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  • SilthDraeth - Thursday, May 17, 2012 - link

    But then again, I am a sucker for that ammo can military green.
  • kyuu - Thursday, May 17, 2012 - link

    Pretty sure the "ammo can" was actually the basis for the aesthetics, with the military green, the clips for the side panels, and the handles on top. I actually rather like it as well (though I'd personally probably go with the gunmetal grey instead).

    The cooling performance is disappointing, unfortunately. However, didn't I see the reviewer state that the ambient temperature was higher than normal, which would skew the results...?
  • Dustin Sklavos - Thursday, May 17, 2012 - link

    Thermal performance is listed as the delta above ambient, so all of the thermal results are adjusted to compensate for differences in ambient temperature.
  • Arghem - Thursday, May 17, 2012 - link

    But as the base temperature of the CPU goes up it will draw more current and produce more heat. So making the temperature relative to ambient does not correct for a higher baseline temperature. If this was done in hot conditions then the thermal performance data for the chassis is not accurate relative to other chassis.

    I realize they are doing as good as they can here but making the temperature relative does not remove bias created by lower or higher environmental temperatures.
  • JarredWalton - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link

    It removes a large portion of the bias. It's not like Dustin is testing at 19C for one case and 30C for another; the temperatures are relatively constant at 23~26C (25.5C for this review). A 2C ambient difference should not create a 5C delta, which is basically what we're seeing with this case.

    Now, you could stuff more fans into the C70, and that might help. I also think Dustin is right in that the initial positioning of fans is poorly selected -- I'd say at the very front of the drive cages would be better at least. Or you could use a watercooling setup and that would likely help tremendously. The thing is, you can do all those same things with a P280 or Eleven Hundred, and you should still end up with superior results.
  • kevith - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link

    You nailed it!
  • Arghem - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link

    Your certainly right that the front fan placement is highly questionable. I wasn't meaning to imply that the higher ambient accounted for the entire difference in thermal performance only a portion of it. And yes probably a small portion in this case.

    I was just pointing out that presenting the temperature as relative to ambient isn't perfect. It's simply the best that can be done without a perfectly controlled environment.
  • BMAN61 - Saturday, May 19, 2012 - link

    " Or you could use a watercooling setup and that would likely help tremendously."

    Yes; watercooling any setup vastly improves temperatures, but still requires air cooling to expel air from within the case (via the radiator), and a balanced amount of air coming into the case to create positive air pressure. So if the chassis has dismal airflow; it doesn't matter if you're using water cooling or not, temperatures will still be bad.

    Being one that owns a (water cooled) Corsair 700D; I can say that airflow is what has been the problem with many of these cases, the 140mm fans that were shipped with the 700/ 800D cases are all garbage, but neither of these cases had (have) any fan mounts (other than one fan mount on the bottom) to bring fresh air into the chassis.
  • m0n5t3r - Tuesday, April 30, 2013 - link

    Out of the box, yes the cooling performance isn't great. The stock fans really don't contribute in the cooling, they are pretty shitty. But as you can see that is a lot of ventilation and fan mount options.
  • Chaitanya - Thursday, May 17, 2012 - link

    I still own a Ammo, I kept it aside just because of the looks were awesome.
  • Sabresiberian - Thursday, May 17, 2012 - link

    Me too; appearance wise, I think it looks pretty cool. Otherwise, not so much, but it gets a "+1) from me for appearance.

    What I really want though is a case that will handle a 10-slot mainboard. Your case can't, it's not in the running for my dollar.

    ;)
  • Samus - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link

    I think its awesome. I painted a case ammo can green for lanparties 15 years ago, I loved that hunk of case and 17" CRT :)

    All they need to do is team up with LG or Lite-on to make a matching faceplate.
  • exordis - Thursday, May 17, 2012 - link

    I'd love to know how easy it is to set watercooling up in this case. If that's what they were aiming for it might explain the bad thermals for an air cooled set up.
    Not that they shouldn't be trying to do both well.
  • ZekkPacus - Thursday, May 17, 2012 - link

    I really feel like Corsair's cases, similar to most of Antec's higher-end cases, are designed with the idea and suggestion that the end user will install more fans. Most of Corsair's cases are also designed with a fairly obvious radiator mount, too.

