Corsair's foray into cube cases was a welcome one and the Air 240 and Air 540 both netted top awards in 2013 and 2014 respectively when they were released thanks to unique and effective designs. Today Corsair launches the the latest case to grace the Carbide Series of cubes - the Air 740.  Click to enlarge In terms of size, the Air 740 isn't as tall as the Air 540, but it's deeper and wider by a centimetre or two - it is not as you might suspect, a larger version of the latter. It clearly looks very different on the outside too. Those ridges will likely be polarising in their popularity and we have to admit we're not their biggest fans, with the Air 540's design being a bit cleaner and more appealing. Click to enlarge That said, the addition of a large, hinged side window panel is a good move and helps to draw attention away from other perhaps less attractive parts of the case. It's also a joy not to have to deal with thumb screws, even if the panel and extra fittings add to the somewhat hefty £135 price tag. That may seem a bit of a hike compared to the Air 540, which hovered around £115 at launch three years ago, but it too has been retailing for over £130 recently. Click to enlarge Unlike its older siblings, the Air 740 isn't designed to be able to rotate into desktop mode and lay flat - there were no extra feet with our sample and it might be tricky to use the hinged door like this too. The front panel is in the usual place and sports two USB 3.0 ports and audio jacks plus power and reset buttons. Most of the case is fairly solid, but some parts do lack the kind of build quality you'd expect from a case costing upwards of £130. The far metal side panel is quite flimsy as are some of the internal fittings and it's a shame that fan control is absent too, given we've seen it in cheaper Corsair Carbide cases such as the 600C. The Carbide Air 740 has tons of room and plenty of cable routing openings for a very clean looking build. I was very impressed with the ease of component installation, and cable routing was a dream thanks to the massive rear chamber. With the system complete it's time to see how it performed on the test bench! Temperatures and Noise The Carbide Air 740 provided the best overall CPU temperatures in this group, tied with the SilverStone PM01 for standard load temps. but pulling ahead significantly under stress loads. There is a significant airflow advantage from the Air 740's design, and stressed components are a great test for the enclosure – and it passes with flying colors. Next we'll look at GPU temps: Not as dominant as the CPU temps, but still a top-three showing here with the tested GPU. Nothing to complain about here! Now we will have a look at noise output. As expected, the Air 740 was not an especially quiet enclosure, being dependent almost exlusively on the components selected for total noise output. Thanks to quiet case fans it was not the loudest enclosure tested with these components, but those seeking a "silent" PC case will want to look elsewhere, as (true to its name) the Air 740 is all about airflow. Conclusion The Carbide Air 740 is well built, offers a roomy interior for an easy (and tidy) build, and the high-airflow design translates into great thermal performance. So are there any drawbacks? Really, just two: first, a heavily vented design like this won't block noise from louder components, so choosing a quiet graphics card and CPU cooler will be necessary if noise is a consideration for you. The second potential drawback is price, as the Carbide Air 740 retails for $149.99. This price is of course far lower than dual-chamber designs from Case Labs, but is still above many people's budget for an enclosure. The desire/need for dual-chamber is going to be user-specific, and Corsair certainly offers much more affordable options with great cooler performance as well. Strengths
Weaknesses
If the cube-style design and dual-chamber construction meet your needs and preferences, and you have the budget for a $149 enclosure, the Air 740 is a solid option with tons of room and great cooling performance. Noise levels are going to depend on component selection due to the highly vented design, but it's hard to argue with the proven cooling performance of this high-airflow design. |
