It’s so cool, and so tiny
If you liked the Corsair Air 540 case and its cubed shape, you may love the Corsair Air 240 and it Micro-ATX form factor.
Corsair continues to march down the path of making a PC case for just about every user imaginable. At Computex this past June, Corsair announced the Carbide Air 240 case, which is a smaller version of the very popular (and well reviewed) Carbide Air 540. These unique cases include two separate compartments: one for the motherboard, CPU, and graphics card and another for the power supply, storage, and miscellaneous cable clutter. The result is a sleek cube-shaped form factor that is easy to build inside.
Available in both black and white (with UV resistant paint), the $89/99 case fits both Mini-ITX and Micro-ATX motherboards allowing quite a bit of component flexibility.
A quick look at the front of the case shows the cube-like shape that both the Air 540 and Air 240 share, a form factor resulting from the dual-compartment design. The Corsair logo in the center can actually be rotated depending on the orientation of the case which itself can be rotated to allow the windowed case door to be the top of the case rather than the side.
A pair of USB 3.0 ports, power and reset buttons, and headphone and microphone connections are easy to access in either orientation.
The windowed side panel is quite large, comprising nearly the entirety of the side panel, allowing users to show off most of their PC hardware. Also, it only takes the removal of a couple of thumb screws to get the door off.
This view clearly shows the two compartment division of the Carbide Air 240 with the power supply on the left (along with SSDs and HDDs) and motherboard, GPU, and CPU on the right. If you have a properly built mATX motherboard you could actually still run either SLI or CrossFire in this system.
The opposite side panel doesn't have a window but does have support for a 120mm fan (internal) and also has an easily removable magnetic fan filter.
Removing the door shows the power supply, the HDD cage (top right), and the SSD cage (top left) as well as the cable routing for power and data through rubber grommeted openings between compartments.
If you take the cage cover off the back of the Air 240 you can easily access the three 3.5-inch screwless hard drive trays.
Turning back to the primary component section of the case, we were easily able to fit a powerful system inside. We have a Micro-ATX motherboard, Haswell processor cooled by a Corsair H80 self-contained liquid cooler, and a GeForce GTX 780 graphics card all while keeping the three included fans installed and working. There is plenty of room for a longer graphics card, and installation of a 240mm radiator is possible along the front of the case. (You can install one on the bottom as well if you are using a Mini-ITX motherboard rather than Micro-ATX.)
Further, the expansion cards use a screwless design where you can simply snap this rotating bracket in and out of place to lock cards in place. If you worry about movement during travel or shipping you can still use a screw for added security.
The top of the Air 240 comes off with a pair of thumb screws, revealing the installation location for top mounted fans and/or coolers.
The top of the Air 240 case also where you access the three 2.5-in hard drive / SSD tool-less trays for even more storage options.
Corsair ships the Carbide Air 240 without rubber feet pre-installed on the bottom of the case (though I show them after installation here). The reason: you can rotate the case 90 degrees to bring the window up top, allowing for a different case orientation completely. It's a great idea that allows some more customization options for your PC!
As a final parting shot, I thought I would show you the Radeon R9 295X2, one of the longest GPUs on the market, installed in the Carbide Air 240 with room to spare even with the 120mm water cooler required for this GPU. In fact, you could easily move the GPU radiator to the front of the chassis as well to make room for a dedicated CPU liquid cooler.
The truth is, the Carbide Air 240 is a great little case that you can pick up for under $100 that will accommodate just about any combination of hardware you can think of. The primary restriction is in the motherboard: it needs to be a Micro-ATX or Mini-ITX design. Considering you can get Z97 as well as X79/X99 motherboards in mATX already, that means your options for filling the Air 240 are better than you might believe considering its small size.
A dual compartment design helps keep things cool by improving airflow over the hottest components while also making sure your design is clean when you want to show it off to your friends. The white color is sharp though it will show scratches and scuffs a bit easier than the classic black. You can find the Corsair Carbide Air for $89, shipping in early September.