    Would be interesting to see you go back to a few cases (for example, the 500R, this case, and the Antec 1100), add 2 fans per case and a 240mm rad, and see how they do. I can't imagine anyone would spend $100+ on a case just to use the stock fans.
  • bah12 - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link

    "I can't imagine anyone would spend $100+ on a case just to use the stock fans."

    I can't imagine paying $100+ on a case and NOT using stock fans. That is a good bit of money to be spending for bleh cooling. One should not be asked to pay that amount, then turn around and spend more. Either sell it for less and I'll buy my own fans, or perform reasonably in a stock configuration. Just my 2 cents.
  • ZekkPacus - Saturday, May 19, 2012 - link

    Pretty much every case I've ever used, I've added fans to the stock configuration. Mostly extra intakes.
  • ClutchNerd - Wednesday, March 13, 2013 - link

    What kind of 1d10t spends a crapton of money on a rig and DOESN'T buy some bada$$ fans to go with it? Thats like buying a McClaren F1 and NOT buying z-grade tires to hug the road... or buying a Cadillac Escalade without the spinners then b1tching that you're caddy doesn't have enough chrome on it. Or buying an 84" tv without the sports package. Think about it...
  • zyxtomatic - Tuesday, July 22, 2014 - link

    I know this is an old comment, but I had to reply: A McClaren F1 *does* come with extremely high performance tires from the factory. Absolutely no need to upgrade those until they wear out. :)
  • Robert in Calgary - Thursday, May 17, 2012 - link

    This case comes in three colours from the get go, yet I still can't get a White 550D?

    Rather.....annoying!
  • ExodusC - Thursday, May 17, 2012 - link

    This actually seems to be a decent case, and since aesthetics were obviously in mind here, I can't stand the fact that they cut side-vent fan mounts/perforations- I personally have stopped running my systems wide side fans as I don't run a dual-GPU setup and with logical fan placement and case design, side fans are unnecessary (and can often times hurt airflow if you're not smart).

    Just my personal preference- for cases with large windows (see: aesthetics), fan perforations are ugly and can let out noise and let in dust if you're not using them (and if you are, you need dust filters, obviously).
  • LeftSide - Saturday, May 19, 2012 - link

    I couldn't agree more! I actually love the design and want the green, but I would have to replace the glass in the side. The perforations just look cheap. I wonder if it's easy to replace?
  • ClutchNerd - Wednesday, March 13, 2013 - link

    Double wall some 32-bit digi camo duct tape from walmart. Effective, clean (Doesn't get that crap dust residue buildup), and goes great with the olive green. FYI to everyone calling it "Ammo can green"....it's actually "Olive green" which is the exact same color used by the military.
  • Barbarossa - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link

    George from Corsair here - first things first, the review was very thorough, Dustin. Thanks for paying attention to the details.

    The thermal performance results are somewhat surprising - we've got a couple of internal test platforms we use to just thermal performance, and the C70 was among the best. In fact, the specific reason we moved the fans to the back of the hard drive cage was because it dropped GPU temps in our tests 2-3 degrees at idle and even more at load.

    Thanks for the comments and suggestions - even though your results don't match ours, there are so many possible configurations that I'm sure we were bound to be surprised sooner or later.

    It sounds like the ID isn't really for you - that's fine. The C70 is the most outlandish/aggressive design we've ever done. We knew it'd be love it or hate it. As a company, one of our strengths is refined and streamlined designs - we felt like taking a step in another direction with this case.

