Custom PC - UK (2020-01)

R

atherthangoall-outwithclear
panelsandRGBlighting,theCorsair
CarbideSeries678Cgoesdownthe
samepathastheCoolerMasterMasterCase
SL600M,withanunderstateddesign,
unassumingclosedfrontendandnoRGB
LEDsinsight.It alsohasnoise-dampened
roof,frontandsidepanels,withtheformer
beingremovabletoboostairflowandthelatter
sittingina swing-opendoor.
It’sthefirstcasethatwe’veseenina while
tosporta 5.25inbay,whichcanbereached
behindthefrontdoor.Thesebayscandetract
fromtheoveralllookofa caseandlimitits
otherstorageoptions,butthiscasehidesit
wellandyoustillhaveplentyofotherstorage
options.UptosixharddisksorSSDscanbe
mountedinremovabletrays,witha further
three2.5inSSDlo cationsindedicatedmounts.
Thesesportclip-inmounts,sothey’remuch
easiertodealwiththantinyscrews.

CORSAIR CARBIDE

SERIES 678C /£150 inc VAT

SUPPLIER ebuyer.com

Unfortunately, when it comes to the

removable trays, you’ll have to get rid of the

lot if you choose to mount a 360mm radiator

in the front, as there isn’t quite enough room

for the combined depth of the radiator and

fans. Thankfully, the roof has support for up

to a 420mm radiator, so you still have plenty

of water-cooling options, if you want to retain

several hard drive trays.

Three 140mm fans are included as

standard and cover the roof, rear and front

sections. The first of those acts as an intake,

which at first seems a little odd, but given the

restricted airflow for the front fan, which

benefits from tiny vents in the sides and base,

it’s no wonder Corsair sought to balance

things up here. However, with the roof panel

installed, it’s likely neither intake fan will be

particularly useful.

The Carbide Series 678C includes a

verticalGPUmount,althoughyou’llneed

toinvestina PCI-Erisercableinorderto

useit.Actuallybuildingyoursystemintothe

caseisrelativelypain-freetoo,thankstoa

removable,hingedtemperedglassside

panelandplentyofcable-routingholes,

althoughthecompletelackofVelcrocable

tiesorcable-routing

channelsmeansthat

it’sjustyouanda

bunchofcabletiesthat

willneedtotidythings.

Thankfully,someof

theworkisdonefor

you,thankstoa

6-channelPWMfan

hubthatcancontrol

thethreeincludedfans

anduptothreemore.

Sadly,theonlycases

worsethantheCarbide

Series678CintheCPU

coolingtestwerethe

two that lacked fans as

standard, with the CPU

delta T being a long

way from the next best

option, the Fractal

DesignVectorRS.TheGPUdeltaT wasbetter

thantheVectorRS,though,butstilla long

wayfrommatchingNZXTorCoolerMaster’s

offeringsandwhileit wasn’tnoisy,it wasn’t

asquietaswe’dhopedeither.

Conclusion

Asanunderstated,largechassiswithgreat

water-coolingsupport,theCorsairCarbide

Series678Cisdefinitelyworthconsidering,

andhasa goodarrayofusefulfeaturesand

wouldprobablyhavepickedupanawardina

stand-alonereview.However,itsair-cooling

credentialsaren’tgreat,it’scable-routing

toolsarenearlynon-existentandit justlacks

theprowessandpizazzofanexceptional

fieldthismonth.

VERDICT

A decent, flexible case for a water-cooled PC

but the competition is better equipped.

.50 CALIBRE

• 
  

  Flexible layout

  
  


• 
  

  Good space for
  water cooling

  
  


• 
  

  6-channel
  PWM fan hub

  
  

SPUD GUN

• Poor cable -
  routing features


• Average cooling


• No stand-out features

LABS TEST / CASES

SPEC

Dimensions (mm) 239 x 549 x 497 (W x D x H)

Material Steel, tempered glass, plastic

Available colours Black, white

Weight 13kg

Front panel Power, reset, 2 x USB 3,

1 x USB 3.1 Type-C, audio jack

Drive bays 6 x 2.5in/3.5in, 3x 2.5in, 1 x 5.25in

Form factor(s) Micro-ATX, ATX, E-ATX

Cooling 2 x 120/140mm base fan mounts

(fans not included), 3 x 120/2 x 140mm

front fan mounts (1 x 140mm fan included),

3 x 120/2 x 140mm roof fan mounts (1 x

140mm fan included), 1 x 120/140mm rear

fan mount (1 x 140mm fan included)

CPU cooler clearance 170mm

Maximum graphics card length 370mm

COOLING

22 / 30

DESIGN

21 / 30

FEATURES

15 / 20

VALUE

17 / 20

OVERALLSCORE

75