays. They make removing 3.5 cumbersome. I broke two trays when I tried to remove 3.5 drives. - Only one fan is included (120 mm). - No external bays (either 5.25 or 3.5). It’s impossible to mount CD/DVD/Blu Ray drive or a card reader. - Power switch, USB 3.0, USB 2.0, Speaker and MIC ports are placed in cumbersome location at the right side near the top.

Overall Review: - The case is modern looking but there are tradeoffs for its budget price. The case does not allow or installation of optical drive (such as CD/DVD/Blu Ray drive), card readers, etc. - There is also need to install more fans in this case. - The case quality is good. I had fun working with this case. I especially liked dedicated location for two SSD drives.

Pros: This case looks way more expensive than it is with it's flowing lines, excellent design layout, and glass panel. I appreciate that the design team actually made logical placements for everything without sacrificing aesthetics. There is plenty of cable management to keep unsightly wires out of the large windows view. The added PSU shroud is a nice touch that is appreciated. The fact that you could have one or two M.2 drives (depending on the board), 4 2.5" SSD's, and 2 3.5" drives all in one case in a way that doesn't clutter up the insides is awesome. I certainly hope Corsair keeps up with this design language going forward, I'm a huge fan.

Cons: I think if they are going to offer a light on the front, it should just be the RGB version. No sense to me in offering a white only LED and an RGB LED for the same case in the same paint finish. Not an outright "con" but the top magnetic filter has rather large holes. I haven't had a completed build running long enough to determine how effective it is in keeping dust out, but visually it doesn't look promising compared to others.

Overall Review: Some reviews have mentioned the lack of a 5.25 or ONLY two 3.5 bays. Optical media has all but been dead for years now except for blu-ray. And with storage capacities how they are, one or two large mechanical HDD's are all you need. On board m.2 and SSD's are what is selling so it makes sense to design for it, like they did here.