    Again, thanks for the review - even though it isn't 100% positive, it only helps us develop better cases going forward.
  • Dustin Sklavos - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link

    George, I'm really psyched that you guys popped up here.

    You know I'm a big fan of Corsair's hardware and I kind of just have to report on what my experience is with the kit. As far as the ID goes, I tried to be fairly balanced with it and keep in mind what the readers are usually into, but judging from the comments here you don't have anything to worry about.

    I think it's definitely an unusual step for Corsair. I don't want to ever discourage you or any other company from being daring with their products and trying radically different approaches/designs/etc. I just feel like you weren't as experimental with the internal design as you could've been. Apart from the random crap like trouble tightening the screws, the overall logic of how the case comes together is stellar and I want to see that progress in future cases.

    You guys are SO CLOSE to making a bulletproof case design and I think you'll get there. I want to see the ease of assembly and typical acoustics of a Corsair and the thermal performance of a SilverStone. Corsair doesn't have an enthusiast standby in their stable yet quite like Antec's P180/182 were or SilverStone's FT02 can be, but like I said...you're really close.

    As a sidenote, if you'd like to share your testing data with me and what your results looked like, it can at least inform my future reviews.
  • LeftSide - Saturday, May 19, 2012 - link

    George, can you comment on how the side plexiglass is installed? Could I easily replace it with a custom solid plexiglass? The perforations for the side mount fans are the only thing keeping me from getting this case.
  • soloburrito - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link

    I don't see how any air can make it past the hard drive cage and feed those front fans. I bet removing just one cage and having a fan pulling in cool air directly from outside the case would make a noticeable difference in temps

    That said, i really like the design as far as "gaming" cases go. It stands out, but yet it's still fairly classy maintaining clean lines and staying away from cheap, glossy plastic to add "flare". Check out the other colors. The white version looks fantastic with the "smoked" side window.

    Open up the hard drive cages a little more and add a top fan from the factory. A $140 case that only includes 3 120mm fans (albeit good quality) seems a little too frugal, Corsair. At the very least put the third fan on the side panel or roof to stimulate better airflow inside the case.
  • Zebo - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link

    Looks like something you attach to a tank not really suitable for house.
  • milkod2001 - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link

    @Corsair George,
    if you still here,
    is Corsair planning in future revisions of 600T add all magnetic dust filters and internal USB3 header as 550D comes with? These are only thing holding me off that case :(
  • Barbarossa - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link

    I can't comment on any unannounced stuff. Sorry man.
  • Gunbuster - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link

    I wish newegg would get these in stock....
  • clarkn0va - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link

    "the fans on the processor and graphics card wind up not having to work anywhere near as hard."

    That's like telling us that a vacuum cleaner sucks.
  • Dr_b_ - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link

    Without having the case yet some things that I would do:

    -Offer for sale a side panel with window that does not have ventilation/mount points for fans, or ship the product with one that doesn't and offer for sale one that does.

    -Make the front mounted ports optional, so that if a user does not wish to use the front USB/Audio, the cable for them can be easily removed.

    -Make sure there is plenty of room for the cables to stick out of the hard drives such that they have clearance for the right side panel (if there isn't already, necessitating angled SATA cables)

    Other than that you do have a winning design, a lot of people I talk to like the case design and aesthetics, unlike the reviewer, who did state it was a matter of taste.

    Myself, like a lot of other people who will be buying the case, will install their own fans and additional fans ontop of that, and a fan controller -- so cooling with factory default setup and fans is a mute point but a valid review consideration I suppose, but not a factor in my buy decision. By the time I put in two top 120's and change out all the factory fans, I don't think I am going to have an air cooling problem, but on the other hand i don't want to put my kit in an oven.
  • cyberguyz - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link

    Bought Carbide 500R case. Liek most of Corsair's cases it wasn't cheap. In most respects it seems a decent case. I did some research on it and by all intents and purposes seemed the operfect case for me. Until I got it home, opened it up and tried to fit my Asus Maximus IV Extreme Z into it.

