Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsI like it! But a fluke quality control, and factory assembly issue
Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2019
The case arrived without a scratch. I was there to meet USPS delivery person, Watched them unload and deliver to the door. They were very careful with the box(which was in very good shape). Good job USPS! Note to Amazon or Corsair, there are no fragile(glass) stickers anywhere on the box. Would be a good idea... The case was double boxed okay, but the packing/protection didn't blow me away for something that was all tempered glass. But I assume Corsair has done their due diligence with shock, vibe and drop testing.
I'll start with my issues, and why 3 stars. Could have easily been 5. It boils down to 2 things:
First is a quality control issue with Corsair. After pulling the case out of the box, I could not open the main side door, except a couple inches. I immediately saw why... The commander pro module broke loose from where it was mounted at the factory. It flopped around and stuck itself to the inside of the tempered glass door(see pictures). With the fan cables pre-attached and too taut, they would not allow me to open the door. One picture (with red arrow) shows where the commander pro was installed at the factory. However, you can clearly see where it ended up. This wouldn't have been a big deal, but Corsair used 3M double sided tape. It's very good stuff! Especially on glass!! Thankfully the opposite door opened and there was plenty of room to reach in from the other side with a plastic pry tool and work the module off the glass door. It took a while as there was a fair amount of prying and pulling. I didn't want to break/chip glass and or bend/break the module. I assume the person installing at the factory didn't "press" the commander pro into its original place. I say this because removing the led hub next to it required a fair amount of force to remove as well. Needless to say, that dampened my mood right off the bat to what was otherwise a nice first look at the case. 1 star off.
The 2nd star off is also tied to the commander pro, but a different angle. Even if the commander pro had stayed put in the location it was assembled at the factory(bottom front of case), I still would have docked a star. I appreciate Corsair pre-installing it in the case, but I prefer they don't. Package in a box, provide the 3M double-sided tape, and leave it up to the builder to put the commander pro and the led hub wherever they want. Maybe a sheet of paper with suggested diagram locations. I think this solution would provide more flexibility, and would end up saving more time/frustration for most PC builders in the long run. Just my opinion. I ended up moving the commander pro and hub to the cable management side where the 3.5" Hard drives bays are(see picture). Of course, if I had 3.5" HD's I could have moved to an open SSD slots, or.......(take your pick of options)...... The point here is, leave these options to the builder.
Okay, that was bit of a rant, sorry. I'm hoping Corsair reads and takes into consideration.
With that said... I consider the first issue a fluke...The case is really nice. I love it! The slightly tinted tempered glass shows off all my HW and RGB lighting great!( see pic). It's not too big, it's not too small and not too heavy. Cable management was decent. I do wish the cable trough/cover was a little bigger, but I managed to get most everything stuffed and hid(see pic). All cable grommets and places to route cables/wires were in good locations.
The bottom line is, even with the issues above(one a fluke and one a specific build situation), I do highly recommend this case, and would buy another.