Ryan, great video. I’m going
Ryan, great video. I’m going to buy this case based on it.
I don’t see any CD/DVD burner slot?
You always talk about loading OS via thumb drive.
Can you do a video showing step by step how to do this for Win7/8?
I think this case doesnt come
I think this case doesnt come with 5.25 bay just 3 x 3.5 and 3 x 2.5.
If you have a Windows 7 DVD
If you have a Windows 7 DVD you can turn it into a USB Bootable DVD using the free Windows 7 DVD/USB Tool provided by Microsoft. (I think you can do it with Windows 8 as well but i haven’t done it).
Link to Windows 7 DVD/USB Tool
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool
Argh! I’ve been itching to
Argh! I’ve been itching to build a mini-ITX system and have been trying to decide on a case and now I need to add this one into the mix. Plus the Graphite 380T is coming out soon.
BTW, make sure you use a USB port that is connected to the motherboard’s chipset when loading the OS. There are a lot of instructions online for creating a bootable USB flash drive from a DVD or an ISO image file. Microsoft even provides a utility that works for Windows 7 and 8 even though it’s only named for Windows 7.
Agreed – PCPer does a great
Agreed – PCPer does a great job on case videos / reviews. I’m trying to find an excuse to build a system with this case.. The drivebays are really cool!
Ryan – is that a 5th expansion slot on the back offset from the other 4? Looks like no because it’d be a little short?
Also, a little hard to tell – it looks like the power supply has plenty of air to draw from — does the airflow path look OK for the 3.5″ drives?
I don’t see a fifth expansion
I don't see a fifth expansion slot…??
As for the air flow around the 3.5-in drives, it would be a little bit lower than I would like, but without the heat of the other components in the same compartment they should do just fine.
Its not small or even tiny,
Its not small or even tiny, its quite large for a matx. But we’ll never know as no dimensions or beverage cans are mentioned or shown.
Nice case. The size is right.
Nice case. The size is right. Now I need to find a mATX Z97/X99 with Thunderbolt2.
I’d love to rebuild my old
I’d love to rebuild my old m-ATX i3 (purposefully low power) NAS into this, but I’ve got four 3.5″ HDDs. Does anyone who has experience with these have ideas for the fourth HDD or would another case be a better choice (and if so, what)?
Is it possible to fit one of
Is it possible to fit one of the MSI GTX780 Gaming into this case ? or it will prevent the side window from closing?
Edit: I am talking about
Edit: I am talking about something like the MSI N780 TF 3GD5/OC it has 266x129x38 mm, the cooler of this card won’t prevent the side panel from closing ?
I wonder if it could be a
I wonder if it could be a good idea having all the air fans pushing air in and the water fans pushing it out.
Hi,
What is the water pump
Hi,
What is the water pump used in the above setup??
Hi, just like to mention that
Hi, just like to mention that this is the best review of air 240 I’ve seen.
The motherboards are mitx. Do
The motherboards are mitx. Do you have a mAtx? Wondering if H80 will fit with an mATX board in the case.
Can some one please tell me
Can some one please tell me if SAPPHIRE TOXIC R9 270X be able to install in this case.
The dimensions are 308(L)X113(W)X41(H) mm
You may of already found out,
You may of already found out, however I am hoping to do the same and I found that someone else had done this: http://www.eteknix.com/corsair-carbide-air-240-micro-atx-chassis-review/4/
Hope this helps.
Hi,
I have this nice Corsair
Hi,
I have this nice Corsair 240 air case (brought from seeing this very god review), along with a Asus XM88-Plus motherboard,and a Corsair H80i cooler,but the H80i cooler, is a tad too big, for fitment, as you have mounting in yours!.
I am aware your motherboard is the next size down.
Which of the other Corsair coolers/model range, would you recommend/that would fit in same location?.
or other brands
hope you can help
David