    See that sunken motherboard pan that the motherboard nestles into? Well if you have an E-ATX motherboard, it barely fits into that. What end up with is the lip along the side of the sunken pan making the whole bottom row of SATA ports UNUSABLE. If you have a high-end E-ATX board like a Gigabyte X79-UD7, look at other options guys. Most of Corsair's cases won't work with your board without some creative metalwork.

    What really bugs me about this site (Yes YOUR site Anand!) is that case reviews like this one are routinely done here showing off how well a MICRO ATX motherboard fits in it. Impressive! Look at all the room I have around it! Get serious guys! How many guys really go out and buy a FULL SIZE case to turn around and pop a mATX motherboard into it?

    Except for the dodgy paint and styling, this case review could almost clone the one that was done on the Carbide 500R right down to the mATX motherboard used to 'test' it.
  • Dustin Sklavos - Saturday, May 19, 2012 - link

    We use a MicroATX board because it allows us to compare acoustic and thermal results between ATX and MicroATX cases, and because there's very little reason to actually use an ATX board for testing other than to make sure it fits. Which wouldn't even necessarily help with your little "issue."

    You're also complaining about how you couldn't fit your E-ATX board into a case that isn't specced for E-ATX, so clearly that's Corsair's fault.
  • Olaf van der Spek - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link

    Wouldn't mounting the fans at the side (by default) provide better cooling? Intake would be unrestricted and airflow would be directed at CPU & GPU.
  • hu_willy - Saturday, May 19, 2012 - link

    This case looks really good. But is it able to but in a MSI Big Bang XPower II (X79)which is a XL-ATX(or E-ATX, can't remember. ) ?
  • Dustin Sklavos - Sunday, May 20, 2012 - link

    If I didn't list that spec, the case doesn't support it.
  • GullLars - Sunday, May 20, 2012 - link

    This is related to the part of the conclusion
    "I'm reasonably certain that an end user willing to tinker and test different cooling configurations in the C70 will be able to get better results than I did, but by extension Corsair should've had this figured out before the case even shipped. Whatever the optimal fan configuration might be, I'm pretty sure this isn't it. The fans that come preinstalled are actually fairly quiet at full throttle, but they don't seem to be moving a whole lot of air either. As a result, the case's performance is severely short-changed. Slightly better airflow from the case fans can actually do wonders for reducing thermals and noise<...>"

    What is tested here is a basic configuration of the case thermal wise. It's clearly made to be expanded if needed, with a strong hint towards H100 if you have a decent CPU.
    I guess it's not what Anandtech does, but i think this could recieve a favourable review if you swapped out the CM 212 for an H100, and if you go for a high-end GPU also put in a couple of Noctua fans.
  • awg0681 - Monday, May 21, 2012 - link

    The only way to make fair comparisons between cases is to test them at stock configuration (with the same internal hardware and testing methodology obviously). Yes, it's true you could do X, Y, and Z to any case and achieve better thermals than what you find on review sites.

    Dustin would be here all day testing different configurations and coolers if that were done and we would be left with far fewer case reviews. Then Anand and Dustin would also be inevitably faced with comments of people saying "well if they had done [insert suggestion] on this case instead of [whatever] that case would have beaten this case" and being called unfair, etc, etc.

