Corsair Carbide Air 540 Builds

masscrazy · 5 Jan 2014 at 17:04

andy_mk3 said:
That's a hell of a kink in that bottom hose there, hope you sorted that out!

I'd love a 540 case, they are awesome! One day

Looks to be for drainage..

Dirk Diggler · 5 Jan 2014 at 17:04

andy_mk3 said:
That's a hell of a kink in that bottom hose there, hope you sorted that out!

I'd love a 540 case, they are awesome! One day

The kink is after the tee to the drain, so it doesn't need sorted as it isn't affecting the loop.

jeckulz · 12 Jan 2014 at 17:31

wndsr said:
I still have some tidying up to do but here we are so far...

So you realise youre just going to be sucking in a **** ton of dust through every hole in that case right?

zoomee · 12 Jan 2014 at 21:02

omg this case was hard work!!

comparison of size next to my old 650D first:

Main components installed (no watercooling yet):

Spaghetti junction round the back - and that's the tidy version!:

ok, now for the questions - See that Aquaero controller in the second vertical bay below? Thats just resting there - slight nudge and it goes back into the case.

Got it up and running this evening, phone battery too tired (bit like me!) to take any further pics with flash but how can I secure that Aquaero controller? - leaving it there until I decide to upgrade later - all my watercooling bits are in the main windowed part of the case, more or less exactly how they used to be in my 650D, just that darn controller that needs securing for now.....

Rroff · 12 Jan 2014 at 21:04

I unclipped the plastic toggle beneath the fan controller on mine and stuck a couple of screws through - its not ideal but mostly holds it in place.

Its a nice case but with a tiny bit more thinking through, better front bays, better SSD cage, etc. it could have been an immense case.

zoomee · 12 Jan 2014 at 21:06

It only aligns if I put the AE5 the other way round though

i liked it sitting this way round as I think it looks better from where I'm sat.

Is there any way we can remove the actual bay holder so I can secure it properly?

zoomee · 12 Jan 2014 at 21:09

Rroff said:
Its a nice case but with a tiny bit more thinking through, better front bays, better SSD cage, etc. it could have been an immense case.

^^ Completely agree - its actually a lot harder work than I thought it would be! no idea how people got the res in the back and piping through to the front lol!

Rroff · 12 Jan 2014 at 21:09

By bay holder do you mean the plastic retention clip thing I called a toggle? it comes off easily which is what I did. (If you mean the metal framework then I have no idea).

zoomee · 12 Jan 2014 at 21:11

Rroff said:
By bay holder do you mean the plastic retention clip thing I called a toggle? it comes off easily which is what I did.

no no mate - that plastic clip thingy is the same is what was in my 650D - they're easy to get out

I mean the actual assembly / cage that holds the whole DVD drives in place.

Andygully · 13 Jan 2014 at 07:15

apparently there is screws in the front of the bays you remove and the cage comes out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x4JsOoySdQ
look around 6:56

Nickolp1974 · 13 Jan 2014 at 07:47

zoomee said:
no no mate - that plastic clip thingy is the same is what was in my 650D - they're easy to get out

I mean the actual assembly / cage that holds the whole DVD drives in place.

Yeah screws behind the cage and it pulls out backwards, this is one of the poor designs of the 540 because if you notice on the front plastic shroud there is a lip in the bays making it incredibly awkward if your bay device needs screwing in, had this problem with my koolance bay res.

zoomee · 13 Jan 2014 at 08:28

nice one fellas - will give that a try later.

zoomee · 13 Jan 2014 at 21:16

meh!
280mm koolance at the top
Nothing exciting for now:

Uncle_Gravy · 14 Jan 2014 at 13:58

I've asked this so many times, and i'm gonna ask again, I really don't know if I should do it, or its worth swapping, I keep racking my brains out and I keep umming and arring...

And looking at everyone's stunning examples,

Do I swap my Haf X for this case? I like what you can do with them asthetically, but for me its the performance, will I see much better airflow to my componants then I would with my current case, considering you can pretty much hide the cables much better than the Haf X, and there's no expansion bays to restrict airflow to major componants.

Nickolp1974 · 14 Jan 2014 at 15:54

Uncle_Gravy said:
I've asked this so many times, and i'm gonna ask again, I really don't know if I should do it, or its worth swapping, I keep racking my brains out and I keep umming and arring...

And looking at everyone's stunning examples,

Do I swap my Haf X for this case? I like what you can do with them asthetically, but for me its the performance, will I see much better airflow to my componants then I would with my current case, considering you can pretty much hide the cables much better than the Haf X, and there's no expansion bays to restrict airflow to major componants.

never owned a HAF X so can't coment if your airflow is improved, the 540 is a great little case but for me it has a few flaws which is why i bought a Lian-Li D600, very similar to the 540 but more options and imo a better layout overall. Its one case i shall be sticking with for a long time.

Homer-Simpson · 14 Jan 2014 at 17:43

Nickolp1974 said:
never owned a HAF X so can't coment if your airflow is improved, the 540 is a great little case but for me it has a few flaws which is why i bought a Lian-Li D600, very similar to the 540 but more options and imo a better layout overall. Its one case i shall be sticking with for a long time.

What are the flaws that you picked up?

Dirk Diggler · 14 Jan 2014 at 17:47

Uncle_Gravy said:
I've asked this so many times, and i'm gonna ask again, I really don't know if I should do it, or its worth swapping, I keep racking my brains out and I keep umming and arring...

And looking at everyone's stunning examples,

Do I swap my Haf X for this case? I like what you can do with them asthetically, but for me its the performance, will I see much better airflow to my componants then I would with my current case, considering you can pretty much hide the cables much better than the Haf X, and there's no expansion bays to restrict airflow to major componants.

It's a personal decision you have to make. Are you air cooling or water cooling? How many HDD's do you have? There's loads of info on this case.

Nickolp1974 · 14 Jan 2014 at 18:04

Homer-Simpson said:
What are the flaws that you picked up?

The 5 1/4 bays, kinda restricted what you can use and the lip on the plastic shroud should be removed because if you have to screw a device in it makes it awkward so you have to get inventive!!

Limited rad space, for me i want low temps and near silence. Although the case was designed for air and not water so for most this is not an issue.

Don't get me wrong though it's a great case but it could have been amazing!!

These are what i consider flaws, for most people it won't be an issue.

setter · 14 Jan 2014 at 18:14

I was considering the 540 very seriously for my spec in sig. But im now having a rethink and waiting to see what the new phanteks enthoo luxe will be like. If im not impressed with it ill go for the soon to be released enthoo primo special edition in red/black.

Uncle_Gravy · 15 Jan 2014 at 11:53

Air cooling, at the minute i'm using an old 500gb Sata II drive (which i'll replace eventually with a WD Black) and a 60gb Intel SSD, hopefully i'll get another SSD one day.