    This is meant to be a "this is what you can expect out of the box" review, as are all the reviews of all cases at Anand. That way you know when comparing cases based on reviews here that for X amount of money you get Y from your case out of the box. Then it's up to you if you want to spend extra for whatever else that might improve the performance, such as spending an extra $150+ on H100 and fans for a $140 case. A lot of cases could end up with a more favourable review if the reviewer added to them. Perhaps manufacturers should give more attention to how a case ships if they'd prefer a better review. ;-)
  • Gunbuster - Monday, May 21, 2012 - link

    Dear Corsair,

    Why did you send units out for review (Anandtech and LegitReview) while having no availability with the major online sales channel? Newegg and Amazon have no stock or availability dates.
  • hzuiel - Sunday, May 27, 2012 - link

    So those nitwits of you complaining about the arrangement of the front fans, did you actually look at the review and perhaps see where he removed the front case cover and there were *gasp* holes to screw in a fan, and space inside the cover to accomodate such fans? Yes I know it blows your minds but sometimes you can actually put fans in places where there isn't a fan that comes with the case. Every case I've ever owned has had at least 1 slot that didn't come with a fan in it. if there is a spot for a fan, and it doesn't come with one for there, i put one there, and guess what, i always have great airflow. I also tend to replace the cheapie fans that come stock, with much more powerful fans. So reviews like this don't mean much to me because i will always get better numbers when i use the same case. I look at how the case is actually designed and this thing looks amazing as far as number of fans supported and positioning.
  • alexloa - Wednesday, May 30, 2012 - link

    Hi, I got the C70 just 2 weeks ago, the design (outlook) is so cool, would like to have advise how to install my fans, details as follows:

    VGA card--------MSI 6850 OC
    CPU Cooler ---cossair H60
    Fans-------------2 pcs SERVO Gentle Typhoon ( for H60)
    2 pcs GELID Silent 12
    4 pcs cossair stock fans
  • panopset - Sunday, October 5, 2014 - link

    Looks like the H60 has a similar radiator size as the Zalman LQ315. The built in top fan was compatible with my radiator, so I have the radiator sandwiched between the Zalman and Corsair fans. I had to move the whole thing to the top front fan mount because otherwise it would bump in to my memory cards. That maxed out the radiator tube length, but it still fit.
  • jsinner - Monday, February 25, 2013 - link

    your missing the x2 120mm fans for the "Front", look behind the front chassis access panel
  • Lowri77 - Saturday, January 25, 2014 - link

    I really love the styling of this case, and as someone suggested the best way to ensure the smoothest air flow would be to take out both bottom cages and put the twin fans on the front and to have a solid perspex side made to replace the fan mounted one. Personally for me this will be my second build of a computer and this is defo the case I will be going for, love the unique design (I find most of the cases, black and boring. At least this one wants to be noticed.)
    For my new build I am going with -

    5 x Noctura F12 fans
    Only the H100 (not the i) water cooling
    Gigabyte FXA990 UD3 Mobo
    8320 Cpu
    R9 270 Gpu
    8 Gb of Ram
    Be Quiet 630 Psu
    Keeping my SSD (OCZ Vertex and 1Tb backup HDD)

    And at the moment I am so excited, might not be the world's most amazing computer but for me it will be awesome.
    :)
  • Metrologist - Saturday, March 15, 2014 - link

    You state that, "...the thermal and acoustic results recorded..." and "Ambient temperature is also measured...".

    The differences between your recorded temperature results and those done by Corsair are almost certainly because of the temperature instruments (and probes) used to perform the recorded results. What is your temperature instrument used to record these readings? Is it calibrated by an accredited laboratory? Or, are you even using an external instrument to record the temperatures or are you relying upon different motherboard readings? It doesn't take much to alter temperature readings especially when you are only looking at 1 or 2 degrees C differences.

    Your test setup should include how you determined the actual temperature readings.

    The temperature references in this article mean nothing until the temperature method can be explained.

    Additionally, is your "acoustic" instrument calibrated? I'll go out on a limb here and say it isn't!

    Prove me wrong!

    -The Metrologist
  • zyxtomatic - Tuesday, July 22, 2014 - link

    I know this is an old review, but I wanted to ask: Has anyone tested this C70 case with both drive cages removed and the two drive cage fans moved to the front of the case instead? Seems like that would increase positive airflow from outside, which should improve cooling considerably. In this day and age, I just don't understand why gaming cases still have all these drive cages, especially at the expense of cooling. I have a pair of SSDs, and honestly the second one is only in there because I have no other use for it. I could easily run with just one if needed.

    Anyway, this normally isn't the kind of case I'd go for (I'm a quiet case sort of person), but I do like the tough design and especially the handles, since I often have to carry my computer from my office downstairs to my home theater upstairs.
  • kasdesign1 - Sunday, August 14, 2016 - link

    Bought this case for its ammo can look, easy to build features. Was noticing poor reviews of thermal tests. Much of the poor thermal results is loss of pressure from all the extra vents where there are no fans. The intake fans behind the disk drives moves in cool air and mimics high end rack servers where the fans are actually in the middle of chassis. The exhaust fan helps remove heated air from the cabinet. I'm using an air cooled CPU fan cooler to avoid fan noise directed right at me. What I'm planning to do is seal all unused fan openings top, side and anywhere else I can find leaks. Then the supplied fans will actually do the work they were meant to do.

    My credentials: Electrical Engineer, server and add-in card designer, 30+ years experience including aerospace, industrial, and data-center computers.
  • blazeaglory - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link

    I agree about the amount of un-needed ventilation. I've seen people take the clear acrylic side and replace with a solid (non fan mount) window. Also, if you're not running water cooling, i would maybe seal up one (half) the top and bottom vents, or just the bottom while using two fans venting on top (might be over kill). Also, people remove the hdd bays and move the fans to the proper placement up front. I'm sure that would, with the proper fans (non water cooled), bring temps down significantly.
  • ArtoriusTheBear - Thursday, April 4, 2019 - link

    Commenting in 2019. After I purchased a used C70 and have used it for several months.
    First I will disagree with your opinion on esthetics. I agree, it isn't a crowd-pleaser, it is much more specific to a narrower target market. I enjoy military themed stuff and find the case beautiful...in a bad-ass sort of way. Also, I swapped the side panel for one without the ventilation holes for fans since that side panel should just be a single clean pane of acrylic. Which it is now. And looks fantastic.
    Second, the cooling from the factory is rather sub par. Absolutely agree there. But, you can add lots of fans which means they can be slower and quieter fans because they are large enough and numerous enough to move air effectively through the case. (again, the side panel fan positions are gone leaving a clear airflow from bottom-front to top-rear. I use two 120mm fans in the front behind the front fascia, with two more behind the disc mount rack to help pull more airflow through that confined space I also have a 140mm fan on the floor pulling air up into the case. Then in the back I have a 120mm blowing out and in the top I have two 140mm fans blowing straight up. Assuming I get 50% of rated flow, I can get up to 200CFM flow with all fans on high. However, I tend to run them all at 30% which is probably less than 75cfm and rather quiet.
    To prove that the case cools well, I mounted an FX-8350 and an R9-390 in mine before I added any case fans and just leaving the side panel off was enough. However, once I added the fans I can reliably cool the whole PC even when working it particularly hard.

    Now, this isn't a QUIET type of case. There just isn't enough airflow efficiency to get air through the case easily enough to be super quiet. But, if you don't mind slight fan noise (I don't mind the fan noise at all...I love air cooling so I have a weird enjoyment of the sound) then this case can work just fine.
    Granted, now that they haven't been in production for 5 or 6 years, this whole "user-review" is moot. But, for anyone who is looking at getting one of these classic cases, don't worry about the cooling so long as you don't mind lots of fans.
  • biswa60 - Saturday, October 19, 2019 - link

    For the first time since I've started reviewing Corsair's cases, I'll admit I experienced trepidation when I saw the press materials for the C70.
    https://calendartop.com/
    http://usschoolcalendar.com/
    https://menuandprice.org/
  • spr0ck3t - Wednesday, October 19, 2022 - link

    kinda funny going back to this review after the case picked up a cult following

    I still have the protective film on my acrylic somehow

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